Details
HAMMOND, W.R. -- A collection of 32 letters written to his first wife, Dorothy, including:
A very personal 6½pp. letter, dated 32 The Mall, Clifton, Bristol, West of England, Feb: 24/1930, saying how he misses her and insisting that, on his return, she avoid making him "cross" and be more physically demonstrative with her affection, though preferably in a quiet corner rather than in public: "will you?" he asks, "or don't you love me enough?" He lets her into the "astounding secret" that he is going to take her to a dance in Clifton. He is annoyed with himself "for being soft" but says: "you must make a fuss of me everywhere and everywhere please and tick me off if I get annoyed."
A 4pp. letter, dated Carlton Hotel, Johannesburg, Thursday, stating that: "The main body of the side do not arrive until late today ... As you know, we start the Fourth Test on Saturday and we are going to put in a full day's practice tomorrow at the Wanderer's ground ... I too am alright but feeling a bit jaded. I shall most certainly be glad when it is all over and the Fifth Test finished ... Let me know if you have been able to fix anything with Union Castle ...."
A 4pp. letter, dated The Grand Hotel (Byo.) Ltd., Bulawayo, S. Rhodesia, Sunday, and franked 8 Feb. 1939, saying: "It was grand to hear your voice again. I had really begun to worry at not receiving a telegram to say that you had arrived safely." He agrees it is not worth the expense of a short trip to Johanneburg to see her. He will be "flying down from Durban after the Fifth Test and am not going to play in the last match so we shall have well over a week together in which we can do as we like ... this job has been a little wearing and [I] shall be glad of a few days off" (cleanly torn).
A 3pp. letter, dated Royal Hotel, Durban, Wednesday, and franked 2. III. 39, expressing his "hope that this last Test Match is not going to last too long." He will fly down to her the morning after the match using the incognito of "Mr. Jones ... We have been exceptionally lucky with illness and injuries but they have all come with a rush. It is doubtful whether Paynter will be fit, I do hope he will be."
A 2pp. letter, dated Torquay 5/10/40, complaining that "every letter you send you manage to find a bill to put in ... you will I am sure not be surprised to hear that Macaulay has been posted to the Shetland Islands he's furious about it, only its his own fault he would drink so much all day everyday ...."
A 1¼pp. letter, dated F/Lt. W.R. Hammond, Royal Air Force, Headquarters Middle East [Cairo], 5/2/41, beginning: "Well my sweet here I am at long last. A slow but interesting journey ... It is a relief to be able to get some exercise. I was about the end of my tether having had no exercise at all for a considerable time ... I don't suppose you remember Charles Bray who used to play for Essex he is out here also Freddie Brown whom I have not yet seen ... There are sure to be quite a number here who I know ... how are you getting on with your ambulance driving ... Please pass the news on that I have arrived safely as I shall be unable to write to every one for some time ...."
A 2½pp. a.l.s., dated Headquarters R.A.F., Middle East, 11/4/41, telling his wife: "I haven't had a letter of any description since the one from you dated January 4th. However, I keep living in hopes ... are you being a good girl I hope so. How I should love to just walk in on you and give you the surprise of your life." He enquires after his Buick, and adds: "The car question in this part of the world is almost laughable anything that has four wheels on, fetches the most fantastic prices, and strangely the bigger the horse power the more money ... You would laugh if you could see all my clothes ... all my socks without exception have holes, buttons off various places and a whole heap of odds and ends where the needle should be introduced, its all so very funny it at least gives me something to laugh at now and again ... when I do get home I promise to be just as lazy and rely upon you for everything. What a treat it will be. I just wet my hands when I think of tea in the morning and some food that has been properly cooked and which doesn't taste of paraffin or garlick." He adds that: "Mrs. Percy Chapman is out here working for the Y.M.C.A. with the New Zealanders ... There has been a persistent rumour going round that Herbert Sutcliffe was out here or coming out but I can't trace him ...."
A 2pp. letter, dated Headquarters R.A.F. Middle East, 22/5/41, apologising for having had "a moody patch" and sending his wife "one of my silly letters ... I miss you more than on any other of my trips before." He is sorry that she didn't hear "my broadcast message what a pity ... we have often quarrelled about my not taking you to 'Dances'. Well, I won't grumble again about you making a fuss of me you can drape yourself over and around me, as much as you like, so get into training my dear ...."
