Mail Correspondence with Soldiers at War (“Feldpostbriefe”): Letter from the English soldier Fred Baker to his 4-year-old daughter in fall of 1942 (Published on 30/01/2026)
The last letter
Many men who fought as soldiers in World War II were constantly worried about their families at home and their well-being should they not return from the war. Fathers often wrote their children a “last letter” in which they gave them advice for their future life without a father.
Fred Baker to Patricia
Lance Corporal Fred Baker served in World War II with the British Royal Corps of Signals, a combat support unit, in the Mediterranean. In October 1942, he wrote a letter to his four-year-old daughter Patricia in case he was killed in action and she had to live the rest of her life without him. He gave her the following advice (source: Roberts, “Letters from the Front” [2014], p. 165 ff.):
“Sunday 4th Oct. 1942
My Darling Little Pat,
I have been thinking things over while waiting for my boat, & as I might not return I think it is only right that you should have a letter from me which you can keep, to remember me by.
I am writing this assuming you are now grown up, as you will not receive this till then. I can picture you as a lovely girl, very happy with plenty of boyfriends. I am finding it very hard to write this as I may never see you in this stage. You have always been the pride & joy of my life. I have loved you more than my life at all times. As mother has told you perhaps I was always afraid of losing you. Now the tables have turned the other way & I might be the one to get lost. But do not let this upset you if this is the case, as the love for a father only lasts up to the time a girl finds the man she wants & gets married.
Well darling, when this time arises I hope you find the right one & he will not only be a good husband to you, but will also make up for the fatherly love you have missed. At all times lovie be a pal to mother & look after her, do what you can to make her happy, as she has been, & always will be I am sure, the best little mother you will find on this earth. Don’t be selfish or catty, remember there are others in the world as well as you. Try not to talk about people as this get you disliked. When the pulling to pieces start, walk out or turn a deaf ear, it will pay in the long run. Above all I want you to be a sport, to take up swimming, dancing & all games in life you can get so much fun out of. Mother, I am sure, will do her best for you & see you get all the instruction she can afford.
Always try to be a sister to Peter & John, they may pull your leg about different things but the best way after all is to ignore them & do what you can for them. You will win in the end & be the best of pals. Well darling there is no more I can say, but to look after yourself where men are concerned, be wise & quick witted & only believe half they say, of course, till you get the right one.
Remember me as your dad & pal who worshipped the ground you walked on. Please don’t do anything that will upset mother, & I shouldn’t like you to, I will close now my little ray of sunshine. Always loving you,
Your loving Father”
No return from war
Fred Baker fell in the fall of 1943 during the battle for the Dodecanese Islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea.
(Head picture: Gravestone at the Reichswald British Military Cemetery near Kleve/Germany,
November 2025)
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