back

                                                         25 May 1915

My Dearest Lou,

Just got your letter of 21st and am writing on a thick mattress in my room in my shirtsleeves before a short nap. we have been out since 8 till 2.0 boiling hot and lovely and the men are just off to bathe. We have got an airy sitting room and one of the men who has been a cook and a servant to wait.

We have omelettes, salad, beer, white wine,fried sardines and fresh meat so do very well. It seems so strange to be so thoroughly peaceful & comfortable here & to hear the guns going all day. I don't think we shall move up for about a week yet. We have had perfect weather. Last night I had dinner with Jack Hunter and called on Squinch ( did you get his whistle and note he threw out of thr train into the field ? ) then I walked back at 10.30, 3 miles of glorious country, frogs and nightingales in all directions and only the sentries about to show there was any signs of life. Jack is very depressed and tells me all his troubles. He and Mollie are the perfect pair I think, & I'm so glad. I am so fond of them both, we often talk of the Chilworth dances & weekends & how soon we will have the next one - we couldn't have had more fun possibly.

Bonesi & the others all laugh at me for changing so since I joined the regiment & say I am 10 years younger, always out somewhere etc. It has done me heaps of good & I am sure I shall never feel like vegetating again. I don't want my clothes as I got mine washed here, only another pair of braces from Allen the sadler in Guildford, made of webbing and leather ends. I am awfully fit and all my clothes are just right. My waterproof is too heavy to carry, you can send me a ' hurricane smock ' strong sort as they are muchlighter, say for a 6ft 2in man, long arms 38 ins across the chest undressed ! Hurricane Smock Co. Your socks are lovely & just right in every way. We all feel like being out for a glorified picnic, but shan't for long I expect. I don't wonder they want ammunition, the guns haven't stopped for 2 days and nights until today. Best of loves my dear to you all. Tell me any little gossip you hear. Your loving brother Ronnie.

Or take my new khaki Burberry to them in London to put in an oilskin lining btween outer & inner present ones, better still & send out at once.

                                                            7 June 1915

My dearest Lou,

I gave ' Squinch ' your messages & have heard through Jack from Mollie that you have been in communication with her. I can't see the lines on this paper as I am writing in a hut & it is getting dusk & I have just censored about 200 letters & am sick of them. We are having 2 or 3 days rest and trench digging as we have done 4 days in the trenches & I did one before - I haven't had a moment to write before. We all did well I think & I am very pleased with the men & they of course get about 2 years older & more responsible the moment they have been under fire. We are all safe & sound as far as officers go. We were about 40 yards off the German trenches in places & 200 at most. It is a very funny experience at first but I don't feel as if I should mind at all & haven't yet felt any feelings of scare. One really does not mind in the least, but it does make one jump occasionally when a bullet comes smack close to one's head against the sandbag, from some beastly sniper. whenone is perhaps quietly standing and not knowing that you can be seen at all. Being shelled is bad I am sure if they are dropping on one's trench, but of course it wants to be a real good shot to land in a small trench. I have had several close but if you keep behind the parapet & duck your head when they burst it is quite alright. you can hear the high explosions coming and where they will land pretty well after short experience.

Our new army artillery has done jolly good shooting & put 5 running in one redoubt in the enemy trenches one evening. The funny part is that by day it is fairly quiet in places but as soon as 3.45 comes, away start both sides & shell each other's trenches for a bit & also opposing artillery. At night firing goes on pretty well all the time & the shells go up to show up the ground between the trenches. One awfully nice officer in another regiment was shot through the head one night just as I had spent most of the day with him & left him for a few minutes. It makes one realise but not squeamish. I am sure one makes oneself harden off, the sor of grim feeling comes on and you get more alert but not worried at all. We have not been attacked or anything of that sort only holding the firing line for practice.

Jack Hunter was up near me one night & I went up to see how he was & we saw a German patrol out & sent up a star shell ( ................................) great doing. I am glad you have made great friends with Mollie, she is such a good sort & it is hard enough for you to find anyone really nice like that to play about with. If anyone wants to send me anything tell them food is best. I mean luxuries such as cooked chickens or ducks, tongues, hams.

I am gloriously fit being out all day 7 all night, sleeping in a field in preference to huts or dirty kitchens if in billets. I never get the least tired or footsore.

Will you send me a thin pair of stocking putties, they are like stocking tops & so nice to pull on instead of winding putties round. Also 2 small cans of Wrens brown boot polish in paste form - you might send one of these once a fortnight. Well goodnight my dear & lotts of love to you all.

