Please be reassured that I shall always be there for you, through thick and thin.

Tomorrow Monty and I must return to HQ and I will fit in a short visit to see my Pa and his ghastly new wife before heading back to London. The boss has written to say he wants to meet me ASAP as he has ‘exciting news’. Heaven knows what that could mean. But please go on writing to me, when you can, c/o the old address.

I think of you every moment of every day, hoping you get better news.

With all my fondest love,

Vic

Dearest Vic,

Mark didn’t return from the raid, along with the rest of his crew. His fellow pilots believe the plane was hit and disabled in some way. They saw him heading for home but after that, nothing. I still cannot believe it and keep expecting him just to turn up at the door one day.

I am trying not to think about the straggler we couldn’t identify that night. I have asked our CO to check with Stanmore whether they ever got a firm identification, but they are so busy and it would require someone to trawl back through the records of that night, so he isn’t hopeful of a reply.

I am back at work now and just managing to get through each day as best I can, but I’m completely broken up inside. Ma and Pa are putting on the old stiff upper lip, of course. He works all hours on the trains and she continues to be queen of the WRVS but I know they are devastated, as am I.

Marcia and the others have rallied round and try to make sure I am never alone, although sometimes that’s exactly what I want, time on my own to cry for my lovely brother.

I so wish you were here to put your arms around me.

Your loving

Kath

Dearest Kath,

I’m sure everyone’s been trying to comfort you by telling you that ‘missing’ doesn’t mean dead and that miracles do happen – and they can, of course. But I also know how hard it is to cling to any hope when you’ve had news like this. In the meantime you absolutely must not, for a single moment, believe that Mark was in that ‘straggler’ plane or that you had anything to do with it. Other planes failed to come home that night. It was not your fault.

Here is my new PO address.

With all my love forever,

Vic

Dearest Kath,

I think of you every moment of every day, and miss you so much. But I’m afraid this letter brings mixed news. The Yanks were apparently so impressed that they want me to join a research team over there into some really cutting-edge developments in our field. It’s so confidential they’re not even sharing many details until I get there, although the boss has given broad hints. Of course they have oodles of money to throw at these things so it’s a pretty exciting opportunity.