Correspondence between Field Marshal Lord William Birdwood and Lady Janetta Birdwood, 1915 - Part 21

21 Nov.

1915

H.M.S. LORD NELSON

My own darling Jenny Jane,

There is a real slump in

the letter line & the last I have had

from you is dated 14 Oct - & now we

have just heard that one of the

wretched German submarines has

sunk one of our ships between here

& Egypt, & that 2000 bags of mails

have gone down in her, so goodness

knows what may not have been

lost.  It is most annoying - one

wouldn't mind so much if you

could tell what had gone!  I am

again beginning a letter from Mudros

as Lord K. after spending a day at

Salonika came back here

& sent for me.  This knocking about in

destroyers is rather trying - In fine

 weather I don't mind it, but in

rough one has an awful time of it

as they never go less that 20 knots : &

I have been in so many of them now- Colne,

Chelmer - Ure - Usk - Ribble- Pincher-

Bulldog - Beagle - Rattlesnake - Mosquito -

Scourge - Lawford  & Laforey : the last 2

burn oil & go about 25 knots. The only

real bad journey I had was from here to

Mudros on Ribble. The saloons are

absolutely impossible - horrid close

little places, with tiny scuttles always

shut & smelling! The moment one gets

below one is done for in anything like

bad weather - & the whole ship always

shakes fearfully. On deck it is
all right if not rough, but if rough

all the waves come over, so the bridge

is the only possible spot - that is very

high up, but even then one gets waves

constantly dashing all over it as was

the case last week. I tried to go over to

Anzac the following day, but found the 

storm had done so much damage in

the way of breaking up piers & boats

that landing was not possible - a most

serious outlook with stores, guns

troops etc constantly to be landed &

embarked. I must say I do hate

being away from there & not having

my own men round me daily. They 

tell me a lot of very heavy shelling

has been going on on my beach &

H.Q. Since I have been away these

few days & I hope they haven't had

many casualties. Lord K was

a day in Salonika & then came

back here & wired for me to

come & see him again - He only

stayed here a day & then went off

down to Athens where he is to have

an interview today with that

wretched King Tino. I only hope

he may be able to frighten him

properly. The King's idea is I

am sure to remain nominally

neutral until a German Army

arrives on the Greek Frontier & he

will then be able to throw the cloak 

aside & join in against us. I hope

therefore that we may be able to

take really strong measures at once

2)  which we can do with our fleet, for we could sink the whole

Greek fleet at once & blockade the coast & take all their islands. I

believe they have not a week's supply of food in the country, so a

blockade might bring about a revolution and with Venizelos in again

they might decide to join us. The next day or so should let us see

more, & Lord K. will probably return here at once after his interview with

Tino - I am awfully sorry for poor old Admiral de Robeck in all this, as

he is such an awfully nice fellow, & has been so fearfully bothered with

 all his anxieties & responsibility that he hardly sleeps at all & I fear gets

 more worried daily. I have been out for a couple of rides with him here

which te we have both thoroughly enjoyed. The Cabinet have not at all

decided yet what is to be the future of this force & I shall not be surprised

at any orders I may get. I only know that we are bound to have a hard

& difficult time of it whatever may be decided. There was one rather

attractive proposal made by which I was to have taken most of this

force to cut the whole of the Turkish communications, but that has

now been definitely abandoned. It has been nice seeing McMahon &

Maxwell again & both have been very nice. I quite forget if I told

you much about Lord K. I was so awfully glad to see him again

& I think he really was pleased to have me with him again. We

almost at once seemed to drop back into our old lines & the years

I have been away from him might all have rolled away.

