Major P.C. Benham,

G Branch

HQ 1 Corps District

BAOR

Sunday 24^th February

My dearest Maz

First of all I must thank you a whole lot for the magnificent ‘celebration’ cake which arrived on Thursday – it is an absolute beauty and there is no sort of doubt that it is the very best ever – I am eking it out ever so carefully.  During the week I’ve had 2  most welcome letters from you, dated the 12^th and 15^th – please thank the various senders of kind messages to me and say that I will not be writing (!) but hope to see them soon.  You seem to have been anything but an ‘Ellsworth’ recently, and hope you really will get down to see Aunt Beth at the beginning of March – Eileen told me of her visit, only fairly successful, to London, the other day, and that she had bought some theatre tickets for you – the housewives deserve and need as many excursions of this kind that they can get – well done the housewives!

The weather has been absolutely haywire here this week, sun rain snow wind and a thunderstorm!  The one day when we wanted it reasonably fine was Wednesday, when we went off to BOCHUM to play 3 Medium Regt in the first round of the Rhine Army Inter Unit competition – during the morning it kept clearing up after periodic blizzards, and we went over after an early lunch.  We had one blizzard in the first half and there was a bitter wind but it cleared up, and half way through the second half, when we were leading 3-0 another blizzard started, it got very dark, thundered, and this time didn’t clear, so we had to abandon the game.  That evening Peter Royle came over to have dinner with me and we had a most enjoyable evening, including a good old natter about the days in the 17^th.  Table tennis activities were confined to Tuesday evening when Leonard Olney and I had 2 matches, one at the Local General Hospital for the Corps HQ team, and the other at the barracks against another branch.  We both won our games at the Hosp and again up at the Barracks, where our win has just us at the top of the Inter-Branch league.

I was asked to play 2 matches this weekend in Brussels for Rhine Army v the Leopold Club and after a lot of harring and humming I decided not to go – it would have been very difficult as Martin Buick is away, and this is Leonard Olney’s last weekend, and at the time of my refusal there was no sign of a new G3 to replace him – he has arrived now, and Leonard goes on Tuesday.  If the weather in Brussels is anything like it has been here this weekend they will not have played – it has been snowing on and off (mostly on) since Friday and there must be at least 6 ins on the ground now.  As luck would have it we had no hockey arranged for this weekend and I spent most of the time since lunch yesterday (Saturday is now officially a half-day) either asleep(!) or sorting my kit out, in a fortnights time today (DV) I shall be ‘on my way’ with next stop HOME, and that thought caps all others now, home for ever – whoopee!   After all this I nearly forgot to thank you for the letter which arrived this morning, dated the 19^th I was very interested to hear about the Memorial Service for Hugh.  So I shan’t have the please of seeing you in the ‘demobbed’ mac – Busby did well to get it for £2 – but I still don’t like the ww at the back of the macs!  Are Ma and Pa J back at Mistley Place now? or have they retired?

In the work line I’ve been very busy again this week and shall continue to be until my relief comes in tomorrow week.  I shall be delighted to make his acquaintance!  I had a long chat with John Stephens on the phone the other day – he had got some letters from Hamburg for Nora King and he tells me he has sent them to you – one of his officers went up there recently.  He is coming up to have dinner with me on Thursday.  Well, little Maz, I must away and hop into a much needed bath – only 18 more days now.  I’m so longing to see you again, my love to Pari and Brian, much love to you,

            Yours as ever

very affectionately

                        Peter

In envelope headed ‘O A S’ addressed to Mrs Gerald C Benham, 5 Oxford Road Colchester Essex.

Postmarked FIELD POST OFFICE 734 dated 26 FE 46.  Signed P.C. Benham.   

On front of envelope Written Feb 24^th 1946 rec March 2^nd 1946 (11)