No. 7925934. Sgt. Greenwood, R.T.
9th Battn. R.T.R.
B.L.A.
26.5.45
Sat. evening.
Jessie Mine, I have nothing to write about, but I just want to say ‘howdy’ before going to bed. In actual fact, I was about to commence this letter a couple of hours ago, but someone came along for assistance with certain electric lights, and I have been busy ever since… And now it is too late to write a decent letter.
We are still living in the baron’s place at Bentheim – but it is now pretty definite that we will be moving on the 30th… Meanwhile…our vehicles… our “raison d’être”… are going tomorrow. So I don’t know what we will call ourselves from now onwards:- we certainly won’t have much claim to our tank titles… There is an atmosphere of dissolution in the place now… and I’m sure there is a certain amount of resentment because our vehicles are going – and because our possible future role will be partly “dismounted”… And to add insult to injury, it is even possible that the lads will have to handle rifles… with, perhaps, a spat of rifle training in advance. Personally, I’m not greatly worried about these impending changes. I feel more like a spectator than anything else.
It occurs to me that my whole mental outlook has passed through a complete change during the last few weeks. Formerly, I never thought of the future: It must have been force of habit I think that kept my thoughts concentrated upon the past and present. I had almost lost the faculty of thinking ahead. But now… it is strange… I seem to be living in a dream… I have a peculiar detached feeling about the army – and most of my thoughts are about the future. I simply dread to think about the past… and the present doesn’t interest me at all… I suppose I am a sort of psychological case just now… suffering from a reaction to years of mental repression. Fortunately, my perception of things that really matter doesn’t seem to have been affected… That is why I know that I have the sweetest and loveliest wife in the world…
Jess… Good night my dear.
Always,
Your Trevy