My own sweet and precious wife,
I’m going to try to smuggle this letter out tonight and by the time you get it I will be on the water. I’d like you to know that I’m leaving with my thoughts full of you. There is little I can say that will fully explain how I feel. To tell you I love you seems quite inadequate but it really seems the only thing to say and dear, I do love you.
I don’t want you to worry about me any more than you can help. Try and concentrate on Peter and David as much as you can. I’m not going to take any unnecessary risks or do anything foolhardy that isn’t a part of my job for I have too much at stake to take silly risks.
At the same time dear should those risks be demanded of me I don’t want to be found wanting for dearest, you and all you stand for, love and happiness, are well worth fighting for and if more is demanded, then sweetheart it must be given.
Whatever happens darling, I want you to know that ever since that day at the hospital that I have told you of many a time, I‘ve been in love with you and you only. It seems a long, long while ago now since those days but dearest you are still as fresh and bright in my mind and memory as then and I want you to feel that I’m always with you in my thoughts.
Sweetheart you have been the dearest and sweetest wife that a man could possibly have and I only long now for my return to you, may that be very soon.
Cheerio my own sweet and beautiful wife. I will write to you as often as I can and I will be with you in thought always.
Ever dearest your own loving husband,
Norm
xxxxxxxxxx
PS: What wouldn’t I give for the real kisses now
Beyond a doubt, my grandparents are my heroes. I named my son after Pop and I strive to honour Nan’s compassion in the decisions I make.
Every Anzac Day I think about the sacrifices that both my grandparents made to protect the freedoms we enjoy today.
My grandfather left behind two young sons to fight in World War II. I can’t imagine how it must have felt leaving your wife and children behind to fight on foreign shores, not knowing if you would ever see them again. And I can’t imagine what it was like being left behind, raising two young children and trying keep a brave face amidst so much uncertainty.
Their letters help paint a very human picture of the very real impacts of war.
Pop went on to become a Lieutenant in the Australian Army, fighting in the Middle East and Papua New Guinea.
Very fortunately for me, he returned to Australia and went on to have three more children – including my father. He later became the Mayor of Brunswick in Melbourne and received an OBE for services to scouting and the community. There is a park named after him on the corner of Blythe and Lygon streets in Brunswick.
Nan founded the first Victorian chapter of Save the Children, among many other achievements.
It’s been almost 30 years since Pop passed away and 25 years since we lost Nan, but their love lives on in their letters.
Theirs is a love story for the ages. It’s a reminder that the work we do at BAE Systems matters – as we help protect those who protect us.
