Letters from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his family, March - December 1916 - Part 6

5  12 10:12.16
from insomnia (?) up at the front the guns
used to roar all night and at times the
noise was enough to waken the dead yet
I used to sleep thro' it all as peacefully
as a child - perhaps it is too peaceful here
for me.  The house I am billeted in also
contain our officers mess & all our batmen are
billeted in the barn - the rest of the battery
is billeted in another street about ¼ of a 
mile away. Hal's battery's officer's mess is in
the house next door to this so until he
went on leave I had plenty of opportunities
of seeing him & having a yarn. Have had
no word from him since he has been away
but  don't expect to hear from him as he has
only 10 days leave. Would like to hear from
Frank will try & find out where the
Artillery School he is attending is situated.
I have managed to write a longer letter
than usual but during the operation
have had several interruptions - one on
battery business lasting ½ an hour.
Received letters from both Father & mother
a couple of days ago. Will try to reply
to them tomorrow night.
Fond love to all
Your loving son
Charlie

12      13.12.16

Dear Father, Mother
I did not get a chance to write you on
the 11th. When out watering the horses I met Lieut
Lee late of my old regiment & now in the artillery.
His brigade is also out resting & they are billeted
in the other end of the village. He  came round
here that night & stayed late yarning. A lot
of the lads who got commissions about the time
we did have been killed or wounded. One we
know of has won the D.S.O. & another the M.C.
Of course I would be very proud if I won
either decoration but I am not going out of
my way to do any deeds to earn them -
I have too much at stake at home to
run any unnecessary risks. Last night
Lee asked me round to mess & I intended
going but things were going awry all day so
I stayed here & got all my N C Os in the evening
& gave them a little "strafe" & lecture on their
duties. I now have two of my officers back
one from the school & the others from the trip
after houses - also a couple of  N.C.O.'s back
from leave. Today have been the quietest I
have had since I have been in France.
My court martial case was to have been
held this morning but the President
missed his orders & went to the wrong
brigade headquarters - we waited all
the morning & all the afternoon for him  

 2     13.12.16
As we had a nice cosy fire to sit by & plenty
to smoke & ^as one of the members of the Court had
just returned from leave & the three others of
us had all been to England we had plenty
of things to talk about we passed a very restful
day. The case is to be tried tomorrow.
The night before last we had another
heavy fall of snow. As this village is
situated in a picturesque valley it
was a very pretty sight. Am afraid I
cursed a little during the afternoon as
during the morning sleet & rain had fallen
& the snow had partly melted so the
mud & slush was awful. It is
astonishing what primitive methods are
in use here - they thrash their corn with
a flail. I suppose it is really a good idea
as the weather is too bad to work outside
& as the process is so slow it gives them
something to do indoors all the winter &
also gives them fine healthy exercise to
keep themselves warm. Another method of
thrashing is done by a horse working a
treadmill. My old motto - "Little &
often" so will now conclude. Hope you
are all well & that Edith is now
completely O.K.
Fond love to all
Your loving son
Charlie

16.12.16
Dear Jack,
Thanks for your "Kookaburra" card
with news of Melbourne received a couple
of months ago. I don't get much time for
letter writing & altho' I am always very
pleased to hear from each & all of you at
home am afraid you must be content
in return with the letters I try to
send regularly to Father & Mother.
So they have "turned you down" for a 
third time over your eyesight. Ah! well,
that ought to be enough to show that
you are not a "coldfooter".  Besides, the
way things are at the present in Australia,
I think our family is doing their fair
share in "keeping the old flag flying" - let
them compel some of the thousands fit
& able to come before they take the
likes of you - in some families not
even one has enlisted. There are the 3
of us here & from the only other Gatliff
family in Australia the only son, Penrose,
came away with the 1st Div. & our other
relations, Litchens & Mouldens, each gave

their eldest boy. Rest content! we have

done our bit. I have no news, old man,
so will conclude with love from 
Your loving brother,
Chas

12    25/12/16

Dear Father & Mother

Am off back to "the line"  tomorrow.
I am satisfied that I must be a "Jonah"

you know how I had to hand my L.H

& B.A.C. men just when the unit was

working well & I knew all the men. Well

the same thing is happening again - this

battery is being split up amongst others.

Hard luck after I have been with it as

junior Subaltern, section commander, battery

captain & acting battery commander. I

don't know what they will do with me - for

the present I going to "the line" & will have to

wait at the wagon lines there for further

orders. While they are deciding what I am

to do, they can send me on leave if they

like. We have not heard who are to

get command of the new batteries. Hal

ought to be back from leave any day

now. Frank has written me since he has

been at the school. I have to take the

battery back to the line before it gets split up.

Am on my own again have had 2 officers the

last few days but one went ahead yesterday

to take over lines etc at gun positions & the

other goes ahead this morning to arrange

about bullets while we are in the march.

Fond love to all

Your loving son

Charlie

1   France 13       27.13.16

 

Dear Father & Mother

We arrived back in the firing line a

couple of days before Christmas; we are close

to where we were before we went out for a

rest. By a strange coincidence my battery

relieved Frank's; his brigade is going out for a

rest. And my battery is being divided into

two for tactical purposes & half of it is

going to Hal's battery. Strange that all three

of our batteries should be so linked up.

