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Harold and Joan: Letters Home, an intimate glimpse of one man’s journey through World War II
"Darling the hour has almost arrived. We leave tonight … I am feeling it very much but I must not weaken. I must be brave. I think that will be the best attitude to take for us all"
Harold Bishop is called up to the army in 1941, aged 39. He leaves behind his wife Joan, his children and his livelihood as butler of the grand Cardoness House. What follows is a tender and revealing collection of letters home.
Despite the restrictions of the censors, Harold describes his time in a training barracks in Edinburgh, his health and clothes, and his eventual deployment to North Africa. His letters also reveal glimpses of Joan’s experiences, making this a valuable social history and a record of a soldier’s service.
A tender and revealing collection that shares the life and cares of a soldier and his family during WWII
Harold Bishop is called up to the army in 1941, aged 39. He leaves behind his wife Joan, his children and his livelihood as butler of the grand Cardoness House. What follows is a tender and revealing collection of letters home.
Despite the restrictions of the censors, Harold describes his time in a training barracks in Edinburgh, his health and clothes, and his eventual deployment to North Africa. His letters also reveal glimpses of Joan’s experiences, making this a valuable social history and a record of a soldier’s service.
A tender and revealing collection that shares the life and cares of a soldier and his family during WWII
188 pages, Paperback
Published November 10, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 17, 2023
Wow! What a privilege to read this non-fiction book.
This is a collection of very personal letters from Harold Bishop to his wife Joan during his training and service in WW2. His words reflect the times, in how he phrases things and his word choice and language style. Initially, I thought, I’m not sure I like this man, but I had to keep reminding myself that back then, this is how people spoke - stiff upper lip and all that. It was a very different society then, and a very different way to speak to your wife or women in general. But as the timeline and dates of the letters show, Harold becomes more personable, and much more emotive in his writing. I could “hear” is hardships, share his frustrations and feel is fear, and I was really really hoping that he came home safe and as well as can be at the end.
I love that there are photos and service records and postcards throughout the book.
I really love how the granddaughter who compiled the book didn’t change the words or grammar or layout if the letters. This lack of interference keeps the book magical.
The cover of the book is stylish, beautifully illustrated and so appropriate.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in social history, war history, or who is just a nosey Parker -like me - and read likes to read someone’s family history.
I think it’s a real privilege that Crumps Barn Studio had published such a brilliant book, and I thank them for the opportunity to read my copy they sent me. This is by no means the reason why I gave it five stars, I would have done that anyway.
I really hope this book gets into schools, libraries and it’s local archives/museums as it’s absolutely the most fascinating thing I’ve read.
Harold, I salute you.
This is a collection of very personal letters from Harold Bishop to his wife Joan during his training and service in WW2. His words reflect the times, in how he phrases things and his word choice and language style. Initially, I thought, I’m not sure I like this man, but I had to keep reminding myself that back then, this is how people spoke - stiff upper lip and all that. It was a very different society then, and a very different way to speak to your wife or women in general. But as the timeline and dates of the letters show, Harold becomes more personable, and much more emotive in his writing. I could “hear” is hardships, share his frustrations and feel is fear, and I was really really hoping that he came home safe and as well as can be at the end.
I love that there are photos and service records and postcards throughout the book.
I really love how the granddaughter who compiled the book didn’t change the words or grammar or layout if the letters. This lack of interference keeps the book magical.
The cover of the book is stylish, beautifully illustrated and so appropriate.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in social history, war history, or who is just a nosey Parker -like me - and read likes to read someone’s family history.
I think it’s a real privilege that Crumps Barn Studio had published such a brilliant book, and I thank them for the opportunity to read my copy they sent me. This is by no means the reason why I gave it five stars, I would have done that anyway.
I really hope this book gets into schools, libraries and it’s local archives/museums as it’s absolutely the most fascinating thing I’ve read.
Harold, I salute you.
November 25, 2022
First of all, I must comment on how beautiful this book is to look at. The cover is absolutely gorgeous and the whole package is presented so attractively, with photographs and army documents segmenting the letters that have been typed up from Harold Bishop's original letters home to his wife, Joan.
