ROYAL AIR FORCE,

 HEMSWELL, 

  LINCOLN.

                                      TEL. HEMSWELL 256 & 257

Wednesday 30th October, 1940

Dear Father and Mother,

          Well, here we are at Hemswell - you may well say where the devil is Hemswell, but if you look at the address you will see that it is in Lincolnshire.   Actually it is about 15 miles north of Lincoln and nine miles south of Gainsborough.   I arrived here last night, having been posted at very short notice to the crack squadron of the group - the place positively oozes DFCs, and everyone seems very pleasant.   I have procured a very good room for myself - very modern, H & C etc, and I think it will be a comfortable Mess.   I have taken my wireless operator with me, and will take over the flight commander’s crew on the next trip.

          I got quite a surprise the other day – Dick phoned me from a switchboard near Doncaster.   He sounded very cheerful, and is still very keen to get into the RAF.   He is getting the Major to recommend him for transfer on the grounds that he was a member of a flying club at Gatwick before the war!   He wanted to know whether I thought it would work, so I told him to be careful not to commit himself, and that I thought it might work - just to encourage him.   Anyway, he was in good spirits, as usual, and still persists in calling me a “lucky dog” - don't know why!

          But you wait until you see my motor car.   It's a magnificent affair - MG Magnette open sports model - did 85 on the Great North Road yesterday without any effort - properly tuned up it should do about 90 - I can tell you, I fancy myself in it!!   Best car on the camp!

          I suppose Tommy is still at Stoke - I must drop him a line soon - I meant to put Tom, but I forgot to stop in time, so I made it Tommy - silly, isn't it? 

          Well, cheerio for now, 

                    love from Geoffrey.

The car was named Pluto.