Correspondence to Richenda Rhoden from Lawrence Kay dated Monday, November 9th, 1943. (1/5)
Item
Title
Correspondence to Richenda Rhoden from Lawrence Kay dated Monday, November 9th, 1943. (1/5)
Description
Correspondence to Richenda Rhoden from Lawrence Kay, dated Monday November 9, 1943. Letter discusses Lawrence's time in the North African country side, meeting with locals, and trying to find food. (1/5)
Identifier
MS.2019.01.1004
Type
text
Is Part Of
Box 10 Folder 3
Format
PDF
8 w x 5 h
Date
1943
Creator
Kay, Lawrence Lew, 1914 -1943
Subject
correspondence
personal correspondence
World War, 1939-1945
Africa, North
Rhoden, Richenda, 1917-2016
Medium
paper
Language
eng
extracted text
D<,nre st. Ri chenda. lI{k"I" .. ·~
Yesterday.. Dan ' l and I "'ene a h un t in T. \'ie borro;!'ed car b ines f r om two officers and begg e d 18 rOMd ,. of a llllll;m.!.tlon f roo t. h ~
Ordnance Dept . '/Ie ca u ght a. jeep r ide for abo u t. 10 e lIas an·j t. he n
hiked about looking for ra bbi t s . We follmved a rav i ne 1'01' a l!oo:>t
~n:~i~ea~~~~:l~~ fo~~~d q~~t!O~~k;h:~i~iJ.;;r~~~\~:~: ~ ~~:~~
that upon close e xam ina.tion the s oil '. as very rock;y and badlr (l l'u.1".1 .
IVe passed little cOIIW'. llitles of perhaps 1 0 or mo re f lW i lies . The hous es >fe re llIa:l.e of flat rocks and pla" t. e red ;ti t.h OlIL...d
a n d cla;,'. Ar ound t he h ouses '~e re "hedo; e s" of giant aact",:> of '[; h e
pear shaped "leaf" vari ety . Tha plants klVe no distinc'[; t.rl..nk ,
but t hey gr ow to 7 o r 8 feet h1i>h . Tlle native Arabs lise t h ese
c a cti and some v ery spiny bO:::ble to ~ l'orm f elices a r ound the i r
~~~P,:~t;~ ~ :o~:b~~r!.c~~i;d s~:~: r:~e~~ ~~::e h~~c~;e~~Closed .,atcn es ,
About 4: :50 we decided to turn back , but I sa ,f an in';.er es t ing vill a t oi> a h i ll a bou t l /~ mi le a way nnd r n oticed. a wea t h ... l'
vanie on one of t he buildi ng$, Let ' s go and investigate , I sa id ,
ma/ h e wa can get 9o:ll$ th ing t o e a t.
~. t his t.ime, we c oula n T1- i:e t
b a e k t o t~e fiel d in time for sup J.- e r, so the idea ldHI a led to Du n ' l.
Ife wllnt up the r ood a nd approa ched the villa from Ule rear .
It
l o oked interes ting because of tha hedge enclosed ~ ard ... ie ll olive
traes and t he hi gh ,filII t M.t hid e very thing else from vie" , So
that ', ' a had tlo gue:.s what ...as behind it .
\fa turne d left aroMd t.h e ·nll and c ama lI.~heap .... ot"
f ll. rm ma ch ine ry p arked a gain .... t t he wall and around t ill) entranc e /e, dilC-j(
"'int o
the courty a r d .
Just 1n fr unt of the entru.nce ",as an arll\l
Cll r belonging to the Fr ench .
As .... e c am e up R Captain st e ~ ped do<\'TI
fr om the car and Rsk9d what we ',Hlnted. lYe sa id we /lera Oll t h u n r;l n g .
He saw our c a r b ine s an::! a:lmlred theiJI. Boone let hilll shoot his and.
the Captain , an ordnence officer in the Frenc;' Ar :l\f . pr oceeded to
f i r e rOUT' r o unds . That hur t Boone . beea>.: !.e we cnq hl'o.d 9 !ljliece .
