Dear Douglas:
I shall have this letter ready so that it can be sent out tonight if we find one waiting from you at home with your new address.  Dad will take it when he walks up to the corner after supper for his daily chat with the Ying Brothers.  I guess the conversation is about the same every night but both sides seem to enjoy it..

Leach, Saidee R.

English

Dear Douglas:
What an exciting pleasure to have an unexpected postcard from you delivered at the shop!  So glad you can have the experience of going to Chicago and particularly with someone who knows the city.  I do hope when you are in New York that you can come home for a weekend and that your roommates can come with you.  You know we can “sleep” three upstairs and if you want to bunk with Dad, I can go in with Marilyn.  So plan to do it if you get liberty.  Tommie writes that the studies are terrifically stiff and I am much pleased to hear about your math mark.  I’ll look up the Gronneberg address when I go home and send it to you after you reach New York and I know your address there..

DigitalCommons@Bryant University

[Transcription begins] BWRS              Aug. 24, 1942             Monday morning about nine   Dear Douglas:  What an exciting pleasure to have an unexpected postcard from you delivered at the shop!  So glad you can have the experience of going to Chicago and particularly with someone who knows the city.  I do hope when you are in New York that you can come home for a weekend and that your roommates can come with you.  You know we can “sleep” three upstairs and if you want to bunk with Dad, I can go in with Marilyn.  So plan to do it if you get liberty.  Tommie writes that the studies are terrifically stiff and I am much pleased to hear about your math mark.  I’ll look up the Gronneberg address when I go home and send it to you after you reach New York and I know your address there.  Bill Schmid came home Saturday night with his uniform—we did not see him as we went to a dance at the Yacht Club.  He has been drilling on Boston Common but expects this week to go to East Greenwich where the boat is out on the “ways” being overhauled.  Billy Cappelli was sworn into the Coast Guard Service Sunday at the park—he was two inches under height so you can see how tiny he is but that was waived.  We enjoyed the dance but it was one of the hottest nights I have ever known and to add to that misery it was low tide and the dredge had been active and the “perfume” was almost overpowering at times!  Your returned clothes arrived safely—I shall have your clothes cleansed and put in moth proof bags for future use.  Chip went almost crazy when we opened the box—his tail fairly twinkled and he burrowed and dug among the things, I think he thought you were in there somewhere.  Both he and Bing are getting the results of the war now—all canned food for them is being put into cardboard containers so in order to have it keep it has to be dehydrated which makes it like sawdust.  I add water and milk to it and at first they refused it, it is like a black looking cream of wheat, but today they both ate it quite eagerly.  Dick Sayles is at Columbia—Aunt Marion asked his mother—and he likes it ever so much.  Hope you are over all ill affects from the inoculations—Dad rather expected that you would have some.  Saturday we went out to Harmony to the Tisdales.  The CYMBC had an annual executive committee meeting and the wives were invited.  They have a very lovely new home with a fireplace in back and in the midst of very lovely country—not a house in sight although there are plenty of them hidden among the trees.  Dad has suddenly discovered that he has only three gas coupons to last him all of September!  The Marbles drove us out and the Goodchilds, back.  Howard is at Squantum and expects to start flying next week.  Mr. Goodchild said he had met Mr. Noyes that afternoon and that Mary has accepted a position in Washington.  We were quite surprised to hear as we take both Mary and Carol Hawes down every morning and she has not mentioned it and this week she expected to be out on vacation anyway and Carol is sick so we did not see either one of them to confirm it.  Dad is going to apply for a B card.  Yesterday was still oppressively hot—it has been that way without a break since you left, with heavy humidity and it has been cloudy so much of the time.  Dad had traffic duty on one of the state roads and Marilyn had a chance to go to Bonnet so I had a quiet afternoon to read and incidently [sic] make applesauce from the ones you and Tom picked!  A great many of them were wormy but I was able to make quite a dishful.  Your three books this week were—Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, Autocrat at the Breakfast Table, Pride and Prejudice.  Mrs. Bliss stopped in the shop this week and says Donald is very keen about his work, that she had called on the Moores and that Col. Moore has gone to an Anti Aircraft School for three weeks and that they rather expected he would go across after that.  Leland brought a medical student from Illinois home with him this last weekend and to our surprise Marilyn consented to go bowling with them and had a good time.  I shall try again tonight to get the broadcast but doubt if I can as the Outlet drowns out for several degrees on each side of the dial.  Send us your new address as soon as possible and my next letter will be addressed there.  How is the money holding out?       Love from       Mother [Transcription ends]   

Letter Written by Saidee R. Leach to her Son, Navy Ensign Douglas Leach, Dated August 24, 1942

