WW II Letters Home – Robinson / Marsh Family
From: Pte. A.L. Robinson A4509
To: Mrs. Clarence Marsh
Date of letter: October 8, 1945
Envelope
| Postmark: Sussex M.P.O 701
To: Mrs. Clarence Marsh, Dresden, Ontario, Canada
|
Oct. 8/45
Bochhorn, Germany
Dear Sis,
Received your letter yesterday and was glad to hear from you. Except for a sore throat I am getting along fine. We have moved from the town of Varel and we are in a small village by the name of Bochhorn now, where there is hardly anything to do except a show about every third night. We had a bit of excitement about the second night that we were here as the cook-house burnt down. But I even missed that as I was into Varel at the time to a show and when I got back the fire was out, but all that I had left was the clothes that I was wearing at the time. I lost all of my pictures and even my camera, so if you have any more pictures I would sure like to have some.
I received the deed to the farm the other day and am trying to get it straightened up and sent back as soon as possible.
I am still cooking, but getting pretty tired of it as they tell us that all cooks will be held over here until they can get some more trained to take our place. If it wasn’t for the extra twenty-five cents a day I would quit as quick as was possible. But then I see in the papers every day where hundreds of men back home are getting laid off their jobs and here at least I don’t have to be scared of losing my job and not getting another one right away. It is different than when we were in action, now at least we know that we are going to have a place to sleep every night and as long as I am a cook I am sure of not starving, like a lot of the people here are very close to doing. It is pretty hard to watch little kids pickup up any old scraps that the boys throw away and eating it as if it were the very best of food. I don’t feel a bit sorry for the grown-ups though as it is their own fault.
I don’t know if I will be able to get in the suit when I get home or not as I am pretty fat now. You can tell Roy that I am running him a close second on being fat and tell Clarence that I won’t be able to laugh at his bald head any more. Also, tell Olive to wait until I get home as I want to be best man at her wedding, but if she can’t wait to at least not forget to send me a piece of her wedding cake.
There are a lot of Polish people in camps around here that were brought here in the war by the Germans for to work and have not been able to get home as yet. We have to place guards on the camps that they are in as they are not getting too much to eat and that we are afraid that they would start trouble if they are not watched.
Well, I suppose I had better write Ila Smith a letter although I have written to her several times since she received my last letters.
Well, I guess that is about all for now. Hoping to hear from you soon again.
Love Allan
P.S. Don’t faint when you get this letter of almost six pages from me. Show Olive and Helen the newspaper clipping. Allan
