An Airman's Lost Letters

A note from the Editors: The last letter home we have from Oliver, who appears to be very much enjoying squadron life Franked 11 SP 17 O.A.S. Mrs Chas. E. Pearson, Hillcrest, Lowdham, Notts. Letter 16 70 Squadron RFC BEF France Sunday 9.9.17 Letter 16 My dear people I received “the dear enemy” yesterday & thank you very much for it. I haven’t yet finished Pickwick so I shall not start it just yet but I can see its going to be like Daddy Long legs. I haven’t again been over the lines – yet but it is my turn next & we are to be very busy now. We have been having very cloudy days so have hardly been able to fly at all. I had rather a go the other night as 19 others formed a party got a tender & went into the ancient city. We had a most jovial little dinner & a good rag afterwards & I for one came home feeling much better for the rag & the good time. Last night the whole squadron was invited to have dinner with a neighbouring one. They gave ...

A note from the Editors: We are missing a letter which is a pain, as things have moved on a pace since Olivers last letter! He has now been posted back to 70 Squadron and straight back in the saddle, with a description of his first eventful flight over enemy lines - 'Hunland'. It has been just 3 weeks since his crash. Franked 8 SP 17 O.A.S. Mrs Chas. E. Pearson, Hillcrest, Lowdham, Notts. Letter No. 15 II 70 Squadron RFC BEF France 6.9.17 Letter no 15 Dear Mother & Dad. I have just received two letters from you dated 2 Sept so that they have only taken 4 days to come. I am again with my Squadron. I played my last card and won. I slung my weight about till I must have made everyone fed up with me & so they got a hustle on. I came back yesterday morning & flew in the afternoon for about an hour & a half. This morning at 5.30 I was wakened up to say I was for patrol at six. I was a bit surprised you bet but I have had my first trip over hunland. It was very cloudy ...

A note from the Editors: Oliver gets passed as fit, but is still waiting to be posted back to a Squadron. Also very difficult to read his review of the concert party without 'Blackadder' in the back of my mind. Franked 3 SP 17 Mrs Chas. E. Pearson, Hillcrest, Lowdham, Notts. Letter No. 13 70 Squadron RFC BEF France 1 Sept 1917 Letter no 13 Dear Mother Isn’t it rotten I haven’t been posted back yet but live in hope as other fellows are being posted to other squadrons flying the same machines but none go to 70. I had a jolly fine time last night. I was mooning around in ----------- when I was hailed in a loud voice from a tender & there was my pal Smith Grant & lots of other 70 fellows all going to a concert so of course away I went with them. We went to see the “Crumps” concert party. They are jolly good & very famous. They have a chap who dresses as a girl who is simply fine. His (her) picture apeared in the Tatler or the Sketch for last week. Her n...

A note from the Editors: Still recovering in hospital. Also interesting to note, in our modern lifestyles where so much is disposable, especially if broken, that Oliver's goggles that were smashed in his crash have been sent away to be repaired! Franked 1 SP 17 Mrs Chas. E. Pearson, Hillcrest, Lowdham, Notts. Letter No. 12 70 Squadron RFC BEF France 29.8.17 Dear Mother I have just had a letter from you dated 19.8.17 & as it’s the first I have had for a fortnight you bet I was pleased. I have also had the first instalment of papers which are very welcome indeed as I am very short of literature. I have just finished the Tale of Two Cities & am now reading Pickwick which I have often tried to read befor but never got beyond the first chapter. I am enjoying it immensely. I don’t know how Jim would recognise a Camel as I more than suspect he has never seen one as there is only one aerodrome in England where there are any. What you saw was most probably a DH5...

A note from the Editors: Recovering well in hospital, but suffering aerial attacks from mosquitoes and Huns. Hopes of rejoining 70 Sqn. don't look good either after a chat with the adjutant... Franked 25 AUG 17 Mrs Chas. E. Pearson, Hillcrest, Lowdham, Notts. 39 Stationary Hospital France Address to 70 Squadron BEF France 25.8.17 Letter no 11 My dear Mother I am still in hospital although now I am up & about & yesterday went out for a walk up the town. The stitch on the outside of my mouth has been taken out & that cut is quite healed but the one inside is not taken out yet although I expect it will be to day. All swelling has gone down practically & my eye has now only rings and contours round it & no swelling. I shall leave here I suppose in two days at most & where I shall go I don’t know. I hope to get back to my squadron & shall swing like mad to do so but one cannot be sure that’s what’s worrying me a lot just now. My watch has a...

