Winfred to Margaret

Jan. 28, 1945          2660          WM          R.A.A.B. Reno, NV Winfred scribbles a ditty to Margaret; says it is a rare, beautiful day there; hasn’t been doing much but wait; says some of the boys are going overseas again – hopes he is not with them; complains the army is getting more disagreeable – camps are much stricter hopes to see her soon and closes.

Jan. 26, 1945          2650          WM          R.A.A.B. Reno, NV Winfred has a lot of spare time so writes Margaret wile waiting for shipping orders; yesterday turned down going to Miami to be a R.O. on navigational training ships – will now probably end up somewhere even further away from home; saw ‘Winged Victory’ last night – it had B-24s in it; heard from Cliff who asked about his connections in London; comments on all of the Bartlow cousins being married now; and closes.

Jan. 25, 1945          2640          WF          R.A.A.B. Reno, NV Winfred writes a few lines to the Folks; says he is still here and OK; has had lots of job opportunities – ground instructor, flying instructor, O.C.S., or R.O. on navigator training ships at Miami -but will wait and NOT volunteer for anything; will not get out of the service right away when the war is over – A.T.C. will be last to demobilize because it will have plenty to do; thinks it might be nice to work for an airline as a civilian; received Cliffs picture; got the underwear they had sent; encloses some of his school papers he wants to keep; closes to get some sleep. 

Jan. 20, 1945          2630          WF          R.A.A.B. Reno, NV Winfred scribbles a few lines to the Folks – (says it is Sunday but uses Saturday’s date); can sleep in on Sundays; doesn’t know how much longer he will be there; wishes he knew where he was going – could be many places; complains about the cold; hopes to hear from Cliff and get his views on the English; hopes the Russians get to Berlin soon to ease pressure on the West; closes to get breakfast at the P.X.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Winfred sent two letters home on January 19, 1945; one to the Folks, and one to Margaret. Jan. 19, 1945 (2)          2620          WM          R.A.A.B. Reno, NV Winfred writes Margaret again; says they have been flying his fannie off; completed his schooling yesterday and requested Memphis; asks how she is doing; was ‘on the carpet’ because he missed flying this morning but got out of it because he is finished so then got into trouble for not saluting; closes now to write the Folks.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Winfred sent two letters home on January 19, 1945; one to the Folks, and one to Margaret. Jan. 19, 1945 (1)         2610          WF          R.A.A.B. Reno, NV Winfred asks the Folks how everything is in Irondale; says all is well with him – finished flight training yesterday; guesses he will ship out one of these days; asked for Memphis but may not be lucky; hasn’t heard from Cliff (though he has written him several times); says the weather is cold like in Missouri – wishes he were there; and closes to write more letters.

Jan. 16, 1945          2600          CF          Swanage, England Clifford is going to start writing more or he may quit getting letters; says all is peaceful, is getting along okay but has a bad cold; goes to the picture show now and then but they only have pictures he has already seen, comments on his sister Patsy’s bike for Christmas; saw in the paper that the Russians are on the move again and hopes they keep it up; received Xmas cards from all the folks which keeps up the morale; and closes.

Jan. 15, 1945          2590          WF          R.A.A.B. Reno, NV Winfred composes his weekly Sunday afternoon letter to the Folks (letter date is for Monday); got back late last night because the plane he was on was forced down over Hammer Field due to mechanical failure; has been staying on the base but occasionally dates a WAC from Texas; wishes to hear from Cliff who has been getting around some lately; still has some checking out to do in flight before getting out of there; has enclosed a clipping about the ARTU school there; heard that Pat (Merrill) has landed a guy – never knew one quite like her; tells his sister Patsy he read her letter and asks about her bicycling; then closes asking about Jim’ s (unknown) new hat.

Jan. 12, 1945          2580          CF          Swanage, England Clifford asks the Folks to excuse his delay in writing this V-Mail; is not a lot to tell,  was in London again; got a letter from Winfred today; thought they had been hearing from him but not according to their last letter; sorry that Kenneth Frago, an Irondale boy, was killed (last October); doesn’t worry about getting hurt as long as in England; is glad Winfred is assigned to a transport plane – much safer; received two swell Xmas packages; answer soon.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Two letters were sent home on January 11, 1945; Winfred wrote Margaret, Clifford wrote the Folks. Jan. 11, 1945          2570          CF          Swanage, England Clifford writes the Folks since he doesn’t have anything else to do; is still okay; doesn’t like the weather; has grown tired of this ETO business; glad Winfred finished with such a high average – guesses he will be stationed on the West Coast; didn’t realize Pat (Merrill) was having so many heartbreaks but guesses someone has to keep the Irondale gossip rolling; tells mom not to worry; and tells dad he got and enjoyed the letter he had sent.