Harold was called up at the age of 39 in 1941. He left behind his wife and two young daughters and his job as a butler at Cardoness House in Dumfries and Galloway to train in Edinburgh before being deployed to North Africa.
The letters provide an interesting social history and although no replies to Harold's letters have survived, his letters are fairly comprehensive and so it's not too difficult to fill in any blanks. I was really surprised to note he sent his washing home whilst doing his training. There are many references to his vests and handkerchiefs and instructions for Joan to wash and return them to him. It later transpires that it was against regulations but who wouldn't want a few home comforts after being wrenched from a comfortable home life to join the army?
Because Harold's letters mostly date from his time training, rather than in combat, much of what he talks about is commonplace stuff (his washing, his desire for cigarettes, people he has seen etc) but knowing that he was later to be sent into the thick of the war means they have a greater poignancy.
Harold and Joan: Letters Home is an tender look at an ordinary man's separation from his family throughout World War II.
Harold was called up at the age of 39 in 1941. He left behind his wife and two young daughters and his job as a butler at Cardoness House in Dumfries and Galloway to train in Edinburgh before being deployed to North Africa.
The letters provide an interesting social history and although no replies to Harold's letters have survived, his letters are fairly comprehensive and so it's not too difficult to fill in any blanks. I was really surprised to note he sent his washing home whilst doing his training. There are many references to his vests and handkerchiefs and instructions for Joan to wash and return them to him. It later transpires that it was against regulations but who wouldn't want a few home comforts after being wrenched from a comfortable home life to join the army?
Because Harold's letters mostly date from his time training, rather than in combat, much of what he talks about is commonplace stuff (his washing, his desire for cigarettes, people he has seen etc) but knowing that he was later to be sent into the thick of the war means they have a greater poignancy.
Harold and Joan: Letters Home is an tender look at an ordinary man's separation from his family throughout World War II.
December 27, 2024
This is a lovely book showing the life one man and his family go through after he is conscripted into the army in 1941. Harold Bishop has to leave his wife Joan and their two daughters when he’s conscripted into the army during WWII. The letters he sends to his wife detail the difficulties he goes through first with training in Edinburgh and later moving south to Nottingham before being deployed to North Africa, all the while writing to his wife and daughters back home.
I love memoirs in general and anything set during WWII is especially fascinating for me so I was keen to read this when I first heard about it, especially as the format of the book is quite interesting and the cover is so lovely. With a brief introduction about how the letters came to be complied into this book, and a small introduction to Harold, Joan and Joan’s brother who is later mentioned in the letters, the book then takes the form of the many letters that Harold sent home to his wife during his months and years after conscription into the army. I found it interesting to read about Harold’s life after going into the army. He was a butler at the grand Cardoness House near Dumfries before having to join the army and there are some mentions of the house in his letters. It was interesting to hear from his letters how he felt settling in to the army life and how difficult life was having to go through training and the many tests and innoculations which caused some problems for poor Harold especially early on.
Throughout the many weeks and months of letters home you get to know what was happening with Joan and their two daughters too, and I love how throughout all the letters you find out more about Harold’s character and how despite what he’s going through he is always looking forward to the time he can be together again with his wife and children. I love the small anecdotes about certain people, or the later issues he has with parcels and letters going missing as we read more into the book, and even the interesting things that Harold and Joan exchange with each other through their parcels, including some clothing that perhaps shouldn’t have been sent. What I love most of all though is the way that he keeps his spirits up and always signs off his letters in such a loving way.
Throughout the book there are many letters printed in the wasy to read text but there are also a few images of hand written letters too, or service cards, and photographs of various people and things too like some medals or some of the things Harold brought back from his travels for his family. There is a small section of pages towards the end of the book with some more glossy pages which contain some more colourful images and photographs, but there are many also black and white images within the printed pages of the letters, and I especially love some of the later images such as the drawing Harold does for his daughter’s autograph book, or some of the postcards and letters sent back later when he is deployed to North Africa.
