February 14th, 1946 and a Love Letter

I was recently sorting through (yet another) biscuit tin filled with old photographs, passports, and papers which had belonged to my late aunt and uncle.    The papers ended up with me when they died, as they had no offspring of their own.   

Folded small among the papers was this large and very handsome certificate, which I am tempted to have framed.

It states that on February 14th, 1946 my late uncle, then aged 21 and serving in the Navy, on a Tank Landing Ship, crossed the equator.

I hope the ceremony was fun and that the penalties were not too unpleasant, although I have read that sometimes the ceremonial dunking and trials could be rather cruel, all disguised with laughter and ceremony.          I wish we had known to ask him about it.

He was a lovely quiet and very modest man who never spoke of the years he spent at sea during the war.

His wife, on the other hand, who served in the WRAF, definitely won the war single-handedly!! 
They were chalk and cheese.   

He was four years her junior, a 'toy boy', as she sometimes joked. 

While looking through their papers, I found a letter. 

A love letter from him to her.   It was very simple, very moving, especially as he really did not like writing, although he loved crossword puzzles and quizzes.       His education had been cut short as he had to leave school at the age of 14, to support his mother and two sisters, when his father died.   He was a true grafter all of his life.     

The letter is very beautiful and would have made a perfect post for today, but I know he wouldn't have liked that.    For the moment it remains safely tucked away in a biscuit tin.    There is nothing shocking about the letter, it is all very sweet, but it does reveal how in love he was. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day.