A Car with Bad Karma

I find it a bit creepy that Keith bought this car. The person who owned it was killed in action. Keith and the crew had just moved to Tiger Squad 424 at Skipton on Swale, so they had never met the car's previous owner(s).

Three weeks after he wrote this letter, on 5 April 1945,  Keith was dead. How many guys bought the car before him? Did some new guys buy it after he died?

Letter from Keith to his mother, 18 March 1945.
'Say what do you think, my engineer and I bought a car to day off the air force, It was being sold to the highest bidder cause the owner got shot down or something so we got it for ten lbs which is way cheap, only 5 lbs a piece, so even if we give it away we won’t have such a terrible loss its just a little two seater with a back seat big enough for a couple of suitcases. It’s a four cylinder Austin Minor and we should get about 75 miles to the gallon.' 

This is a two seat Austin Minor from the 1930s (UK car production stopped in the early 1940s because of the war). I took this photo at the Haynes Motor Museum in Somerset. 

meatballs (in a tin)

Letter from Keith to his mom, 9 October 1944.

'I received a parcel on Friday & boy wasn’t it  good, we haven’t eaten the steak & onions yet but the meat balls were really good, I got about one meat ball, I never such a bunch of gluttons as I got for crew, they’ll eat everything if you’d let them. '

Yvonne Marie Charron (b. 3/10/44) - Keith's newest relative!

Yvonne Marie Charron, where are you? Your dad flew spitfires. You looked just like him when you were born.

Keith had a lot of family in the UK. He met his mother's relatives in Gateshead, and he was close to  his cousin Philip, and Philip's wife, Mary. And he was in the UK when his newest relative arrived.

Letter from Keith to his mother, 9 October 1944.
'I got a letter from Mary this morning & what do you know, she has had a baby daughter I quote, “Yvonne Marie was born on Tuesday evening, the 3^rd October & weighed 8 lbs. She has black hair and blue eyes, like Phillip. She is really lovely, & awful proud mummy.” Unquote. So much for the baby, Phillip is now in Belgium & just a few days after arriving there he bagged ”a F W 190 [Focke-Wulf] ME 109 [Meserschmidt], both in one day, he must really be good. They can’t get in touch with him so he still doesn’t know he’s a proud Poppa. '

Here is what I know about Yvonne Marie Charron (besides the information in Keith's letter). When she was tiny, she and her pretty young mother moved to Canada to live with Philip's parents. Mary eventually remarried, but she and Yvonne always kept in touch with Philip's parents. 

Where was your dad when you were born? Here is a video of a Focke Wulf 190 and a Messerschmitt 109 at Duxford Airfield in 2009.

Keith tries to visit his relatives again

Keith finally visited his relatives in Gateshead in late January 1945. He kept being sent off on leave, for a week at a time, while his unit tried to find a new pilot.

And who does he run into? His unimpressive cousin, Woody. Except Woody has now become impressive because he is in the navy.

Houses in Gateshead, 1940s.

Keith to his mother, 5 February 1945.
'I went to Gateshead... I found your aunt Masie and Elsie and they are fine. I went over to see your uncle Rob and he is very poorly he has been teetotalling for twelve months. Well I was sitting talking to your Aunt Maisie when we heard a knock on the door so she went and opened it, I heared her talking to someone and then she brought this sailor in a sharp officers uniform in and says “Do you know this fellow”? and I looked at him for a while and then realized it was Woody, what do you think of that for a coincidence, he had just come for a couple of days as he was in dock … We went to the pub with Elsie and then over to Newcastle (without Elsie) we went to the pictures and then back home, we slept together you know he sure has changed he ? to have grown up  and is altogether different  from when I saw him last we got along very well and it was nice to see someone from home.'

Cinema in Newcastle, 1945.

Keith tries to visit his relatives (Pity Me!)

Keith was born and brought up in Canada, but his mother was from Gateshead. He must have promised to visit his mother's relatives. His first attempt to see them was poorly planned and unsuccessful. He was only 20 at the time. Frankly, I'm in awe that he summoned the energy to get all the way from his RAF base in Shropshire to Gateshead. When I was 20 I was more interested in going to the pub than visiting my relatives.

Letter from Keith to his mom, 12 September 1944.
'I went to Old Durham round but Mand Simms or Mrs. Tanner had moved so I went around Gateshead & had a good look but as I didn’t have much time I came away without seeing anyone, I kept thinking of a town I passed on the way to Gateshead called “Pity Me” I thought the hell with pitying them, pity poor me, I can’t find my kin folk'. 

Travelling through Pity Me.

Philip broke his leg in France

Philip broke his leg riding a motorbike.

Letter from Keith to his mom, 25 July 1944.
'I got a letter from Phillip the other day and he is with Mary for a while again, he broke his leg on a motor cycle in France so has received leave to recuperate, he says he can limp around O.K.'

This is a French motorbike.


So what does Keith do? He gets himself a motorbike so he can visit Philip. I guess he wanted to give his mother something else to worry about.

Letter from Keith to his mom, 4 August 1944.
'I had a  phone call from Phillip the other day, he is stationed not far away from here & is fine, he left Mary in ? Barrie?  And she is fine. I am going on leave tomorrow and am heading to Manchester to see Phillip, I bought a motor cycle so I will be able to make a tour of England & see all my relatives, I have ten days leave, I went into town last night & on the way back it was awful foggy so luckily I was going slow when I hit some loose ground & went ass over tea kettle,  I had another fellow on the back, the bike was ??? and I  only took a little bark on my knees and tore my uniform so I’ll just chock that down as another instructive experience (it taught me that you should walk when its foggy)'

Philip and Mary Charron

Philip Marcel Charron - Keith's older cousin, also in the RCAF. He flew spitfires in Malta and during the Normandy invasion. He was probably the reason Keith joined the airforce. Philip was a hero. 

Mary Charron - Philip's wife and Keith's newest relative. She was probably about the same age as Keith. When Keith met her she was 5 months pregnant, so another relative was on the way! 

Letter from Keith to his mom, 14 July 1944.

'Mater [Philip and Keith's grandmother] says Phillip is doing dangerous work since 1940 I guess a little more wont make him finish off he's half the pilot Mary says he is.'

Letter dated 2 July 1944.
'Phillip is in France doing a good job I imagine. He’s got German swords & a German helmet I don’t know where he gets them I think it was in Malta.'