29 September 1936

Dear Jean:

I was very glad to get your letter. It must seem a very long time before you really get an answer to any of your letters. You can thank Ronny very much for the sock.

By the time you get this letter, I shall be flying high in the wet foggy weather they have over here. It rains continually, except for short periods. You can really feel the damp cold, although the temperature doesn't drop much below 60o above. I read in the Calgary Herald that you have rain, hail and snow all on the same day within an hour.

How do you like your new bicycle? I'll bet the other girls are quite jealous. I am sorry I couldn't send you anything for your birthday, but there ought to be something nice at Christmas for you.

As I write here, I can look out the window and see Trafalgar Square. There is a high column of stone with Nelson on top of it and the inscription "England expects every man to do his duty." Thousands of pigeons fly around perched on the shoulders and heads of boys and girls and even on their hands, pecking away at pieces of bread and seed.

There are hundreds of cars, double decker busses, etc. going around the square. All the traffic must go around it to help relive congestion.

I walk down to Canada House every morning. I walk down Woburn Place, then Kingsway and around the corner and then walk down the strand for six or seven streets (strolling down the Strand).

The Savoy, the most famous hotel in London, is on this street.

Picadilly Circus, with all the theatres, is only two streets away and is a beautiful sight at night.

At the present time there are about thirty Canadians in the rotunda or smoking room here. The ceiling is about fifty or sixty feet high and has a very grand appearance.

I hope you are saving the English stamps. The first Prince of Wales stamp you received was a first-day issue. I got them the hour the Post Office opened, so should be valuable.

I really like this climate. It is restful and you can really fill your lungs with air - really a difference from 3,500 feet to 0 feet. I never felt better in my life, so tell Mother not to worry about Billy. There is nothing wrong with anybody who passes the Air Ministry physical test, I can assure you.

Tell Mother that I will send money home as soon as possible. By Christmas I should be able to pay a good instalment. Right now I have worn the seat of my suit through (practically) and my lounge suit looks like the last rose of summer. So after I buy a few clothes, I shall be all right.

Of course I get a £50 grant for uniforms on top of my pay, but must get a dinner jacket suit and full dress suit (tails) for Mess. I have also to get a good cloth coat. I nearly freeze to death, or will.

I believe all flying equipment is provided, at least at Civil School.

I will probably be at Reading for two months.

Tell Mother that civilian is spelled with one "l," not two.

Those pictures of Ronnie were sure good. He seems to have grown a tremendous lot. How is his vocabulary? What can he say not that he couldn't before, anyway?

I think you are a terrible sister for not writing more, so let's hear from you.

With love,
Bill
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[1]Pitman shorthand or name of firm Pitman's. Bill had taken this in short course commercial.