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 23rd Feb - one just reced is 31st.
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.
Mrs 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 Mrs 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 Mrs 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
31st 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 24th or 25th 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. Mrs 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
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