A note from the Editors: A couple of days after the crash and Oliver is recovering, and news about the accident from a fellow squadron mate shows he was lucky to escape so lightly. Franked 24 AUG 17 Mrs Chas. E. Pearson, Hillcrest, Lowdham, Notts. 39 Stationary Hospital France } BEF France 70 Squadron Letter no 10 My dear people The above are my two addresses but address my letters to the second as I hope not to be here much longer. My cuts have healed very rapidly although I haven’t had the stitches out yet & my eye is practically unbunged up. My greatest sorrow is the loss of my two teeth which I cannot get over. It’s so awkward amongst other things to eat. I even have to eat pears with a spoon! & I think that is the outside edge. The two teeth I have lost were also the two I invariably held my pipe with & it feels so awkward holding it in the other side. One tooth, one of my tombstones, has gone completely & the one next door is all cracked up what...

A note from the Editors: After only being in the Squadron a couple of days, Oliver is involved in a bad crash, writing off his Sopwith Camel and putting him in hospital, luckily with only superficial wounds. Franked 22 AUG 17 Mrs Chas. E. Pearson, Hillcrest, Lowdham, Notts. 39 Stationary Hospital France 21.8.17 Letter No 9 Dear Mother This is only a very temporary address & I am writing with all haste so that you may not be alarmed if you see my name in the casualty lists. I am here as the result of an aeroplane accident. The aerodrome I was on was fairly big but on one side you took off over a valley & in doing so yesterday my engine conked & I of course had to turn round which is a fatal thing to do & anyway after turning I remember no more. I came down about 200 feet & smashed the machine to atoms so I am told but all that is the matter with me is a sprained ankle a cut lip a cut eye my jaw somewhat cut about & worst of all two teeth knocke...

A note from the Editors: Oliver finally gets posted! He moves to 70 Squadron, based in Liettres, the first R.F.C. squadron to be issued with the new Sopwith Camel, only a month or so before. Franked 18 AUG 17 Mrs Chas. E. Pearson, Hillcrest, Lowdham, Notts. 70 Squadron : BEF : France 18.8.17 Letter No 8 My Dear Mother I shifted here yesterday I am jolly glad to at last have the chance of some flying. I kicked up a row at the Pool because I was there so long & found that headquarters had lost my name!! & yet they say there’s a war on. The day befor I left we had a hun plane over the town. He was an awful height up at least 15,000 & our Archie made pretty patterns in the sky with smoke puffs but didn’t even make the hun turn. Our fellows went up but were years late & so I expect he got home again safely. He did no damage & it was thought he had lost his way as huns don’t generally come so far back without laying eggs. As far as I can see I have fairl...

A note from the Editors: Oliver is still stuck at the Pilots Pool 3 weeks after arriving, but seems to have cheered up a little after a night out in town with two fellows from 34 Sqn. Franked 17 AUG 17 7. Mrs Chas. E. Pearson, Hillcrest, Lowdham, Notts. France 14.8.17 Address as usual letter no 7 My dear Mother I am again writing to-day although I only wrote yesterday but this is to be quite a business letter. Enclosed please find Cheque for £20 (twenty pounds) 2 photographs 2 postcards The cheque is for you to pay my bills with. There are not many the two biggest being with Stones in Nottm & Allports in Brum. The photos one is of me with not much clothing on & will hardly bear publication. (Give it to Jim) It was taken by another fellow & given me here. The other is of Lt Roberts MC : DCM & Scottie Brown & my Pup doing his favourite trick of chewing the rubber end of Robert’s stick behind is an Aero with a Cleget engine. The waving things o...

A note from the Editors: Oliver still waiting to be posted, and feeling dejected as all his fellow pilots have already gone to squadrons. Franked 11 AUG 17 Mrs Chas. E. Pearson, Hillcrest, Lowdham, Notts. No1AD Officers Pool Mess France 8.8.17 Letter No 5 My dear Mother I got your first letter yesterday & was so pleased to have the photos. I thought that particular film had gone west with two others that have been lost. Arent the photos good as such considering the light in which they were taken. Ena is awful serious in hers isn’t she about the only second she looked serious that day – of course. I shall have them mounted & hang them near my bed when I get a bed of my own. I haven’t been posted yet as you see but expect to be to-night. I am very desolate as all my real friends who have been with me now on 3 moves (4 of them) have been posted. The last went to-night. He has been with me all through since Turnhouse & was a very white friend. He was an Austr...

