Hello and welcome to We Have Ways of Making You Talk, Family Stories.

Each Sunday we tell the stories of normal people caught up in the global events of the

Second World War.

Usually these accounts are sent in by our listeners, but today being Valentine's Day,

we thought we'd do something a bit different.

While researching his new book, James has uncovered some letters from Bill Wharton who fought

with the show at Rangers' Yominary.

These are love letters Bill sent to his wife during the war.

We hope you enjoy them.

These are a series of letters written by Bill Wharton and he was promoted to Captain in

July 1944 in B Squadron of the Sherwood Rangers' Yominary and his son Michael gave me a copy

of his father's wartime letters to his mother, Marion.

And Bill was a little bit older.

He had also been a pre-war member of the Sherwood Rangers' Yominary and had been commissioned

from the ranks as well.

And he was a sensitive chap, an obviously a very popular figure as well, a gentle soul,

and a very good leader of men.

And the warmth of his personality really comes out in these letters as does his deep love

for his wife.

There's a sort of added poignancy because his wife Marion is pregnant at the time with

their first child and of course he's in an incredibly dangerous situation.

And the prospect of not seeing her or ever seeing his unborn child weighs on his mind considerably.

...