Home > WW1 Letters Home > WW1 Letters 1918 > WW1 Letters Home June 1918
Next Page - WW1 Letters Home July 1918
Letters Home From The First World War June 1918Arthur complains about the lack of post, leading a nomadic life, war news seems a little better ...France
8th June, 1918 My Dear Mother, No mail for days, last letter I got was day we left our last place, last wed. week & today is Saturday. Since that day, 11 days now, we have only had one mail; I got a letter from A [Alison] by it & one or two papers. I fancy letters going home are much delayed also. We are living in the forest, very nice this lovely weather, but fear when rain comes it will not be very nice, so damp, lovely beech [or birch?] woods. We have all our meals out here, but are seldom here, I’ve only had one night in bed here in 8 days & I last night slept in a large cave we got car into it too, other nights in cellar of ruined village or on a stretcher under a tree. I was called out at 3 a.m. yesterday & only got in at 12-30 today, in time for late dejeuner. Very pretty country all round here & close to famous forest near Paris & not very far from town of same name [possible Compiègne?]. We have been fairly busy & on go day & night. Quieter last 24 hrs. & I am hoping to don pyjamas tonight & have night in bed. One gets a bit weary after a few days of this nomadic life of sleeping anywhere & going night or day. Of course this in Winter would be quite impossible. |
We seem lost as far as mails are concerned & I hear 3 men back from leave are in Paris & have been waiting there for some time trying to find us out & can’t. Certainly it is not easy to find us here. We sleep in wooden huts rough built & some sleep out under trees. It is very noisy tho’, guns make such a din & shake the huts. News seems a little better, but I fancy it is a pretty anxious time & will be. America is having the war brought to their door, New York got to be dark now too at night, I wonder what Lena [?] Evans thinks of it. I don’t suppose they will get the 50,000 men in Ireland by Voluntary enlistment, but I see Lord French proposes trying, perhaps on lines of an Irish Army altogether, they may. A wonderful spell of fine dry weather. One gets very dirty, grubby & dusty these days. Best of love Yr affect. Son Arthur One has little time for writing, so much out these days. 10th June, 1918 (Written on a Military Post Card) Still no mail, only one in nearly fortnight, maddening. Two papers came yesterday, nothing else. A little rain last night & some today after a long fine spell. We are still in the woods, but not very nice in rain. News seems not too good & we are prepared to flit at any moment. I fear our letters have not gone very regularly. Seldom have a night in bed, got in at 2 this morng. having been out since 9 a.m. yesterday. Best love A |
Still no post, still living in the forest, Arthur thinks the Germans will push for Paris, a car from another section is captured by the Germans ...
13th June, 1918
My Dear Mother
Still no letters only a few papers came. We have had only one letter mail in over a fortnight, why, I can’t think, the French all get their letters regularly, it is too bad. Saw an English paper a man lent me yesterday, we get practically no English news from French papers & often don’t even get those. Having this forest life may have its advantages in this fine weather, but it certainly has disadvantages. We have mostly all our kit packed on our cars as we may have to get off at any moment, so it is all pretty uncomfortable & when you go out to a post you never know if the section will still be here when one returns. A night in bed in pyjamas is an almost unheard of thing nowadays. One sleeps under trees, in cars, barracks in the woods, very airy ones, or caves! Mostly on a stretcher, not very comfortable.
When one is down here at ones base there seems so much to do cleaning up etc. that one has little time. A great treat before lunch today, a tub & change. We have found a stretcher bearer who will wash clothes, some of them was their own, but I’m sure the man will do mine better than I can.
We camp in wooden barracks in the woods, some of them sleep out of doors. It got cool & a little rainy for a couple of days, but now quite fine & sunny again & we have resumed our meals out under the trees.
These are anxious times & the Bosches will make a big effort for Paris. Our front seems very quiet now, I mean the English, this is far from it. If it goes on like this till Oct. I shall have had all I want, anyway all I can manage, the continual disturbed nights & night work as well as day makes one feel very weary. A longish way to go & get our water too. Do you like Alison's photo.