A note from the Editors: In this letter Oliver Oliver explains the letter numbering system he has started using.  A wise move for such a prolific writer sending mail regularly home from France, it has made putting the later letters in chronological order much easier for us! (We will keep up our numbering system in the post titles, which start from the first letter we have, not from when Oliver is posted to France.) Franked 9 AUG 17 Mrs Chas. E. Pearson, Hillcrest, Lowdham, Notts. No1AD Officers Pool Mess B.E.F. France 8.8.17 Letter No 4 Dear Mother I have not as yet been shifted from here & am very sore because they have sent away three junior pilots to me. I hope to be sent away almost anytime to-day or to-morrow but cannot tell. I am in future always going to number my letters as above & then you will know if any don’t arrive. I got the tip from one of the men whose letter I censored his was 178 but I hope not to get so far before I begin again after...

A note from the Editors: An undated letter, but one we think was probably written on Sunday the 5th August. The domed huts Oliver describes are the famous Nissen Huts http://www.nissens.co.uk/default.htm (letter 2) No1AD Officers Pool Mess France (Tues) Dear Mother, Just a little note as it’s Sunday to say that I haven’t been posted yet & don’t know when I shall be. Here we do no flying only loaf around waiting to be posted. We work all morning & afternoon on various jobs such as the construction of a tennis lawn on the side of a hill needing a lot of levelling & pumping water up to the main reservoir tank from the well at the bottom of the hill. This is a very small camp just a few huts clustered together round a mess hut. They are very different huts to those in England only holding about 8 beds & are more like a barrel cut in halves no sides just a rounded dome of corrugated iron lined with wood. They have a door at the end & four windows also a...

A note from the Editors: Oliver is now at the Officers Pool Mess, waiting to be posted to a Squadron. Franked 5 AUG 17 O.A.S. Mrs Chas. E. Pearson, Hillcrest, Lowdham, Notts, England. No1AD Officers Pool Mess France Frid Aug 3 Dear Mother, I am writing because at the moment I do not have anything better to do and I am in a comfortable office. I am Relieving Orderly Officer which means I have to sit here & wait for a telephone bell to ring while the real Orderly Officer has his lunch. I hope to get mine but am uncertain. I haven't been posted yet as the weather being so vile there is no flying & therefore no one is killed or injured. The above weather is phenominal. It started with a most peculiar wind storm. From a flat calm & clear sky suddenly within 5 minutes arose a violent wind with racing black clouds & thunder & lightning of great violence which all lasted about half an hour & then passed off as it started leaving all serene...

A note from the Editors: An undated letter from Oliver, describing his journey to France. Interesting that he is the second officer ever to go over officially listed as a 'Camel Pilot'. I wonder who was the first? No 1 AD Pool Pilots BEF France Dear Mother, The above is my present abode. I crossed on Friday 26.7.17 from Folkstone to Boulogne. We had a very quiet crossing really only with a nasty beam wind which made the boat roll nastily but not enough to make me feel seedy. The crossing was too absorbingly interesting anyway. There were four boats & 3 destroyers. I had only about an hour in Boulogne so had only time to smell the awful stenches of the place & to get some food at the officers club there. I then boarded a train which took four hours to go twenty miles! It stopped twice in open county away from a station because I suppose it was getting ahead of schedule. It stopped so long at most stations (save the name in most cases) that we (I & 3...

A note from the Editors: Oliver is getting stuck into the final stages of his training at Uphaven now, putting hours in on several Sopwith machines. Franked 25 JUL 17 Mrs Chas. E. Pearson, Hillcrest, Lowdham, Notts Central Flying School, Uphaven, Wilts. 24.7.17 Dear Mother I am very sorry my last letter should have had the note of sadness in it it was not meant to convey also that this one is so late for a Sunday Epistle. You I am sure read into my letters far more than is meant to be there. I don’t withdraw any of my statements this is a dismal hole & the mess is awful so awful that we “the Nine” as we call ourselves have permanently bagged the end of a table, from which at meal times there arises howls of laughter & loud jokes to the horror of the rest of the fellows. A bicycle is impossible as I could hardly use it in the time I have left if I could get one even. Aprs la guerre Maman je explainera tout les photographses till then you must be content with...