A 4pp. letter, dated H.Q. R.A.F. M.M., 4/8/41, written to Dorothy after his return from a trip lasting "a month longer" than he had anticipated. He apologises for not having been able to write during this period, and says how delighted he was to find "a tray full of letters" from her on his return, "I take back all I said ... what a grand time I had reading them well into the middle of the night ...." He has also had a card from Vizianagram, the Indian captain.
A 2pp. letter, dated 10 St. Edmund's Terrace, St. John's Wood, NW8, June 19th, saying that he will probably be playing at Bradford on July 8th and asking if he can stay at "Sam's." He continues: "I was so awfully Run as you know to fix all our affairs amicably and still want to do so ...."
A 2pp. letter, dated R.A.F. Station, Regent's Park, London, NW8, June 29th, to "Dear Dot," saying he is "glad that it will be o.k. for me to stay at 569 ... You will note the new address this is because the flat is no more, at 11.30 a.m. on Tuesday it went up in smoke when it was visited by a Doodle, I was of course out at the time ...."; with a further 21 wartime letters from Hammond to his wife; and a small quantity of telegrams and airgraphs.
(a lot)
Walter Hammond by Gerald Howat was published in 1984, without access to the above letters. The deduction can nevertheless be made from the biography that difficulties with his first marriage account for a slight decline in Hammond's form during later years. He actually met his second wife, Sybil Ness-Harvey, a former beauty Queen of Natal, in Durban in December 1938, during the M.C.C. tour of 1938-39. Dorothy soon after visited him in South Africa, arriving in February. As Howat reveals, much of the later part of his wartime posting to the R.A.F. in Cairo was actually spent in South Africa, and Hammond eventually married Sybil on 10 April, 1947.
Surviving letters from Hammond are very rare, and Howat (p. 126) comments on the few letters available to him. This achive shows his relationship to Dorothy to have been very close, up to and even beyond the point of their divorce, yet insecure almost from the start. With their prolonged absences from one another, it is surprisingly Hammond who worries that the glamorous and more extrovert Dorothy might leave him for another man rather than vice versa -- he is aware that both are capable of laspes, but seems intensely affectionate if in some ways rather demanding of the creature comforts of home.
A very personal 6½pp. letter, dated 32 The Mall, Clifton, Bristol, West of England, Feb: 24/1930, saying how he misses her and insisting that, on his return, she avoid making him "cross" and be more physically demonstrative with her affection, though preferably in a quiet corner rather than in public: "will you?" he asks, "or don't you love me enough?" He lets her into the "astounding secret" that he is going to take her to a dance in Clifton. He is annoyed with himself "for being soft" but says: "you must make a fuss of me everywhere and everywhere please and tick me off if I get annoyed."
A 4pp. letter, dated Carlton Hotel, Johannesburg, Thursday, stating that: "The main body of the side do not arrive until late today ... As you know, we start the Fourth Test on Saturday and we are going to put in a full day's practice tomorrow at the Wanderer's ground ... I too am alright but feeling a bit jaded. I shall most certainly be glad when it is all over and the Fifth Test finished ... Let me know if you have been able to fix anything with Union Castle ...."
A 4pp. letter, dated The Grand Hotel (Byo.) Ltd., Bulawayo, S. Rhodesia, Sunday, and franked 8 Feb. 1939, saying: "It was grand to hear your voice again. I had really begun to worry at not receiving a telegram to say that you had arrived safely." He agrees it is not worth the expense of a short trip to Johanneburg to see her. He will be "flying down from Durban after the Fifth Test and am not going to play in the last match so we shall have well over a week together in which we can do as we like ... this job has been a little wearing and [I] shall be glad of a few days off" (cleanly torn).
A 3pp. letter, dated Royal Hotel, Durban, Wednesday, and franked 2. III. 39, expressing his "hope that this last Test Match is not going to last too long." He will fly down to her the morning after the match using the incognito of "Mr. Jones ... We have been exceptionally lucky with illness and injuries but they have all come with a rush. It is doubtful whether Paynter will be fit, I do hope he will be."
A 2pp. letter, dated Torquay 5/10/40, complaining that "every letter you send you manage to find a bill to put in ... you will I am sure not be surprised to hear that Macaulay has been posted to the Shetland Islands he's furious about it, only its his own fault he would drink so much all day everyday ...."
