Wednesday · Dec. 9, 1942
I can’t jitter.
They were jitterbugs.
Dec. 9, 1942
My Darling Wife
Today mail came in—but it was some more secon surface mail. I received 5 post cards from Jr. C of C members, a letter from Kitty with newspaper clippings from Newspress, another note from Kitty informing me that she had mailed a Xmas present, and enclosing an Xmas card she had forgot to enclose in the package. No air-mail came in—or has come in since we have been here except the mail forwarded from England.
I was sorry to hear that Ren Lawson was very ill, and hope he is better by now. If you haven’t seen them lately please call …
A page appears to be missing after this one.
I really missed you last night honey. I can’t dance with any of these young nurses as well as I can with you. They were jitterbugs—and I can’t jitter. Further dancing made me think of you and wish you were here to be dancing with me.
I miss you in so many ways, honey, and I’m going nuts from not hearing from you. They may have sunk the boats—but those [damn?] airplanes are coming over fast—but they don’t carry the mail. There’s always a tomorrow which may bring some in.
Give the princess a big hug and kiss from her poppa—and tell her she has the swellest mother in the world—and the sweetest wife her daddy ever hoped to have. Goodnight sweetheart
All my love
Your John
Different ink; may belong to another letter.
About this letter
The mail that finally comes is all surface mail: postcards from the Junior Chamber of Commerce and notes from Kitty. Nothing from Ginny. On page 2 he writes about dancing with the nurses the night before and wishing she were there.
ABOUT THE PAGESPage 1 ends in the middle of a sentence (“please call”), and page 2 starts a new thought, so at least one page is missing. Page 2 is in a brighter blue ink, and the night before this letter John was on duty as officer of the day, not dancing. So page 2 may come from a different letter.
SAME DAY, TWO LETTERSJohn also typed a letter on Dec. 9 to friends Aubrey, Ren and Kitty. It explains the dance: nurses were brought in by truck once a week to dance with the officers. That letter is the next post.
READING CLOSELY
“Tell her she has the swellest mother in the world—and the sweetest wife her daddy ever hoped to have.” Written to his wife, Ginny, about their daughter, Linda, after weeks without a single air-mail letter from home.
Jr. C of C is the Junior Chamber of Commerce. The News-Press was the Glendale newspaper.
“They may have sunk the boats”: he suspects the ships carrying mail were lost, since planes were arriving but bringing no letters.
The Big Picture
The race for Tunis stalls
The Germans won the race to Tunisia. By the end of November about 15,000 German troops and 100 tanks were there. The Allies got within about 12 miles of Tunis before they were stopped.
In early December German tanks struck back at Tebourba, west of Tunis, and pushed the Allies back. Then the winter rains turned the roads to mud.
At home, rationing (limits on how much of something each family could buy) was spreading: coffee from Nov. 29, gasoline nationwide from Dec. 1.
Where he was
In camp outside Oran, Algeria, with I Company, 3rd Battalion, 16th Infantry. The fighting in Algeria was over; the 1st Division stayed behind to guard the area and train while other Allied troops raced east into Tunisia.
In this letter. He suspected the mail ships were being sunk. He was right to worry: November 1942 was the worst month of the war for Allied shipping losses.