Finally ~e Mked him if 'Ie could Vis it :.he villa . Coul d
we OW sOllIe b r ead , too? 11e1 1 he \fOul :! se e n nd "8 entered th e
cour tyar d in sea r ch of t h e oc cupant . The fam,-ly l i v ing t here .... ere
t enant farme rs and r e ferred to ""heir ~p!l.tr on" . ,fe "anted :; 0 hCC
a turkey a nd t hat start ed the conv e r sa tion. He would have t o a s k
his '''ife, h e 3:1.1d . At t his point the CapTAin laf t .
The buildings l o~k ed att ra( tive f ro", t he o o. tsid.e . 'ihe;
',~ere of t ho stucc o typo a nd looked quite ror..m;, .
Me visi t.oo the
stable an d saw some ve ry ordinary hOr5!! ~ c hompinG on h a;,o . '.lll e~'
di i;l.n' t plly orl¥ at t ention to us .
FrO!'ll the stable we went a round to the kitchen and the
~a3ant called his wile out .
The ....He was pre tty fa t , but I co'-l10
, see she mu st have been a very a tt rac tive gi r l in her days . Jle
tried to t alk with her and she got quite Il. kick 0 1..'; of o ur sl<umbling frenCh. She s demed quite intelligen t , but her h usband 10ok eJ.
sort at jumb, o r as Dan ' l s ays . ~be h e C1 1ci.n ' t give a dnl:lo .
The cou~le had t hr ee littl !:1 bo, s , but only one ',fas hOlllc ,
because he was j u~t a bab,)'. The baby lOOked to be ab <. ut 7 mOllth s
old . but the mother said i t \fil S 1 8 months. Looks kind of i diot1 c.
says t he Doc . And ind eed it d i d . The onlJ. i n'terest it sho;rred ..,IIS
for the eamy Da n'l gave it .
,
The kitchen "as v ery dark and t h e ()n~ sour ce of l ! gnt v ls ! ble 'IIS J
a little tiny bulb , about the ai2;11 of an IHlto laQlP . The powar
system was out of order we found , s o I presume they u aed candle " ,
We .... ere i nvited t o some of th e ine vitable Frenc h \f ine
and it " a s very good . \Ve were given some cuffee co.ke and al tho
s he :lj:ologlzed for 1 t , we fo und it e.(cellent .vith 1 ts eSg '> and
corn menl o I felt guilty about e a t1ng it , for l ime '", i t mu.st
ha ve been II. treat t o have . "(The-I d idn ' t have any bt'ead to s el l u s
wh1ch mad e it wors e . ) Boone like:i the cfl ke very lI uc h , too, bu t
he ',fRan't backward about it . I ate mine slo .. ly to tII ll.ke it l ast
longe r aml then t ol d him 'IH, had bette r leav e a little mOlley f o r
the baby in cO!!lpe nsat l on. Boone sa i d the cake ",as ve r y good , h e
IlIUst have the eecipe . Very good ca ke he s a id . So of cour;:;e " e
Ife r e of fered !'!lore. I co'-ll.d h,iVe kicked h inl. for I d idn't >fan t
to h ,ke the cake, yet I didn't ',m nt to offen:!. them. I think nO N
tha t I shouldn't have eaten t h e sec ond p i ec e . Dan'! d idn' t care
though. " e d id l eave t h em soroe money for t he babl .
'lie stil l wanted to bu.:' a t u rkey . They h ad s cm'" fine
healthy looking chickens of s everal va r i e U e s - -so::le \fll i c h 1 had
ne ver s een alive , on~
pi c t ures - -and a vme dUCks .
'liuman
ga ve u s a l o~ talk. bu t all I c oul d ca:;c h 'Kas You ',w i s h to bl.\)l
- - - - :100 then s oap, but even then I caught on . She '"ou ldn' t
sell b u t she '"Ioul1 t r ade SOlie s oap or cot-fee for a t u rkeJ' Then
in
The
she said f~~t~~T~!~1n:O t~~ ;·ll~~l:v~a~:n~eN!;lk:~i~~~~ . a :'o-.. t
the ...-ay ...-0 ean8 . e xcept t hat
took the other !'ork back ~ o the
roa d. "'e fOllOll'~d the highway for a bout 2 mi l~~a lIle
"e
t o a town .
