7th April 1961

Darling,

Have many pages to fill but nothing to fill them because not much happens here.  No dancing because there aren’t many females in these ‘ere parts.  Still we have a fair ol’ time now and again.  Just as well really because that’s when the time really flies.

The news this week was the arrival of the Sabres of the Turkish Air Force.  Two squadrons flew in earlier this week.  They look ok but their formation flying was very ragged.  Must remember to drop a line to the Turkish Air Marshall about it.

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3rd April 1961

Darling,

Right now on this hot dusty day the Platters are singing ‘Only You’.  Spring is in the air and all that.  Everything would be near perfect if only I was sitting in the back garden of ** Parsloes Avenue with you.

These past few days have been pretty good.  All us lads have been sun-bathing, playing cards, swigging beer and in general having an easy life.  Saturday we had a little game of football but the lads soon packed up because they thought it meant too much running around in the heat.

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1st April 1961

Darling Alan,

Who fancied Oxford for the Boat Race then?  it was a jolly good race though.  I even had visions of myself paying a visit to the Post Office for a postal order but I didn’t have to, thank goodness.  Y’know, I got paid Thursday and I’m skint again.  I don’t like pay days.  It come home to me how poor I really am, even though I’ve got a fistful of that green stuff.

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1st April 1961

Dear Diary

For a few weeks now Carol Foster has been telling me about her boyfriend’s brother Michael and she said Clive and she were telling him about me.  After much, not so discrete planning, this evening Jane and I went to the Lambourne and Clive and Carol, plus brother, plus friend were there.  Poor Jane was the only one who didn’t know what was going on.

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31st March 1961

Darling,

It’s a very hot day today.  Not a cloud in the deep blue sky.  This morning was spent as per the top social circle of Cyprus, namely washing and ironing.  It’s all the rage nowadays.  Must be the weather.

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27th March 1961

Darling,

Have managed to wangle a few hours off this afternoon so now I have a fine opportunity to write quietly and undisturbed by those well-known charlies commonly known as airmen.  What could be more common than that? – you dare!  Should have written this masterpiece yesterday really but what with one thing and another things didn’t work out that way. 

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25th March 1961

Darling Alan,

Honestly, what a night I’ve had tonight  - or perhaps this evening would sound more respectable.  I’ll tell you the whole story from the beginning.

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25th March 1961

Dear Diary,

Alan’s letters have been coming twice a week regularly and I really look forward to reading them and writing my replies to him.

I have hardly been out in the evenings since he left though nothing was said about my giving up ‘living’ in fact, just the opposite.

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23rd March 1961

Hello darling. 

Thanks a lot for those photographs.  They are mighty good, man.  Had they been a bit lighter they would have been even better but I’m not complaining one bit.  Received your (my) letters on Monday and Wednesday so I’ve been pretty chuffed these past few days.

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22nd March 1961

Darling Alan,

Thanks for the letter and that gorgeous little poem you wrote out.  I think it is smashing, I’ll have to frame it.

I think that is a smashing idea to send my parents a birthday card.  It’s a good job you mentioned it when you did because my dad’s birthday is next Thursday 30th.  Mum isn’t til December.  I mentioned it to mum and she was quite touched. 

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19th March 1961

Hello darling,

The family have just gone out and I’m well supplied with cigarettes so I’m sitting down to a nice peaceful evening alone. 

Thought for today:  if love is blind how do you account for the cosmetic industry.

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19th March 1961

Darling,

 Am writing this on a quite Sunday morning in dear old Akrotiri.  The fact that it is quiet is due to the ‘Sunday Morning Lie-in For Airman Association’ which has a membership of some two thousand airman every Sunday until about noon.  Only trouble is, your Alan hasn’t a clue what to write about so, like always I’ll press on regardless.  Think you must agree this is a very original way to start a letter, but why worry, it’s Sunday.

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16th March 1961

Dear Aunt Mary,

 Please help me, I am desperate.  My daughter confided in me recently that she was in love and wished to marry.  Of course, I was delighted for I have always believed in child marriages (she is 37) but to my dismay I discovered that she had fallen in love with my grandfather.

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16th March 1961

My darling Alan,

I mustn’t stay up to all hours tonight writing cos I want to get up early tomorrow, so I’ve got an excuse if this letter is a short one.  Well, I don’t exactly want to get up early tomorrow but I thought I had better get in some practice for next week when I’m opening morning post and have got to be there by nine.

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15th March 1961

Darling,

Thanks for everything, your present, the card the letter, and just everything. Maureen, you really are a darling. You know, you’re terrific, just great in fact. I’m not just flattering you because I feel it’s the right thing to do but because I really do love you very much and when you do these sort of things I just burst.

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12th March 1961

Hello Dear,

I think this letter is gonna be pretty hard to understand cos dad is sitting here watching television and he is definitely unnerving me, probably a guilty conscience.

Hope you got the parcel ok. Very unoriginal I know, but what can you do? Did you have to pay anything on it? After paying 4/- for that book, 1/6d didn’t seem quite right somehow. It was the same as last time in the post office, they all had to have a consultation then out came the dusty old volumes to see how much it cost.

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