England Sunday Aug. 29.

                        1

Dear Mother,
     Well another week has
rolled by and time for me to
drop you a few lines.
     I think I am going to go to
church tonight. We had a short
service this morning during
our working hours, otherwise
I wouldn't even know that it
was Sunday. One day is just
like another here. I sure wish
I could drop in and surprise
everyone at home. But I know
that is really impossible to do.
     I received your letter yesterday
the one of August 20th. I got four
yesterday and none today. So I hardly
know what to write about tonight.

                          2

     Our first Sargeant got his
dandruff up in the air this morning
and about 12 barracks of us were
on his K.P. list. From Master
Sargeants on down. Our blackout
wasn't complete enough for him,
and our barracks didn't even
have our lights on. He really
can see things. I thought he
was quite a good fellow before
he got overseas but I am rapidly
changing my mind. I guess we
all have our troubles no matter
where we are at. I know I really
get down in the dumps once in
a while myself. It really does get
lonesome here, because wherever
you go you have to walk. They do
have trucks going to town every
night but when you get there

                         3

there isn't anything to do. So you
might as well stay in camp.
     I have been writing to you
more on this side I believe than
I did in the U.S. but I really don't
have much to write about.
     I must close for now. Hope this
letter finds everyone ok and
give my best regards to all of
my friends.
                         Love Ralph.


The next letter will be posted on Sept. 5th.

Background Information (and comments):

• I thought the expression Ralph used about his first sergeant should have been "got his dander up", but after some research, I found the expression he used. 
• It is often reported that 'it gets my dandruff up' is one of Samuel Goldwyn's celebrated Goldwynisms. 

England Friday Aug. 27, 1943

                         1

Dear Mother,
     I will drop you a few lines
this morning before I go to work.
     I have visited the city of
London and have taken in all
the sights. The bombed areas
and all the great buildings.
     I saw St Pauls Catherdal,
House of Parilment and Commons.
I was on Downing Street and
saw the house Winston
Churchill lives in.
     It really doesn't seem
possible to be here seeing
all the sights and things
you read about everyday.
When I studied history in
school I never dreamed

                       2
that someday I would being
seeing all of the things you studied
about in history.
     London itself is very old
looking and they have narrow
streets and there are lots of
them and they run every which
way.
     They has buses, taxis
and Subways. There subways
I like better than New Yorks.
     The most impressive sight
I believe I saw was Westminster
Abbey. It really is a nice place.
Although a lot of things have
been removed from there for
safe keeping until the war
is over. It has been bombed
and blitzed but not very much
damage done.

                        3
     In the bombed areas of
London proper there are lots of
             empty buildings and they
look as if another bomb would
fall close by they would topple
over. They will probably be torn
down after the war is over.
     At night is the blackout
it really is black. I think it
is darker than any night I
have ever saw. You can hardly
see a thing. I am glad the U.S.
doesn't have to blackout like
London and England does.
     You will kinda have to
share your letters with the
others because I really can't
find time to answer all my
letters. Almost everyday I
receive letters from Cliffs

                       4
Luella's or Harold's. I haven't
been receiving my letters very
fast from Irene lately.
     Some Sunday have her come
over. I know I have written
more to her than I have to you
and both of you can tell each
other and get better ideas of
just how it is over here.
     I must close for now. Please
write soon and often.
                      Love Ralph.


The next letter will be posted on August 29th.

Background Information (and comments):

• This letter was not censored. The blank area is a scratch-out that was unreadable.

England Aug 24, 1943

                        1

Dear Mother,
     Received two letters from
you today. One of Aug. 3rd and
Aug 17. I am glad my mail is
getting through now and you
should be receiving mail quite
regular.
     I got some of Irene's letters
too, they are all old letters
but I am glad to receive them though.
     They really have fast cable
service from here. I sent the
cable a couple of day after
we docked.
     I wish we had some of
your heat here. We have a
fire in our hut every morning.
We lay the fire every night

                      2
and when the bugle sounds
the one sleeping nearest to it
throws in a match. We lay in
bed a few minutes and it takes
the chill out of the air.
     Gee some of those chicken dinners
you have been haveing really
sounds good to me. I can't complain
are meals have been fair and
they are improving so maybe
they will be ok after while.
     I wish you would send Morgs
address to me. Try and get my
address to him, will you?
     Yes, Irene wrote me about
Ferne. I guess everything will
be changed a lot when I get home.
Things don't seem to happen
so fast or you just don't notice
them until you are away.

                       3
     Tell Dad I could be a big help
to him on the barn for I have
been doing the same thing. I
am now in Myrl's old trade.
I guess we must go in the army
to learn things. I will have
plenty of trades to follow when
this war is all over.
     From our papers we receive
and read here I don't know how
this will last much longer. It
surely can't go on forever, and you
can count on me settling down
after it is all of over with.
     Thursday is my day off here
and I hope to visit London.
     Has Mehams received any
word from Morgan? I would like
to know where some of the boys
are at. I haven't run into any as

                      4
yet, but the other night I saw
Charles Taylors name in a
Red Cross registers books at a
club here. Glenn will remember
him. He is from Maumee Ohio.
     Well I must close for now. I
think you will be receiving a
letter from me quite regular
now. My new APO No is
635. So please change it.
     Goodbye for now and please
write soon again. Loads of
love.
                               Ralph
Send me snapshots if it isn't
to much trouble.


