Introduction to the Letters

Lez Westaway and Clare (né Rose) Pitcher were courting seriously in early 1942 when Lez was called up to the armed services. They married in December that year. Lez chose to join the Royal Navy. Throughout his time in the Navy Clare wrote to him several times a week and Lez kept all these letters. Clare kept most letters from Lez and all those that were written when he was away from the U.K. These letters were tied in ribbon and and stored in boxes out of sight throughout their lives. They provide us with an extraordinarily rich view of life during World War 2 in London and in the Navy, as well as a deep understanding of these two people.

During the war neither Lez nor Clare was allowed to date a letter. We have dated Clare’s letters using the postmarks on the envelopes. Lez’s bore no dated postmarks. These have been dated by us according to the date that Clare received them.
All the letters have been read by us and important elements of each have been noted in a table, which you can read by clicking the year date in the menu bar. To access copies of the letters themselves click on the letter date in the table.