Correspondence between Field Marshal Lord William Birdwood and Lady Janetta Birdwood, 1915 - Part 22

it. In fact, some time ago I wrote asking you to be sure

to let me know, as beyond you saying you were taking ∧ her up

to town to see him, I had heard nothing of your visit -.

Your last week's letter was 23^rd Feb - one just reced is 31^st. 

You probably wrote between. Would you like me to number

my envelopes? I used to do it when I was writing Mother &

you can then always see if one has gone astray, if you do

not receive consecutive numbers - you might do the same -

begin the next one 1.?  As in your last letter you still

ask about things I have received - I write about these

again - though I have certainly already done so 3 times.

Do please let me know if you get this letter! I have 

received I think all the weekly parcels of fruit from

Harrods - but not one with shortbread. Moving about as 

I have been doing this last month - a night or two everywhere,

I haven't been able to see any of my things, & I find I have

over half a dozen tins of fruit now accumulated here,

so please do not send any more. I am now in a Regular

mess at A.H.Q. where they get such things as they want,

so really special things sent like this are not

wanted little one - they get tinned milk etc. Steward

is most awfully good about to such things & looks after 

me like anything. I do wish we could always

keep him!

The two stores have not yet arrived, but they

2) would be sure to take some time,  in the mean

time the excellent Lotboniere has got me one. I now

have him back on my Staff as Chief Engineer of the Army 

& Genl. Williams has gone on to Sir C Monro. I am glad

to have old Lobo back, & he is in our mess.

M^rs Hilton's money I so well remember writing about in detail

& later on I also did so to Chris. Maj. Wright had always

said he meant to do something for Chris, but beyond the

silver Christening mug he gave him when I came back from

S. Africa, I never thought more of it. I heard he had left all

his money to Mrs Hilton, though I believe he gave a sum of 

£2 or 500 to Walter Numan - probably for his boy in the same

way as for Chris. The money is all right with the Public

Trustee there is nothing more you can do in the

matter : he will pay dividends as due into the account at

the Bank, as I think you asked him to do. The

bath towels have just arrived & many thanks for them

little one - they will do me capitally, though alas! all

sea bathing is now over, as it is much too cold & I am

no longer right on the beach as I used to be - 

I am glad to hear you have got the £333 all

right. You will not get any such sum again, 

as it was only a lot of back pay I haven't spent.

Will you please be sure to let me know if the Bank

has also been credited with a sum of about £50 or

52 - which they should have got some months ago - it may 

have been sent as "Lodging allowance" - which was due

for my time in Egypt, to partly cover expenses of Shepherd's

Hotel. I see you have evidently now got my letter

saying to invest all future savings in the war loan, so 

that is all right. Don't send tinned milk or butter, as

we can get them both - & now that I think of it, if 2

tins fruit have been sent me weekly, I certainly can

only have got about one half, as not nearly so many tins

as that have come. Did you get a letter in which I

complained of Harrod's bad packing, resulting in some

arriving broken to pieces, & only coming at all, by some

kind friend having re-addressed them for me! This is 

when they are done up in paper only - but when in boxes

they have arrived all right. There have been fearful

complaints about mails here lately - no one had had 

a letter of any sort for about 3 weeks, when a mail 

arrived today.

I am so thankful to think little Judith's eyes are

all right, as I should have been most unhappy if

I thought they were really wrong - did Cross say

she was to do anything particular for them in the

way of resting, bathing, or anything else?

3) I must say I quite agree it is wonderfully good

of Capt Wray at his age serving as a Captain, but I

presume & hope there will be no question of his going to 

France. You never told me how old Percy had returned from

there - your father did & I have asked Fitzgerald to see

if he can't possibly get him employment again in some 

capacity or another.

I really don't think you are called on to take a flat in

London to look after committees. It seems to me that you

already do quite your share in a lot of work for the Australians

& others, and I don't think they can complain about you, 

specially if you already spend £100 a year on general war 

purposes.

