Letters from Ronald Lennox Henderson to his mother, 1916 - Part 2

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service goes). You will think I have got a
"nat" on this subject, but it is a thing that
everyone here feels pretty strongly on, & 
people not at home ought to know.
When I [[was?]] to read this over it looks rather  
as though I were thinking of Rex & Barton, but of 
course I am not - I know nothing about them 
whatsoever. I wouldn't go bail for the first, but I 
can't imagine the second developing cold feet - but
of course I don't know anything about either of  
them. (For Heaven's sake don't let Aunt Emma see  
this). I can't express the whole feeling in this
question here better than by telling you that 
if one has a relative who has been in England 
sick for some months, one doesn't mention  
him. Finis.  
Dr McKillop (from Dalby) was wounded here 
a little while ago, but not severely I believe. 
He was attached to one of the Battalions that 
was in support of ours at the time, & had the 
bad luck to be got by a bit of shell or shrapnel. 
He got out of it luckily I suppose, considering
that he was hit - might have been much 
worse. I met him a few times over here.

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I think that some men are meant to be hit, & 
some are not, & whichever class you happen to 
be in is no concern of your own at all -  
you'll get it or miss it, whatever you do  
yourself, according to the way destiny has 
decided. 
I wonder whether I shall hear from 
Gussie & the little people soon - I often 
wonder how the little beggars are getting on. 
I want Peter to learn boxing - I don't mean 
straight away, but as soon as he is old enough. 
I think that it is one of the most necessary 
accomplishments for a boy & man - in fact 
it is one of the few subjects that I would like  
to insist of on his becoming adept in. I 
have often talked to the little chap about it. 
Give my love to Pater & Nell & all at 
home (I am writing them, but letters are 
uncertain). Much for your good old self 
from your loving son  
RLH.

4^th June 1916
My Dear old Mother
I was glad to have a 
couple more letters from Gussie & from the
little people a few days ago, bringing the news
up to the end of March. I expect that I 
will soon be getting letters addressed direct
to me here & will then get them more 
certainly & quickly. At present they
come along very irregularly. Gussie mentioned 
one or two parcels being sent, but they have 
not turned up yet. By the way I 
never got that parcel containing the Sanatogen
that was sent some time last year - I don't 
think that I need it (Sanatogen) particularly
though. One is able to get almost anything 
within reason that one requires in this part
of the world. When you are out of the Trenches 
having a spell you are within reach of good 
military Canteens & there are quite decent shops
in some of the small towns a few miles back 
from the line, where most ordinary requirements 
can be met. Everything here is

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very different in that respect from Gallipoli
or even Lemnos, where you got practically nothing 
except military supplies or what might be sent 
to you. I think I told you that four of  
us - the C.O.; the major; the adjutant &
myself - bought quite a good gramophone in 
a little shop in a small town in this part of
the world. Got a number of quite good records 
too. We carried the whole outfit about five
miles one night - it was a pretty solid weight 
too, as it is a big one. However have had a
lot of amusement out of it since. If it 
survives it will be quite an interesting instrument
to keep after the war is over, for whichever 
one keeps it.
We have just had news of the naval battle 
in the North Sea. Rather bad luck losing
those boats, but these things must happen, & 
it may encourage the Deitches to come out
& have another go, & give our fellows a chance 
to give them a real good drubbing.  -  
The Germans generally put up a notice to let 
us know about this sort of news. They told
us that Townshend had surrendered at Kut

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several days before we heard it from our own
side. Haven't heard or seen their version of 
this last scrap yet, however. they are
persistent swine - keep pegging away at 
Verdun don't they? It's a good way of getting
them killed off, anyhow. 
It is jolly cold here to-day - quite a little
snap of winter, but not raining thank good- 
ness. It's cold enough to make a little fire
in a brazier very acceptable even in the 
middle of the day, & I have got a thick
cardigan on at present. The trenches are 
nice & dry all about here now, so it is very
much more comfortable than it was when we 
first came in. It must be a brute in the
winter. I have got a very comfortable dug-out 
in our new place - its high enough to stand up 
in, in the middle part of it & has more room 
altogether than my last residence. If the
weather will keep fine it will be quite snug. 
Hughes & Fisher have been in this part of
the world having a look at some of us. I did 
not see them as I was otherwise engaged (on my 

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own arrangement). They discreetly stayed some 
miles away from the bullet zone, which was 
of course quite right of them & the men 
were marched back there to be examined & to 
listen to the words of wisdom that fell from
the Prime Minister's ruby lips. I believe 
he spoke well, but a bit too much "Australia"
about it. 
Hope that Nell is well again - has she
enlisted yet? Love to her & Pater & much
for your good old self, from  
RLH

