S/81240 Pte. R.J. Hopper
No. 8 Ward
St Martins Hospital
Bath
25.7.40
My dear Mother,
Just a very short note. It happens that in the ward there is a German Jew - who poor chap has been in a concentration camp - he has been in England about 18 months & speaks very good English. He heard I knew a little German & so between us we have arranged to teach each other German & English respectively, it will be most useful later on when we capture Hamburg & Berlin. He is in the British Army in the A.M.P.C. & is very nice. This evening we have been speaking about the peculiarities of both languages & believe me when you look for them there are many. . . Can you send immediately 3 of my German books out of the bookcase. They are "Deutsches Leben", Das "Gespensterschiff" & another red book with exercises. He tells me my pronunciation is excellent & that I have a pretty good knowledge of this language. Do your best will you please!
I am feeling very well & have been getting up for the afternoons for the last few days. My legs are a lot stronger & I can get to the lavatory unaided & quite well. I don't expect I shall be here for much longer than another week, then I hope I shall have leave, of course, not half as strong as I used to be which is expected. . .
Did I tell you we had four Australians in our ward & there are a number of others scattered about the hospital. So we have now:- Navy - Army - Airforce & Dominions in No. 8 Ward everyone the best of pals.
We have a good wireless which is on all day nearly, & yesterday we had Radio Eire & including the records on the B.B.C. broadcasts heard "You are my hearts delight". . . Also from R. Eire we heard Caruso on a Record. They have some good programmes similar to Radio Luxembourg, so sometimes if there is nothing particular on the B.B.C. I should tune in & see if you like it.
Now as this is my last sheet I must bring this letter to a close.
Au revoir,
Heaps of love & x's from your affectionate son
Ronald
1. How can food be sent? Only by this Organisation, which aims at providing each prisoner and interned civilian in German or Italian hands with one food parcel per week.
2. What does a food parcel contain? Biscuits, cheese, chocolate, fish, fruit or puddings, jam or other preserves, margarine, 2 meats, milk, sugar, tea, vegetables, soap and a vitaminised food are sent in every parcel. Also selections from other commodities such as Bemax, cocoa, creamed rice, curry powder, custard, Marmite, meat paste, mustard, oatmeal, Ovaltine, pepper, sweets, etc., as space permits. The food is specially planned to supply what is lacking in the German camp rations.
3. What is the cost of the weekly parcel? Including tobacco and cigarettes (see paragraph 13) the price to the Red Cross and St. John is approximately 10s. 0d. This does not include the cost of conveyence by Red Cross ships from Lisbon to Marseilles and cost of insurance against losses due to enemy action.
4. If a donation cannot be given, will a Prisoner of War be sent a parcel? Yes, food parcels are sent for all Prisoners of War and interned civilians, and are paid for from the general funds of the Red Cross and St. John.
5. How are the parcels addressed? They are sent to the International Red Cross Committee at Geneva which forwards them to the camps for distribution by the British Camp Leader.
6. Why are parcels not addressed to individual Prisoners?
(a) Because prisoners may be moved from camp to camp.
(b) If part of a consignment of parcels is lost, the remainder can be divided
between camps.
(c) To ensure that new prisoners may receive parcels before their names reach
London.
(d) As the parcels sent in each consignment contain similar articles, there
is no advantage gained by addressing each parcel to a Prisoner of War by name.