A 1¼pp. letter, dated F/Lt. W.R. Hammond, Royal Air Force, Headquarters Middle East [Cairo], 5/2/41, beginning: "Well my sweet here I am at long last. A slow but interesting journey ... It is a relief to be able to get some exercise. I was about the end of my tether having had no exercise at all for a considerable time ... I don't suppose you remember Charles Bray who used to play for Essex he is out here also Freddie Brown whom I have not yet seen ... There are sure to be quite a number here who I know ... how are you getting on with your ambulance driving ... Please pass the news on that I have arrived safely as I shall be unable to write to every one for some time ...."
A 2½pp. a.l.s., dated Headquarters R.A.F., Middle East, 11/4/41, telling his wife: "I haven't had a letter of any description since the one from you dated January 4th. However, I keep living in hopes ... are you being a good girl I hope so. How I should love to just walk in on you and give you the surprise of your life." He enquires after his Buick, and adds: "The car question in this part of the world is almost laughable anything that has four wheels on, fetches the most fantastic prices, and strangely the bigger the horse power the more money ... You would laugh if you could see all my clothes ... all my socks without exception have holes, buttons off various places and a whole heap of odds and ends where the needle should be introduced, its all so very funny it at least gives me something to laugh at now and again ... when I do get home I promise to be just as lazy and rely upon you for everything. What a treat it will be. I just wet my hands when I think of tea in the morning and some food that has been properly cooked and which doesn't taste of paraffin or garlick." He adds that: "Mrs. Percy Chapman is out here working for the Y.M.C.A. with the New Zealanders ... There has been a persistent rumour going round that Herbert Sutcliffe was out here or coming out but I can't trace him ...."
A 2pp. letter, dated Headquarters R.A.F. Middle East, 22/5/41, apologising for having had "a moody patch" and sending his wife "one of my silly letters ... I miss you more than on any other of my trips before." He is sorry that she didn't hear "my broadcast message what a pity ... we have often quarrelled about my not taking you to 'Dances'. Well, I won't grumble again about you making a fuss of me you can drape yourself over and around me, as much as you like, so get into training my dear ...."
A 4pp. letter, dated H.Q. R.A.F. M.M., 4/8/41, written to Dorothy after his return from a trip lasting "a month longer" than he had anticipated. He apologises for not having been able to write during this period, and says how delighted he was to find "a tray full of letters" from her on his return, "I take back all I said ... what a grand time I had reading them well into the middle of the night ...." He has also had a card from Vizianagram, the Indian captain.
A 2pp. letter, dated 10 St. Edmund's Terrace, St. John's Wood, NW8, June 19th, saying that he will probably be playing at Bradford on July 8th and asking if he can stay at "Sam's." He continues: "I was so awfully Run as you know to fix all our affairs amicably and still want to do so ...."
A 2pp. letter, dated R.A.F. Station, Regent's Park, London, NW8, June 29th, to "Dear Dot," saying he is "glad that it will be o.k. for me to stay at 569 ... You will note the new address this is because the flat is no more, at 11.30 a.m. on Tuesday it went up in smoke when it was visited by a Doodle, I was of course out at the time ...."; with a further 21 wartime letters from Hammond to his wife; and a small quantity of telegrams and airgraphs.
(a lot)
Walter Hammond by Gerald Howat was published in 1984, without access to the above letters. The deduction can nevertheless be made from the biography that difficulties with his first marriage account for a slight decline in Hammond's form during later years. He actually met his second wife, Sybil Ness-Harvey, a former beauty Queen of Natal, in Durban in December 1938, during the M.C.C. tour of 1938-39. Dorothy soon after visited him in South Africa, arriving in February. As Howat reveals, much of the later part of his wartime posting to the R.A.F. in Cairo was actually spent in South Africa, and Hammond eventually married Sybil on 10 April, 1947.
Surviving letters from Hammond are very rare, and Howat (p. 126) comments on the few letters available to him. This achive shows his relationship to Dorothy to have been very close, up to and even beyond the point of their divorce, yet insecure almost from the start. With their prolonged absences from one another, it is surprisingly Hammond who worries that the glamorous and more extrovert Dorothy might leave him for another man rather than vice versa -- he is aware that both are capable of laspes, but seems intensely affectionate if in some ways rather demanding of the creature comforts of home.