First World War Letters Home from the Western Front.
  • Home
  • Discovering Arthur
  • Family Background
  • Edwardian Era Letters Home
    • Edwardian Era Letters Home 1890's >
      • Victorian and Edwardian Era Letters Home 1893
    • Edwardian Period Letters Home 1900-1904 >
      • Edwardian Era Letters Home 1903
      • Edwardian Era Letters Home 1904
    • Edwardian Era Letters Home 1905-1909 >
      • Letters Home 1905
      • Edwardian Period Letters Letters Home 1908
    • Edwardian Era Letters Home 1910-1914 >
      • Letters Home 1912
      • Letters Home 1913
  • People and Places
  • WW1 Letters Home
    • WW1 Letters Home 1915 >
      • WW1 Letters - February 1915
      • WW1 Letter Scans February 1915
      • WW1 Letters - March 1915
      • WW1 Letters - April 1915
      • WW1 Letters - May 1915
      • WW1 Letters - June 1915
      • WW1 Letters - July 1915
      • WW1 Letters - August 1915
      • WW1 Letters - September 1915
      • WW1 Letters - October 1915
      • WW1 Letters - November 1915
      • WW1 Letters - December 1915
    • WW1 Letters Home 1916 >
      • WW1 Letters April 1916
      • WW1 Letters July 1916
      • WW1 Letters August 1916
      • WW1 Letters September 1916
    • WW1 Letters 1917 >
      • WW1 Letters Jan-1917
      • WW1 Letters February 1917
      • WW1 Letters March 1917
      • WW1 Letters May 1917
      • WW1 Letters June 1917
      • WW1 Letters July 1917
      • WW1 Letters August 1917
    • WW1 Letters 1918 >
      • WW1 Letters January 1918
      • WW1 Letters April 1918
      • WW1 Letters May 1918
      • WW1 Letters June 1918
      • WW1 Letters July 1918
      • WW1 Letters August 1918
      • WW1 Letters September 1918
      • WW1 Letters October 1918
      • WW1 Letters November 1918
      • WW1 Letters December 1918
  • Contact Me
  • Links
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site Map

​First World War Letters Home December 1918.

Tweet
Follow @ArthursLetters

Home > WW1 Letters Home > WW1 Letters 1918 > WW1 Letters Home December 1918
​

Next Page - Contact Me

First World War Letters Home December 1918

Arthur talks of the Germans behaviour, nice warm quarters ...

December 10th, 1918 night
My Dear Mother,
No mail for 4 days. We left Crépy on Sunday & came here to Hirson, a nasty dirty town of pre war times 10,000. It was nearly 90 k to get here, a quite lovely day & sunny & mild, we were very lucky, as yesterday & today it has poured & mud & beastly everywhere. 

About half the inhabitants stayed here during German occupation & look badly fed many of them. Bosches were here 4 years. The inhabitants tell me that later the Bosches soldiers themselves had very little to eat, in fact one woman told me she wondered how on earth the soldiers kept going on the very little they got, so that being the case of course it was natural our & French & other prisoners were half starved! 

This place is 9 k from Belgian frontier. Railhead for here is, at present, Laon, 56 k from here. They hope to get line opened to here by 1st Jan.

There are a lot of bridges blown up, also wrecked Bosche trains along the line. They had filled trains with various things but could not get them away, I fancy French or our aviators cut line by bombs. This is on edge of the Ardennes & a manufacturing district & fields very like England, hedges etc & little copses here & there, but of course no sign of stock, no doubt everything eaten long ago by Bosches or taken to Germany.

The people tell me that during the last year they noticed a big difference in behaviour of the Bosches soldiers towards their officers, discipline got very slack & saluting & all that done any how if at all. They say many of the men were alright & did not worry them but the officers & Kommandaten were very haughty & hard on the people. They had to work in fields & got 2f a day of which 50c were kept back to pay for their food. Of course Govt. feed all the people now. Nothing hardly in shops, a certain number of houses destroyed by bombs, French used to bomb the place quite often. They had sort of German W??? working here, 200 girls I think they said, clerks etc.

We are very roughly lodged. I was given an attic room, but it was too far from the men & cars so I had to camp first 2 nights in large room of a large school where chauffeurs are, but today moved into a room a fellow found for me over a café, it was a lumber room, but they cleared the stuff out & I’ll be better there. It has a small stove, so at least I shall be able to have a little fire if it gets cold. Country round much more attractive than where we have been, but our quarters at last place much better than here, lots of wood & good open fireplaces & fires, here nothing of that, beastly little stoves.

I sincerely hope by 1st Jan we shall be disbanded, as very little work now & everyone very fed up & longing to get home. 
Best love
Yr affect son
Arthur

  • Next Page - Contact Me


Privacy Policy - My commitment to your privacy. Contact - It's good to hear from readers, feel free to contact me with any comments or questions. Site Map - A listing of each page on this site.
Copyright © Kevin Batten 2012-2023
All rights reserved.
  • Home
  • Discovering Arthur
  • Family Background
  • Edwardian Era Letters Home
    • Edwardian Era Letters Home 1890's >
      • Victorian and Edwardian Era Letters Home 1893
    • Edwardian Period Letters Home 1900-1904 >
      • Edwardian Era Letters Home 1903
      • Edwardian Era Letters Home 1904
    • Edwardian Era Letters Home 1905-1909 >
      • Letters Home 1905
      • Edwardian Period Letters Letters Home 1908
    • Edwardian Era Letters Home 1910-1914 >
      • Letters Home 1912
      • Letters Home 1913
  • People and Places
  • WW1 Letters Home
    • WW1 Letters Home 1915 >
      • WW1 Letters - February 1915
      • WW1 Letter Scans February 1915
      • WW1 Letters - March 1915
      • WW1 Letters - April 1915
      • WW1 Letters - May 1915
      • WW1 Letters - June 1915
      • WW1 Letters - July 1915
      • WW1 Letters - August 1915
      • WW1 Letters - September 1915
      • WW1 Letters - October 1915
      • WW1 Letters - November 1915
      • WW1 Letters - December 1915
    • WW1 Letters Home 1916 >
      • WW1 Letters April 1916
      • WW1 Letters July 1916
      • WW1 Letters August 1916
      • WW1 Letters September 1916
    • WW1 Letters 1917 >
      • WW1 Letters Jan-1917
      • WW1 Letters February 1917
      • WW1 Letters March 1917
      • WW1 Letters May 1917
      • WW1 Letters June 1917
      • WW1 Letters July 1917
      • WW1 Letters August 1917
    • WW1 Letters 1918 >
      • WW1 Letters January 1918
      • WW1 Letters April 1918
      • WW1 Letters May 1918
      • WW1 Letters June 1918
      • WW1 Letters July 1918
      • WW1 Letters August 1918
      • WW1 Letters September 1918
      • WW1 Letters October 1918
      • WW1 Letters November 1918
      • WW1 Letters December 1918
  • Contact Me
  • Links
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site Map