Fitz too is so very nice & quite unchanged - he does K very well

indeed - much better than I had thought he would. Storr

too was with him - a very good fellow, to whom you can always

write if you want to know anything. I have given him a box

to send you, which I believe contains a practically priceless

relic which has just been sent me as a present by Admiral

Sir Hedworth (Lambton) Meux. Why he should have thought

of sending it me I can't think as I hardly know him. The

Commodore here - Keyes - who has just been home brought this back

with him. The rich old Lady Meux apparently had a very valuable

collection of greenstone among which was this Maori totem - you

will see it is not beautiful & you will see there is a short typed

account of it, which please don't lose. There is I hear however

much more in the historical interest of the totem then appears

in the account & Keyes tells me it is really "priceless" on

account of its historical traditions and mystical Maori associations.

So I thought it best to send straight home for you to keep. Sir

Hedworth I suppose sent it me as the Maori contingent is

under me & I must say I think it was rather nice of him

to have thought of such a thing. You remember seeing him at

Delhi don't you?

I shall now be having a much more civilized life of it than

at Anzac, for at Imbros I have a small two roomed wood

hut - which can be very cold!! It is colder there I think a good

deal than at Anzac. Also there is a regular mess there, in

which I'll have to have regular meals I fear instead of

going through my trenches all day - so please stop Harrod's

sending any more fruit at all - it would only go into the

mess where they already have stores etc. I do so hate the

idea of leaving my old family circle - there, there was no room

3) in our dug outs for a regular mess, so I always had breakfast

& tea alone, & one of them always took it in turn to come to dinner, when we

had your tinned fruits - now however it will all  be different- & I shall not

want them. The only ones I can take of my old staff are the 2 A.D.C's

de Crespigny & Chirnside. The former has been in hospital in Egypt for the

last month - while Chirnside though a really nice fellow & I am sure most 

faithfully loyal to & fond of me, as an A.D.C. or companion is quite useless.

If we ever get to a country where motors can be used, he will however be

invaluable with his beautiful Rolls-Royce car - on account of which he

was picked out as my Australian A.D.C ! I hope however that when Genl

Skeen is well enough again to come out- to me that he will come to me

as I have replaced him at Anzac & have kept a vacancy for him at H.Q.

Also I am asking for Pollen as my A.M.S. & it will be nice having him

with me. Then too I mean to go over to Anzac as often as I possibly

can to see the Australians & enter into all their work, & I hope keep in

touch with them as I always have done. This though will be difficult

as I now have 2 other wives in the Army Corps at Suvla & Helles -

a concubine in the shape of an enormous base of about 20,000 men

to be looked after also ! At Suvla is Genl. Byng with 5 Divisions

which I have got to get to know & at Helles is Genl Davies with 4

and there are 2 French Divisions there as well. I shall have to do

them all in time, so I can't hope to see very much of any of them,

especially in all this bad weather, for days at a time are very

likely to pass without it's being possible to land anywhere.

I have just got your letter of 23rd Oct & feel so annoyed because

apparently you can't have received several of my letters & I am wondering

if it is worth while my writing so many long letters as I do

(generally having to sit up past mid-night to do so) if you don't get them.

All yours I think I have got - But do you hear from me about once

a week? If mail from here does not go on any regular day- just

when ships happen to be going, and one military goes every week - then too

some take much longer than others going via Egypt or Malta - But you

certainly should have heard every week & I hope have done so - But certainly

more than once - two or three times - I have told you the parcels sent

by Harrod's have arrived & not long ago I told you they sometimes

were so badly packed. I told you all about what I thought about

that £500 for Chris from M^rs Ritter - viz. that it must have been left

by Major Wright - more than once I have said to invest all savings in

War Loan as I think that is the only right & patriotic thing to do.

It may be that letters I wrote about all these may have arrived

just after you sent off your last letter- that is so annoying - not

knowing if letters have crossed or not. As test cases do please

when answering this tell me if you have got my letters telling

you about all above - and one particularly asking you to let me

know if an account in the bank had been credited with about

£52 from the India office - & has this been done ? It will

I know since have been credited either last or this month with

about £335 , as the Pay master told me he had done this.

