Correspondence between Herbert Vincent Reynolds and his family, 1917 - Part 4

Folkstone
July 3^rd 1917
Dear Mother
Well my leave has come to an end all too soon; of course
it cannot last for ever, but the time has gone & it don't seem more
than a few days since I arrived, yet it is 14 days ago.
I left the unit Tuesd 19^th & proceeded to Bolougne, where we
spent the night in an army billet we could not go into the town, not
even get outside our billet. next morning at about 9 am we were
marched down to the boats & at about 10 am set off for old England.
The day was fine & clear for a start, but a heavy fog came over when
we were well in sight of land & it delayed us quite a while.
On arriving at Folkstone we disembarked & entrained on the wharf
& were not long in reaching London. At Victoria Stn we were
fallen in & marched to Horseferry rd & there given instructions
about different things. We reached London about 5pm. A mate
came across on leave with me, (he went to Scotland), & we stayed
the night at a boarding house, & went to Dalys theatre to the
Musical comedy "The maid of the Mountains". Next morning I went
to Mr Keys & found them allright.

Sunday 24^th Mr Key took me to his brothers place at Eastham, we
had dinner & tea there, in the evening Amy, shewed me over part of
the Ilford park it is portion of old Epping forest, & has quite a
lot of interesting associations.
Next day I went to Tydd, & stayed till Wednesday, the
strawberry season was in full-swing & there were some
strawberrys to be seen I can tell you. Mary Key has just got
over her long spell of illness, & is better than she c has been
for over 12 mths, the others were quite well.
Wednesday morning I caught the 9.10 am train for London
had dinner at Breakneck Rd, & then caught the 2.10 pm train
for Bournemouth & arrived there at about 5pm. Unfortunately
I found Mrs Hunt laid up with a poisoned foot & Miss Hunt
was away at their peoples home, but was coming home that evening
so I met her at the Pool rail station. My stay was too short
altogether at Parkstone, & I can tell you I did not like leaving
at all you see when I left home & also when I left England
last time I pleased myself about going & went of my own
free will but this time is altogether different, & its not at
all a nice feeling when one is absolutely forced to leave, well
I suppose we cannot always please ourselves & thats just it.
Well Mother I think I must close these few lines now trusting
you are all quite well, its seems a terrible long time since
I had any letters from you, suppose Davy Jones has had
a few more letters. Well - Au revoir & best wishes to all
yours. very truly Bert

Mrs Reynolds
Albert St
Sebastopol
Ballarat
Victoria
Australia
 [*July 3rd 1917*]

[*If you have any
spare magazines at
home I would not
mind one or two
occasionally, we're
very short of reading material
over here
Well Au-revoir for
the present
ever very sincerely 
Bert *]
France
13/8/17
Dear Flo
Just a few lines to remind you that I have
not forgotten you altogether I must ask you to
excuse me for not writing more often.
I am very sorry that you had to start at the
dressmaking after putting in so long at the other thing,
but perhaps it will be better for you in the long run.
How do you like the new place, is it as nice as the
last?
We have been out of the line now for quite
a long time, & have had a real decent spell his
time, I suppose it will not last very much longer.
At present we are billited in farm buildings
& are not having too bad a time, though they're  doing
their best to break t our hearts with parades, roll calls
etc its nothing else lately from dawn till dark.
There has been plenty of rain lately & its
doing a lot of harm, as all the crops are ready to be brought
in. These are only a very few lines but there is nothing
much to write as I give mother all the news. 

France
Tuesd 21st 1917
Aug
Dear Mother
Was very pleased to receive your letter
dated June 3^rd along with a few lines from Flo & 
Stan, a p c from Eva & a few lines from Ciss.
We have had no mails from home for a month,
untill this batch came along yesterday & ^we were
beginning to wonder what had happened, the funny
part of it too, is, that, the mails we got yesterday
were officially reported to have been lost.
I have received your letters numbered 54 55 & 56
allright, so there are not many of your letters going
astray lately, I'm very pleased to say.
I cannot say that I was exactly surprised to
hear about old Aunts death, I've often wondered
how long she would last, she must have been a great
burden on Eva these last few years.
I am awfully sorry to hear that Jim Stomes is so
bad, was hopeing the would completely recover, but from
all accounts that has not been the case. I hope & trust
he is improving, its terrible to think that he has no
chance of absolute recovery
We have beens having a long spell this trip, but you
can bet its not for nothing, they go to a lot of
trouble to keep us fit & I must say the attempt is
extremely successful, for we have never before with 