I wonder if they will get the 50,000 men in Ireland by 1st Oct.
Five men & two cars of No. 1 section have been captured by the Bosches, bad luck. I sincerely hope none of us do. Has Will got leave yet? I suppose F. [Ferdinando] & Ta will soon be going over to Ireland. Hope you have had this lovely weather, such a long spell of it.
Is Evie still going to seaside. I see she still gets 42 Lire for the £1, very good for her. No English news bar one paper of 4th a man lent me yesterday. It had in Lord French’s proclamation about 50,000 men
Evidently there will be no conscription, anyway not now. Best of love, nearly my turn again & must try to get a little sleep first.
My Dear Mother
Still no letters only a few papers came. We have had only one letter mail in over a fortnight, why, I can’t think, the French all get their letters regularly, it is too bad. Saw an English paper a man lent me yesterday, we get practically no English news from French papers & often don’t even get those. Having this forest life may have its advantages in this fine weather, but it certainly has disadvantages. We have mostly all our kit packed on our cars as we may have to get off at any moment, so it is all pretty uncomfortable & when you go out to a post you never know if the section will still be here when one returns. A night in bed in pyjamas is an almost unheard of thing nowadays. One sleeps under trees, in cars, barracks in the woods, very airy ones, or caves! Mostly on a stretcher, not very comfortable.
When one is down here at ones base there seems so much to do cleaning up etc. that one has little time. A great treat before lunch today, a tub & change. We have found a stretcher bearer who will wash clothes, some of them was their own, but I’m sure the man will do mine better than I can.
We camp in wooden barracks in the woods, some of them sleep out of doors. It got cool & a little rainy for a couple of days, but now quite fine & sunny again & we have resumed our meals out under the trees.
These are anxious times & the Bosches will make a big effort for Paris. Our front seems very quiet now, I mean the English, this is far from it. If it goes on like this till Oct. I shall have had all I want, anyway all I can manage, the continual disturbed nights & night work as well as day makes one feel very weary. A longish way to go & get our water too. Do you like Alison's photo.
I wonder if they will get the 50,000 men in Ireland by 1st Oct.
Five men & two cars of No. 1 section have been captured by the Bosches, bad luck. I sincerely hope none of us do. Has Will got leave yet? I suppose F. [Ferdinando] & Ta will soon be going over to Ireland. Hope you have had this lovely weather, such a long spell of it.
Is Evie still going to seaside. I see she still gets 42 Lire for the £1, very good for her. No English news bar one paper of 4th a man lent me yesterday. It had in Lord French’s proclamation about 50,000 men
Evidently there will be no conscription, anyway not now. Best of love, nearly my turn again & must try to get a little sleep first.
Arthur gets some post at last, Italy doing well ...
France
20th June, 1918
My Dear Mother
At last mail came yesterday, just 3 wks. since we left our last base & in all this time we only got, by luck, one mail. I hope letters will come regularly now. Thanks for yrs. of 1st & 7th & enclosures, both came yesterday, also a paper forwarded from Australia & another came a little while back. I got a lot of letters from Alison & her photo at last. Her latest was written the aft.noon she arrived back at Sunningdale from Scotland where she seems to have a nice time, lovely weather & met a lot of Naval people including Lib’s brother, the Admiral & his wife, they took A. on long motor trip one day, he was inspecting plans. They had pic nics & golf & trips about with the other people, sailors & their wives.
