Correspondence between Field Marshal Lord William Birdwood and Lady Janetta Birdwood, 1916 and 1918 - Part 2

[* I think you may care to see is a very nice letter from Genl. Brulard. *]

Dardanelles Army

6 January 1916.

 

My own darling girl.

Still no letters of any sort to be got here - it is most

annoying as I am longing to hear from you & am hoping that you 

will be sending some photos of all of you which are sure to be taken at 

Christmas. I am so wondering how much my Judith has grown. I do 

so hate losing touch with her all these months, at a time when she is 

probably just about at her best & so awfully jolly with none of the restraint 

which comes to children a few years later, when they begin to learn company

manners. I'd like to see too how much Chris has grown as he must 

be getting on now. I certainly never grew any more after about 16 1/2, 

but I hope he may still do so. I wonder if he will be going up for

Sandhurst in July or December - he will have to do one or the other 

I think. What is so annoying about not getting your letters, is 

that I have no idea if you have got mine, or if and if you have, if 

you have answered the many things I have written about - for I 

have acknowledged everything you have ever had sent out to me &

have answered all the things you have written about. I am glad 

to say Harrods have ceased sending any tinned fruit for the last 

month or six weeks - at least none have arrived. I am seriously 

alarmed though about letters, as young M^cGregor (Lady Ian's nephew )

tells me he numbers all his to his parents & that they have 

lately missed six consecutive ones, which is very bad - these 

have all been written since he has been with me, and would 

have been sent probably in the same bag as mine, so I am 

very much afraid that at least six of mine must also 

have gone astray - when you write do remember to tell

me if you think you have got all I have sent you  - & 

if you have them by you look them up & see if you have 

answered what I have written about! e.g. has that £50 

odd (which I suppose I first wrote about to you, more than 

3 or 4 months ago now) ever been credited to our account in 

the Bank by the India Office?

It is rather annoying that my 1916 Diary has never turned up. I expect 

it must have been sent off all right, & has probably gone astray in the 

many mails I have missed (I have still had nothing from you 

since 30th Nov), & I may I hope still get it if ever these missing 

mails turn up - possibly I'll get a whole bundle of them when 

I get down to Egypt as I will probably be doing before very long 

now. If only the fine weather will hold up I hope to be able 

to get through with my withdrawal from Helles in about four days 

time, but one can't count on very much in the way of 

fine days or nights now. I was awfully annoyed a few days 

ago when the old French flagship here proceeded to ram

and sink one of my horse ships which was just going over 

for a shipload of water, & which meant losing the chance 

of getting 500 off that night. Then in a sudden blow 

2 nights ago a lighter with 50 mules & 15 men in it 

upset & all were drowned, while the same fate 

overtook a picquet boat with R.N. Crew who went

out to try & rescue the lighter - so you can see with 

what troubles we are faced. For the next few 

days I shall again have a very anxious time of it

2) the same as I did when we withdrew from Anzac & 

Suvla, & I shall be so thankful when it is all over. I have 

a good man at Helles in Genl. Davies, but I think he rather

begins to get jumpy, and the bad weather & shelling is 

liable to try ones nerves, & he keeps wanting to have changes 

which I will not have. I have taken away all my French 

Infantry & sent them to Mudros & Mitylene, but still have the 

French Artillery who are good. I am afraid I shall have to 

abandon & blow up some of their guns at the last, as some of

them are now nearly worn out and are too big to be able

to move quickly. By the bye I have just had another & I believe

much coveted French decoration given me, Genl Brulard

having just wired saying General Joffre has conferred on me

"La Croix de Guerre avec palme" - this latter is I

understand a tremendous honour, & very few have been given.

Whereas the Legion d'Honneur is the general decoration given

for all sorts of things; the Croix de Guerre is purely for

service in the Field, & would to some extent correspond to our

D.S.O. but is also given in place of our V.C - and "avec

palme" - is the highest class of this order. It is just a small

bronze cross. I am rather pleased at having got on so

well with the French, as though Sir Ian would naturally always

work with them through Braithwaite , whom they apparently much

disliked as he doesn't seem to have very tactful with them.