Your loving brother

Ronnie

                                                                             25 June 1915

My dearest Lou,

Just got your nice long letter written on Monday. I am writing now as we shall probably be in the trenches again any moment now & shall have a lot to do. We have only two subalterns in the day which means a lot to do in the trenches & no sleep at all at night, consequently when there is a quiet time in the day I always sleep as one must keep as fresh as possible. The work is far nicer than peace work & one is entirely on one's own & has to think of all sorts of possibilities., so the time goes quickly and you feel satisfied with yourself. We were very lucky last time anything happened as we only got slightly shelled & some other people in better positions got it worse. It really is quite an art knowing where shells will burst & what they are, you just hear them coming & instinctively take no further notice if they are going on. Bits fly about but everyone thinks they will not get hit. Of course if they start landing in the trench it is quite different, but I have not had one land on me yet. The Germans are wonderful at sniping & if you happen to have a low place a bullet always hits the sandbags as you go by. I wish I could see you all for an evening & really talk about things that happen, no one can realise without & there are a thousand things one cannot write. We dug trenches all last night until it was light and walked about 4 miles bak afterwards. They must be dug at night so as not to be seen as of course it would be impossible to bring men up in daylight.

From what one can gather from the men the German infantry do not put up much of a fight once we get at them, they throw down their rifles. The prisoners look very dejected & slavish looking. I do hope they are all getting bored.

There is a lot to do here in the way of digging extra trenches & improving old ones, which must be done & is all part of our routine & ereryone else's. All the men are terratorials & all seem splendid, thoroughly independent & tough, scarcely any grumbling except in a funny way & all have a sort of grim devil may care way about them, ready to have a go at any time & filled with intense disgust & loathing of the Germans. I asked one what happened to the Germans in his bit when our mengot in & he said we remembered the gas & poisoned water. There are times when I have been sent out to find the way to some trenches we are going to at night & it is rather trying to feel no one else knows the way, especially if you are exposed to unaimed bullets. It isn't oneself that ever enters one's head but all the men you are lookig after. Quite easy things really but mistakes might easily lead to trouble.

I am delighted about Trixie's puppies, yes keep them all except the black marked one until they are weaned. Make sue they are fed often enough & not too much at a time. Paunch is as good as anything to wean them on. I can;t see why Jack's parents should be like that, it seems awfully hard on Mollie, Audrey is an awful good sort isn't she ? I am glad you have met Jack's sister & like her, she & Mollie seem to hit it off very ell & will back each other up. Do ask Percy over for a weekend, How I wish I had seen Mike before I came out, I would have given anything to have had a day or two with him. This hot weather is lovely. I think we are all baked brown & feeling awfully well. It is thirsty worksometimes, no one has any idea what it means getting water up for 1000's of men. Do keep on worrying everybody to join or make ammunition or something to help thm relax a moment. We want to try our hardest every soul, man & woman to give things a proper chance & never get slack about it whatever reports bad or good are circulated. I must stop now, we are not alowed to give casualties by special order !

Best of love to Mother & all of you. Tell me any extra news you hear from Edward or Gerald. 5 weeks now since we left Aldershot.

Your loving Ronnie

( on back of envelope ) : I am sure to want more socks, but Jaeger grey natural wool are splendid.

     1/7/15

I am just writing this in the trenches before I have an hour's sleep, as I have been up the last two nights. I don't know how it will get censored -  . . . . We get our fair share of shelling around here, quite different to other places we have been in, but we get the trenches built up & thickened as fast as we can, & unless one lands on your head it is allright - . . . . The last cake was delicious & just the thing to take a piece off when you sit down for a cigarette during the night in a dug out - . . . . I keep on meeting people out here I know, & it is very nice, but not when anything happens to them - . . . . I hope to lead a peaceful life near the Sussex downs when this is over , & not so close to things going off in every direction ! Some poor things have a headache all day, but I am awfully well & go off peacefully to sleep with guns firing, & never stir until my servant or someone wakes me to go round again . . . It is hard to write things that interest you, as one gets tired of them very soon ! It is all just the same taking ration parties up to firing trenches by night, falling over bits of wire, going round the me to see that everyone is at his post, seeing there is plenty of ammunition,stopping men lighting fires, looking for broken bits of parapets, repair work, a7 making the trenches safe, filling sand bags & making men keep their heads down, writing messages & reports & other more unwholesome duties. Must stop now to send a party off & have a nap. We are all going strong & have some grand games of stump cricket when we are in the rest camps _ . . . . Gas shells 2 days ag0, but we got through it safely, filthy stuff.