Mrs Smith has gone to pay Lorna a visit, so A. came back to keep Shirley company …
Been wet here more or less last 2 days, rather beastly & damp under trees, but I think rain was badly wanted. No, it is far from a pic nic this work nowadays, however if one can keep fit & get along with the work, it is something to be grateful for. Last night we were in a cave. Got in about 11 today …
Italy seems to be doing wonderfully well if only it can last & hold up the Austrians, Austria is, I fancy, in a bad way. News here seems a bit better for moment …
Best love
Yr affect. son
Arthur
20th June, 1918
My Dear Mother
At last mail came yesterday, just 3 wks. since we left our last base & in all this time we only got, by luck, one mail. I hope letters will come regularly now. Thanks for yrs. of 1st & 7th & enclosures, both came yesterday, also a paper forwarded from Australia & another came a little while back. I got a lot of letters from Alison & her photo at last. Her latest was written the aft.noon she arrived back at Sunningdale from Scotland where she seems to have a nice time, lovely weather & met a lot of Naval people including Lib’s brother, the Admiral & his wife, they took A. on long motor trip one day, he was inspecting plans. They had pic nics & golf & trips about with the other people, sailors & their wives.
Mrs Smith has gone to pay Lorna a visit, so A. came back to keep Shirley company …
Been wet here more or less last 2 days, rather beastly & damp under trees, but I think rain was badly wanted. No, it is far from a pic nic this work nowadays, however if one can keep fit & get along with the work, it is something to be grateful for. Last night we were in a cave. Got in about 11 today …
Italy seems to be doing wonderfully well if only it can last & hold up the Austrians, Austria is, I fancy, in a bad way. News here seems a bit better for moment …
Best love
Yr affect. son
Arthur
Arthur still not receiving his post frequently, home rule abandoned in Ireland for the present, war could last another 2 years, he is upset at those having an easy time ...
France
Monday June 23rd, 1918
My Dear Mother
No letter from you since I got those two last Wed. Mails seem still very uncertain. May be one this evg. I heard from Will 3 days ago. Leave seemed to be stopped, but I believe now it has started again, so he may get home.
News seems good on the Vatican front & the Austrians appear to be in a bad way, one hopes it may be true. Fairly quiet here last few days. It rained & turned cold & not at all pleasant, however one had to expect it after our long spell of fine weather. When it is cold & still more when wet, life in the woods is far from nice.
One of the men from Section 4 arrived last night, he is writing a book about all the Sections for the B.A.C. it is to be published in the Autumn & proceeds to go in aid of more cars etc. I wonder what it will be like.
I see they have definitely abandoned Home Rule for Ireland, anyway for the present; I wonder if that will cause more trouble; with this Sinn Fein business as it is, I can’t see that they could well be given Home Rule.
I wonder if Will can get transferred to a similar job in England or Ireland, I fancy he is getting a bit tired of Boulogne & being so far from Celbridge & not able to look after things. I sometime wonder too if it would be possible to get a job at home if one gave up this. I can’t say I look forward to prospect of winter out here; of course present existence would be impossible, but if the war lasts another two years, which it very easily may, it means being away so long from A [Alison, Arthur’s wife] & home generally. It will be four years in Nov. since I joined up with this Ambulance, tho’ of course we did not actually start till beginning Feb 1915. A good deal will depend on our new C.O. end Sep. when present one returns to Argentine, he is a very nice fellow. …
Poor Will, can’t he get out of it & home, surly if John Murray, a soldier by profession, can get home, Will can, or get a transfer to England or Ireland. Maddening not getting over to his farm, but there it is! ...
I suppose Dick intends to go on soldiering. There is soldiering & soldiering, doing it comfortably at home strutting about in Kaki [sic] in safety & this sort of thing where one has no rank, no pay, bombed & bombarded not to say gassed & living in the woods, caves or cellars. Some of the soft jobs like Campden & Charles have are very nice, tho’ Charles did a fair time in trenches, tho’ how he has managed to keep his soft job so long at Havre I don’t know! More power to him. Dick Maxwell too did go out & rough it for a few months, but I fear there are many still at home who never have come even to France & will not if they can help it…
Best love
Yr affect son
Arthur
Monday June 23rd, 1918
My Dear Mother
No letter from you since I got those two last Wed. Mails seem still very uncertain. May be one this evg. I heard from Will 3 days ago. Leave seemed to be stopped, but I believe now it has started again, so he may get home.