Also did you get my letter about your birthday? You said

you hadn't when you wrote on 30th Sept. Also did you

get one giving you Isabel's address at Chepstow? Will you

please let me know of you have got letters about all these

4)  and I'll be much happier in my mind - otherwise I feel I 

must stop writing long letters, as there is no knowing into whose

hands they may not fall. We have had bad luck here, as we

have just got news of a German Submarine having sunk one of our

ships with 2000 bags of mail - & now one of our tugs with a large

number of outgoing bags for home has been sunk in the storm we

have had these last few days. I don't think any of my letters were in it

as I was away from Anzac. I hope you got my telegram with a message

for the men's Xmas Cards. It is hard to condense into a line, so I hope
you may have improved on it in the wording. Also I sent off another
wire saying New Zealanders must be included, as otherwise they will
feel very hurt. As it is I think they are inclined to feel they are rather
neglected, which is perhaps only natural, as they are only about ¼ of
the Australian numbers. The word "Australian" is often used to include
them both - which annoys the N.Z's very much, for they are awfully
jealous of each other! M^r Mackenzie the N.Z. High Commissioner will of
course be able to tell you all about them & I much hope you will get him to
take you down to see their hospital at Walton on Thames some day - he will
be delighted if you ask him to do this & proud to take you!

I think there is nothing to be done about those parcels you asked me
about - I mean there is no one on my Staff here to whom you can
address them & though it may take time sending them to the
Ebury St depot, I fancy that as a Central place is better in 
the long run - more confusion is caused by being sent independently
& no one here would know anything about them on arrival. As a
matter of fact so far we have I think had what we want.

Did I tell you I expected more or less of a fight with K when he arrived
on my refusing to agree to go in for some big plans he had wired to
me to undertake? I was delighted that he quite dropped them & told me
just before he left for Athens, that he now quite saw they were out of
the question. This should I hope reach you just about Xmas
so I write to wish you a very happy one - though I fear none can be very
bright at home this year - but I hope you will have all the children
with you & one has to make things as happy for them as possible, as
I know you all will. Remember to countermand the tins of fruit for me.
The stoves haven't yet arrived, & I'll let you know when they do so.
I don't think there is any necessity for you to be in London to be on committees
etc. You see I am not in Chief Command now out here. Monro is - & his
wife will have to take Lady Hamilton's place. Also I always think there are often
rather too many people on many committees, with the result that little is
done. What you want are very small working committees, while people seem very  fond
of having plenty of hands shown as being on them!  I am so very glad though that you
have been active as you have on the Australian one & do remember not in any
way to seem to neglect the New Zealanders. Mackenzie is a very nice & modest
fellow who will be very gratified at any interest you may be able to take
in his men,  - write to him if necessary about anything.
Goodbye my own little wife. I shall be thinking of you very
much at Christmas & all my love to you
Ever your very loving old,
Will.

[*DONATED RECORDS LIST
3376
3rd Series (15)*]

3DRL 3376 (15)
M.E.F.

25 Nov 1915
My own darling girl,
I am getting awfully annoyed & rather anxious about
your evident non-receipt of my letters, for I see there must
evidently be many you do not get. Not only is it so vexatious
not knowing what you don't receive, but if they go astray I
feel I can not write nearly so fully as I do to you for there
is no knowing into whose hands they may not fall. There is
one thing you can make up your mind to - that is - if any
questions you have asked me are not answered it is either
because I have not got your letter - or previous ones of mine

have gone astray - for when writing to you, I always have
your letters before me & go through everything you have
said - referring to it in answering to it. Also no week
has ever passed without my writing to you, while you
tell me my last two are dated 30 Sept & 15 Oct. So
evidently one if not two between have gone astray, as I
have often posted 2 letters within 2 days.
I fancy I have got most of your letters though they arrive

very irregularly, but some have evidently gone astray, as in
one just received you say you told me "Dr. Goss says
there is nothing much wrong with Judith's eyes". Well this
is the very first I have heard of the result of you
taking her there & I have been longing to hear about