No 407499,
Sgt Goode R.M,
London W.1.
C/o South Australia House
Marble Arch
18/11/41

Dear Everybody,

10/11/41
Left Bournemouth at 8:15AM for London by Royal Blue Bus Line, journey took 5 hours, about 100 miles as the crow flies, but how the roads twist & turn in England. Went through some very beautiful country, some of the woods in their Autumn colors were wonderful. Through Southhampton quite a number of large buildings were only heaps of rubble, & some were burnt out hollow shells. Stopped at Basinstoke for ten minutes for a cup of tea, a couple of buildings here were also wrecks. Arrived in London 1:40 P.M. & caught a Bus & went to the Overseas League, St James Place, St James Street, they were too dear for 7/6 us Bed & Breakfast. So we caught a train in the underground railway (tube) to Marble Arch had to change trains twice at Picadilly & Oxford St., changed at Picadilly & got in the train going the wrong way, got out two stations further on, & eventually arrived at Marble Arch all this for twopence.

Eric Ding & I are staying at the King George & Queen Elizabeth, Victoria League Club, Nutford Place, Marble Arch. After booking in we were walking down the street, some woman came up & said “Hullo Australian boys again theres a lot of you in London what state come over the road with me to South Australia House.” We went over & met a Mrs Turner, who after we had signed the visitors book said “You had better meet Sir Charles McCan.” So we met Sir Charles & a Mr King both were very nice to us, talked for about 20 minutes. McCan gave us a packet of cigarettes each neither of us smoke but some of the other boys do so we accepted them. As soon as he heard my name said Jamestown Goode I used to know a lot of them there. He told us to have our letters addressed care of Australia House, Marble Arch, London W.1. & the letters will be sent on immediately, a lot of confusion over the letters at the address left home, some of the boys have waited months for letters already in England. Eric Ding is writing by airmail to his wife & has asked her to write to you & give you this address.

Caught a Bus & went into the Strand, saw Nelsons Monument from the bus, called at Australia House & had afternoon tea there. We were given an invitation to a fork Lunch at the Overseas League, Overseas House, Park Place, St James St S.W.1. We walked from Australia House & leaned on the embankment wall, close by was the Discovery the ship in which Scott went to the South Pole in, or from which he set out from after sailing as far South as he could. On the way back noticed how the buildings & street formed a perfect curve in Piccadilly Circus. When we asked different bus drivers questions they addressed us as ‘Choom’.

11/11/41
Left our quarters at the Victoria League Club at 9AM, & caught a bus to Ludgate Hill. Went to St Pauls Cathedral I haven’t seen any pictures yet that given an idea of the grandnest or size of St Pauls Cathedral standing as it does now blackened by smoke & grime amid the wreckage of dozens of big buildings around it, damaged itself in three places, not too badly to be repaired, one huge hole in the floor, one end outside chipped & pitted by high explosive. Inside is impossible to describe its beauty & size are very awe inspiring. Most of the buildings around here were burnt down & the walls that still stood are being pulled down. A lot of London has been knocked about but a lot more still stands, everyone seems to be quite cheerful about it all, London will be built again & Hitler is going to get a taste of what London’s had. After St Paul’s we walked through some of the badly damaged areas, down Cannon St, & William St, to London Bridge, dimly through smoke & fog (it was one of Londons average days) we saw the Tower Bridge & the Tower of London. Caught a bus back through the Strand to the Cenotaph no ceremony this year but quite a lot of wreaths & flowers were placed on & around the base. Everyone was wearing a red poppy made by exservice men of this & the last war, all uniforms had one or more flowers on them. From the Cenotaph we walked down to the Houses of Parliament & stood under the tower of Big Ben the damage to a few panes in one face had been repaired. The clock & building was only blackened by smoke, just across the River Thames (only about 150 yards away) several blocks in which every building was a ruin.

Then to Westminster R.C. Cathedral, first we went up the tower, (charge ½ price *H.M.F. 6d) supposed to be the highest lift in London we could not see much damage around this area. Then into the church which seemed to be roughly finished higher up walls & ceiling, lots of marble, brass & silver & show below, quite a lot of other Boxes & chests with slots in them for money for this & that were everywhere, books on sale at the entrance. Quite a lot of double boxes with Rev so & so on the side, confession boxes I expect, more boxes for money infact everywhere through the church. This is the first time I’ve been in a R.C. Church & I was not only impressed with its pomp but its money making concern.

Another bus to Piccadilly to St James St to the Overseas Club for a Fork Lunch, it wasn’t so good as a lunch, we could see the prices on the wall total 3/1 for potatoe soup, harsh tasting of salt pork, & a very small withered apple baked. Was introduced to Admiral Evans who spoke at the club afterwards, as we ate our lunch in a different part of the building to the majority of the guests (apparently our rank wasn’t high enough) we crept away without listening to his speech. Went to Cadogan Gardens & met Lady Francis Ryder, & made arrangements to stop at a place Miss de Winton Corry, Yately Hall, Yately Hants. Then walked along St James Park lake to Buckingham Palace, it’s a big oblong not very beautiful building. Eric asked a Policeman at the gate a question “Is the King at home, & will he be coming in or out of the gate to give us a look at him”. The bobby shook his head & said ‘he didn’t know’ Eric said “Even the walls have ears” The Queen Victoria Memorial is in front of the gates of the Palace & is a large & beautiful piece of work. A bus to Waterloo Station to find out our train times tomorrow, all stations in London are still working in spite of German bombs. By tube to Mark Lane Station, we had to change at Charing Cross Station & Oxford St, got to Mark Lane & up to the surface again (escalators are in use in nearly every tube station) it was raining & getting quite dusky so decided to see the Tower & Tower Bridge another time, back by tube to Marble Arch & our quarters.

Hope everything is allright at home no mail yet.

Love, Ray