Letters relating to William George Blaskett, 1916-1919 - Part 5

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days. It is not usual for me to write such

a serious letter, but somehow tonight I

felt as if I must tell someone how

thankful I am to God for his mercies & whom

could I tell better than you who understands

so well, for it is entirely owing to you that I

believe in God & his goodness. There is a

little verse that Roy wrote in my bible, (which

by the way is in my pack, wherever that is) that 

has been on my mind for weeks past. It is "

"I am persuaded that God's arrows of Light, as

it is loved & lived in will protect you". I

carried my testament in my pocket but the

bible was in my pack. I suppose I'll get

it when I rejoin the battalion.

Love to you all, from your

ever loving son

Will

A Coy

France

15/8/16

Dear Madge/

I must apologise for not

answering your numerous letters before this,

but very often I it was a job to get my

weekly letter to the old Fenian written,

& still more difficult to get it sent away

even after it was written.

Have you seen that
picture by Capt Bairnsfather. The Push"

in 3 chapters. It describes my experiences

very well. "I came, I saw, I conquered"

sort of thing. Just add "I stopped one" &

you have the whole thing in a nutshell.

Of course, I cant tell you

very much about things here, but I can

tell you that we ^were very much in "The Push"

and had to hold ground just captured from

Fritz. There were no real trenches left, so

heavy was the previous bombardment,

only shell holes. Fritz had the range

2

to an inch, so that we lost very heavily

indeed. The front trenches are a

horrible sight. Dead & wounded lying

everywhere, both our own & the enemy's.

It's bad enough to see them there, but

when you see your own boys getting

knocked out, its worse still.

I had one awful experience.

I was out in "No man's land" (a

delightful spot I don't think) & heard

a shell coming so dropped into a

shell hole. I thought I was

lying on something else besides dirt,

& just then a star shell (Gott

strafe 'em) was fired by the Germans

& showed me what I was lying on.

It was a dead German & his head

& both legs had been blown off.

You can guess I was anxious to

move but didnt dare to, till the

star went down. It isnt safe to

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move while those sort of things are up.

They are like big firework rockets

& are fired from a pistol. The Germans

have them going alright all night 

to make sure we are not attacking.

If they see the least movement

they open up with a machine gun.

So you can guess a man lays

pretty flat when they are about.

I am still at the 4^th General Hospital,

taking things easy. The wound isn't

healing too quickly. I might be going

to England, after all. I hope so anyway.

Talk about "so near & yet so far".

There's a big hill behind this Hospital

& you can see Folkestone on a clear

day, with glasses. It would be hard

not too see it go there now.

How are things at home?

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They say things are very dear in

Australia now. Yet the Labour Party

say they dont allow trust's & combines.

Looks like it. Its worse than America.

Well old chap, keep a stiff upper

lip. We're winning now, though it

may be a long job. Even if the

Germans want peace now, I dont

think we should give it before we

have got them absolutely smashed.

Well goodbye, old man, and

goodluck. Will write again soon.

Have you got that commission yet. I

shall get one before you, if you dont

buck up.

Your prodigal Brother

Will

No 4 General Hosp

France

25/8/16

Dear Mother o' Mine/

As you will see

I am still in Hospital. The wound

is going on splendidly now, healing

quite nicely in fact. My only worry is

that I cant get to Blighty. Still,

everything comes to him who waits,

I suppose. so must rest contented.

I am not wasting the

precious hours in idleness now. As

usual, I have found some work to

do, am now assisting in the

dressing room of our division in the

hospital. It keeps me busy for a

considerable portion of each day, & also

I suppose, keeps me our of mischief,

which is just as well. Not that one

has much opportunity for dissipation,

owing to the following facts. 1. No

patient is allowed to go outside the

hospital area. (2) My available wealth

2

is about 7 francs. 3. I have no

pals to be dissipated with and 4,

I'm far too lazy to exert myself

sufficiently. There are other reasons

but I can't think of them just now.

I have received a very nice letter

and some newspapers from Aunt

Jane some papers from Emmie, &

a letter from Rose, enclosing a

photographe of the girls at Shrewsbury

GP.O. Rose seems to be growing into

a very nice looking girl, but she is

a terror for photos. I have about

4 of her and Gladys now. Dont

know what to do with them all.

You will be pleased to hear

I was Confirmed last night. It is

a treat to be able to go to church. It

was months since I had been to a

service, until  I came here. As you

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know our battalion chaplain is an

RC. There is an CE & a Methodist

Chaplain attached to the brigade, but we

have been away from the Brigade

practically all the time in France, so

that even when we did have time for

a Church Parade, we had no

clergyman. There is Holy Communion

here every day, & you can be sure

I shall take full advantage of

it.

I havent heard from Bill yet,

so am writing today to his people

and to AIF headquarters for

information. Harold Ward is 

sending you a cable on my

behalf, I should think you would

have received it by now.

Now dear mother, must draw

this short note to a close. trusting you

are well at home

I am, your ever loving son

Will

4 G.H. France

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