This WebSite holds letters that shine a light on a life in Engalnd just before, during and just after the Second World War; the earliest was written in 1936, so is over 80 years old; the people mentioned have mostly now been "gathered", so these letters have not been "censored" nor "redacted".

"The girls" mentioned below are Heather, who was was born in 1915; and her sister Betty, born in 1917.  Their elder brother Peter was born in 1913, and, by the time these letters were written, had joined the BSA Police in Southern Rhodesia.

Their father was born in 1857, so was 58 when Heather was born. He had been a career soldier, and had retired in 1907 at the age of 50.  He had met their mother in 1912 on board ship - he, then 55, was travelling to the USA to give a lecture tour, while she, then only 23, had been taken by her father on a cruise to the Caribbean.  They found that they shared a birthday; they fell in love, and were married in England after his return, in October, 1912.

The girls' parents travelled a lot, and in 1935 had taken their two girls, Heather and Betty, around the world.  And the following year, took them to Africa.  On the voyage home from Capetown, Betty, like her mother, met, on board ship, a man with whom she shared a birthday - his fate was sealed !

Betty and her husband G. were married five monhs later on 24th September, 1936, and sailed back to Africa, for his career was with the Government of Northern Rhodesia.  She was nineteen; he was twenty-nine.

So Heather, a 21-year-old "girl about town", was mad keen on horses (and young men!), while Betty was living "in the bush" in Darkest Africa, and immediately fell pregnant.  These sisters, who had always been good friends, carried on a correspondence for the next 28 years, until Betty's husband retired in 1964, and they returned to England.

The Banner across the top of the page represent a rural English scene for Heather, and the Victoria Falls for Betty.

This WebSite contains the surviving letters from Heather to Betty, which were kept by Betty.  Betty wrote frequently to her parents, with a copy to her husband's parents, and a copy for herself, and these are being posted >here<.  Betty would also have written letters only to Heather, but would not have kept a copy, and these letters have not been found - they were probably destroyed soon after receipt, or after Heather died in 1986.  Betty died in 2004.

Letters will be added as they are transcribed.  It's a slow process, and not high on the list of priorities.  As each is added, a "story" will be posted in the NEWS section. 

There WILL be "typos", so please let me know of those you spot, so that they can be corrected. 

Transcribing is a slow process.  If you have the time and the inclination to help with this, that would be very welcome.  I can email you the scans, and you can email me the text,

Just click >here<  

---oOo---

Click >here< to start reading
Heather's letters to her younger sister Betty.

If you click on any of the ads below or on the right, you will be carried off to that advertiser's WebSite.  I have no control over these, but that is why this WebSite is free - and why it will remain after I, too, have been gathered. 

Provided that some people DO visit those advertiser's WebSites !