While the majority of the book comprises of Harold’s letters, I do like the fact there is some historical information given as to what Harold’s unit were doing at the time in Africa and beyond. I didn’t know much about what was happening in Africa during this part of the second world war so it was good to get a better understanding of it through the few pages that gave more details among the Harold’s letters home. The book finishes with a last letter dated some time before the end of the war, and explains how there are no more letters after that. And although this book does finish a little abruptly with this last letter, I do like how the rest of the book is filled with more photographs and images of various items giving more depth to Harold’s story.
Overall this is a lovely and short memoir of one man and his family and how they survived during his conscription and then deployment to Africa during the war. I do like how personal this memoir feels, with Harold talking about all sorts of things with his wife, and even sending some lovely letters to his eldest daughter too. There are some lovely letters here, detailing the difficulties but also the resilience and warmth in Harold’s character, and I do love how this memoir and story of this soldier’s life in WWII has a happy ending. The book is a short read and I think anyone who loves to read books about WWII and more importantly memoirs about the lives of ordinary people and what they were going through, will enjoy reading this.
-Thanks to Crumps Barn Studio for a free copy.
I love memoirs in general and anything set during WWII is especially fascinating for me so I was keen to read this when I first heard about it, especially as the format of the book is quite interesting and the cover is so lovely. With a brief introduction about how the letters came to be complied into this book, and a small introduction to Harold, Joan and Joan’s brother who is later mentioned in the letters, the book then takes the form of the many letters that Harold sent home to his wife during his months and years after conscription into the army. I found it interesting to read about Harold’s life after going into the army. He was a butler at the grand Cardoness House near Dumfries before having to join the army and there are some mentions of the house in his letters. It was interesting to hear from his letters how he felt settling in to the army life and how difficult life was having to go through training and the many tests and innoculations which caused some problems for poor Harold especially early on.
Throughout the many weeks and months of letters home you get to know what was happening with Joan and their two daughters too, and I love how throughout all the letters you find out more about Harold’s character and how despite what he’s going through he is always looking forward to the time he can be together again with his wife and children. I love the small anecdotes about certain people, or the later issues he has with parcels and letters going missing as we read more into the book, and even the interesting things that Harold and Joan exchange with each other through their parcels, including some clothing that perhaps shouldn’t have been sent. What I love most of all though is the way that he keeps his spirits up and always signs off his letters in such a loving way.
Throughout the book there are many letters printed in the wasy to read text but there are also a few images of hand written letters too, or service cards, and photographs of various people and things too like some medals or some of the things Harold brought back from his travels for his family. There is a small section of pages towards the end of the book with some more glossy pages which contain some more colourful images and photographs, but there are many also black and white images within the printed pages of the letters, and I especially love some of the later images such as the drawing Harold does for his daughter’s autograph book, or some of the postcards and letters sent back later when he is deployed to North Africa.
While the majority of the book comprises of Harold’s letters, I do like the fact there is some historical information given as to what Harold’s unit were doing at the time in Africa and beyond. I didn’t know much about what was happening in Africa during this part of the second world war so it was good to get a better understanding of it through the few pages that gave more details among the Harold’s letters home. The book finishes with a last letter dated some time before the end of the war, and explains how there are no more letters after that. And although this book does finish a little abruptly with this last letter, I do like how the rest of the book is filled with more photographs and images of various items giving more depth to Harold’s story.
Overall this is a lovely and short memoir of one man and his family and how they survived during his conscription and then deployment to Africa during the war. I do like how personal this memoir feels, with Harold talking about all sorts of things with his wife, and even sending some lovely letters to his eldest daughter too. There are some lovely letters here, detailing the difficulties but also the resilience and warmth in Harold’s character, and I do love how this memoir and story of this soldier’s life in WWII has a happy ending. The book is a short read and I think anyone who loves to read books about WWII and more importantly memoirs about the lives of ordinary people and what they were going through, will enjoy reading this.
-Thanks to Crumps Barn Studio for a free copy.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews