Johnson, Henry Charles Murray

Two original letters relating to the womens' silk underwear given as a good luck mascot to 421280 Flying Officer (FO) Henry Charles Murray Johnson, who enlisted with the RAAF in 1942 and served in England with the RAF. FO Johnson became friends with a family living in Sutton, Surry, in England that he stayed with when on leave, and the mother (Bonfire Blondie) and daughter (Peggy) made the mascot for him and periodically added to it with embroidery. One of the letters has dates from 1943/44, the signatures of Peggy, Blondie and her husband Harold, and the words 'I'd love to see your face when you are opening this parcel!!'. The second letter, dated 9 June 1944, is written in the form of a poem titled 'Ode to a Gentleman', written to 'Dear Mr Wu' which was the name of FO Johnson's aeroplane. The poem was written by the family and includes small photographs of Blondie and Peggy and their signatures.