I'm so glad you have been staying with the Wrays and Lady

Robinson, as I'm sure such little outings must do you 

good, especially as Lady R. seems so very nice. But if

you find it affects you sleeping in any way, little kid,

by being kept up late, don't for a second hesitate to ask

her let you go to bed as early as you like - I am sure

it is what she herself would wish you to do.  The Red X

matinee certainly know how to charge, as I call £2.2

a lot for a matinee, but of course it was a very special

reason & cause. Go & see, or write to M^rs Cliff when

you can, as I'm sure she means well - you know

that my A.D.C's mother, named her Father!! Me lady

I believe she so much objects to!!

I got your wire saying you had received mine

with the message for all your Xmas cards. I was so 

glad to know that it was evidently what was wanted &

that New Zealanders were included.

Col. Cole told me he had been so awfully glad to see you 

at St. Thomas', do go there again to see him if you have time

when you are next in town.

Would you send me from a chemist's a small bottle to

Tatcho - or any such thing for my hair, as I have nothing of

the sort here - except some kerosine oil!!! So tell them

to send a half size bottle I think it is called -

You are sending me a Lett's Diary No. 35 for next year,

aren't you? Did you get a letter I sent you to see from my Uncle George

about Sir Ian's despatch?

I enclose two letters you may care to see - one is from

this funny little man - rather a wag - who was our

 telegraphist in Lord K's home all the time I was in

Pretoria, & who, I told you, sent me one of those photos of

myself swimming marked "Photo by M^rs Pankhurst"!

I have been having a horrid & very anxious time lately 

about which I cannot write, about our future plans.  I am

not at all happy about them & they are giving me much anxiety.

I spend a part of every day tearing about in a destroyer to see

my Corps Commanders & it was delightful the welcome I got

when I went back to Anzac 2 days ago, after being away

some time with Lord K & knocking about between here

& other places. We have just had a fearful storm - thank goodness

I landed before it was very bad! Goodbye my own little wife. All

my love to you. Ever your very loving Will - 1.a.m.

M.E.F.

4 Dec 15.

My own darling girl

I am wondering if you have suddenly got a big batch

of my letters as some one here tells me his wife after not

having heard from him for weeks has written to say that 12

letters have appeared together! Goodness knows what happens to

them, as they are impossible to trace. Lately our letters from home

have been far worse than usual - I have nothing from you since

31^st October - 5 weeks ago. If however you eventually do get all

my letters I don't so much mind. The 2 stoves have just

arrived & will I am sure be real useful, little one. Harrods

had packed them very well, but both were in the same box - not 

sent separately as you said. The shortbread has arrived too & 

is very much appreciated at tea which we all have together

in the mess, where all your tinned fruit is also most welcome.

But as I have said do not send more.

We have just been through a really terrible time of it - worse so 

than who were there - tell me they even had in France last year.

It began with a tremendous storm of rain & S.W. wind, which 

suddenly turned round to N.E. and came down in a regular blizzard

of snow & sleet with 12° frost. The cold wouldn't have mattered

so much but for the wind, which simply killed the men.

The Corps on my left at Suvla had by far the worst time of

it as unfortunately there is there a lot of very low lying 

ground through which run several nullahs. These all came

down in spate, 6 and 7 feet deep and in places just

washed men away and drowned them. Then came on the

extreme cold & men just froze. In one Territorial Division the

men for a great part just chucked it, leaving their trenches 

& arms! Weaklings of boys I suppose who couldn't stand it.

You can imagine how bad it was when actually over 150 men

died from exposure and about 6500 had to be evacuated for exposure,

trench feet or frost bite. Some of the dead were quite frozen into the

ground & could not be removed for 2 or 3 days. A good many of

those evacuated will of course recover but they will be fearfully

shaken & probably not much good for a long time to come. Feet are

the worst things - [[once?]] feet swell they cannot get their boots on

again, while it is essential to take boots off at least once in

24 hours or you get frost bitten.

