29th March 1958

Written on HSBC Calcutta airmail letter.

Dear Mum, Dad and Alan,

Many thanks for your lovely letter about Caroline. She is at a wonderful age just now and full of vitality and enjoyment of everything. She has obviously shown you all her paces from animals to dancing. She will sit with Dad if has a magazine or a picture book with Gees Gees but not for long, as is usual with children, their attention is everywhere. The Gurkha KUKRI is meant to be decorative (on a wall) and is only a third of the size worn by our Gurkhas at Middleton Mansions. they act as watchman or DURWANS. It was used a great deal in Burma in the last war and in Malaya when I was there. It is a hunting knife as well as a killing one and the two blades in the pouch or purse at the side should be one sharp and one blunt. These are for diverse purposes such as eating & preparing food and sharpening the bigger knife, but are of course a bit small in the one you have. A ceremonial kukri will take the head of a bullock at one swipe and the ordinary one will do the same to a man. It is the curve and weight of the blade that does it. Yours should be kept polished and hung on the wall. So that concludes the excerpt from the Encylopedia Britainnica! The weather at 105F in the shade (probably 120/30 on the roof of a car) has given me a feverish cold which I have just about thrown off/ Again it is dirt more than anything else and I am now looking forward to those sea breezes at Herne Bay more than ever before. Am closing this off on 31st. The last last day of the month but one to cope with. It is amazing how slack we are now compared to six months ago. virtually making work to do.

Cheerio for now and love,
Peter.

P.S. I did not get a wire off to Tom although it was ready, because of the fever I had on Friday - somehow I remembered Barbaras. P.