To my mother Corinne, who is 98, from his many letters.
At the time she was 14, her brother Boyce seven years older died in 1944 in Aleppo.
My grandfather, an architect by trade was an Assistant commander, Field Royal Engineers and often wrote from Penang Malaysia where he was tasked with building defences against the Japanese. He had served in the First World War too. My mother says he was a romantic. Sadly he was declared missing after the evacuation of Singapore in February 1942 and is commemorated in the Kranji War Memorial in Singapore. No body was ever found.
I quote from a letter 26th March 1941:
My dearest Dorothy…what a life, still although I had so much to tell you yesterday I just cant think of any of them at the moment, probably because I am tired, with the prospect of a long night in front of me, on all-night duty, with the possibility of the phone going off at intervals, these blessed duties seem to come around about every week now a days. …in this over heated hell hole…I find it quite enough to manage writing to my one and only trouble and strife, but I’d still like to see her very much – the numbers of times I think of you, and Corinne, and always promising to write this and that. Ahoy! I’ve just been bitten by about 15 insects at once, lets hope they are not the malarial carrying mosquito, there are millions around…..phew the heat, how I’d like to go dip in the sea…but even that is warm. The other night at about 12 it was absolutely stifling and several of us decided to sea bathe in just star-light, it was great, and most amazing to see ones form swimming in the dark quite surrounded by a phosphorous light as you move arms and legs. You can bet we all kept near the shore as these waters contain too many sharks for my liking……well dearest, till we meet, with all love, I am always affectionately yours, Frank XX
Below is a picture of his wife Dorothy and daughter Corinne from Weston-super-Mare seafront:
