Letter from Harry Massey to Barbara Massey

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Letter written by Harry Massey from the No. 6 Palestine company at the Bluffs to Barbara Massey.

This is a scanned version of the original image in Special Collections and Archives at Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vt.



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Letter No. 68

Wednesday - Aug 20th

Major J.H. Massey 6 Palestinian Coy, The Buff M.E.F.

My sweetest lovely darling,

Your 47th letter, send on June 27th arrived on Monday, Aug 18th - so that is a little bit quicker than they have been coming for some time. It is a marvellous letter, my sweet; I am absolutely delighted with it. It is so full of informaiton about you & about Max & about the house & what you are doing. It is so lovely to have you writing like this again, when for so long you were full of fears about the baby & no confidence in the future.

Please do not think for a single second, my darling, that this comparison of your lettters is anything in the nature of a complaint. You must know that I always want to hear exactly from youL: what you are doing & thinking - if you are sad or miserable or unhappy or frightened or discontented - or well & happy - it is all the same, it is from you & I want to know everything. - why I am so pleased with your new letters is because you are now rid of all those fears & apprehensions, & this must make such a tremendous difference to you & to your whole outlook on life. All your letters have been wonderful, with the one exception when you gave me a six page raspberry for being extravagant & thoughtless - & to which I'm afraid I rather answered back. But that was a misunderstanding & will never happen again.

Last edit over 1 year ago by jaxdnaquest
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Your mother's letter & Joan's also arrived on Monday & they were very sweet. It was very good of them to write. Obviously, they were intended to arrive before any of yours & to be advance news about you & Max. They both paid tribute to your courage & guts & cheerfulness in the face of difficulties & troubles. And I know they are perfectly right, my darling. There must be very few, if any more, people like you. With all the tragedy behind you, & realizing everything so very well, as you didhaving no decent place to live, & very few reasonable people to be with or to talk to. You are wonderful darling, & I admire you beyond all words. You have a wonderful mixture of courage & character & good sense & a really perfect & unrivalled sense of humour. Joan & your mother can only half realise the absolute truth of what they say. I only hope before I realise it fully & understand. I sent you a sem-frantic Airgraph this morning, because you had said in your letter that in spite of Noss Mayo being a perfect little place, you did not know how long you would be able to stick it & in any case the thought of the winter was none too cheering: & that, very sweetly, you could not settle anywhere without me. I know it is easy enough for me to talk, but, I do think you should try & carry on there, unless there is something very definite against it. It is such a business moving about & hoping to find another house. And you would not be happy or at ease for long staying with Nicolette etc. You know & you

Last edit almost 2 years ago by Khufu
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have said so often how much you want a place of your own. If you are going to pay me the compliment of saying that you like no place without me, & you mean what you say, there is not much point in changing, just to become fed up with another place. Noss Mayo does look on the p.c. such a perfect little place & I think, darling, that you ought to make the effort to organise your life & refuse to allow the place & its people to get on your nerves. I hope this does not sound too smug to you - but you cannot deny that it is good advice! You should be able to do some work there, & then you like reading. I love your letters & there is Maxie. And there surely will be some people you like, or does everybody get on your nerves eventually, same as they do with me. What is it, I wonder? I think perhaps I am developing more & ever more of a superiority complex. You know I wrote to you a few weeks ago, & told you how fit & well I was, more so than for years. It was, just at the time, after a dose of P.T. perhaps - but I'm afraid its not really true - & I seem to have felt bloody ever since, until a few days ago, & now I feel fine again. I think and think, my darling and is that neither you nor I are well suited to a celibate life- though I seemed to manage alright before I met you. Our passion & our love life has

Last edit over 1 year ago by MaryV
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been so heavenly & wonderful & marvellous, that to be suddenly cut off from each other is too much & is not good for us. The very fact of it having been so superbly happy, makes this separation all the more difficult & unpleasant & hard to bear - but I suppose I would not have it otherwise. And there is absolutely nothing to be done about it - except to know that we shall have our reward when we meet again.

Thursday Aug 21st - A marvellous piece of news today darling - we are getting out of this bloody barracks at last & getting a move to another part of Palestine & so a complete change of scenery & new work. I am absolutely elated about it, as it means getting rid of all this extra work & responsiblity for which I get very little thanks, nor does it do me any good, as far as I can see, in getting me any further - as financially. On the new job, I shall just have my Unit to look after, & nothing & nobody else, they will all be pretty well under my hand, instead of scattered about as they are now. We shall be under canvas again, which I prefer & also drawing field allowance again, another £5 a month, free of tax. The men will be very pleased too, as they were having a hard time here & have had a great deal to put up with. Also, I shall be interested to see what sort of a job the coy relieving us will make of all this - they are 3 months older than we are, but I have a feeling that they will fall very much short of our standard. I'm expecting

Last edit almost 2 years ago by Khufu
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that the change over will take place in about a week's time. Also, I shall quite definitely get more exercise & fresh air & not have to spend a large part of the day with my feet under my table. We shall be under the command of a different Area Commander & staff - I shall try to avoid winning a reputation for Court Martial. I have just been made president of another three beginning on Monday. I telephoned & asked to be extricated from them owing to the impending move & all the much turmoil & work involved - but the Staff Capt said that they were complicated cases & he must have me because I was the most competent major in the Area. So I presented myself, swallowed the compliment & agreed to carry on. Its really marvellous how I react to flattery! You must try it when I come home darling - You will get amazing results.

You were telling me in your letter that I must do my best to get on & so perhaps have some say in my own destiny & return home or to some place where you & Ma could come. It's very difficult darling & I'm afraid luck enters into it very largely. As you know, I have worked like hell & obtained command of this Coy from Col. Leicester. We have now been here for six months. I seem to have gained for myself a good reputation & name & a fair amount of respect. Now we are moving, & I quite expect I shall do the same again among the new people. But I cannot see where it is going to lead me. I may get a big surprise one day,

Last edit almost 2 years ago by Khufu
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