Papers of Edgar Sydney Worrall - Wallet 2 - Part 12

Detail Camp

France

12 December '16

 

My Dear Harry

Back once more to the old

home.  We came across yesterday afternoon

and it has been raining and snowing in

turns ever since.  I hardly know whether the

Canal is not preferable to this but I suppose 

the old soldier's complaint would assert

itself - Never satisfied anywhere.

There are any amount of familiar

faces here, and one feels almost at home

right away.  There is only one thing I want

now, and that is Christmas with the boys.

With luck we ought to be able to manage it.

May your Christmas be a very happy one.

This ought to arrive just in time for my

greetings to be in season.

Everybody I met in England did their

level best to give me a good time, and I

left behind many firm friends, that six

months ago I did not know existed.

By the way before I forget it, there's

£10 or so to my account in the Common

wealth Bank London.  Should I have the

 

2/

ill fortune to stop a hard one you could

try and claim it, or it might be there

for years and be unclaimed.

You know where to send my letters onto

-the old address - A Coy 24 Bath etc, so

there is little more to say except wish you

the very best of luck.

Your loving brother,

 

Edgar

 

 

In the Field

France

30th Dec. 1916

 

My Dear Harry,

Have just received your letter in

 which you state that you are just leaving

for a long stint and would not be able to

write for some time.  I hope you got back

all O.K. and am eagerly looking forward to

hear of your experiences.

We are all down where some fighting has

taken place and the country is full of shell

holes, mud and slush. This morning a

couple of us explored some huge German

dugouts and gun posts in search of fuel.

One in particular claimed our attention.

It was roofed with Krupp steel and had

concrete walls and floor about nine inches

in thickness.  On one side and over was

a capsized German Howitzer of about

eight inch calibre.  It must have been a

direct hit by our own artillery.  By this again

is the ammunition store with a few score

 

rounds of big shells there still.  The Germans

occupied this part of the country about six

months ago and were driven our at the be-

ginning of the "push".  The place is not worth

giving away, it so desolate.  Someone

suggested yesterday that we should return

it to the Huns with an apology for the

rotten state of affairs.  He wasn't far wrong.

Guess I wont have an opportunity of

writing again for a bit as there are

fairly strenuous times ahead - that is

with regards to work, for I don't think

we'll have a stunt for a bit.

Best of good wishes

Your loving brother,

Edgar.

 

 

An officer and I occupied

a small shelter, five feet

long, two feet deep and

either inches high.  Can

you imagine two human

beings calling such a place

"home".  In this crevice we

sat, ate our meals, cooked

them, put our spare stores

and attempted to sleep, but

could not.

I can see you raise your

eyebrows in interrogation when

you read that we cooked

our meals in this place.

owing to the condition of

the surrounding terrain it

was impossible to bring up

hot fare.  Rations were

brought up during the night

 

2nd Divisional School

France

21st Jan, 1917

 

Received 

21-3-17

 

My Dear Father,

I am down here

at a school of instruction for

a few days.  It is quite a

change after the mud and

shells, but we are kept going

pretty strongly nevertheless.

Our last trip in was a 

fairly arduous one.  Climatic

conditions were right against

us Snow, hail, rain & frost.

The trenches were comparit-

lively new and very muddy.

To say that the mud filled

the pockets, of your tunics

is not an exaggeration

but a positive fact.  You

can judge that it wasn't

quite like home.

 

3.

and I distributed them to my

platoon before day break.

In the ration bags were

what are known as "tommy

lookers".  These are small 

tins containing solidified

alcohol.  On the application 

of a match to the surface

lo & behold your stove is

complete.  Tinned pork

and beans can easily be

heated, bacon  fried or

water boiled.

Before we went up,

I stowed a tin of cocoa

in my haversack.  In

the small hours of the

morning I would boil

up some water and stir

 

4.

in cocoa with our milk or

sugar and really [?] it.

None of us were sorry to be

relieved, and when I came

to clean up I think I scrap

ed enough mud off my

clothes to make excellent

and sufficient subsoil for

your garden.

The ground has been covered

in snow for over a week and

seems likely to remain so for

some time.  Our boys seem to

able to stand the cold quite

as well, if not better, than

the English troops.

I have written to two

other members of the family

so from all three letters

you will see I am OK

and almost enjoying myself

Your loving son,

Edgar

 

France

31st January 1917

 

My Dear Father,

The weather during the

last fortnight reached the proverbial

limit.  Snow has been continually on

the ground, frost every day, and

bitterly cold winds.  If you don't take

the precaution to put your boots under

the blankets with you overnight, you

find in the morning that they are

frozen hard as a piece of cast iron.

It snowed slightly last night and

the sun is out brightly so perhaps we

are going to have a break at last.

On Saturday last I walked over to

the large Roman excavations made by

Caesar during the Gallic War. Originally

these were capable of sheltering 50,000

troops, and they are still in a very

fair state of preservation.

Through a hole in the hill side

you enter a large cave with passage

 

leading down into the bowels of the earth.

Statues and relics of two thousand

years ago ⌃are within.  We spent an hour wander

ing around with electric torches

and then we did not see all.

On Sunday we managed to get

a ride into one of the largest

cities of France.  The cathedral

is wonderful the central parts

of the town passable, but the

outskirts -----.   We got a bath

and an eight course meal which

raised or opinion of the place 50%.

This should reach you sometin

in March.  Dorothy's birthday must

be close, so please give her a 

guinea as a present from me.

My fingers are num so I'll leave this

for the time being.

Later

It is now about seven p.m. and I

am continuing this in the parlour of

a French farm house.  It is ever so

 

3.

warm and cheerful in here, and the

lady of the house is very hospitable.

Quite a contrast to some of the

peasants, it is our luck to meet.

I have been ordered to hold myself

in readiness to attend an Officers

Training Corps in England.  I tried

very hard to get out of it, but all to

no avail.  They evidently think I am

an infant [joffer?], and that if my

military instinct is cultivated

shall bring about the speedy conclusion

of hostilities!!.  In all probability I

shall be sent across some time next 

month.  Perhaps you had better address

my mail to [Chase?] side again.

Of course it will cost me a goodly

amount for an officer's [hit?] and I

shall take the opportunity of having

my teeth attended to.  As my capital

consists of only £10 in the Common

wealth Bank, will you cable

twenty pounds through same on

 

4.

receipt of this.  When my Commission

comes through it will mean £1.1.0

per diem, but the outlay will be

rather considerable.

In spite of the cold and other

minor hardships, I feel perfectly well

perhaps was never better - so I

hope when you read of the extreme

cold, you had no fear as to my

welfare.

Tenderest wishes to each and all

Your loving son,

Edgar