Frank was away in England where I have

not heard from him but I was lucky enough

to see a letter which the officer in charge

of his battery had just received from him.

He had just finished his school which

only last 2 weeks & had been granted

10 days leave which he was going to

spend at his friends the Giffords. As

that would take him over Xmas & the

New Year. I bet he had "a merry Xmas"

if we here did not. Hal came back

from his leave & joined up with us

when we were on the march here.

He had a quiet time in London - had a

touch of influenza but is alright now.

He did not go & see either the Gasguoines

or the Jacksons both of whom would have

been very pleased to see him. Several

of our other officers on leave were staying

2      13      27.12.16

 

at the same hotel with him so he spent all his

time with them. Only 2 gun detachments have

gone to the two other batteries from this ^24 men in all. I

have all the rest at our wagon lines & have

to administer the battery as before. My three

officers however have been attached to the

other two batteries. When I arrived here

the situation looked hopeless - a sea of

mud wherever one looked & things all

upside down thro' taking up another

position. Altho' a few dugouts were made &

a couple of tents were standing it would

have been better if we could have taken

up a fresh position as the battery here

before had cut up the ground. On top of

this it was so bitterly cold. At present

there are three of us in this tent - one

luck beggar is just down from the

gunpits & is going on leave tomorrow; the

other has just returned from leave.

The tent door is facing where the rain

& wind is coming from & there is

almost as "much" mud inside the tent

as there is outside. However, I am getting

rid of the other hut tomorrow & will then

have the tent shifted around & things

will be more comfortable. So I will

leave writing more until tomorrow night.

Fond love to all at home

Your loving son Charlie

1    France 13       28.12.16

 

Dear Father & Mother

I have a much brighter outlook on

life now. I have got this tent to myself &

have had it turned around & all the mud

scraped ^out & it seems quite cosy after the last

couple of days I have spent in it. A tent

is not exactly the warmest of places to

live in during this weather altho' a dugout

can be made quite snug. Another drawback

to a tent is that it is dangerous to have

a fire in it. In most dugouts the men make

fireplaces. I often give a wry smile when

I think that I would not live over

this way 10 years ago because of the

extreme cold & then I was working in a

warm cellar during the day & living the

rest of my time in a comfortable house.

with all the pleasures & comforts of life in

a big city. However I am here of my own

free will & am content to stay till the

war is over even tho' it may mean I will

have to spend more winters than one here.

I rode up to the gun positions yesterday

to pay my men. I saw Hal who was

looking O.K. He received his parcel from

Croydon on Christmas day also one from

Olive. My parcel from Croydon has not yet

come to hand altho' I received one from

2    13     28.12.16

 

Lil on Xmas day. Wasn't it appropriate that

they should all arrive on the day they were

intended for? In Hal's parcel were ½ doz handkerchieves

for me evidently put in the wrong parcel.

They came in very handy as I had a bad cold

& was reduced to two - my batman was kept

busy washing & drying them by the fire. Lou

Gasquoine had come to my reserve the day

before - she sent me a handkerchief in a

letter wishing me a merry Xmas. "A merry

Xmas!" - as I heard one of my men say, it 

would have been an insult to have wished

us that here that day. Today one of Hal's

officers' has been killed when acting as

F.O.O. He only recently got his commission &

before that was a sergeant in this battery in

my section. When he got his commission he

was transferred to Hal's battery & Jefferson

was transferred to this. Christmas day

this year there was no armistice - each

side seemed to "hit things up" a bit more

than usual to celebrate the day. Fritz

sent a few big ones over our heads here

but they burst about a mile in our

rear. Christmas dinner was not a very

sumptuous affair - the parcels did not

arrive until the afternoon - we had the

ordinary rations, which by the way are very

good, & a little touch of festive cheer in the

3       13        28.12.16

 

shape of a small Xmas pudding the officer returning

from leave managed to get in --- on his way back

here the day before Xmas. I went in there that

day to see about Xmas comforts &some pay for

my men. I was unsuccessful but the ride did

me good. When I arrived here I had a bad

cold & on top of that got a touch of colic &

diarrhea thro' drinking bad water. I stopped

in bed a couple of hours after reveille that

morning but forced myself to get up then

to go into xxx with the result that I felt

a lot better on my return. I am now quite

O.K. I am always telling the men that

the best medicine when they feel ill is

to keep moving & fight against it. Of course

in certain cases that is impossible but

I have seen lots of cases where the men

have benefited by taking my advice.

The field cashier had moved several miles away

& The Comforts depot only had a few comforts

for the whole of the artillery & not for our unit.

I then went to the Expeditionary Force Canteen

but it was so crowded I did not wait.

Nevertheless apart from the cold I spent a

better Xmas than the one Ern & I did in

South Africa when we were travelling in an

open truck from Middlebury to Pretoria & only

had bully beef & biscuit for our Xmas dinner - altho'

some of the lads did manage to get some whisky.

Fond love to all Your loving son Charlie