Letters from George Leslie Makin to his family, 1917-1918 - Part 1

France 
2/121/19161917

Dearest Mother
I have not received any 

letters since last writing (your last was dated 31/10/16) 

but I thought that I would write & let 

you know how I spent the festive season. 

On Christmas Day we were some distance 

behind the line, but not too far ^not to get 

a stray shell or two across.

We had done our turn in the trenches 

& we ^were waiting for the rest of the division 

to do theirs.

While waiting we were engaged on
dozens of different fatigue jobs such as 

road making, unloading trucks etc. 

Being a specialist officer I was detailed 

for Courts Martial.

Some offences committed by men in the 

field are very serious & must be dealt 

with at once, so I spent the time taking 

down the evidence in about 7 different 

cases.

Most depressing work especially at 

Christmas. However it is only one of  

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the many unpleasant tasks we are called 

upon to do in these times.

Work and courts martial were postponed 

on Christmas day were front & the men 

had a rest, but owing to the mud & 

cold, could not stir from their huts. 

There was an issue of tinned Plum 

Pudding, which was blamed for 

making nearly everyone ill the next 

day.

Apart from the pudding & day's rest 

we hardly had an indication that 

it was anything but an ordinary 

week day.

But, what of the men in the line. The 

work there cannot stop & the Huns 

must be killed everyday.

I think that the boys who were in the

line that day will remember it as 

the Christmas Day, spent under the 

most trying conditions, as is possible 

to conceive.

In between Christmas & New Year, I 

received notice to attend a 3 weeks 

course of instruction & I am now further 

back & in the first week of it.

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We arrived here on the last day of 

1916 & on New Year's morning were forming 

fours & saluting by numbers.

I am rather unfortunate at being 

here now, as the battn will go into 

rest billets in a couple of days, & I 
miss my rest.
It is a rest in a sense, but we are 

kept going & the physical training 

course is solid.

However I expect I will feel all the 

better for it after three weeks.

One days per week is set aside for 

sport, so that should break the 

monotony somewhat.

The gymnastic instructor here is Sgt 

Dick Smith, the Light Heavy Weight 

Champion boxer of England & he 

has kindly invited anyone to 

come around at night, if they would 

like to be taught something of the 

noble art.

This school is divisional & it is 

compulsory for every officer to go through 

it.

The lectures are most interesting and   

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instructive & the physical training is 

the best, but we get such a lot of 

squad drill etc, that we learnt years 

ago & it gets on one's nerves a bit.  

All the same, if you look at it 

reasonably you will see that it is 

necessary, as work in the trenches 
tends to make one slovenly & a 

few weeks under competent instructors 

smartens one up again.

All things considered I am happy 

enough & look at it the French 
way.  If you ask a Frenchman 
why he has to do certain things 

which he never had to do before, he 

will say "C'est la guerre". Perce 
will tell you what that means.

The parcels have not yet come to 
hand & I am afraid that they are 
no more. 
In addition to yours, Miss Crow also 

sent me one, but no sign of it yet.  

My last hope is that they will be with 

the battn when I go back.

Jim is alright. I am also writing to 

him tonight. Best love to all
from Les.

France
13/1/1917

Dear Harry

Just a line to let you know that 

things are still well with me.

I am still at the school & have just finished 

the second week, leaving another week before

I rejoin.

Actually, I have learned very little, but its 
wonderful how one forgets things & I have 

had lots of things, some important, some of 

no consequence brought back to me this 

last fortnight.

I think the school is meant for a memory 

refresher more than anything else.

It is not however reserved for officers & 

N.C.O's A who have hopes of some day being 

commissioned, get some very useful knowledge 

here.
Since I joined the battn I have been 

with the Lewis Guns & of course a bit rusty 
on ordinary drill, but am now up to 
old form.

At present I do not need much drill, but of 

course I will not always be M.G.O

2
Our quarters are in a French Chateau which 

has not been used since the war began.  

Most of the furniture has been stored in spare 

rooms & although we sleep on the floor 

we are of course much more comfortable 

than we were in the front area.

The building is only a hundred yards 

from the River ___ & in summer would 

be an ideal place for a holiday.

This is not much of a holiday however 

as we work pretty hard & each evening 

there is a lecture & as you know some 

lectures are better than others.
Sunday is the day we look forward to.  

We are absolutely free & always catch 

a train from here to ___ a large 

French town, where for one day at 

least we forget the war.
One hotel there has been made to 

resemble, as far as possible an 
English restaurant & is patronised solely 

by English & Colonial officers.

After a hot bath, we go straight there 

for lunch & you can have almost 
anything you ask for.
The prices are high, but of course

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that is only to be expected. (C'est la Guerre)  

I would like to tell you something 

about our life in the forward area 
during the winter, but I'm afraid 
I should be liable if the Censor happened 
to open my letter.

I don't for a moment think that the 

Germans don't know anything about 

the condition of our communications etc, 

but of course the regulations must be 

observed.

Conditions, naturally are bad, but 

I have good reason to believe & I do 

believe that we are having a 

gorgeous time as compared with Fritz.  

We get prisoners every day, some by 
raids, others give themselves up & 
from information received from them, 
we know all that happens behind 

his lines.
There are lots of peace rumours about 

just now, but I think peace will 

come only when we are across the 

frontier.
The question of the Balkans is only 
a detail.  All that business is only  

4
a side show.
Germany is getting more & more of 

Roumania every day, but if she gets 

the lot & Greece & all the others thrown 

in, it won't make any difference to

her here.
The problem facing the Germans is 
how to hold us back here on the 

Western front & try as she might, 
I don't think she can.

What we have done is nothing to 

what is coming.

We are getting more guns & more men 

each month & when the fine weather 

comes in the spring, then the dirty 

work will begin.
Last winter the Germans sat back 
& without any interference on our 
part, built up his defences, which he 

thought were invincible, but which 
the British artillery soon made hash 
of.
Then again there was the question 
of morale among his troops.
They then had their tails up 
& our fellows had their tails down

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a bit, because they used to get pounded 

with heavy artillery without being able 

to hit back.

Now the boot is on the other foot & 

we have the German infantrymen 

in a state, almost impossible to 

concieve in a nation so wholly 

military.
Their dicipline, which was at the 

beginning of the war, no doubt 
excellent, is broken & without dicipline 
& the spirit of victory, no army can 
hope to succeed.  
Our boys have, firmly fixed in their 
minds, a sense of superiority over

the Hun & I think I am right in 

saying that this is more than half 
the battle.

This year I feel sure we are going to 

give Fritz the most unpleasant time, 

he has yet experienced, but we all 

realize the cost which must be paid, 

even now in the ordinary trench 

warfare, which is not the trench 

warfare of last year or the years 
before. 

6
Our policy now is to give the Germans 

no peace at all.
Night after night raiding parties go 

out, now at one part of the line & 
then at another, till there is not a 

bit of trench that we do not know. 

The object of these raids is firstly, to 

put the fear of God into him, & 

I assure you that is always done.  

Secondly, identification, that means 

we capture prisoners right a long 

the line & of course know every 
German unit opposed to us & their 

movements.
Thirdly, to get the lay of the land 
with regard to future operations & 

lastly destruction.

We destroy dug,outs, machine Gun 
emplacements & everything else that 

can be destroyed.
We also capture letters to soldiers 

from the interior of Germany & so 

get a true account of how things 
are affecting the people there. & 
believe me the letters are in 

every case gloomy & pessimistic.