Correspondence between Herbert Vincent Reynolds and his family, 1917 - Part 2

[*PS Please send the
enclosed card on to
Eva Stones
enclosed is one of
the papers printed over
here by the AIF
it might be
interesting*]
Somewhere in France
Feb 15^th 1917
Dear Mother
Well just a few lines. once. again, I have been rather
neglecting to write lately, but I suppose you will excuse me again
I some how never seem to quite make up my mind to write,
though I very often have the pencil at my finger tips, lately
most of my attempts to write have came to nothing, & I have put
down  the pencil & paper, with my thoughts ^taking flight right back to
a few years ago, & then sit, & think of old times, pleasant
memories of old days appear to then pass as I try to write
a few lines to you, your letters always seem to take longer
to write than others.
I received a parcel from Vi a little over a week ago, & a few
days ago got another from Eva Stones, both were very welcome
& came along at a very opportune time. Yesterday I received a
letter from Parkstone & another today, they received the booklet
of views allright & were very pleased with it, they seemed to be
delighted to know that I was getting leave, but I I don't know
who will be the most disappointed when they know that
my leave has gone out of sight & thats what has happened.
Well just a few lines about a few things. I hardly know what to
write about in particular. For the past month Hewe have   

been in the line & will be in for some time yet,
supposed to be holding the line, with occasional hop
outs just to remind fritz that we are still alive & not
frozen, although at times we are not far off it. About
3 weeks or a month ago some snow fell & a couple of frosts
followed it, since then the earth has been covered with
a white mantle & has been frozen hard, a slight thaw
has set in these last few days but its still apparantly
as cold as ever, as I am writing at present my fingers
are  paining slightly & if we ever forget to go up top &
forget our gloves we know it. I went to get water a
few nights ago ^(without them only had to go about 75 yards  but I was
about half an hour getting the pain out of my fingers
afterwards
thought I had got a dose of frost bite for a while.
When we want a wash & thats not very often, we have to
go out with a pick & a bag & break up some ice then melt
it over a fire if we happen to have one. At present we
do not have the luxury of having a fire, & have to do all
our cooking on a primus stove, & there is no fuel to wast
waste on melting ice for washing in so we have to
look like niggers till we get to one of the other posts
We had a hot reception on coming in last time, & one of
my mates W Flowers, a son of Fred Flowers MP from
NSW was wounded rather badly.
Well I have stood the weather rather well better than I expected
have been troubled with a cold since last Oct when we came
down here, & its been pretty crook at times About Xmas
I almost lost my voice with it but its pretty right now. 

[*PS
Please
excuse the
scribble &
you might
notice a
sample of
the dirt
on the
3 paper*]
I hope you receive the souvenir paper knife allright
it was made by a crippled French soldier out of an enemy
cartridge & bullet & shell case or piece of one. I got it
in Amiens & it cost me 6 francs perhaps it is'nt worth
it but anyhow its something from France & I thought it
you might like it.
By the way when you send a parcel next time please
put in a few decent indebible pencils they are very
hard to get over here & you can get them out there.
I would not mind a small volume of Australian verse
if you could get it for me, Gordons Pattersons or any of
those will do, just a very small pocket book style to
carry about in my haversack, they would often prove very
entertaining when we are sitting around a fire over here
I was extremely sorry to hear that Stan had been
trobled with a bad cold hope he is allright by
now & soccing into his work at school.
I was pleased to hear that you are getting the extra
allowance for Stan. sorry I did not know of it before
otherwise you, could have been getting it all along.
one wants all its possible to get these times.
[*During the
night enemy
machine guns
are playing
by indirect
fire on the
tracks etc
about here
& I don't
care too much
for these
night trips
tonight several
bunches of
bullets went
whizing past
at a rather
uncomfortable
distance
Well there is
very little
shase left
so I must
close now
& try & get
a sleep, trusting that
fritz is kind to
us till the morning
Well aurevoir
truly yours Bert.*] 

(4)
I have not come across any of Loy Brimacombes
mates although I have kept my eyes open for them.
We have just got a fire in a brazier from the
medical details of the btn, they have a couple
of fires going to make hot drinks for the boys
in the trenches till about 11 pm, & then they
give us one of the fires till it burns out it
lasts about half an hour & is very welcome.
There is. a gass alert. on tonight the gass horns have
been going several times during the evening away
on our right.
I am afraid that I will have to conclude these
few lines now a wounded chap has just been brought
in & the doctor is attending to him so that means a
trip to the No 1 relay post by the other squad, there
are two here at this post & we will have to be ready
for any others who may come I have had two trips out
today with wounded chaps one to the 1st relay post the
other was to bring a, couple of chaps in to this post but unfortunately
one was practically killed on the spot. -
Well I've got back, it is now about 1.am. A mate & I just
took two slightly wounded. chaps down to the No 2 relay post the
night is dark as pitch, & one has to xxx depend upon the
light from the enemys flares to pick a track through the
shell holes, the flares illuminate the place for half a mile around &
are going up at short intervals all along the line all night 

ON ACTIVE SERVICE.
Feb 15 1917
Mrs Reynolds
Albert St Sebastopol
Ballarat victoria
Australia
HV Reynolds 

