Wartime Letters Show A Longing For Christmas At Home Article in The Vanguard (Yarmouth NS) December 2008 Christmas to those serving in the Second World War was a time when soldiers were separated from their families. What follows are extracts from letters sent by Cpl. John Woodruff to his wife Mildred who resided in the north end of Yarmouth. The letters from which these extracts were taken were written around Christmas when he was serving overseas and illustrate his longing to be home for Christmas. The letters are part of the collection of the Wartime Heritage Association, based in Yarmouth. The Association has an extensive collection of artefacts, letters, logbooks and photos that are sent to them by people from around the world upon learning about the Association’s work. Dec. 21, 1943 It is almost Xmas and no snow. All we get is rain. Well dear, I sure hope and pray we are all together this time next year. Dec. 24 and 25, 1943 Say hello to the folks for me. Sure would have like to have spent today with you. Here it is Xmas…doesn’t look much like it around here. December, 1944 Well here we are only a few days before Xmas, I would love to be right there with you. But as I said last year maybe we will be together for the next one. I hope and pray. It sure will be a swell treat when we can get back to living again and in a place of our own. So I can have some of your good cooked meals. The corporal and I have been trying to buy some turkeys so we can give the boys in our sections a good Xmas feed but I guess we are out of luck, as the farmers over here don’t want to sell us any. We are going to have a midnight mass, so I think I will do that as I might not be able to get to church Xmas Day. I remember my first Xmas in the army. I sure hated to see you go home a week ahead of me. Well dear in years to come we will sit by the fireside and talk about all this time we spent away from each other. Dec. 25, 1944 Well dear this is the big day. I sure would love to be there with you. I sure hope and pray that we will be together for the next one so we can just look back at this like a dream. I would like to put my arms around you… well I sure hope you had a swell Xmas. We will be together for the next one if God is willing and I think he will be. Dec. 23, 1945 Well dear, here I am again. Sure would love to be there with you. But if everything is right what they say, I will be home on the last of January. So we will be able to celebrate our anniversary. Well, I suppose you will be pretty busy over Xmas and New Years with all the family home. I sure would love to be there myself. But we will have to make up next Xmas for the ones we have missed together. We are pretty busy getting the trucks ready to be turned in and trying to get things ready for Xmas. We have a swell cook so we will have a wonderful Xmas dinner. He has been working pretty hard to get extra things for us. I hope to be walking down the street again soon with you. Say hello to the family for me. [Content for the article was supplied by the Wartime Heritage Association from the letters of John Woodruff on loan to the Wartime Heritage Association]