On 14th July Churchill broadcast to the nation:
“And now it has come to us to stand alone in the breach, and face the worst that the tyrant's might and enmity can do… We are fighting by ourselves alone; but we are not fighting for ourselves alone….”
“This is no war of chieftains or of princes, of dynasties or national ambition; it is a war of peoples and of causes. There are vast numbers, not only in this Island but in every land, who will render faithful service in this war, but whose names will never be known, whose deeds will never be recorded. This is a War of the Unknown Warriors; but let all strive without failing in faith or in duty, and the dark curse of Hitler will be lifted from our age.”.
(Reproduced with permission of Curtis Brown Ltd, London on behalf of the Estate of Sir Winston Churchill. Copyright © Winston S. Churchill )
Dinton
Wilts
Monday evening
My Darling Chotie,
Thanks for the letter which I received at lunch.
I have some rather sad news. Hughes fiancée died on Saturday morning. He was married to her 2 hours before she died. It was the wish of both of them, and the doctors apparently thought that it would help her to recover. She actually recovered her memory for about ten hours. It made me feel pretty bad and also Toni, as we are rather attached to Hughes who is one of the best.
I haven’t been too good lately; suffering from what I thought must have been food poisoning. I haven’t eaten anything for a couple of days, but stuck to my usual ration of beer, and now feel much better. I carried on as I couldn’t very well go to the M.D. so soon after starting the P.T. stunt.
However, to revert to more cheerful stuff, I have seen the photos they took of us. What do you think of them? As usual, you come out marvellously.
I understand that Pete is coming here, putting his age on a little … (sotto voce). I hope Brinner* can manage to do the same. I don’t know what Ma will say however.
I met some really decent chaps here, from all over the place, all writing letters home…
However, must close now, as there is simply nothing to say now.
Bye, bye, darling
Dicker
PS Je t’aime encore.
* Brinner was Dick’s brother Brian, two years younger than him
Chotie at Fairhaven, Parkstone, 7th July 1940
© Chotie Darling, 2010.
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