We he 'l.rd s:me ""meric::an soldiers - SingiL a nd 1I. 5k
- ""
- -them "...here ",e cOlll d get something to eat . By t h is tiwe it \fa s
7: 30 and 'll'e "/Jer e tired and hungr/ . 'Ke oi ent "'itn thelll t o Ii. li t t le
F'J:"ench restaurant that "as dingy bu t fairly clean . lInJ' ...a;r" 'l/e
'.fe re too hungry to Cilre. A.ft e r waiting ab ou t naIf an 1I0 W" for a
vacant table , \"I e so.t dOlm to a dinner of a tl!ea t br o th , Ii. vegetable
stelf of ""'hite sweet " potatoes, strlng bea ns , and some k l nd 0;1; nuts ,
a 30;0&11 steilk, a nd t "o fried eggs . There ';;oare 7 of us l nc1udln"
a Fr ench ser gean t . The six o f them drank 5 bottle " of "ine .
The serving of the eggs "'a 3 interesting . Fou r teen ec:gs
\fe r e frled in ene huge i r cn :l ltl11et . It WIlS ab ou t 2 I nc h "l s de ep
~~~g~U~~":8 ~;~::g!nli~;:m~;i~ t~~:t~:~d;e 1~.~ett:r~3~f l~h;n;~:s
whi tes ;fere raw, but we .,ere s t ill hUng ry!4!!te::, the s:eak and
plenty of heavy,dark,bread. <.lnfthi ng a bout t.he eggs " 03 Cll t in
the l ocal res taurant s is th'.lt they "ra v"r;, .fresh a.nd c vnc:lquen tl;,
extre:cely t .l5ty.
T~I"r"B.rd the end of the [Ilea l, t he boys !Starteci to " i ng
s o the .... aitress told us that thete a sic k bab.¥ in the h"u:ie .
When the boys said here ' s Ii doctvr anei pointed to Boone , oie
t hough t !She ""a s jUlit k1ddi:Jg, for s he ducked a nd ran. Theil "..e
saw her talking with a.n old err ""'Cillan and l ater buth beckoned to
Dan 'l who ~~~~/!:li\~!ef!~~lyba~;d
t~ i~;!O"~~\'!~~"t \10
bedroom s ,
for the rest of the houseRa.9 taken up by the big livi ng room ,
the k1tchen and pA.ntry and the ba r. lIe went t hr l..l the panti l n t o
in bedroom 3n;! thru into the othe r. There .... ere
pile of b l ank... t s e n ~
-
5
ets o n the double bed in each ro~. The litt.le bl<m de bub;{ g irl
was in ~ bed al l piled 'w ith blankets. She looked plump, b u t
v e r y pale . H'if very Mnds o;1;6 f a the r
t h ere .I'.l. th a YOl.al1! bub;!'
in his a rm s. He was rather sli,ht a nd blonde . Tile old ~r s ister
",.!!
of a b ou t 5 was the re and the ~9- :lick bub.., was 6 . The mOLbe.
"IlSS al so small , but da r k and she looke d ve r~ worn and tired .
Boone gave her some Bulla pills that he had with h1m (a l.l of us
carry them in o ur !irst aid kits) and left instructions as to h<;"l/
t o u se them . His l nstruct1<:ms ·... ere Quite Ingenlou3 . He wrote ve r~
sim p l e d irectl ons --Nov_ 7,6 Ail - -one hall' t 1l.bl et; ,"",v 7, 12 noon - one h a lf tablet, at eaters . He \tRS profusely thanked to saJ t h e
;;!!~. Fr~~c~h:~'e o~~u~~ ~~~d t~ !~~~l~:~y S~!~lj~s~h~e~~~;~d
fr em the hospita l and 'Was oot fully rec ov er ed fr c rn di r h theria .
The n she caught a cold and her tonsils were infected. Boone ad vhed the moth e r to keep the bIlby in bed for 6 wee ks . I·e told me
later, that d.iphtheri.a le ave~ the h eart very weak a nd if t he
patient does no t res t it a lon(l time a f ter all out"ard ';Y!lIJ.' t O!ll;;
disappea r and insists c n playing or e ::£erc i B.i ng, the r.ear .t ;nay
collapse suddenly . !Ie had one such C!l 3e before .