News seems good on the Vatican front & the Austrians appear to be in a bad way, one hopes it may be true. Fairly quiet here last few days. It rained & turned cold & not at all pleasant, however one had to expect it after our long spell of fine weather. When it is cold & still more when wet, life in the woods is far from nice.
One of the men from Section 4 arrived last night, he is writing a book about all the Sections for the B.A.C. it is to be published in the Autumn & proceeds to go in aid of more cars etc. I wonder what it will be like.
I see they have definitely abandoned Home Rule for Ireland, anyway for the present; I wonder if that will cause more trouble; with this Sinn Fein business as it is, I can’t see that they could well be given Home Rule.
I wonder if Will can get transferred to a similar job in England or Ireland, I fancy he is getting a bit tired of Boulogne & being so far from Celbridge & not able to look after things. I sometime wonder too if it would be possible to get a job at home if one gave up this. I can’t say I look forward to prospect of winter out here; of course present existence would be impossible, but if the war lasts another two years, which it very easily may, it means being away so long from A [Alison, Arthur’s wife] & home generally. It will be four years in Nov. since I joined up with this Ambulance, tho’ of course we did not actually start till beginning Feb 1915. A good deal will depend on our new C.O. end Sep. when present one returns to Argentine, he is a very nice fellow. …
Poor Will, can’t he get out of it & home, surly if John Murray, a soldier by profession, can get home, Will can, or get a transfer to England or Ireland. Maddening not getting over to his farm, but there it is! ...
I suppose Dick intends to go on soldiering. There is soldiering & soldiering, doing it comfortably at home strutting about in Kaki [sic] in safety & this sort of thing where one has no rank, no pay, bombed & bombarded not to say gassed & living in the woods, caves or cellars. Some of the soft jobs like Campden & Charles have are very nice, tho’ Charles did a fair time in trenches, tho’ how he has managed to keep his soft job so long at Havre I don’t know! More power to him. Dick Maxwell too did go out & rough it for a few months, but I fear there are many still at home who never have come even to France & will not if they can help it…
Best love
Yr affect son
Arthur
Italy defeats Austria, talks of America's part in the war ...
Sunday June 30th, 1918
My Dear Mother
…
They must be pleased in Italy at result of this Austrian defeat; it will encourage the Italians a lot, but with it all one sees no end to the war, may well be 2 or 3 yrs. yet, possibly by this time next year America may play a biggish part, but I fear nothing much before, so it may quite easily go on till end 1920 before the Bosches begin to see they can’t win; they must go on & so must the Allies, so it is hopeless to talk of peace now, tho’ everyone is so weary of it all.
I hope Will got leave & that they are all at the cottage. A young cousin of Alison’s, a Gunner, Keith McIntyre, has just been sent to Athlone with his battery, he has been a long time in France & got shellshock. I hear there are 150,000 troops in Ireland, is that really true? …
Best love
Yr affect son
Arthur
My Dear Mother
…
They must be pleased in Italy at result of this Austrian defeat; it will encourage the Italians a lot, but with it all one sees no end to the war, may well be 2 or 3 yrs. yet, possibly by this time next year America may play a biggish part, but I fear nothing much before, so it may quite easily go on till end 1920 before the Bosches begin to see they can’t win; they must go on & so must the Allies, so it is hopeless to talk of peace now, tho’ everyone is so weary of it all.
I hope Will got leave & that they are all at the cottage. A young cousin of Alison’s, a Gunner, Keith McIntyre, has just been sent to Athlone with his battery, he has been a long time in France & got shellshock. I hear there are 150,000 troops in Ireland, is that really true? …
Best love
Yr affect son
Arthur
- Next Page - WW1 Letters Home July 1918