...

      10/7/1915

My dearest Lou,

Just got your letter full of interesing things. We have just come out of the trenches after 10 days in and marched all night to this place well back from the firing line. I couldn't see Teddie's grave anywhere but of course the whole place is cemeteries. We were not in the attack you speak of as we are lower down ( south ) but we were juust close to them & the whole line round there bombarded and was bombarded over a wide front to disguise the exact point of attack. Our guns fired for an hour & the Germans peplied. So there was a continuous stream of shells from each side for over an hour. You never heard such a noise in your life. The annoying part is you can generally tell pretty well where they are going to burst & can duck your head, but with all the noise you can't hear them coming. We had 5 in our trench & mostly gas shells so we cried & our noses ran for about 24 hours afterwards. Your eyes get bloodshot & stream & smart exactly as if that eye doctor we went to in London ( Bruer ) or some name like that, had put that beastly stuff in. I have got motor goggles made with rubber edges now.

All you can do is keep your trenches very thick, dig out anyone that gets buried as quick as possible & trust that one does not land on the spot you are in. Of course they don't land in your trenches regularly, it would be impossible to get that accuracy, but they work up & down & burst in front & behind & in. At regular times they blow off so many rounds at us and then give us peace for a time. Lately they have given our trenches a good doing & kept on most of the day. If we reply we don't mind but it is very disgusting if our guns are quiet & the Germans keep bursting shells over us. Shrapnel doesn't matterso much as the sandbags stop it & you can duck, the ' crumps ' just flatten things out & make an infernal noise. One has some narrow shaves & everyone gets some close ones. One day taking guides & doing odd jobs outside, I had 2 shrapnel shells burst close overhead & could only flatten out on the ground. We were a small party of 3 doing a reconnaissance & not one of us touched though the dust flew all around & between us & it seemed impossible for it to miss us. Godsal & I are very good at copying the noise of different kinds of shells now. We love going out together & he is splendid. There must be a big German attack coming off soon to try & get Calais again I think. I do hope we give them a real good throwback & thoroughly dishearten them. Every man now hates them and is longing to get to close quarters. Thank goodness they are making a real stir about ammunition for guns, no one knows what a relief it is to the men & every soul out here. They stick it marvellously & if they know there is plenty of high explosive to back them up & hear it, better still blowing the German trenches in & screaming over our heads to the German guns, they would hardly keep quiet for joy, when ours are doing good work, every shell that goes over gets a blessing and is encouraged in lurid language to to do the Germans as much harm as possible. I never dreamt the men would be so splendid under fire & the actual roars of laughter that treat shells that don't burst or cover them in mud you could hardly believe, they look to one absolutely at such times, that is where they have the pull & we the responsibility

Quite a lot of German shells don't burst at all - I do hope they are badly made or guns worn out - Some days 40 may go over to some spot they are shelling & 10 or 12 never burst - sometimes they all burst. I saw 4 shrapnel duds ( non bursters ) fall within a short distance of an engineer party repairing wires. Not one burst & any one of them should have wiped out the whole party if they had. They had just finished their job & got into the communication trench before the next one came which did burst & did no harm as they were all under cover. Almost a Miracle wasn't it.

I am just telling you these while I remember as I know I shall not remember soon as I know they are interesting, but one could go on all day with the same sort of escapes. We have been very lucky & had no officers killed yet, all sorts of narrow shaves, but there is so much iron round one it is bad luck to actually get in the way. No more toilet paper thank you we get regular supplies, and thank you awfully for the Irish R.M. my dear, I want to read aloud in & out of the trenches. I feel for you now you are nursing properly  as I know what people look like when they are laying in the dressing station or worse still waiting  to be buried. One of course gets on or rather makes oneself quite oblivious to the fact that a dead man is horrible, as if one thought at all of the horrors, it would be impossible to go on. Sometimes on duty when all the firing has stopped and one walks down to where one can look out accross the fields & see no one it makes one see it from a morepitiable point of view. Especially when it is a perfect morning about 4am & birds are singing & flowers all around, perhaps part of a garden.

The puppies out to have their tails cut at 4 days old & half the tail cut off. They must be done. Keep all Trixie's now. I know Bunbury has been engaged for a long time, but he didn't want anyone to know. Jack Hunter is very well & keeps piles of Mollie's letters. I haven't seen much of him lately but he comes in to our trench if he passes by. All the rest are very well.

Best love to Mother & all of you, the cakes are grand & nothing is more acceptable. It is always nice to get a letter however short.

Your loving brother Ronnie