A LONG, HARD WAR

Dear Professor A.

Thank you very much for your two letters, and the stamps which John was delighted to receive.

My husband writes to say that his part of London has had a very quiet time—gunfire of course goes on, but very little bombing there. This to us is a good sign, since the Germans now concentrate on one city; if they were superior in numbers they would surely attack London simultaneously,- but no—their method is one huge effort at wiping out the centre of one city, with wave upon wave of bombers coming over. We have yet to learn to stop this night bombing. Their planes come at such a height that this is a difficult task.

They are expecting a big attack on that lovely city of ours in Wales, as the Germans are very systematic even in their madness. As you know, some of our English cities have had a very severe time. One of the chief dangers is the lack of water, not only for fire-fighting, but for drinking after such raids where water mains may be bombed.

Most of us feel annoyed that there were no deep shelters built in vulnerable areas. For the size of the bombs used these surface shelters are only of use for protection from splinters and shrapnel from gunfire and blast. Professor Haldane in his book on A. R. P. (Air Raid Precautions) that I read long before the war, advised shelters that were at least 60 foot deep and he had worked out his scheme for these on practical experience gained in Spain, Barcelona, etc., and also on scientific calculation (so many feet of concrete, so many of earth). In spite of warnings in the press that the danger from invasion is not over, none of us worry about it. Very few of us apart from politicians and the army really thought it possible, and if it were, we felt secure as our air force and anti-air craft men would never let Germans gain a landing place. They are probably trying it now at Southampton. I think our soldiers would welcome invasion just to have a shot at the Germans. “Let them come” is the prevalent feeling and has been all along. We are a good match for them.

We are so very very grateful to our sailors. We try to help them by using as much home-grown food as we can. We are keeping our tinned vegetables until we use up the garden produce as we shall probably need it in January and February when our vegetables are always scarce. We hope, though we are confident that you will not do so, that you will not send food to France. In the long run it will be kindness not to send, as we want to shorten the war.

We were discussing a remark that war would be over this spring and we all agreed that it would be far better for the war to go on until spring 1942, much as we all hate war. If we had finished the last war properly, this war would never have started. Men who fought in the last war have always thought this, and we all agree that the war must be brought right to the German homes. They can’t stand up to it as we can, though they have had better training for hardship. We have had easier lives, but looking back we value all we have had, and it is worth fighting for. It is a miserable existence, sleeping in a dugout night after night, but I have heard no complaints, except about the waste of time.

We hear so often, “America is fine”. We are so deeply grateful. I don’t think any of us expect you to wage war, but - we do need all your help and we are so grateful for what you send us.

We are all splendid.

Yours sincerely

E.L.

Note: This material furnished by the Institute of World Affairs, Lower Warner, N. H.