Typed up a bunch more letters today. I’m going to include a quote from one, because it’s funny. So, this was in Great Britain during World War II, and my grandfather was a surgeon (my grandmother had been a nurse). The Princess Royal at the time was Mary, the aunt of the current Queen Elizabeth (I’m going to censor the other names, just to respect people’s privacy).
[Two] weeks ago the Princess Royal was here & went through the hospital. . . . She was apparently a very pleasant person though probably terribly fed up with having to visit 2-3 hospitals a day. She almost inspected my ward—I don’t know what I would have told her about the patients for mine all have pilonidal sinuses or hemorrhoids—or had them. When word came down to stand by for inspection my corpsman rushed about opening all the doors—kitchen, utility room, linen closet, coal closet, and latrines. He was ready—
. . .
Z. does not like mice & they are begging to come in & keep him awake by eating his Tootsie Rolls, etc. He tore his room all about trying to get them stopped and got someone to dump cement down in the corner where they came in.
That night C. wadded up a big piece of newspaper & tied a string around it & stuffed it behind the wardrobe. By pulling the string under the door—it made a noise just like a mouse. He kept Z. up till nearly 2 a.m. hunting for the mouse.