Letters home to Norway - the early days of the war
The attached letters date from 1938 and 1939. They are from my grandmother Martha Skogland Morgan to her mother Sanna Skogland in Haugesund. Martha moved from Haugesund to the UK as a remedial gymnast/physiotherapist in the 1930s to deal with an outbreak of polio. She married my grandfather Robert Morgan and had my mother Louise Margrethe in September 1938 living in SW London. She died in England around 1979.
I can't read Martha's writing - I guess the contents are a mix of domestic and political in the run up to war. I can read Robert's comments when he writes to his mother-in-law - either when they were evacuated or she was too tired with the small baby Louise.
Robert is a civilian lawyer at this point. It is interesting to see how even before he has been drafted, this gentle, educated man was already:
• Critical of the Versailles Treaty
• Vocally committed against rising Fascism - He was "confident and satisfied that war is necessary" 3/10/39
• Optimistic "Im not overimpressed by the Nazis military might" despite the success of the German Blitzkrieg 3/10/39
My grandfather served in the army, went up to Italy with the US Army as Artillery and later intelligence/interrogations. Although he survived the war it gave him PTSD and depression and he committed suicide in the early 70s.
