Evening star., 1942-09-27


Forces somewhere in England. 1t.
r. M. Sullivan writes to his mother.
Mrs. Margaret r. Sullivan, 316 East
Monroe avenue, Alexandria, Va,
Of his impressions and experiences
upon first arriving in the isles. The
following are a few excerpts from
several OF his most recent letters.
August %, 1912.
First Of all. censorship allows me
to tell you 1 am in England but not
exactly where. although I may say
I expect to be visiting London as
soon and If We get the time off
Transportation is very serious
problem over here. Every one rides
a bicycle, even the elderly women
The few cars being used are pc
culiar, being the size Of Austins or
maybe slightly larger with the
steering wheel on the right side
They also drive on the left side Of
the road. Gasoline is called petrol
Is Learning Money.
"The money, of course, is all new
to me. but I'm learning fast since
We can't use American currency of
any kind. I won't have much of any
to spend either as far as that goes.
I had to collect about a Thousand
dollars or more from my own men
for exchange and figuring 1t out was
quite a job.
Were living in camouhaged tents
which are not too uncomfortable
There are three of us officers to a
tent, and we have mattresses, steel
cots, a table and bench, and kero-
sene lamps. One Of the fellows has
a good portable radio which keeps
loneliness away. Have had the
States on it couple of times 1t
has been quite chilly, but have six
blankets and keep plenty warm. All
my clothing and equipment arrived
a couple DAYS after we did, so I'm
we'll off in that respect.
THE food was scarce and not
tempting at first, but it is improv-
ing. American rations have not as
yet arrived and all the tents, cots
etc. have been furnished by the
British. They have treated us swell
and have gone out of their way to
do things for us. We're using Eng
lish trucks Oorries) and they're
peculiar looking, compared with
ours.
Likes English Accent.
The English accent gives me a lot
of enjoyment. 1 can't understand
them half the time. I met an
Englishman last night who had
spent some time in the United
States a few years back and he re-
ferred to his language as English
and ours as American, as though
it were an entirely foreign language
The people here are not too well
of. and it's easy to see how ration
ing has affected them. We don't
know what 1t is in the United States
For instance, the few taxis that are
still left here afe allowed only one
quart and half of petrol day. No
one drives at night. and the towns
are blacked out so entirely, you'd
think they were ghost towns.
THE trip over was very interest
ing, though uneventful In general
We did have three or four subma
rine alarms. but resulted in nothing
We were too strongly protected by
warships and planes for any sub te
fool around. There were quite 8
few ships. all big ones, in the convoy
and it was an impressive sight. We
were on the largest ship ever bull
in the United States and had nice
staterooms-that is. the officers did
The men we're crowded into every
corner available. The ship had q
movie theater, an empty swimming
pool, library, ballroom, an eleva.
tor, de luxe dining room for ON
GERS only. and innumerable other
luxuires.
Sees Whale ut Sea.
"We wore life preservers con-
stantly and had few boat or aban-
don ship drills. We were told, BY
the ships officers, the various safety
factors Of the ship and no one ap-
peared worried about an attack. !
wasn't, nor did I get seasick at any
time. 1t was plenty rough sailing
the last half of the trip and kind OF
fun with the spray completely en-
veloping us at times. Some of the
waves would 60 completely over the
bow OF the warship next to us and
it was a sight to behold. Oh, yeah
saw a whale the second or third
day at sea. We made one stop on
the way over, but couldn't leave the
ship. We had church services
aboard and I attended on Sunday
and the holy day. 1t was good to
see land again and know your feet