25 October 1938

Dear Mother:

Writing this on my knee, so don't expect neatness.

Beautiful weather here every day with strong sunlight. Went swimming again this afternoon at Agemy Beach with F/O Smith.

Very pleased to hear that Jean is now a member of the Alpha Gamma Sorority and is in with a nice crowd of girls.

Although we live in tents here, the sand is very clean and the weather has been perfect, so we have enjoyed every minute of it - a real holiday.

Flew out and did two deck landings on Glorious yesterday. I suppose the weather in Calgary is getting worse every day. How is Ronny now? Are the crops good? Damn it. I find it harder to write letters every day, i.e. to put anything of interest in. I wrote to you about my weekend trip to Cairo by air - certainly a wonderful trip and plenty of time to look over the pyramids, etc. from the air. We slept in the mess at Heliopolis. I think we will end this commission next September in England and we still hope to attend the World's Fair in New York - here's hoping!!

Well as I have just finished my second year's flying - it seems like 40!! - I have $500 in good old government backing and a further $500 every year from now which isn't so bad. As I have considerably over $500 worth of uniforms I must insure it as soon as possible. I am also thinking of starting some sort of annuity (wrong word) say, set aside $5 or $10 a month. Not much of a hope at present.

The squadron is doing a lot of night searchlight patrols for Alexandria - i.e. we fly and they try to pick us up at various heights - which they do with some ease! We fly in tight formation at night with the aid of tiny dull blue formation lights behind the struts which are only visible about 20 yards.

Patrols are usually for about two to two-and-a-half hours. Nimrods carry considerably more fuel as they have to operate over the sea. The personnel in Squadron are a grand lot.

Send me some pictures of life at 1608 soon. I like to see the family grow up and Jean in her new jacket!

Well if there is anything you want to know about Egypt (amount of rainfall - hours of sunshine, etc. ) consult me.

Love Bill
Took some wizard pictures of camels today - send you some soon!