[Transcription begins] BWRS               Aug. 28, 1942           Friday morning.   Dear Douglas:  I shall have this letter ready so that it can be sent out tonight if we find one waiting from you at home with your new address.  Dad will take it when he walks up to the corner after supper for his daily chat with the Ying Brothers.  I guess the conversation is about the same every night but both sides seem to enjoy it.  Your letter to Marilyn received last night was much enjoyed by us all and your short visit to Chicago sounded most interesting—I am so glad that you had even that much of a visit there.  We guess that Paul is the one to train at Chicago and that your other two roommates will be with you in New York.  Now that you are there does it seem a little more like home to you?    I think I have already written you that Harold Brown has accepted a position in a Western college as head of the musical department—he is in town for a few days and George Jones is trying to get together a few people for supper in his honor at the Tollgate.  I’ll write you more about it if he succeeds.  Hollier has been back in the city for a short visit, looks pale and thin so they say.  This morning at five o’clock the Buffums, Metcalfs, Hendricksons left for Waukeela for a week.  Both Dad and I would have enjoyed going with them but Dad can’t leave his business while there is any business and he can get silver which is the situation just now and I am saving any time that I may have to visit New York or be at home when you get back.  I understand that you will not be allowed to go more than fifty miles away from New York.  If that is so, Marilyn and I are definitely planning to be there for a weekend sometime not too far distant.  She hopes that she can get a Saturday morning off and if so, we could leave on the late Friday afternoon train and return Sunday night.  Then sometime later Dad will run down.  But it will hinge on your plans.  I am enclosing a part of Uncle Harry’s last letter received several months ago but which I felt might prove useful to you at sometime.  It is possible that he will be in Maine until after Labor Day but you know his daughter Marion is his assistant and will probably be there while he is away.  I know that they could put you and Tommie up, as Virginia and Arva are married and away but of course it depends on how Aunt Amy feels, there was a time when she wasn’t too well.  But sometime do try to get over for a week end.  Uncle Harry would love to have you and he is lots of fun.  We are looking forward to receiving the proofs from South Bend and will let you know what we decide to order.  If you have not already found it out from Tommie, the Gronnenberg’s address is 80 Massasoit Avenue, Edgewood.  We tried our best to tune in on the broadcast as the broadcasting company told us that it came in at 96 and was not a very powerful station we knew that the Outlet at 90 would drown it out which proved to be the case.  However we tried all over the dial both short and long wave but with no results.  I’m pleased that you took advantage of the opportunity to enjoy music and expect you may have more.  Do go to see some good things if you can while in New York.  Saturday Florence Skoog is to be married.  I doubt if we go although of course we sent a gift.  We have finished the last bottle of root beer and will probably not make any more until after the duration.  With you away it does not disappear quite so quickly and gets rather strong.  But as far as the sugar is concerned, we get all I can use and I doubt if I even have to ask for extra for doing up peaches or grapes.  While I think of it—Blanche has not yet answered my letter asking about the cameo, and I have only seen Clara for a second once since you left.  Both Chip and Bing are getting the hardships of war times.  All canned food is out and they are rapidly learning to eat a dried preparation mixed with water or milk.  Bill Schmid has appeared in both his khaki and blue uniforms and looks very well as Chief petty officer.  We have had an intensive drive in Providence for the Coast Guard the past week and today at noon more than a hundred will be sworn in on the steps of the City Hall with a Master of Ceremony and a band, topped off by the Andrew Sisters, of whom a critic wrote, “after seeing them in their first picture I would advise them to stick to radio—if looks count for anything!”  One morning when I came to work, all over down town were painted trails of white footprints coming out of banks and stores and all leading to the recruiting station which is just around the corner from our shop on Exchange Street and every now and then was printed “I’m on my way to join the Coast Guard.”  Helen Hard has just received a Victory letter from Junior (One of the kind photographed and then redeveloped) in which he mentions cancelling his plans for being married on the fifteenth of September because he does not expect to return to port for some time and saying that he was able to “Keep tabs on Dad’s ship” so Mrs. Hard rather suspects that they are getting plenty of action.  Do you have any choice of service after your training is finished?  It seems as if the chance for further training and advancement would be greater on a larger boat.  I have been pleasantly surprised to receive the postcards addressed to the shop—I did not expect any mail that way and it just started the day off right, then the letter to Marilyn received last night was another surprise as we were not looking for any until after you reached New York.  It was such a gorgeous moonlight night here that we spoke several times about your being able to see the country as you rode along in the night but then we wondered whether you would have to keep the curtains down.  Keep up the good work of no demerits—it will be worth a lot on your record in time of promotion.  I expect Alice Jones any minute now to help in the Shop so think I better get down to business.  If I neglect to tell you about individuals or events in which you are interested just jog my memory and I will try to do better.  Young Harvey is back from his bicycle trip—I believe he went as far as Portland, Maine and was quite surprised as [sic] the steepness of the hills even between here and Boston.  Temporarily Dick is much tied up with Betty Haddleton, taking her to dinner down town, buying birthday presents etc.       Loads of love from us all       Mother [Transcription ends]  