TO!llorrow, '.' e a re goiIl6 hunting a nd now that ~e kno",
s o mething more a bout t he country side and have found o u t -I fljere
pheasants 1s and ain ' t, .... e c:a,y hav e bet.ter l uck. 'lie i ntend to
visit his little patient again .
As y ou have probably gQ~li ered we didn' t find ve!"/
much, but 1 did shoot Q't a hawk a nd Dan'l ki lled a tur ~ le .
/""4~//-7 /~~,
_=~~
Yesterday.. Dan ' l and I "'ene a h un t in T. \'ie borro;!'ed car b ines f r om two officers and begg e d 18 rOMd ,. of a llllll;m.!.tlon f roo t. h ~
Ordnance Dept . '/Ie ca u ght a. jeep r ide for abo u t. 10 e lIas an·j t. he n
hiked about looking for ra bbi t s . We follmved a rav i ne 1'01' a l!oo:>t
~n:~i~ea~~~~:l~~ fo~~~d q~~t!O~~k;h:~i~iJ.;;r~~~\~:~: ~ ~~:~~
that upon close e xam ina.tion the s oil '. as very rock;y and badlr (l l'u.1".1 .
IVe passed little cOIIW'. llitles of perhaps 1 0 or mo re f lW i lies . The hous es >fe re llIa:l.e of flat rocks and pla" t. e red ;ti t.h OlIL...d
a n d cla;,'. Ar ound t he h ouses '~e re "hedo; e s" of giant aact",:> of '[; h e
pear shaped "leaf" vari ety . Tha plants klVe no distinc'[; t.rl..nk ,
but t hey gr ow to 7 o r 8 feet h1i>h . Tlle native Arabs lise t h ese
c a cti and some v ery spiny bO:::ble to ~ l'orm f elices a r ound the i r
~~~P,:~t;~ ~ :o~:b~~r!.c~~i;d s~:~: r:~e~~ ~~::e h~~c~;e~~Closed .,atcn es ,
About 4: :50 we decided to turn back , but I sa ,f an in';.er es t ing vill a t oi> a h i ll a bou t l /~ mi le a way nnd r n oticed. a wea t h ... l'
vanie on one of t he buildi ng$, Let ' s go and investigate , I sa id ,
ma/ h e wa can get 9o:ll$ th ing t o e a t.
~. t his t.ime, we c oula n T1- i:e t
b a e k t o t~e fiel d in time for sup J.- e r, so the idea ldHI a led to Du n ' l.
Ife wllnt up the r ood a nd approa ched the villa from Ule rear .
It
l o oked interes ting because of tha hedge enclosed ~ ard ... ie ll olive
traes and t he hi gh ,filII t M.t hid e very thing else from vie" , So
that ', ' a had tlo gue:.s what ...as behind it .
\fa turne d left aroMd t.h e ·nll and c ama lI.~heap .... ot"
f ll. rm ma ch ine ry p arked a gain .... t t he wall and around t ill) entranc e /e, dilC-j(
"'int o
the courty a r d .
Just 1n fr unt of the entru.nce ",as an arll\l
Cll r belonging to the Fr ench .
As .... e c am e up R Captain st e ~ ped do<\'TI
fr om the car and Rsk9d what we ',Hlnted. lYe sa id we /lera Oll t h u n r;l n g .
He saw our c a r b ine s an::! a:lmlred theiJI. Boone let hilll shoot his and.
the Captain , an ordnence officer in the Frenc;' Ar :l\f . pr oceeded to
f i r e rOUT' r o unds . That hur t Boone . beea>.: !.e we cnq hl'o.d 9 !ljliece .
Finally ~e Mked him if 'Ie could Vis it :.he villa . Coul d
we OW sOllIe b r ead , too? 11e1 1 he \fOul :! se e n nd "8 entered th e
cour tyar d in sea r ch of t h e oc cupant . The fam,-ly l i v ing t here .... ere
t enant farme rs and r e ferred to ""heir ~p!l.tr on" . ,fe "anted :; 0 hCC
a turkey a nd t hat start ed the conv e r sa tion. He would have t o a s k
his '''ife, h e 3:1.1d . At t his point the CapTAin laf t .
