KEN'S LETTERS TO IVY
From the time Captain Kenneth Charles Warburton Shawcross joined the Army in 1940 until he returned from Burma after VE Day, he sent letters to Ivy. These are personal letters from a young medical doctor to his girlfriend/wife during the long wartime separation.
The letters were kept private by my mother Ivy Shawcross nee Binks until she died. So I wondered if I should present these on a web site. But, since Kenneth and Ivy are both dead and these obviously meant so much to my mother, I decided to preserve them as part of our family history.
The letters date back to the first moments of my existence (one letter was written by Dad on the night I was born) It expresses the thoughts of a young father separated from his wife at a key moment.
So here are some of his letters.
John Frederick Shawcross 2001
"Join the army and see the world"
Transcript of a handwritten list of places served and responsibilities during the Second World War by Captain Kenneth Charles Warburton Shawcross, No. 154421, R.A.M.C.
First Letters
- Soon after induction into Army from Aldershot; (Nov 1940)
- Letter on night of May 1 to 2, 1941 (John's birth day);
- Letter with wedding anniversay present sent from India;
- Airmail of August 31, 1942 (version without sketches)
Cross House, Torrington
in which Kenneth draws some sketches of aunts Lucy and Lilly
From Bombay India
in which Kenneth draws a sketch and asks Ivy to guess what it is.
From Bombay India
Kenneth may have just left Egypt.
In which he talks of his work, his love for Ivy and his admiration for PM Churchill.
"I know Churchill -he is like a steam engine"
From Bombay, India
In which Kenneth describes some presents he sent, talks about missing his wife. and his life in Bombay
"I feel sure that nothing can ever come between us"
From Bombay, India
In which Kenneth describes a typical day of work and his friends and his developing sociability.
"...a day in the life of me"
Bombay, India
To Ivy in Harold Park, in which he responds to Ivy's last letter including a reference to Buxton.
Bombay, India
In which Kenneth says how happy that Ivy is now living with his parents in Timperley, Cheshire
Bangalore
In which Kenneth recalls his first kiss with Ivy and early dates; also talks abut his view of God when a child
Bangalore
In which Ken learns that Jim Melville has been shot down. See also: Jim Melville's diary.
Notes from John:
In July 2013 I had the offer of some help with this work from my niece, Sarah Nosal. I sent Sarah a scan of the letters. She transcribed them and then I reviewed the transcription made any necessary edits and then posted the 9 letters from December 1, 1942 through July 7, 1944.