(2)
the exception of the 1st lot who made the landing
at Anzac been in such ^fine condition.
We have plenty of outdoor sports football, races
etc, this afternoon we have a three mile race
coming off, there is one run every week, but this
one is creating a great deal more interest than any
of the previous runs, a B section, chap generally
wins but a member of our section A intends to
come in first today. I manage to get over the
course but never get a place last time I came in 15^th.
I'm very pleased to hear that you have the fence
up at last, also that you intend to plant a hedge
I hope it will waste no time in growing the & thus
isolate you from that eyesore view, which I know
must annoy you always, but never mind Mum
sunny days will shines, though they may seem a
terrible long while coming
Well. I not in the least surprised at what you wrote
about H.P, he may think himself smart now, but
wait, there are many over here who have reason to
remember actions of such as his, & there will come a
time when they will be thrown in his face much to his
regret. Thank God the country has not to depend on
men of his stamp.
Am very sorry to hear that C T is not at all well
I have not written to them at all, suppose its up to 

(3)
me to write occasionally, but I ve not written
much to any one except you. You might remember
me to them all, fo & remind them that I've not forgotten them
I hope Norm is getting along allright after the
operation.
I cannot say how pleased I am to hear
that Stan did well in his exams, I thought
he would buck up a bit this time
How does he like school now? has he still
the idea of discontinuing his course? it
would be great if you could get him
to continue & have a go for this Junior Public.
It was a great pity that the day choosen
by the Lucas's girls for planting the trees was
so wet, its to be hoped they will be favoured
by better weather next time
In respect to my name in a list, don't be
surprised if it doe's not appear as no doubt
you know, I left as ^a reinf to a N S W unit,
& there was the usual bungling, that I am
aware of wether, . they see through things
remains to be seen, but probably my name will
be missed. I've an idea that it has allready been
overlooked, but that's nothing to what happens at times 

(4)
We are having beautifull weather over here lately, its
been nothing else but rain for a while, but it has
gone now we hope till the winter sets in
I must conclude now for the time being will
write a few more lines this evening.
   —————————————————
Just a few more lines before I conclude, well
we did not have the race this afternoon as we
expected, it has had to be left to another
date, cannot say why
I have not heard from Keys since I returned
from leave.
There is a cutting enclosed shewing the memorial
service at Pozieres where Gen Birdwood unveiled
the memorial to members of the 1st Div who fell there
during the battle. I was standing on the opposite
side of the small cemetery below the pencil mark.
at present we are billeted in a small farm building, we
have left the some area but are still spelling.
Well Mother I must say Au-revoir for the present
so structing you are all in the best of health
I remain ever very truly
Bert.
 

see ACTIVE SERVICE envelope
 ?
Aug 21^st 1917
Address:
Mrs Reynolds
Albert St
Sebastopol Ballarat
Victoria Australia
 [* Signature}

   Name only}   H V Reynolds *]

[* P S.

Hope these
lines find you all

well remember me

to the friends

Bert

——————

Please excuse this 
rough lot of news

———————      *]
On Active Service
France
Sept 1^st 1917
40
Dear Mother
I was begining To think that
there would be no letters for me by the last
lot of mail, as all the Victorian, letters were
distributed, & there were none for me, although
I received two papers from you & one from Ciss,
any how after waiting three days & wondering
where the letters had got to, I was much
releived to receive three letters, one from you
(No. 58) one from Ade, & another from Ciss.
Well Mum I'm pleased to hear that
some of my letters are interesting, very
often after writing them, I think wether
they are worth sending or not.
I am extremely sorry to know
that Flo has had such a bad cold, &
hope she has completley got rid of it
long before now, I know what those sort are
like I had my share of them last winter.
I reckon you are waving
a bit of red rag; when you enquire -
how a roast chop would go? Well. I
almost had to think twice before I could
recolect what they are.