My own old Corps were not nearly so bad, as not only had

they much better country for protection, but 2 or 3 months ago

I kept urging them all to dig caves & trenches in the hill sides 

for themselves, as though timber & corrugated iron had been ordered

for them for shelter, I felt sure they we should get bad weather

before the shelter arrived. Consequently nearly all my men 

were comfortably provided for. Still am sorry to say some of

my Indian Brigade came in for a bad time of it. Two

Gurkha Regts were just relieving some Territorials when 

the blizzard came on & could get no shelter. In one of 

them, the 10th Gurkhas - about 250 men have had to be 

evacuated for trench feet, & they tell me that one unfortunate

havildar will have to have both his feet amputated 

for frost bite - you don't feel it coming on, & when

urged to go & get his boots off, he wouldn't do so

2) saying he was all right, & then when he had to go they

found him in this state - isn't it awful? Our only consolation 

is, that the Turks have had a far worse time of it than

we have :  their trenches are higher up than ours and are

still full of snow. When the nullahs came down in spate, they

washed down lots of dead Turks & animals, while a deserter

who came in says practically all his company has been

wiped out & they had 2 machine guns washed away. We know

that they have practically no warm clothing or blankets, so I

fancy their losses must have been enormous. They are however 

more fortunate than we are in having reserves in villages

behind there they were able to push up at once & relieve

their troops, while we have not got these. What

one would of course love to do, would be to shove on at

once & attack them while knocked out in the cold, but I am

afraid our troops are not up to this after all they have been

through. I don't know when I have been so cold - it

seemed quite impossible to keep warm at all in spite

of your hot water bottle, which came in to lovely use for

the first time! This blizzard has come a good month before 

it is due as the oldest inhabitants tell us we ought not

to expect real bad weather till January, when I fear we may

have more doses of this.

I don't think the Turks got many of our men during the storm

but we got a lot of theirs who had to come out & try to get

away across the open when they were flooded out of their

trenches, their communication trenches were rivers! Rather hard

lines to be caught like that!

I still do not know what is to happen here, as plans are so

constantly altered; we may be on for anything! I wouldn't 

feel a bit anxious but for the time of year. The weather is now

so continuously bad that one cannot rely on it from one day

to another, and one can hardly count on being able to move

troops & stores etc by sea for more than 2 nights a week - which

makes the situation always serious. If you could have seen the

little Gurkhas hobbling about with their feet wrapped up in

something with their feet all swollen & every step agony, you would

realize how we have to fear the weather. You can imagine

I don't relish my daily trips on a destroyer - but it is often

too rough for one to be able to get on to one - The destruction here in

that last storm was awful - about a dozen steam boats all

piled up one on top of the shore, which means a fearful loss

of power to us.

Goodbye my own little wife - I fear this is rather a gloomy 

letter. I enclose letters you may care to see from Genl Smith-

Dorrien & Genl Cox (who I am glad to say is now K.C.M.G.)

& one from my Uncle Roger which is interesting if one realizes

that a few years ago he was an Atheist!

Ever so much love to you always --

Ever your very loving old

Will.

Just had a couple of German aeroplanes dropping bombs over

us! Bad shots though

 

3

DRL

3376

_______ (15)

[*Alterations

in important

plans which

I personally

hate - so I

am really

bothered - &

have practically

no staff to help

me.

All my love then 

Ever your very 

Loving old 

Will

 

3 DRL.3376 (15)

Dardanelles Army

8 Dec 15

 

My own darling girl.

The mails are getting worse than ever, for the last I

have from you is still 31st October! And I have just had a wire to

say that an Austrian submarine has captured the mails we

sent from here on 30th last month - they say that some of the letters were

rescued by two ladies. That is all we know, & I am afraid the

majority must have gone. These were all in charge of the Kings messenger

which we naturally always look upon as quite the safest &

quickest way to send them. I certainly sent one letter by him to you -

and I rather think two, for there had been no chance of writing

for some time - and I think I sent letters to both Nancy & Chris

with photos & stamps.  It is hard to remember what letters went

by that particular mail, but I rather think it would have contained 

a long one I wrote from H.M.S. Lord Nelson. I wish you would try & 

remember when you answer this if you got one dated ∧addressed from there & 

dated about 24^th or 25^th November? I fancy it is quite possible 

that in it I answered - as I have done two or three times now!

about all the things you have written about. M^rs Hilton's money

for Chris - all the parcels you have sent me, & all of which I have

I think received - your investments etc. Isn't it awfully 

annoying this sort of thing happening, for it means one never

knows where one is - what we have either of us received or not,

if letters are liable to be captured one has to be so very

careful in future to write nothing about events here. I 

am afraid too it must be nearly certain that one of

your letters must have gone down in the mail which was