Letter Written by Saidee R. Leach to her Son, Navy Ensign Douglas Leach, Dated August 28, 1942

Dear Douglas:
What a lot of excitement your telegram caused and what speculation!  This is the way it was read to us over the telephone—“Assigned New York Glee Club Broadcast.  Monday 7:15 EWT – WSBT.”  First we figured that you were coming to New York with the Glee Club, then we dismissed that idea and called up all the local stations to see whether the program was coming in through them over the network.  They told us that they knew nothing about it and that WSBT was the station at Notre Dame, came in on our dial on 96 but that the Outlet would drown it out which proved to be the case and we could not get it..

Leach , Saidee R.

[Transcription begins] B W R S1              Tuesday, August 18, 1942   Dear Douglas:  What a lot of excitement your telegram caused and what speculation!  This is the way it was read to us over the telephone—“Assigned New York Glee Club Broadcast.  Monday 7:15 EWT – WSBT.”  First we figured that you were coming to New York with the Glee Club, then we dismissed that idea and called up all the local stations to see whether the program was coming in through them over the network.  They told us that they knew nothing about it and that WSBT was the station at Notre Dame, came in on our dial on 96 but that the Outlet would drown it out which proved to be the case and we could not get it.  Later Saturday night we stopped at the Buffum’s, found your postcard to Tommie there stating that you were asking to be assigned to New York and the mystery was solved.  There should have been a “stop” after New York in the telegram.  And we judged that you were in a glee club broadcast from the local station and hoped that perhaps we could tune in to it.  Are we correct?  Yesterday your postcard written Wednesday was received telling us that you would be assigned to New York but perhaps not Columbia.  Mrs. Buffum immediately Saturday night sent a special to Tommie to prevent his asking for assignment to Indiana!  We are more than thrilled and I know you are looking forward to the trip back East again.  You sound very much interested in your new work and I think it will prove that way all along the way.  Last night we had a chowder party at the Metcalfe’s and Marilyn went with us.  Bill Schmid is still in Boston waiting for his uniforms, he is being put up at the hotel taken over by the Coast Guard and altho [sic] they have nothing to do all day, still they have to arise at 5:30!  His assignment calls for five men on this fifty foot boat, one of whom is little Tommie Hunt and the ex-chef of the Colonial Line (so they should feed well).  It takes them a whole day to get to their area off Nantucket, they cruise around for three days and then a whole day to return.  The boats go in pairs, they report every half hour to shore by telephone and have orders to abandon ship immediately should anything unusual be noticed.  Rather dangerous, says I.  Harvey Whipple is starting on a bicycle trip to Gloucester, Mass., then up to Portland, Maine, across to the White Mountains and down towards home.  He is going with two older boys.                                                   1 BWRS—Acronym for British War Relief Society.  The BWRS was primarily an administrative office, a central receiving depot for money and supplies donated which were then parceled out to its affiliate organizations in the US and in Britain. Dad just purchased a white coat such as you have had to borrow several times.  Outlet had a sale and I felt he would get quite a little use of it.  By the way, I am having Bob Hard’s cleansed and will get it tonight.  George Jones tells me that Bob Green has just been sent back to Norfolk, Virginia.  According to Tommie’s letter, he has been issued ten pairs of socks and if you find you have more than you want with the ones you took out there send them back and Dad can exchange them for some for his own use.  But keep them if you can use them.  Last night we had quite a thunder storm, the kind that rumbles and grumbles most of the night and even that did not clear the air too much.  We have had constant rain and humidity ever since you left and I was relieved to have you write that it has been comparatively cool.  I am enclosing a clipping about the new Brown Quarterly—if you don’t get a copy by the time you get back to New York, let me know and I will telephone up about it.  Our Woonsocket BWRS has had to close their shop because of vandalism repeated again and again and this morning our British flag pole was ripped from the building and placed in the doorway.  I have reported it to the chief of police and a carpenter is expected momentarily to replace it.  Our police are very sympathetic to the cause but in Woonsocket they could get no cooperation.  Dad left his letter unsigned because he thought I would add a line or two but I felt I had enough to say to make it a separate letter.  We rush through the house every night to get the mail but we know how every minute of your time is planned for you.        Lovingly            Mother [Transcription ends] 

Letter Written by Saidee R. Leach to her Son, Navy Ensign Douglas Leach, Dated August 18, 1942

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Letter Written by Saidee R. Leach to her Son, Navy Ensign Douglas Leach, Dated August 28, 1942

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