Letters from Burma - 1

By jeand

Mon, 15 Feb 2016
  • 1582 reads
10 comments
 

Heinda Mine

Tenasserim

Southern Burma

January 5, 1935

 

Darling Rosalind,

Thank you so much for the lovely Christmas presents you sent us. I am using my new
diary every day, and will think of you each time I use it. And next Christmas we will be on long leave and will be able to be with you. I very much look forward to that.

Your father and I have had such a busy time these last weeks - one party after the other. On New Year's Eve we had a party and dance at the Tavoy Club and there were 48 at the dinner, 55 in all.

Then on New Year's Day, we went to a party at Hugh Gemmell's. He is one of your father's oldest friends - going back to their mining engineering training at Camborne School of Mining in Cornwall.

I expect you are safely back at your boarding school now. I hope the term goes well for you. Are you studying anything special this term? Did you have a nice Christmas with Nana?

I must go now as I have lots of other letters to write - to your grandmothers, Auntie
Dorothy, Auntie Una and Uncle Dick and my good Austrian friend Hedl. We are having Mack to dinner this evening. He is always such fun to have around.

Today is the Karen New Year, so our employees have a holiday.

I've enclosed smaller copies of the huge pictures we had given to us – one of a
party at our Tavoy Club, and the other of your daddy with his troops. See if you can pick us out.
 

Lots of love,

Mummy and Daddy

Certificate U
Story
Historical Fiction

Comments

Submitted by celticman on

Burmese Days. George Orwell and all that. The end of Empire. A good place to start. 

 

Submitted by jeand on

Thanks CM

More on George Orwell's book in the next chapter.

Jean

Jean Day

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Camborne School of Mining in Cornwall rang a bell - is this the same people who went to Indonesia or Malaysia when first married, or is that a totally different era? My father was in Burma during the war. This must be capturing the end of an era, just pre-war. And the boarding school situation can work out so different for different people. No email contact!, but how close the family already is, and the letter contact though slow must have been so important. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by jeand on

Thanks Rhiannon

What a good memory you have. This is the brother of Harold Day who was in Malaysia as a mining engineer. They both went to Camborne School of Mining. I also wrote a bit about Mark and Gwenllian's wedding in my book about the first world war Lansdowne Crescent. Rosalind, the little gril in boarding school is still alive, but only just. She gave me her mother's diary.

Jean

Jean Day

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

The separation must have been difficult - but a sign of the time.

Submitted by jeand on

Thanks Helen

Rosalind certainly found it difficult - and always felt that her parents didn't really care much about her.

Jean

Jean Day

Submitted by Bee on

Lovely letter, and a great start to a letter writing story. 

Bee

Submitted by jeand on

Thanks Bee

I wrote this a few years ago, and it is fun for me to revisit it again.

Jean

Jean Day

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

I did enjoy reading this letter Jean and I'm now onto the next with anticipation.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by jeand on

Thanks Jenny

I hope you do enjoy reading these letters - which of course, are fictional, but based on the diary, and also on conversations I had with Rosalind and from various photographs and news items from the day.

Jean

Jean Day