31 August 1936

Dear Mother:

You are probably getting letters in bunches, singles and every way else. I am getting on fairly well. I have enough money to pay the next two weekly board bills. That is on Sunday, Sept. 6 and Sunday, Sept. 13, which will do me till the 19th at least. On top of that I have a little over £1, which should cover washing, pressing, etc. However if I get into R. A. F. right away - no worry! This is Monday and on Thursday, 12 P.M., I go to Air Ministry with my shoes shined - not arf!

I am enclosing a board bill for you to see and keep the address. There are several Metropolitan policemen staying here, so I have lots of protection. I get a good breakfast at 9:00 a.m., a good meal at 1:00 p.m., and tea at 5:00 p.m. Not bad but I nearly starve compared with Oh! Canada!

I nearly have fallen arches walking around London, but there is much to see. The Americans are a standing joke here. They come dashing in and "do" London in one day. What a laugh! I have met Englishmen who have lived here three years and haven't seen the Tower yet. I was out to Croydon the other day and saw the great Imperial Airways planes. The pilots are wonderful. They set a plane down like a handkerchief falling. These planes carry nearly 48 passengers. All nationalities are represented. KLM Lines are Dutch. Then there are many Nazi planes with their good luck signs, etc. The number of aeroplane crack-ups is appalling in England - at least two or three a day. The air is literally filled with them. There are numerous recruiting depots. Boys six feet or over join the Guards, and others the ordinary army. I have seen hundreds of aircraftsmen of the R.A.F., but I have not seen a single officer on the streets.

The Englishman has a sound idea of his social position of "place." He doesn't think he is as good as the other fellow. If a man is his boss, he thinks he is a better man,because if he wasn't, then he would be boss. The average Englishman admires the nobility because of their training and breeding. It would be impossible to crash nobility - it takes years to train them to lift the right wine glass, etc. It seems that there is a glass for port, one for liqueur, one for champagne, etc. - all different shapes. Any Englishman who earns $10,000 or £2,000 a year has a chauffeur for his car. It is really astounding the number of chauffeured cars in London.

The Englishman is very placid and admits it. Some people will dash down the escalators to the tube (train), run for a ticket, jump on a train - so what? There is a tube train about every forty seconds. He doesn't save a minute - why the rush? He never walks fast on the street. The labourers knock off at 10:00 a.m. and have "spots of tea" and the same about 4:00 p.m. No hurry, very slow, but you can be sure the job will be done right if it's ever finished. Homes here are built usually nearly always of stone because there is no wood in England. Newspapers are only a penny (2 cents).

I am staying near St. Pancras Church, where one of the towers was demolished by a German bomb during a raid during the War. The Germans were evidently aiming at the big gas tanks nearby but missed. The bomb killed 15 people standing under an arch for protection. You can see splinters taken out of Cleopatra's needle by enemy bombs. If you mention German air raids to an English woman she nearly jumps out of her skin and gives you a half-hour yarn about the bombing that took place at her Aunt Hettie's.

I have one of Ronny's socks before me as I write this. How I got it I don't know. It is dirty, but a good one. A green and white one - green stripes.

A street organist is outside now playing all the latest jazz tunes for a few pennies. What a country! A fellow will stand in the street and warble a trumpet any way you want for a penny. The weather has been clear and fine all along, but it is now getting cloudy, and I expect it will drizzle for six months.

Everything I write will be old news by the time it gets to you - two weeks at least. Still, if I get sent to an F.T.S. "Flying Training School" I believe I will telegraph you and relieve half a month's strain - if you don't mind. Keep your fingers crossed. How does Jean like being a "big shot?" I bet Ronny can say plenty now. Does he still say "'Bull' go bye bye in car"? When you write, send a man-sized letter. It might fill a little of my time.

In London there are no public reading rooms in the libraries. Too many bums go to sleep in the chairs - actually move right in. Spoils it for me. I think I will see the King about it. London is a wonderful place to visit -really restful and so many wonderful things to see and places to go. And the people! Amazing! Sidewalk artists, organ grinders, groups of blind veterans marching along with outstretched caps and medals gleaming, every store has a uniformed doorman to open your car door and bow you in and out. To go shopping here is quite an occasion. See the London "bobbies," left-hand traffic, dirty Thames, changing of the guard, statues, a huge monument "To the British Empire from the grateful people of Belgium" - things you have never seen before or even heard about. "Put me on the train for London Town" - organist in street (really hot).

With Love, Bill