They say - so my Staff tell me - I have taken them on in quite a different

way which has pleased them. I have had to break off here

for a German aeroplane was reported coming over us - he came

 

quite low down in spite of all our guns firing at him & I could

see his plk black crosses quite distinctly. He came right over my

little wooden hut & dropped bombs either side of it - rather

curious to hear them come hurtling down & wondering how 

close they would land! One bomb just in front of the tent

got I am sorry to say, 2 of our servants, but I am glad it

was not Steward. Bad luck on the poor fellows - just before

they would be leaving here too. The German then went on & dropped

bombs on our transport in the next valley, but I hope didn't do

much harm. What wouldn't I have given to have seen him

brought down by one of our guns, & I hope Col. Sykes will have
at once sent up one of our machines to have a retaliatory attack 
on the German aerodrome. Just heard he got about 30 men & at _^ ¹³⁰ mules in the

transport lines which is a great nuisance.

Four more fine days here & I'll be quite happy, but as each

day passes I'll be getting more anxious, though I am confident

of being able to bring my troops off all right if we have the same

weather again. Admiral Wemyss who was here with me before

has now gone home, but my old friend dear old Admiral de Robeck

has now joined me & we will be working together. General

Munro went off to Egypt en route for home a week ago.

By the bye I got a Christmas letter from Isabel Vaughan-Hughes

in which she mentioned you hadn't yet sent her those seeds!!

But that it didn't matter as they couldn't have planted till

the spring - so if they haven't been lost by now!! You

might them to her - Chepstow will always find her.

She wrote so nicely & is such a nice woman. I do so

wish you knew her.

When that Capt Lloyd came to see you in Chester Square did his

wife come too? She struck me as a very nice woman when I saw

 

3)  her in Egypt, & he is such a nice fellow, and most desperately

keen on serving on my Staff, & I hope I may get him when I go to

Egypt as I know he would be useful. I think it was most awfully

good of him to have gone to see you in London, as he was only there for

quite a few days & was I know probably rushed with interviews with

apparently all the Cabinet Ministers - the King - & other such like

people - he is I fancy a very keen politician & especially on this

near Eastern question as he has gone in for making a study of

Turkey & its people.

Do you see that the "Persia" has been torpedoed - the ship we were

travelling in from Bombay last year - or rather it is no  longer "last
year" now, for do you remember I said good bye to you little one at

Suez on 21st December. What a long time ago it does seem now

doesn't it? We haven't heard about the Persia's casualties, but I

fear they are bound to be heavy, while it must I fancy be nearly 

certain that one of your mails to me will have been on board - 

written I suppose about Xmas. Apparently she was sunk just 

before getting to Egypt & must have picked up mails at Marseilles.

As Steward was saying, he supposes he would have been with

her still, had he stayed in the P&O, but that he would

probably in any case have joined the Army before now.

Mrs Whelan has just sent me a most lovely plum pudding

which she tells me she made with her own fair hands & it

is certainly very nice of her to have thought of such a thing - it

was all soldered up most carefully in a beautiful tin, but

unfortunately some wretched creature had gone & punctured a

hole in the bottom of the tin, so that the whole thing had gone

bad & had to be thrown away. I don't think I need tell

 

her this & must write saying it was excellent. Poor

Whelan is longing to be with me here, but as I tell him he

is far more useful where he is, & he wouldn't be of much use here.

9th. I have done it & got through it all again! We can none of 

us ever be sufficiently thankful or grateful to Providence for

again having seen us through it in the way he did. At

times it was a almost touch & go, the wind blowing at

35 miles an hour, & I was on pins & needles that it might

be impossible to get more troops off after about 3 a.m. However

the Navy played up like anything & saw us through. That

the Turks shouldn't have got into us & shelled us like the

devil is simply marvellous. After our first evacuation several

officers said to me "We have had one miracle - we can't

possibly have another" - and we have. As I will again have

to write a detailed report of it, I will enclose this which

will tell you everything & you may care to keep it with

the others, so I will not go into details now. I didn't

get back till 6.30 a.m so am feeling xxxxxxx_∧^{a real} [[worker?]]

especially as we were knocking about a good deal at

one time with waves coming over the decks - and you

can imagine my feelings when we were careering after 

a German submarine, who was said to have fired a

torpedo at one of our transports.

Goodbye my own little lamb & all my love to

you always. Ever your very loving old

Will.
 

[* 3 DRL.3376 (15)*]