10th February, 1940
ACTIVE SERVICE
[A. F. W3078][Crown Copyright Reserved]
This envelope must not be used for coin or valuables. It cannot be accepted for registration.
NOTE:—
Correspondence in this envelope need not be censored Regimentally. The contents are liable to examination at the Base.
The following Certificate must be signed by the writer:—
I certify on my honour that the contents of this envelope refer to nothing but private and family matters.
Signature }
Name only } C.K. Penman
Up to three letters may be forwarded in this Cover, but these must be all from the same writer. The cover should be addressed in such case to the Base Censor.
Address:—
Mrs Kenneth Penman
Maycot 12 Commonside
Keston Kent
No. 26.
B.E.F.
S.I.F.
Feb 10th 1940.
Darling,
First of all about the enclosure, all I can say, I’m sorry. I don’t really look like this even after nearly five months of WAR? I refused absolutely to let the others see them but I’m afraid they sat on me and extracted them forcibly from my tunic pocket. I was a bit howly as a matter of fact when I first collected the photos. I so very much wanted them to be fairly decent.
Darling, I haven’t had yours No. 18. I want to acknowledge Nos 19 & 20 dated 1st and 3rd. I imagine you mention in No 18 the receipt of mine No 20 since No 19 acknowledges 21. There is a gap in dates between 17 and 19 of five days. Shall we in future when acknowledging receipt of one another’s letter refer to the date as well as the No? I am afraid the above sounds very involved. I only hope the censor doesn’t think it’s code.
I got your No 20 tonight with the enclosure. Madame was delighted with the “coverture du thé”. She is going to write you a little letter of thanks and she says that I am to tell you that you are “bein gentille” etc. etc.
I went on to see her after tea this evening and over a cup of coffee started, in my halting French, to try and describe…
…that it was the custom in England to have a “petit habit” for the tea pot. Apparently however they were quite used to the idea although Madame doesn’t possess one herself.
Darling you remember I told you that the Colonel advised against wearing civvies on leave? I’ve been wondering, I can’t decide whether pidgies would rank as civilian clothes.
I loved the selection of Jill’s sayings, especially the last one about being too big to kiss daddy now. I was very impressed to the the artistic effort. She is progressing. I expect you’ll laugh but I’ve got it on the wall over my bed.
One minute, Madame has just come up with another chair for us. She’s had a bit more to say about the tea cosy, she is lucked with it.
Did you manage to give Tris, Vic’s letter? Another request dear, could you send me some of the yellow wool that you made my gloves out of for darning purposes?
Have you heard the story about Hitler’s burial? He was lowered into the grave seven times. Why? The applause was enormous.
I’m afraid this letter is not as long as usual. I want to catch the mail so I’m putting it in a green envelope.
‘Fraid I shall have to start another page to say bye bye. I will try and write again tomorrow. We haven’t heard anymore news of leave. I do hope we hear soon. Some nights when I go to bed, missing you is such agony. I love you so very, very, much.
God bless your pixie heart.
Your own,
Kenneth.
Saturday 10th February, 1940
February 8th–British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlin, tells parliament there is “no reason to be dissatisfied” with the progress of the war. He also praises the Finnish people in their “heroic struggle” saying it has “has evoked the admiration of the world” and goes on to state that “further aid is now on its way.”
February 9th–U.S. Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles tours Europe trying to broker a diplomatic solution to the war, despite President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s doubts.
February 10th–The first Tom and Jerry cartoon is released, Puss Gets the Boot, with the title characters under their original names of Jasper and Jinx.
Roosevelt addresses members of the American Youth Congress who are visiting the White House after passing a resolution standing against American support for Finland in their attempt to repel the Soviet invasion.
“…some words of warning or perhaps I should say of suggestion … do not as a group pass resolutions on subjects which you have not thought through and on which you cannot possibly have complete knowledge.
That American sympathy is ninety-eight per cent with the Finns in their effort to stave off invasion of their own soil is by now axiomatic. That America wants to help them by lending or giving money to them to save their own lives is also axiomatic today. That the Soviet Union would, because of this, declare war on the United States is about the silliest thought that I have ever heard advanced in the fifty-eight years of my life. That we are going to war ourselves with the Soviet Union is an equally silly thought.”
He is booed by his audience but the statement helps him counter accusations among domestic rivals that he is too sympathetic to communism and the U.S.S.R.