Sepia Saturday 700. Fifteenth in a series about letters from my dad’s brother Frederic Mason Charboneau while he was in the US Army during WWII.
In August 1942, while stationed somewhere in England, my paternal uncle Frederic Mason Charboneau finally got a three-day pass and traveled to London with a group of Army buddies.
London had survived the Nazi Blitz of 1940-41, but was still digging its way out of the rubble. Yet many of the major landmarks had survived, albeit with some damage, and they were what Uncle Fred and his crew wanted to see.
His next letter home (shown below) is dated Sept. 3, 1942 and describes their three-day visit.
On the other side of the Regent Plaza Hotel letterhead Uncle Fred wrote, “This is one of the places that I stopped in to see. One of the higher-class joints. — F.”
Once in a lifetime tour
“I have come back from a three-day pass to London. I had a grand vacation and saw a lot of things that I had always dreamed of seeing but never thought I would,” Fred wrote to his mother. “I saw Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, and many other things.”
Apparently Uncle Fred’s London tour followed a long-standing U.S. Army tradition, because I found several photos of recovering WWI soldiers visiting the same sites circa 1917-1919. Above, they visit Westminster Abbey. Below, they stop at St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Visiting St. Paul’s Cathedral in 1942 must have been a bittersweet experience for Uncle Fred. Much of the surrounding area was severely bombed, but St. Paul’s escaped with minor damage by comparison.
Marvelous menus
While the sights were breathtaking, according to Uncle Fred the food was even better — and this is my favorite part of his letter:
“The best part of the whole thing was that me and the others that were there with me had a couple of steak dinners and also some spaghetti and chicken,” Fred wrote. “The last night that we were in town, a man who manages a fish and chips place took us to a private home where we had a steak dinner and all the trimmings. It was very good, and we had a grand time.”
A taste of home: “We had a steak dinner and all the trimmings,” wrote Uncle Fred on Sept. 3, 1942, after his three-day leave in London. Graphic: Pixabay
To these young soldiers, having a home-cooked meal was clearly special. And I love that the fish-and-chips vendor brought them home with him, displaying the camaraderie of a survivor in a war-torn city.
I was also amused that the food was one of Uncle Fred’s fondest memories, because my dad (Fred’s younger brother Norm) was the same way. After every vacation, what my dad mainly talked about was the food.
Fancy letterhead
The final touch to this letter is the stationery on which it is typed. Being the son of Otter Lake Hotel owners, Uncle Fred clearly knew the impact of fancy letterhead.
So when Uncle Fred and the fellows nipped into the Regent Palace Hotel (“One of the higher-class joints.”), he snagged some swanky stationery to wow the folks back home. The Regent Palace also escaped damage, although bombs fell nearby — and the building, with its hotel marquee, is still standing today.
Up next: News from home as Uncle Fred finally gets some letters. Please stop back! Meanwhile, please visit the other intrepid bloggers over at Sepia Saturday.
© 2023 Molly Charboneau. All rights reserved.
Thanks so much for your comments, everyone. Uncle Fred’s writing captures both the general experience of U.S. GIs in England in 1942 and his own memorable experiences from that time. I am glad you enjoyed this letter as much as I did.
I love the letterhead, especially! He knew how “fancy” that would be to his family back home. 🙂 I’ve enjoyed his letters very much along the way.
Love how deemed just 3 days a fantastic “vacation”! I like how his character is drawn out with that “swanky” stationery to impress those back home! How wonderful that he got to be invited to a private home for dinner, and for such a fancy one at that! Thanks agin for sharing all of these wonderful letters home of your Uncle’s during his service! 🙂
What a wonderful letter and story! All the details, both originals and added graphics, bring this heartwarming story to life. A reminder of how small acts of humanity have a big impact. Thank you Molly for sharing!
Letters written by an ancestor are so wonderful and precious in conveying the reality of their life, particularly in times such as war. I have letters written by my father in 1944 when he entered Paris with the Allied forces.
What a great letter to receive. And the food must have been especially delicious after his diet of army food.
You are fortunate to have that letter! And it is wonderful to share with others!
How fantastic to have Uncle Fred’s letters and so interesting to read his thoughts on London. Good to hear he ate well despite rationing!
I can easily imagine how Fred and his mates, after so many weeks of steady but tedious work preparing for the invasion, were determined to make the most this short 3-day pass. My first thought was remembering the 1949 film “On the Town” with Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly. The Royal Palace Hotel was there when I lived in London in the early 80s but it was decidedly not “one of the higher-class joints” then. That part of London has always been a center for tourists and the predators who feed off them. Lucky for Fred that he found some good food to remember his holiday.
Thanks, Molly, for looking up the Danish/Norwegian characters on one of my postcards this week. From my limited knowledge of Scandinavia, Norway and Denmark were once united. But from 1814 to 1905 it was Norway and Sweden. I’ve acquired several postcards sent by immigrants who write in their native language. I feel it makes the cards more representative of the real America of that era.
I am so enjoying this trip through your Uncle Fred’s letters. He was in that country for an awful reason, and yet he found joy in a three-day pass, seeing things he thought he’d never get the chance to see and letting that be a positive time no matter the reason for his being there. And how lovely to be taken to a generous man’s home for a home-cooked meal. There are ‘bad’ apples in this world, but there are far more kind, caring people like the fish & chips fellow, thank goodness! 🙂