The next letter will be posted on August 27th.

Background Information (and comments):

• Thanks to Jerry Guth (husband of Joyce Brown Guth whose parents were Cliff & Marie Brown). In the 1940 census, he found that Irene Setzler was 18 with sisters Ima 17, Fern 15, and Marilyn 12. That makes Irene, Ralph's fiancee, 21 in 1943, and Fern would be 18.
• Morgan was Ralph's first cousin and had recently entered the service. The Mehams were neighbors (as far as I know they were no relation to Ralph or Morgan).
• Glenn was one of Ralph's brothers who lived in the family homestead his entire life.
• Myrl Spalding was married to Ralph's only sister, Luella. 
• Here is a photo of Morgan Ford and his mother Susie Brown Ford. It was taken in 1944.

England Sunday Aug. 22

Dear Mother & all,
          Well here it is Sunday
again, but today sure didn't
seem like it. We work
seven days a week. Sunday
is just as same as any
other day here. Today the
chaplain came around to where
we were working and we
had short services. It is
really different in a Thearte
of Operations.
     I received your first Vmail
letter yesterday. Two from Irene
two from Lenore and one from
Cliff's. I like every letter I
receive and read them about
a dozen times over and over.

                    (2)
     Last night I was in a small
town here. I don't like them
at all. They seem to be so
dead all the time. Most every
one figures they are about
50 years behind time. I sure
will be glad to see the U.S.
again.
     As for hunting up my
distant relatives I think that
would be plenty hard to do.
     I write all my letters on
airmail now because I can't
find enough space on the
V-mail envelopes.
     On my allotments I have
doubled them. They will begin
on the September pay. I hope
to have a nice little future sum

                    (3)
saved up by the time I
get home. I hope I will have
enough to get a nice little
start anyway.
     I guess Ferne beat us
but those that wait always
are ahead in the end.
     I must close for now.
Write a lot because I don't
have much to write about.
Goodbye for now.
                         Love Ralph.


The next letter will be posted on August 24th.

Background Information (and comments):

• Not sure who Ferne is, but guessing a classmate or friend of Irene's. By "beat us", I interpret that as getting to the altar. If anyone reading this has an idea, please let me know and I'll share it in a future comment.
• This is the first letter that Ralph numbered the pages; I try to type them to resemble the way they appear on the paper.
• Here's a pay scale I found for World War II: http://www.militaryhorse.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9760

England. Thursday Aug 19.

Dear Mother,
          How are you at this
writing? I have received a few
letters and they sure are
nice to receive them. This is
the first time I have been
able to write to you this
week.
     Sunday I went into a small
village and they are all
alike. We aren't [censored]
we [censored] were [censored]
     I am sorry I don't write
very long letter. There
isn't hardly a thing that
we are able to write
about. So I guess all I can
write is that I am well

and feeling fine.
     I hope to get a pass
sometime and visit London.
I hope that is a little livier
place than some of these
place.
     Goodbye for now. I will
try to write more in my
next letter. Goodbye and
write often. Send them
by airmail.
                 Love Ralph.


The next letter will be posted on August 22nd.

Background Information (and comments):

• Ralph wrote this letter on airmail paper, so it is narrower and shorter, as well as paper thin.
• According to the stamp, an airmail letter cost 6 cents to mail. (No more free postage.)
• Censoring delays the mail; he wrote it on the 19th, but it was postmarked on the 21st.
• Here is the censored letter (sorry it's sideways).

August 13, 1943

Z14 (ELEVEN) EFM VIA COMML = SANS ORIGINE AMFYMA
 MRS WM S BROWN =
           ROUTE 1 BLISSFIELD MICH =


ALL WELL AND SAFE PLEASE DONT WORRY. ALL MY LOVE =
               RALPH W BROWN
                              . 1150M..

The next letter will be posted on August 19th.

Background Information (and comments):

• I'm just guessing that this telegram was sent on August 13 as there is no date on it. The only date is the postmark on the envelope which was stamped in Adrian MI (receiving site).
• Here's some information about the Postal Telegraph-Cable Company and the current status of telegrams:

Postal Telegraph Company (Postal Telegraph & Cable Corporation) was a major operator of telegraph and Telex networks in the United States prior to its consolidation with Western Union in 1943.^[1] Postal partnered with Commercial Cable Company for overseas cable messaging.

• Postal was founded in the decade of the 1880s by John William Mackay, an entrepreneur who had made a fortune in silver mining in the Comstock Lode. Mackay's original purpose was to provide a domestic wire network to directly link with the Atlantic Cable. Mackay built the Postal network by the purchase of existing firms that were insolvent. The company was initially called The Pacific Postal Telegraph Cable Co.^[2]Under president Albert Brown Chandler, the Postal network was able to achieve sufficient economy of scale to compete with Western Union, occasionally controlling as much as 20% of the business.

It is no longer possible to send a telegram, and the U.S. Post Office never sent telegrams for customers. The service is obsolete, and the last telegram in the United States was sent by Western Union on Feb. 2, 2006. India was the last country in the world to use the telegraph to send messages and sent its final telegram on July 13, 2013.

Here is the telegram:

Front of envelope:

Back of envelope:

England August 12, 1943

Dear Mother,
          Hope this finds everyone well and happy.
I have just received one letter this week. It was
from Luella and she wrote as if she hadn't heard
where I am at yet. I suppose by this time you
have received some of my letters. You should have
anyway. My mail is awlful so in coming in.
Has Morgan left for the Air Corps yet? If you see
him or his folks tell him to write. I try to write
to a lot of folks, but as it stands now I haven't
very much to write about. There is a lot I know
you would like to hear about, but it is impossible
for me to put it in.
          I am well, except for a slight cold but
one can expect it here in England. It is a cool
damp climate and they don't start the heat in the
buildings until Sept. I suppose on account of the
fuel. We could stand some of that August heat
you have back home right now.
          We get all the latest news in the army paper.
It is called the "Stars and Stripes". We don't have
many magazines to read. I have most of them
read. I must say goodbye for now for this
page don't hold very much. Tell everyone I said
hello and I send my regards to everyone.
                                                Your Son.
                                                                 Ralph

The next letter will be posted on August 13th.

Background Information (and comments):

• Morgan Ford was Ralph's cousin. Morgan's mother (Susie) and Ralph's father (William) were sister and brother. Their offspring still gather every year at the Brown Reunion. This year it will take place on August 28th and it will be the 94th annual reunion. It will be held at Ellis Park in Blissfield MI.
• The Stars and Stripes newspaper was begun in 1861 during the Civil War. It is still published today and is available in electronically.
• Ralph sent this letter as a V-mail.

August 3, 1943

Dear Mother,
          I will drop you an airmail
letter at this time. Writing on Vmail
makes to short of a letter and I imagine
it is hard to read. We have had
nice weather here. I received mail
today and your letter. Two from
Irene and one from Luella. It sure
seems good to receive letters from
home. It makes home seem a lot
closer by hearing from everyone.
I don't think incoming mail is
censored so you can write whatever
you want to. Send newspaper clippings
if you think it would be of any interest
to me.
          We have our own ration coupons
so we can had buy things in our
post exchange. Such as necessities
like razor blades, soaps and etc.
We have plenty of everything. The only
trouble I am haveing is figuring
out this English money. They have
to many coins and it really is
large. The pennies here are as large

as one of our half dollars. Another
thing that I don't like is transportation.
Last night I went to an English
village here. It is 3 miles away
and we walked both ways. I really
miss my car and awlful lot now.
It wasn't so bad when we could
hitch hike but now there isn't any
thing to hitch hike for. The people
and quite a few soldiers do have bikes
and they get around with them.
          Mother have you received any
of my allotments yet? By this time
you should have received $40 from
the government. I took out an allotment
for $20 a month, but I am quite sure
I won't need all my money here
so when I get a couple of month pay
ahead I will try to get to a postoffice
and get a money order to send it home.
Put it in the bank for me. I guess
it is the only way I can ever save
any of it. We can't buy much because
everything is rationed here. When you
write to me it would be best to send
it by airmail. It only takes about
6 to 7 days for it to come through.

          Tell Mr. Meyer I will try to drop
him a letter when I get a little more
settled. As for now I am well and
like it fine here.
          After this war is over I can tell
you a lot more but for now my writing
will be limited so don't expect to long
a letter from me and not to many.
It really is hard to write much. Maybe
this will be cut before you get it. I
don't think I have written anything out
of order though. Goodbye for now. Tell
some of my old friends and neighbors
a letter is always welcomed here.
                        Love Ralph.


The next letter will be posted on August 12th.

Background Information (and comments):

• If you want to know more about food rationing in England, here are two interesting websites:
• http://www.cooksinfo.com/british-wartime-food
• http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/war/rationing2.html

August 2, 1943

Dear Mother,
          Here it is the beginning of a new week so
I must drop you a letter. I hope you have
heard where I am by now. We had a very full
weekend, but can't say what we were doing. I have
seen quite a bit of England by this time. It is
a splendid looking country and very clean. The raise
about the same crops as we do, but there buildings
are just like any picture you see in papers
and movies. Rationing is very strict here. Even
to our water we use. Hardly any cars and about
everyone has a bike. I didn't attend any church
services yesterday, but hope to as soon as we
are permantely settled which I hope will be in
the very near future. I suppose you folks are
busy now with the harvest. I notice a lot of sugar
beet fields around here. So it makes me feel
a little at home. I hope I receive some mail
today. When you write send it by v mail or
by airmail. It will get here quicker. I received
Irene's letter about her disappointment but
I did the best thing I knew and the Red Cross
was the only. Goodbye for this time. Please
write soon.                                Love Ralph.


The next letter will be posted on August 3rd.

Background Information (and comments):

• This letter was sent as a V-mail.