26-12-42

Dear Mum – Am just recovering from over-eating yesterday in honour of Christmas. The Red Cross looked after us extra well for the festive season, and we had fun and games. All the letters missing when I last wrote have been forwarded on to me, and I’ve had a letter from Peter Day. There was also a very nice letter from the mother of a chap I was on a course with in England. He had invited me home on leave, and though I never managed it his mother wrote when she heard I was shot down, saying she had sent me a book-parcel and written air-mail to you with all the news she could find out about me. I thought it was wonderfully good of her, considering that she had never even met me. Now here’s a little spot of business. There is a Belgian friend of mine here who is a clever cartoonist; he has done some of we N.Z.’s here, so whenever there’s a chance I’ll try and post them to you. Then either Hazel or Joan could fix the correspondence side of forwarding them to, I think, the “Weekly News” or the “FreeLance”, which should, I’m pretty sure, be interested in buying them. They can pay to his bank. He has no other N.Z. contacts, so I said I’d try to arrange it for him. O.K., I hope? Well, space is running short, so must close down. Look after yourself, mother mine, and don’t worry about a thing. Love to yourself and Hazel Maud from Arnold G.