Mrs Kenneth Penman
MAYCOT
12 COMMONSIDE
KESTON
KENT

No 6
Gnr Penman 1440260
Sec 4 194/60 HAA
BEF.

April 26th 1940.

Darling

I have been so busy this last week that I’m afraid I’ve not managed to answer your No 4 and 5 until now. I do hope you will not have been worried. In the present state of flux in international affairs you musn’t imagine that if you don’t hear from me it is because we are on the move, I keep a piece of notepaper and an envelope in the breast pocket of my tunic and you may be very sure that if we do shift I will let you know immediately, anything of such a nature seems at the moment improbable. the main thing is that you shouldn’t worry about me.

First, about hours. I have written to them just saying that I have received the agreement, but as there are several points I want to raise with you it will be some time before I am able to return it. I also pointed out there was no clause giving us rights to use Gorse cottage’s back way for coal and refuse, which was very important…

What I want to do is this, I want you darling in your reply to this to tell me if you have managed to send them this month’s rent, and the date, also of Ivy’s letter promising the reduction; then I intend to write to them again pointing out that the rent as it stands at the moment is £1 in advance, my present agreement being quarterly in retard, and that no rent is actually due until midsummers day. I will point out that we suggested to B that we should pay him monthly in order to assist him financially, and I shall say that we take an extremely poor view of his attitude, quote the date of Ivy’s letter, point out the rent is actually at the moment in a state which is extremely advantageous to B, return the document, again mentioning the lack of “back way” clause and the insertion in its place of something that looks very like a repairing clause; finally I shall say I want their assurance that the rent is now £3-5-: and that I have no intention of signing the agreement in its present form.

Ted and I were pulling Jacko’s leg the other night about his letter writing, he was saying, “Oh I suppose I must write a letter”…

…and not as a pleasure, with a regular interval of days between each letter, we pointed out that any woman would prefer to receive letters from a man she loved as and when he felt the urge him to write, and that the equal interval habit was pudding-y. We assured him that no woman was going to be very thrilled if she knew that she was going to get a letter on Mondays and Thursdays and there was not the least chance of her receiving one on any other day. He wasn’t a bit impressed and said he would rely on the army Post Office to disarrange any regularity there happened to be. Incidentally there is a sequel to all this, yesterday Ted was writing to his girl friend and he had almost completely covered both sides of a large piece of paper and was thinking of something else to say, I suggested he should tell her about the above conversation. The silly ass spoilt it by putting in the middle of his peroration, “Penny said, all regularity was boring to women”, actually I said nothing of the sort and it served him right because he had to entirely rewrite that particular page. I think you might read Wyn this page, give her my love and tell her I hope she is never troubled.

I loved the picture of the pipe hanging on the washing line after a good scrubbing, it definitely was “niggly”. Niggly not duchy, I wont allow you to start new words without me, any way niggly is much more expressive, à propos, this is true — on guard the other night two of the lads were very earnestly discussing gardening whilst the third was deep in a letter, the gardeners were saying that aubrietia was very fine when suddenly the letter writer came out of his trance and remarked “Wasn’t he the bloke who was sacked from the War Office” — cross my heart its true.

I was so glad you had been able to put in some nasturtiums, one moment I’m just going to switch off the wireless, they’re playing “good night sweetheart”, I’m afraid it reminds me rather too much darling of our first Jersey — what was I saying, Oh yes, nasturtiums, ours seem to be alright, eight came up yesterday in Mac’s window box and four in ours: you will remember Mac and Tony are in one room and Ted Jacko and I in another, the silly chumps are having a race, I pretend an amused indifference, can’t understand why Mac’s and Tony’s box is winning because I sowed theirs at least half an inch deeper.

I have just heard that one of the men in the section was presented with an eight pound baby girl yesterday, he received a wire last night whilst on guard, poor lad he’s been looking very strained for the last week or so, it must be a wonderful relief to know that his wife is quite alright.

This is a funny year, in the grounds at the back of the billet there is lilac and almond blossom in bloom at the same time, I was so sorry about the beans, Ted and Tony very proudly yesterday displayed a four and a five leaved clover which they had found, they were very lucked with themselves until one of us who’d father is a farmer explained that it wasn’t clover at all but alf-alfa some stuff they grow for cattle food.

Darling I’m not a bit “resigned” to not spending any of the summer with you, of course I shall get my second leave before it is over, I’ve started looking forward to it already. No 4 was such a sweet and adorable letter it made me so happy, remember always darling that I love you, every sweet and naughty bit of you.

Yours ever
Kenneth