17-7-16.
My Dear old Mother.
Just a line to let you know that
all goes well so far as I am concerned. Had a letter from
May last night enclosing a cable that she had received from 
Gussie. May replied at once saying that my wound 
was only a trivial one. I got a bit of bomb in my thigh 
- only a tiny fragment. I got it out at the ambulance 
next day & went straight back to the Battalion & in 
a few days it was quite healed. No trouble at all 
now. I didn't think I would be reported in Australia 
as wounded or I would have cabled to say it was 
nothing. However you will get May's cable very quickly 
in reply to the one that was sent & so won't worry. 
Things are fairly strenuous here now-a-days, but all 
seems to be going along well. The absolute orderliness of 
everything impresses one very favourably, but I can't 
write about this sort of thing. Never managed to 
see Jack, & am not likely to now till this is all 
over.  Feel as fit as a fiddle. Love to Pater & Nell 
& much for your good old self 
Ron 
We have been having a fairly strenuous time lately & are a bit tired.

1^st Aug^t 1916.
My Dear old Mother. 
We are at the present time in Rest 
Billets about twenty miles behind the firing line - have been 
here about three days. Everyone is still feeling pretty tired &
extremely peevish, although we are in the most comfortable 
billets that we have been in, in France. The strain of 
the six days that we had in the scrap was pretty severe & 
everyone is more or less suffering a reaction. As you have 
probably seen in the papers, we have had a pretty tough 
time of it, but a really brilliantly successful one, which 
is some recompense. This Division was brought into the 
fighting area to take Pozières (I can't see that it can do any
harm to mention this name, as the papers have mentioned it 
often), a village which had been very strongly fortified by 
the Germans and had held up all previous attacks, 
three if not four, assaults had been delivered against the
place by British troops but all had fall failed, & it was 
absolutely necessary to get it, so it really was a great compliment 
to be selected for such a job. When we made the attack
we found several wounded English & Scottish soldiers (I saw four 
altogether myself) who had been wounded in one or other of 
the previous attacks & been lying in some shell hole ever since. 
One man, a Scotchman, had been lying out for six days
with a large wound in his back. I asked him why he

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hadn't crawled out & surrendered to the Germans. He said 
"Surrender to those . . . . . s - never, I'd rather die". This 
chap had had no food or water all the time & his wound must  
have given him absolute Hell, but he always hung on to the 
hope that he might be rescued. He only had to raise his 
hand, practically, & he could have surrendered to the Germans 
as he was almost among them, but he wouldn't. I fixed 
him up as well as I could & had him sent back to one of 
the ambulances - hope he does all right. He had some grit.
The attack was launched at night & this Battalion & one 
other in the same Brigade led it, so they think no  
small beer of themselves now. It is useless trying to
describe the fighting - the most lurid newspaper account  
of this type of thing that I ever read is a pale &  
anaemic concoction compared to the reality. Three 
days out of the six were simply one prolonged sort of  
nightmare - no sleep, practically nothing to eat & very
little to drink; the incessant roar of the bursting shells 
all around & the almost more terrifying "whish - whish- 
whish" of them passing through the air; the dead & the 
wounded on every side - the whole thing just like Hell.
The first day we had great trouble with the wounded - it 
was difficult to get them away & there were no places to  
put them. We got hold of a couple of large German dug-outs
but soon filled them & then we had to lie them end to end 
along the floor of comparatively shallow trenches. They

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frequently got buried by the earth flung up by the shells, but 
would quickly be dug out again, & fortunately very few were 
hit a second time. It was pathetic seeing the poor beggars 
lying there hour after hour with shells dropping all round 
& raining earth on to them - they looked & felt so helpless,
though really the strongest man was no better off against 
shell fire.  At the end of the first 24 hours we had got  
them all cleared back to the Field Ambulances & after that
we were able to keep pace with things & get the wounded away 
almost immediately. It is extraordinary the sort of callous 
mental condition that people get into during an affair of
this sort - I was using one German dug-out as a sort of dressing  
station for a time, I was down in the dug-out dressing some cases  
prior to sending them out to the ambulance, when a shell burst  
in the entrance.  Two wounded men & a stretcher bearer were
sitting on the steps leading down to the dug-out. One of them  
was blown up & the other two were buried in the débris of earth 
& wood etc - all were killed of course. One of the buried men was  
just at the entrance & his head & face were just protruding from
the heap of earth that had buried him. Just looked to make  
sure he was dead & then went on dressing the cases & men 
passed in & out & nobody ever took the faintest notice of the 
poor head. It was still there when I abandoned the dug-out. The 
escapes that people have are marvellous. One wounded man 
had just been brought along on a stretcher & I had a look at him