Letters from Fred Leslie Biddle to his Mother, 1916-1917, Part 19 of 24

London
25.3.17 
Dear Mother,
No doubt you will  
have received my cable telling you  
that Hollis & I were together in London. 
My 10 days is practically now up & I am returning  
to France in a few days. 
We have had a jolly good time here  
together I think I have shown Hollis  
around quite as much as he has  
shown me. 
London seems a bit quieter now  
than in August last, when it seemed  
to me people hadn’t realised there was  
a war on. 
Perhaps food prices & particularly  
the shortage of potatoes have brought  
the war a bit closer, also the meatless  
day per week has helped.  
I went out last Sunday to see  
Lottie and Jack Bethell but have not  
been out of London to see other 

(2)
relatives.  
I have ridden most mornings in  
Rotten Row & managed to hire a pretty  
decent horse when I wanted one.  
Its a long time xxx since I have  
had a decent ride. Practically we don’t  
use our horses in France, except for  
trekking in & out of the line at the  
walk. 
So I’ve made up for it by some  
decent gallops in the Park.  
As you know things have been  
moving a bit in France altho the  
papers have had ridiculous stories of  
great victories as usual. 
What has happened is that the  
Huns have straightened their line  
by falling back from a salient to  
a strongly prepared line in rear.  
By these manoeuvres the Huns save  
8 divisions. That is to say by shortening  
his line he requires 8 divisions less in  
that portion of the front. 

(3)
Of course it is necessary for him  
on account of the tremendous losses  
of the Somme & the rotten time he  
has had all the Winter from our 
guns, which have practically never  
ceased. 
I have moved forward over his  
old  positions so know just what  
a rough time he is having has had. 
However his retirement has been  
a well conducted business all through. 
We pushed him out of our sector 
rather quicker than he wanted to go  
at first, but generally speaking it  
has just been a case of following up.  
The real victory lies in the fact  
that the Allied staff have refused  
to play to the German piping by sending  
in large bodies of troops in pursuit  
so that the Huns could suddenly 
stand on prepared positions &  
inflict heavy losses before we could get  
the guns forward. 

(4)
Hindenburg has made an attempt 
to anticipate our offensive, just  
as the Huns did last year by attacking at  
Verdun. 
They were jumpy about the Allied  
Offensive last year, & we know only 
too well by the constant desertions & 
statements of Hun prisoners how  
anxious they are about the next. 
What they hoped to do this  
time was to lure large bodies of  
troops after them with the inevitable  
huge bodies of men for road &  
rail construction & all the work  
which required many men & so  
much material, in the hope of weakening  
our offensive ou elsewhere.  
Their plan has failed. Today  
the papers announce the end of the  
retirement. I knew the date nearly a  
month ago. In fact practically the  
whole plan was known from  
captured documents immediately 

(5)
after the retirement began.  
So that there has been no great  
battles but just affairs of outposts 
It has been most interesting &  
a bit more like a real war. Also  
there was up to the time I left, a great  
deal less ironmongery flying about.  
I had the bad luck to lose two  
of my officers killed by the one  
shell, shortly after we moved forward.  
One was Raymond my newly  
appointed captain & the other Miller 
one of the subalterns who was bringing  
him down from the wagon line to  
see me.  
This shell was a stray & the only 
one which fell in the vicinity all  
day, so you see the luck of the  
game. 
Well since starting this letter  
my left big toe has started to fester  
as a result of a chafe when my toes 
were swollen with the cold & I have 

(6)
been ordered to rest it & have it fomented   
for 3 or 4 days in order to get it right  
before going back.  
I am now in the house in which  
Jenny Lind lived for many years.  
(No 1 Moreton Gardens South Kensington) 
There is nothing in the thing but  
the Med. Officer at H.Q said it might  
turn septic if I went back into the  
mud with it before it cleaned up.  
I don’t expect to be here more than  
a week at the outside as the whole  
thing is only trifling 
Well there isn’t much real news.  
Leave consists of buying kit & running 
round all the theatres & dining in various  
restaurants so will close with fondest  
love to all especially your own dear  
self from 
Your affectionate son 
Fred

[*Still getting snowstorms What a climate! Fred*] 
France
11.4.17
  
Dear Mother,
This is just a scrawl to let
you know I am still going strong.
We are frightfully busy. You will have 
seen by the papers that things are humming
a bit on this front lately & its a fearful
job to find time for meal & sleep.
We had some bad luck 2 days ago & lost
some very good men, but we are still full of
go. Don't be alarmed because you see the
battery mentioned in the casualty lists. We
have had a good long run of getting off lightly, &
I don't anticipate a great deal of trouble.
Glorious news yesterday. At Arras & Vimy they got
10000 prisoners & 100 guns in 24 hours.
Best love to Father, Isabel, & your own dear self &
best wishes to all friends, Your affcte son Fred

  
OAS 
  
Mrs J. Biddle
92 Vale St 
East Melbourne
Victoria 
Australia 
  
FL.Biddle