The buildings l o~k ed att ra( tive f ro", t he o o. tsid.e . 'ihe;
',~ere of t ho stucc o typo a nd looked quite ror..m;, .
Me visi t.oo the
stable an d saw some ve ry ordinary hOr5!! ~ c hompinG on h a;,o . '.lll e~'
di i;l.n' t plly orl¥ at t ention to us .
FrO!'ll the stable we went a round to the kitchen and the
~a3ant called his wile out .
The ....He was pre tty fa t , but I co'-l10
, see she mu st have been a very a tt rac tive gi r l in her days . Jle
tried to t alk with her and she got quite Il. kick 0 1..'; of o ur sl<umbling frenCh. She s demed quite intelligen t , but her h usband 10ok eJ.
sort at jumb, o r as Dan ' l s ays . ~be h e C1 1ci.n ' t give a dnl:lo .
The cou~le had t hr ee littl !:1 bo, s , but only one ',fas hOlllc ,
because he was j u~t a bab,)'. The baby lOOked to be ab <. ut 7 mOllth s
old . but the mother said i t \fil S 1 8 months. Looks kind of i diot1 c.
says t he Doc . And ind eed it d i d . The onlJ. i n'terest it sho;rred ..,IIS
for the eamy Da n'l gave it .
,
The kitchen "as v ery dark and t h e ()n~ sour ce of l ! gnt v ls ! ble 'IIS J
a little tiny bulb , about the ai2;11 of an IHlto laQlP . The powar
system was out of order we found , s o I presume they u aed candle " ,
We .... ere i nvited t o some of th e ine vitable Frenc h \f ine
and it " a s very good . \Ve were given some cuffee co.ke and al tho
s he :lj:ologlzed for 1 t , we fo und it e.(cellent .vith 1 ts eSg '> and
corn menl o I felt guilty about e a t1ng it , for l ime '", i t mu.st
ha ve been II. treat t o have . "(The-I d idn ' t have any bt'ead to s el l u s
wh1ch mad e it wors e . ) Boone like:i the cfl ke very lI uc h , too, bu t
he ',fRan't backward about it . I ate mine slo .. ly to tII ll.ke it l ast
longe r aml then t ol d him 'IH, had bette r leav e a little mOlley f o r
the baby in cO!!lpe nsat l on. Boone sa i d the cake ",as ve r y good , h e
IlIUst have the eecipe . Very good ca ke he s a id . So of cour;:;e " e
Ife r e of fered !'!lore. I co'-ll.d h,iVe kicked h inl. for I d idn't >fan t
to h ,ke the cake, yet I didn't ',m nt to offen:!. them. I think nO N
tha t I shouldn't have eaten t h e sec ond p i ec e . Dan'! d idn' t care
though. " e d id l eave t h em soroe money for t he babl .
'lie stil l wanted to bu.:' a t u rkey . They h ad s cm'" fine
healthy looking chickens of s everal va r i e U e s - -so::le \fll i c h 1 had
ne ver s een alive , on~
pi c t ures - -and a vme dUCks .
'liuman
ga ve u s a l o~ talk. bu t all I c oul d ca:;c h 'Kas You ',w i s h to bl.\)l
- - - - :100 then s oap, but even then I caught on . She '"ou ldn' t
sell b u t she '"Ioul1 t r ade SOlie s oap or cot-fee for a t u rkeJ' Then
in
The
she said f~~t~~T~!~1n:O t~~ ;·ll~~l:v~a~:n~eN!;lk:~i~~~~ . a :'o-.. t
the ...-ay ...-0 ean8 . e xcept t hat
took the other !'ork back ~ o the
roa d. "'e fOllOll'~d the highway for a bout 2 mi l~~a lIle
"e
t o a town .
We he 'l.rd s:me ""meric::an soldiers - SingiL a nd 1I. 5k
- ""
- -them "...here ",e cOlll d get something to eat . By t h is tiwe it \fa s
7: 30 and 'll'e "/Jer e tired and hungr/ . 'Ke oi ent "'itn thelll t o Ii. li t t le
F'J:"ench restaurant that "as dingy bu t fairly clean . lInJ' ...a;r" 'l/e
'.fe re too hungry to Cilre. A.ft e r waiting ab ou t naIf an 1I0 W" for a
vacant table , \"I e so.t dOlm to a dinner of a tl!ea t br o th , Ii. vegetable
stelf of ""'hite sweet " potatoes, strlng bea ns , and some k l nd 0;1; nuts ,
a 30;0&11 steilk, a nd t "o fried eggs . There ';;oare 7 of us l nc1udln"
a Fr ench ser gean t . The six o f them drank 5 bottle " of "ine .