In the Field
Mar 14^th 1917
Dear Mother
I'm afraid that there has been rather too big a break between
this & my last letter, but I hope you received the FS cards, they do not
convey much news, but I suppose you feel more at ease when they come along,
even though there is nothing further in the way of news accompanying them
Well Mother! judging by the tone of one of your late letters, you seem to
be worrying about me, thats not necessary & only makes things worse than
they need be, look just try & stop worrying, because I'm sure that you
are ^worrying as several of your letters have lately given me that impression.
A little over a week ago I received a couple of letters from you, also others
from Flo, Helen, Gus & Mrs Stones, you might tell them that I have very
few opportunities of writing at present, but I do not forget them & wish to
be remembered to them. Yesterday I received a further letter
from you, also one from Gus & another from Parkstone.
We have been having some extra special weather over here lately, I reckon it
was made & sent from the polar regions, it don't suit us at all, we're
all anxious to know when the sun is due to shine & shed a little warmth
again, during the spell of frosts about a month ago the sun was shining
in an almost cloudless sky & yet the ground was freezing, just fancy the
ground freezing beneath the direct rays of the sun. I have never seen
any thing like it before.
I was very pleased to see that Vi [[McNab?]] paid you direct. How are the
kiddies getting on I often wonder how much they have grown since I

seen them last, don't suppose I will know them when I see them again.
Well I'm working at my peace time occupation at present, last time we were
[*always welcome. We put in very pleasant evenings, at times, spouting out the moods of Ginger
Nick to one another, the sentimental blokes version of things, & outlook on life somehow
seems to be practically just what the troops seem to trouble about reading in the way of
literature excepting the papers sent to themx. There is not much chance of me getting any leave
for some time, that is how things look at present. Well I'm about stuck for news so I must wish
you Au revoir
yours truly
Bert*]

in the line I was brought down from the R Aid. post & put on the job of
errecting Nissen hospital huts at an advanced dressing station, I don't mind
the job, its not too bad, only the weather cruels it at times, there were
several days running that we could not work at all, owing to the cold.
The huts are 60 ft by 20 & are circular in shape there are two being put up
here & since our bearer section went back a bit, a mate & I have been left
behind & ^(are) temporally attached to another ambulance.
Probably before you receive these few lines you will have read in the papers
about the death of our Col from wounds received while we were in the lines
this last time, our luck has been exceptionally bad since being in France
Our OC was Col Williams he has only been with us a few months. You
may xxxx xxx remember me mentioning that Col. Shaw our previous OC had left
us to take charge of a CCS, we were all very sorry to loose him
& we knew that we would wait a long time before we got another
like him. Probably you have read in the papers that he had
been awarded the DSO for the magnificient way he controlled things
during the Pozieres affair at the main dressing station, & I might say
that he deserved the decoration ^if any one did although he stated that it was
his men who won itx for him when he received it
At present I am writing these few lines in a dug out that my two
mates & I have put in a lot of work on, to make it comfortable, & it is
comfortable, we have an open fire place & a cheery fire going & are not
having too bad a time at present.
I hardly know what to write about to tell you the truth, the only stuff
to fill in space with is concerning the war, & we get that every minute
of the day, so you can understand us not wanting to fill our letters
with epistles of happenings that we are sick & tired of seeing & hearing,
so I think I will say as "Ginger Nick" said "Blarst the flaming war".
By the way I will tell you about our little evenings in this old humpy
of ours, of course we have very little literature that suits the taste under
these conditions, & such books of as "The Sentemental Bloke" & "Ginger Nick"
fill in many an xxxxxx hour that would otherwise be given to dull
meditation & that finishes up with a longing for the end of the war. These
books are real friends to the boys over here & any similar trope of books are 

ON ACTIVE SERVICE.
Mar 14 1917
Mrs Reynolds
Albert St
Sebastopol Ballarat
Victoria Australia
H Reynolds

France
Sund March April x1^st 1917
Dear Mother
I am begining to think that
another of our mails has gone to Davy Jones, as
we have received no mail for a very considerable
time. I don't suppose it is any good worrying
about it, but it is terrible stiff luck, most of us
would sooner loose a pay than our mail from
home.
I expect all the papers are full of accounts of the
huns retirement at present, I will try & give
you a little news, as no doubt, our accounts may
be more interesting than the daily papers, though
it is very little that we can write concerning how
things are going over here with us.
Well I have been in the town of __ Bapaume (cannot
put the name, but the papers have been full of accounts
of its capture) & seen the ruins of the place. I
had a day off & with a couple of mates I went
across country, over the ploughed up track belt of
the big push, we crossed our ^old front line trench
& crossed ground, past the huns trenches that has
be torn & turned up, to such an extent that  

(2)
not a single foot of original ground remains
unturned, the place reminded one of a wild
rough sea, only the colour was reddish brown
instead of green. The huns comunications
to his front trenches must have been like hell
for our artillery seems to have continually
been playing on them, there is little wonder
at him retiring, when you see the condition
of his line & the comunications to it.
We passed through a little village taken by
our div when we were in last time, it is a
destroyed, but not to the extent that the
villages in the push areas were, some of the
buildings would shelter troops still.
After passing this village we were able to
do, what we have not done for months & months
that was to walk over grassy level ground, there
were only occasional shell holes in the ground
at that point, & what a contrast ^it was to the scenery,
that we had been seeing, day in, day out for
months past, without a change, to describe
the difference between the two scenes is like
trying to describe the difference between
night & day. We had been in the habit of