Letters from Ronald Lennox Henderson to his mother, 1916 - Part 4

a mug, plate & knife & fork completes the furniture.
The thought of even having a bath
again makes me almost burst into tears,
Ten days now since I have had any of my
clothes off, & the last seven days of it in a
constant bath of glutinous mud. I sometimes
wonder if it will ever come off.
I feel as fit as a fiddle - certainly outside life
suits me. The conditions here are really just
about as rotten as they could be, it is perishingly
cold as well but I don't think I
ever felt better. There is extraordinarily
little sickness amongst the men too.
D^r Falkner will be disgusted to know that
I smoke morning noon & night - I don't
think its tobacco though - just various 
brands of straw. It's mightily comforting
though.
Give my love to Pater - will write to
him as soon as I get out of this hole
Much for your dear old self from yr
loving son
R.L.H.
love to dear old Nell

Toowoomba
19.10.16
My dear old Mother
We are out of the trenches at the
present time - in fact we are a long way from the
fighting line in a part of the country that the war
has not touched. It is quite jolly to get away from
the sight of ruined farm houses & villages, & the sound
of guns. We have been making a grand tour of the
country on foot for the past week - a very healthy
occupation, but not altogether the pleasantest at 
this time of year. March from one village to 
another & one lot of billets to another - did 18 miles
one day, which for men carrying all their worldly
possessions on their backs, as well as rifles, 
ammunition, equipment etc, is pretty good         
going - I have a horse of course, but I do a good 
deal of walking when we are on the march. 
We have been in this village a a couple of days,
but move on tomorrow. It is raining hard like
the very dickens just now, so the outlook for
tomorrow is not too pleasant, & it is very cold
too, I am living at the Priests house in this
village & have a miniature room to myself - fairly
comfortable. These marching tours are always
the prelude to some extra special stunt in the

way of fighting, so I suppose we can look forward
to that in the very near future. Long before this
letter reaches you it will be over one way or
another the other. I have a pretty good idea
where we are going to, through no official word
on the subject has yet come along.
The country that we have been passing through 
is very pretty, but it has been too wet for it to
be an enjoyable trip. The days are getting pretty
short now too & a bit chilly. It is going to
be pretty rotten in the trenches very soon.
Voting is taking place throughout the Battalion
today on the question of conscription. Strangely
enough there is a big body of men who are
against it here & the anti-conscription vote
will be fairly heavy, I think, in the army,
There are many cases in which one brother
has been left behind to look after the family, 
for instance - & they are afraid that he may be
brought away too, although a definite promise 
has been made given that in such cases
the supporting members of the family will
not be called up, many of the men are a 
bit sceptical as to the value of the promise.
Its a pity because from my point of view
conscription is the only rational measure to
adopt. 28/10/16 Have been unable to send
this letter away & have been carrying it in

my pocket. Have a chance now & will take
it. We are right in the thick of things again
& a choice spot this is. Its been raining for
days & days, & this place is absolutely
indescribable. It is quite a common thing
to see men hopelessly bogged & have to be 
pulled out by their mates - you can
imagine (to a slight degree) what it is like
hauling & carrying the supplies & ammunition
for an immense army through this stuff.
Not one of us has been dry for at least a week
& there is no prospect of getting dry until we
are releived & get back to rest. All my
luggage is carried in a small haversack
(about the size of an ordinary school boys bag) & ones
overcoat pockets, so it dosent does not allow of a 
very extensive wardrobe, as a matter of fact two pairs of socks
a h'chief, razor, brush toothbrush & piece of soap, with a mug plate knife
& fork completes the furniture The thought of us having
a bath again makes me almost burst into tears.
Ten days since I have had my clothes off & the last seven days
of it in a constant bath of glutinous mud. I sometimes 
wonder if it will ever come off. I feel as fit as a fiddle
certainly outside life agrees with me. The conditions here are
really just about as rotten as they could be it is perishingly
cold as well but I dont think I ever felt better.
There is extraordinarily little sickness amongst the men
too. D^r Falkner will be disgusted to know I smoke
morning and night - I dont think it is tobacco though -
just various kinds of straw - Its mightily comforting 
though  - Then love to various members & c
R.L.H.