1st October, 1939
TEL. RAVENSBOURNE 0194-5.
ROYAL AIR FORCE,
BIGGIN HILL,
WESTERHAM,
KENT.
1.10.39
Dear Mrs Penman.
Things are now running in a more orderly fashion here and I have more time to think and remember my own life.
“Before the war” I arranged with Kenneth to start payments to you on the first of this month and I(‘m)…
…therefore enclosing a cheque.
I also find I did not return your key, so I am sending that also.
I expect you’re pretty busy and don’t see much of Kenneth. It’s the same for me: it’s very hard to get away.
I hope you and your family are well,
Yours sincerely,
Spencer Lewis.
P.S. Helen tells me she is returning some linen to you. I’m sorry it’s not been sent before.
NB.
Unlike the bulk of letters posted here this one isn’t from a family member. It’s an interesting look at how quotidian the war became almost instantly. Here we have someone in the RAF, writing to the wife of a friend who is in the Army, and there’s zero discussion of anything military or newsworthy.
It’s also a reminder of how things we now relegate to a text message used to have to be written down, stamped and mailed. The upside being the mail was much more pleasurable to open I presume.