Correspondence between Field Marshal Lord William Birdwood and Lady Janetta Birdwood, 1916 and 1918 - Part 1

Dardanelles Army
1 Jan 16. 

My own darling Janey Jane.
Here we are at the beginning of another year. Where it will
lead us?  To peace after victory? I am a little doubtful of our
getting through it so soon - that we are going to win I haven’t the very
least doubt, but I'm not at all sure if we will do so in the year. You
will remember I always said Oct. 16, as the end, but I’m doubtful
if we shan’t have to go on for yet another year. However we may do
it all right earlier. I am thinking of you all so much now
& wondering what you are all doing - for again our mails have all
disappeared. I have nothing from you since 30th Nov, & those
missing mails have never arrived. I wonder if they will ever do
so.  I am again having a very anxious & physically trying time
of it with all this sea journeyings.  I now have to carry out the
evacuation of the Army Corps at Helles, & shall be really relieved
once that is safely through.  I can hardly hope for the complete
success I had with Anzac & Suvla, as the Turks are very much
on the look out & will try to get at us all they can - but
provided the weather is again kind to us & I have every
faith in Providence - I am confident of doing it all right.
Genl. Monro has now gone off to Egypt, so I am left alone here
to see this through, & when it is over I fancy I will go down to
Egypt myself & reorganise my Army again, to meet the big
German-Turkish threatened invasion of Egypt.  The

Germans now have their aeroplanes flying over our trenches

at Helles every day & night, while they keep shelling the
beaches regularly throughout the 24 hours, so one has to run
the gauntlet in landing &getting away every day, while
the xx embarking of all of kit, guns &animals is made a
most difficult business.  Only 2 nights a go a note in
German was thrown into one of our trenches. "Your bully beef
is not bad, but ours is better (referring evidently to some we had
left & they had got from Anzac). When are you all leaving?  We
shall meet again on the Suez Canal"!! and I daresay we will.
My last few days have been rather strenuous.  Two of them I
have had to go down to Mudros & back - 60 miles each way - in a
destroyer, & the other 2 I've been over to Helles. The first day to
Mudros was nearly a bad one.  I had wanted the destroyer to be
ready to take me off at 7 as had to be there early.  They never
got my signal,  so I got on board & found them all practically
asleep -  a thing the Navy hate!  Then to make up for lost time
once they got steam up & we were off, we had to go 26 knots
against a head wind.  On deck I was all right though
rather wet, but foolishly allowed myself to be tempted down
into the ward room for breakfast! That was too much for
me, as the whole place was simply jumping over itself!
You could hardly stagger across it by holding on to
everything & nothing would remain on the table!  So
I soon came on deck again &lay down in the
chart room, when I was all right.  Then coming
 

2) back from Mudros last night we had a horrid
time of it. We have to go without lights for fear of submarines,
so it's never too easy to find one's way in here through the
anti-torpedo nets.  As we were getting near, the wretched
French battleship "Souffran" who had been out shelling
some Turkish guns all day, came along & rammed & sank
one of our horse ships, which made me extremely angry as
she was just going over to Helles to evacuate horses we wanted to
get away badly. Then she used her searchlights to pick up
the crew etc, but these completely put our Captain out of his
bearings, as we thought they came from a ship in harbour, &
nearly went on the rocks accordingly! After wandering about
for a bit, we finally had to anchor till we could find out
where we were, & then started again on our wanderings to
get in - rolling of course like the devil, all this time. However
I'm thankful to say we eventually got in all right at 9.30
instead of 7 as we expected.  Today again it has not been too

pleasant - the worst part being the getting on board.  There
were real big seas getting in & I had to go off in a very
light motor boat which was just chucked about all
over the place & real active gymnastics were required
to get out of her onto the destroyer - however having managed
that, I climbed up on the bridge & was all right,
though we had the same difficulties in getting on
& off at Helles & again on returning here - & even now
 

as I sit writing, I feel as if the whole table was
rising & falling about me.
I had quite an interesting day of it with the French whose
troops I am relieving today, so as not to have any muddle
with the two lots of troops on finally leaving, though I
am keeping their Artillery, or some of it to the last, but

under our Officers  orders.  I am glad to say I have been able
to arrange all this most amicably with the little French
General Brulard, who has become a great friend of mine &
I quite enjoy an occasional dejeuner with him, though it
means eating &drinking much too much.  Today I went
over to present a Military Cross & some D.P. Medals to some
French men, & was quite pleased with the small speech I made
"Mon Comrad, je suis très heureux de remettre de la

part de mon Roi cette medaille - et je vous fait mes
felicitations, et c'est un grand honeur pour moi de
serai le main d'un brave soldat Francais come vous."
I was told this was quite all right & was complimented
on my accent!!  Not by the French who would have done
so out of politeness, but by the Interpreter!  It is about the
only time I have broken out in French as in conversation.  
I refuse to give myself away at all.
Then after dejeuner, little Brulard made me a nice
speech saying he had just received a telegram from the
 

3) President of the Republic saying he had approved of
my appointment as a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour.
Rather nice, I think.  Fortunately perhaps the decoration had
not arrived, so I was not kissed as I suppose would
otherwise have been the case!  With the French this is looked
upon as a tremendous thing & very high honour, & I fancy would be
of use if we were in France at any time - & if I could talk the

language!  It corresponds to our K.P.B.  Rather a nice silver

star, with a beautiful head of "The Republic" in the centre -
and a Cross xxx which one wears round the neck with a
red ribbon.  I shall have so many of these things soon I'll
not know what to do with them, eh?
I tell _^you what I wish you would do.  At lunch Brulard
broke his little amber cigarette holder. Will you buy me
a nice one & send it out for me to give him.  I'm sure he
would appreciate it very much.  Q  Quite a plain one of
amber - On the box  case I'd like stamped "From W.R.B.
to J.B" - or if it can be got on "A mon ami le 
General Brulard. WR Birdwood."
The Turks began shelling a bit just as we were leaving and
one big shell happened by the worst of luck to plump
right on to our unfortunate native transport driver who was
squatting close by & literally blew him into pieces.  It
looked at first as if it had just landed into a
heap of old kit, & it wasn't till the bits came down, we
 

saw it was an unfortunate man, while a poor Tommy had his
head taken clean off.
Do send this letter, or such as you like of it to your old Father
as I have no time to write & this will give him all my news
which I know he likes hearing - also do find out if he ever got
the letter I wrote him telling him I would had spoken to Fitzgerald
& Storr about Percy, & that they had promised to try & get him some
further employment - my letter may have been in the captured mail
but I don't think it was. Has Percy yet got anything? I do hope
he has. Janey, old M^rs Markes wrote me the other day to say their second
son was out here as a Pte in the Devon Yeomanry - jolly good of him
I think to have come as such.  I'd have looked him up, but that
I only got her letter a few days after they had gone to Egypt where
I may of may not see him.
I have been so very sorry just to see the death of young Seton Rund
in Townshend's fight near Baghdad.  I fear Aleck & Daisy will be most
frightfully cut up about it, as he was the one member of the generation
coming on of the family to whom they looked, & of whom they
thought so much- he was like a son to them &I know they will feel
this terribly - do write to them about it.
Goodbye my little one. I am thinking of you all so much
today & every day. I do hope you will have been spending a
happy New Year's day - sleeping well at nights - & I trust
that the coming year may bring you & all of us much
happiness - and peace after victory.
All my love to you.  Ever your very loving old,
Will.
[*3 DRL 3376 (15)*]