Letters of Gerard Henderson Cowan, 1918-1919 - Part 8

AUSTRALIAN FLYING CORPS, 
MINCHINHAMPTON,
GLOS. 
lan than a couple of hundred.
However for the last two hours rain has
stopped all flying, so I have been cleaning
up a bit and am now making the most
of the wet weather to write letters in.
I wonder how you are getting along with
the cropping sowing this year & how
much you have under crop now.  
I am anxiously waiting to hear how
you are getting along. There should be a
mail in now but so far I have not
had any except one word from Mrs Elliott
sent c/o Gracie. This was dated 20 June.
I had a letter from Hubert two days ago, written  
from Palestine in answer to one I wrote him.
He had not very much to say for Palestine
and sounded fairly fed up with it
I have not had a line from Clement or Dick
for some time so do not know how
they are. Well I must stop now
Heaps of love to you all, 
Gerard

No 6 Training Squadron
AUSTRALIAN FLYING CORPS, 

MINCHINHAMPTON,

GLOS.
16-9-18.

Dear Frank,
I am going to start this letter

now but will have to finish it

later on as it is close on our

flying time though I do not

think we will fly as the clouds

are so low. Also I believe we

get payed this afternoon. I am

probably going down into

Stroud this evening to pay a

visit to the pictures and also

I want to see how the trains

run to Hereford as I want to

go there this coming washout

day and then go down the

Wye Valley and visit the

ruins of Tintern Abbey.

I believe it is very fine scenery

down that valley and I would

like to see it while it is

still green. Well I must finish this later

AUSTRALIAN FLYING CORPS, 

(2) MINCHINHAMPTON, 

 GLOS. 
9.45 p.m.
Well since I started this letter I have
flown done my solo on the Service
Scout machine which we fly.
She is a fine little bus and very fast
as she will I found it rather funny
flying at first in such a small

machine. The wings appear so short

after the type of bus we have been

learning on, and you look round &

find your tailpl ^tailplanes so close behind you.

I didn't get down to Stroud after all

to night as the weather cleared

a enough to fly so I was up

for about 35 minutes in a training

bus and then did my solo on

the scout.

I have not been able to get any more

films for my camera lately but

I am hoping to get one to take

with me when I go away on

washout day as I believe there 

AUSTRALIAN FLYING CORPS,

MINCHINHAMPTON,

GLOS.
are some places worth snapping along
the Wye Valley, that is of course if
I find the trains run decently &
that the trip is not too expensive.
By the way tell mother that those
boots she mentioned costing £6-6-0
are leather hove boots and are not
a necessary item at all. They are not
used for flying in.
Boots are expensive but I got a good pair
while on leave fo at Tunbridge Wells for
30/- which is cheap as boots go now, and
besides these I have two pair of military issue
boots so I am alright
Well I must close now. Heaps of
love to you all
Gerard

17.10.18
Dear Dad,
I am writing this to catch the
Xmas Mail which I understand xxx closes
within a few days.
I finished the ground gunnery part of this
course today & start aerial work

tomorrow so if the weather is good
have a chance of finishing here in
about another week. I certainly hope
so at any rate as it is a terribly
bleak hole and absolutely nothing
to do during dud weather. It only
has one redeeming feature; the beds
are the most comfortable I have
ever had in a camp and boast of
sheets & pillow slips.
When the weather is decent it is not
so bad as our work keeps us busy
and it is very interesting.
I have been so busy writing up machine
gun notes up to today that I have had
to let all my writing correspondence go and am

now trying to make up for it. I've
been writing letters all the evening.
I had a bundle of Australian mail arrive
two days ago. It is the first I have
had for several weeks. The letters
were dated from 11TH of July to 31ST of July
and contained the snaps that were
taken of you all when Ethel was
staying out at Hillsview. They are jolly
good. By the way did you get those
snaps I sent of Uncle Ernst & family
taken while I was at Belknap, they
were rather good. I would liked you
to have seen them.
Nina the youngest daughter is being
married on the 22nd of this month to
a chap in the R.A.F. I have not seen
him so do not know what he is like.
I had a letter from Uncle Ernest this yesterday
morning enquiring how I was getting
along. I have been so busy during the
last two or three weeks that I had
neglected to write to him, so have
just written to him this evening.
Well I am anxious to get more 

letters from you all to hear how all
the crops are & how everything is
going.
I have not heard from Ted lately. I
have been waiting to hear where he
is, as he told me he would be coming
to England on the 14 of last month
I will have to write again to his old
address. I had hoped he was coming
over for last months medical board
but I made inquires at A.F.C. Hdqrs
and he was not among last months
quota of cadets for the Flying Corps.
Wishing you all the Merriest of Xmas's
and Happiest of New Years.
With heaps of love to you all
Gerard

No 6 Training Squadron

Australian Flying Corps
Minchinhampton
Glos
28.10.18
Dear Frank,
Excuse the pencil but I my
pen has been borrowed, I am writing this
with the pencil Maebel & Cecil gave

me.
I really don't know what to write about
as there is very little news.
It will be three weeks tomorrow since
I arrived here and so far I have only

had one flip (as we term it) and that
a dual one to show the instructor
how I could stunt. Today I was
going up to do a shoot but both
gun busses came down with their
props shot through and before
they were repaired the weather
became too rough and flying was
washed out.
I ought to finish here in a week if we have
decent weather, but of course the
latter cannot be relied at this time
of the year or at any time for
that matter in England.

I was talking to a fellow the other
day who had been 3 months at an
Aerodrome in Texas. U.S.A. and in that
3 months had only had 3 days rain
and the rest most perfect weather.
When you've been in England a year or
so, it is hard to imagine weather like
that.
I received my first letters addressed to
the 6.T.S.  Minchinhampton, yesterday. They
were from Jeannette and from Aunt

Annie & Aunt Bessie rather strange they
should be the first to arrive. They were
dated August 18TH. I thought there would
be a big pile of letters from you
all today but did not get "a one"
Very disgusting.
I had a letter from Aunt Bertha
a couple of days ago. She had been
staying down at Ryde for Nina's wedding.
She said that it went off very well & that
Nina made a very pretty bride.
I also had a letter from Miss Wilson
she has wants me to go down there
when I get any leave. I must

pay her a visit next chance I get. but
I intended going there before but have not
been able to during any of my last leaves
Well it is just about tea time and as
this mess here is nearly always overcrowded
I am going to get in early, Will finish
this later
Having had tea, I will proceed with this
letter.
There is a chap here called Irvine, we

have been together some months now

and it turned out the other afternoon
while we were walking into Redcan

together, that he knew the Percy girls.

We were talking about the way grass

grows on the Murchison after the

rain.  He remarked that a girl he knew

who had married and was living in the

West had told him and then mentioned

her name, Miss Percy. That of course

was Rachel. He also knew the others but

not so well. He had met them at his

cousins place. The I think he said their

name was Sproule.

Rather funny, especially as she is the

only West Australian he knew.  He is of