A note from the Editors: A rather confusing letter, as Oliver describes the canoes they have been using as 'single seater scouts'. He must obviously have fighters on the brain as he has just received the news that at the Central Flying School he will be taught to fly the famous Sopwith Camel, regarded by many as one of the best fighter aircraft produced during the Great War. A reputation for being very difficult to fly, it was also incredibaly manouverble and well armed with two Vickers guns firing through the propeller. It started service in the RFC about the same time as this letter, with 70 Squadron. The Avroes Oliver refers to are the venerable Avro 504 the RFC used as trainer aircraft. 34 RS RFC Ternhill (‘Royal Flying Corps, Market Drayton‘ on headed paper) Monday Franked 14 JY 17 Mrs Chas E Pearson 5 Madeira park Tonbridge Wells Central Flying School, Uphaven, Wilts. 13.7.17 Dear Mother I am writing to announce a change of address. I came here tod...

A note from the Editors: Since posting the last letter, we have found out, via the Great War forum , that '34 RS', was in fact No34 Reserve Squadron, where Oliver would have received his advanced flying training. This letter is undated, but is very near the end of Oliver's training at Ternhill. By this stage he must have been a proficient pilot, not only to be doing long cross country flights but also giving Officers joyrides! 34 RS RFC Ternhill (‘Royal Flying Corps, Market Drayton‘ on headed paper) Monday Dear Mother Since last writing very little has happened to speak of. I have been doing about an hour a day flying but little else. The rest of my time I spend lazing round & going for walks but the latter seem to have lost their interest since I lost my pup. On Friday I took up two officers who had never been up befor, & it was really quite funny to see the way in which they went on when they came down. They got as far as having heated argument...

Franked 3 JY 17 Mrs Chas E Pearson 5 Madeira park Tonbridge Wells Kent 34 RS RFC Ternhill Nr Market Drayton (‘Royal Flying Corps, Market Drayton‘ headed paper) 5.7.17 Dear Mother I well deserve a good strafeing for not writing sooner & my excuse should have been no excuse although it was the cause as it put writing clean out of my head till lait one night as I lay in bed thinking so I wrote first off next day. Nothing has been heard or seen of the missing photos so bang goes sixpence & a lot of pleasure. To-day I loaned a motor bike & went rouring round till I ran into a lot of wounded officers painting a church porch. One of them had been on the aerodrome that morning so I stopped & had tea & a rag with them & came away a bit cheered up but life does hang heavily on ones hands now; nothing to do all day exept bite ones nails & hang around. Bettys parcel seems to have arrived safely & she seems fearfully pleased with it. I don’t think...

A note from the Editors: The first letter from Oliver while training at Ternhill, Shopshire. We are unsure what '34 RS' is. Some sort of school or squadron? We can also sympathise with Oliver on the loss of his photographs... What we'd give to see a few snapshots of his life in the RFC! Franked 3 JY 17 Mrs Chas E Pearson 5 Madeira park Tonbridge Wells Kent 34 RS RFC Ternhill Nr Market Drayton (‘Royal Flying Corps, Market Drayton‘ headed paper) Dear Mother. I am sorry to have been so long in writing to assure you I arrived safely, I have done so, but I have been very upset indeed. I went into the Mess on arriving to get my mail & found among others a bill from Kodaks for 10/6 for my last four films. I expected them to arrive next morning but was opening my other letters when one of my friends came up & said “Lets look at your photos” & I told him they hadn’t arrived & he said of course they have they arrived two days ago. It seems that...

A note from the Editors: Because this letter is undated, we cannot be absolutely sure of its position amongst the others but believe this is about the right place in the sequence. UNDATED LETTER 34 R S RFC Tuesday (‘Royal Flying Corps, Market Drayton' headed paper) Dear Mother I arrived back safely at the time I expected. With a little difficulty I got the train stopped at Ternhill & so was saved the trouble of carrying a heavy bag 3 miles from Drayton. My camera has not arrived as they haven’t one in stock but I am trying other places. To-day is hot enough to fry potatoes. My leave did not come through for some reason & I am going to apply again. It’s a beastly nuisance & I cannot account for it at all. I am very fed up about it & think that my CO did not put in a good word for me. There is as yet no news, but you had better tell Auntie not to expect me till she gets a Telegram from me. I enjoyed those few days at home immensely they were s...