The serving of the eggs "'a 3 interesting . Fou r teen ec:gs
\fe r e frled in ene huge i r cn :l ltl11et . It WIlS ab ou t 2 I nc h "l s de ep
~~~g~U~~":8 ~;~::g!nli~;:m~;i~ t~~:t~:~d;e 1~.~ett:r~3~f l~h;n;~:s
whi tes ;fere raw, but we .,ere s t ill hUng ry!4!!te::, the s:eak and
plenty of heavy,dark,bread. <.lnfthi ng a bout t.he eggs " 03 Cll t in
the l ocal res taurant s is th'.lt they "ra v"r;, .fresh a.nd c vnc:lquen tl;,
extre:cely t .l5ty.
T~I"r"B.rd the end of the [Ilea l, t he boys !Starteci to " i ng
s o the .... aitress told us that thete a sic k bab.¥ in the h"u:ie .
When the boys said here ' s Ii doctvr anei pointed to Boone , oie
t hough t !She ""a s jUlit k1ddi:Jg, for s he ducked a nd ran. Theil "..e
saw her talking with a.n old err ""'Cillan and l ater buth beckoned to
Dan 'l who ~~~~/!:li\~!ef!~~lyba~;d
t~ i~;!O"~~\'!~~"t \10
bedroom s ,
for the rest of the houseRa.9 taken up by the big livi ng room ,
the k1tchen and pA.ntry and the ba r. lIe went t hr l..l the panti l n t o
in bedroom 3n;! thru into the othe r. There .... ere
pile of b l ank... t s e n ~
-
5
ets o n the double bed in each ro~. The litt.le bl<m de bub;{ g irl
was in ~ bed al l piled 'w ith blankets. She looked plump, b u t
v e r y pale . H'if very Mnds o;1;6 f a the r
t h ere .I'.l. th a YOl.al1! bub;!'
in his a rm s. He was rather sli,ht a nd blonde . Tile old ~r s ister
",.!!
of a b ou t 5 was the re and the ~9- :lick bub.., was 6 . The mOLbe.
"IlSS al so small , but da r k and she looke d ve r~ worn and tired .
Boone gave her some Bulla pills that he had with h1m (a l.l of us
carry them in o ur !irst aid kits) and left instructions as to h<;"l/
t o u se them . His l nstruct1<:ms ·... ere Quite Ingenlou3 . He wrote ve r~
sim p l e d irectl ons --Nov_ 7,6 Ail - -one hall' t 1l.bl et; ,"",v 7, 12 noon - one h a lf tablet, at eaters . He \tRS profusely thanked to saJ t h e
;;!!~. Fr~~c~h:~'e o~~u~~ ~~~d t~ !~~~l~:~y S~!~lj~s~h~e~~~;~d
fr em the hospita l and 'Was oot fully rec ov er ed fr c rn di r h theria .
The n she caught a cold and her tonsils were infected. Boone ad vhed the moth e r to keep the bIlby in bed for 6 wee ks . I·e told me
later, that d.iphtheri.a le ave~ the h eart very weak a nd if t he
patient does no t res t it a lon(l time a f ter all out"ard ';Y!lIJ.' t O!ll;;
disappea r and insists c n playing or e ::£erc i B.i ng, the r.ear .t ;nay
collapse suddenly . !Ie had one such C!l 3e before .
TO!llorrow, '.' e a re goiIl6 hunting a nd now that ~e kno",
s o mething more a bout t he country side and have found o u t -I fljere
pheasants 1s and ain ' t, .... e c:a,y hav e bet.ter l uck. 'lie i ntend to
visit his little patient again .
As y ou have probably gQ~li ered we didn' t find ve!"/
much, but 1 did shoot Q't a hawk a nd Dan'l ki lled a tur ~ le .
/""4~//-7 /~~,
_=~~