Letterbook for Harold Edwin Salisbury Armitage, 1916-1918 - Part 5

77
England. Imperial Hotel 
Russel Sq. 
London W.C. 
21.9.16
  
Letter 16.9.16 
omitted - go back 
to 72

Just a line to let you know I'm in England -  
at the above address - arrived here night of 18^th. 
The vastness of London is impressive - but the buildings,  
will, with the exception of the historic ones like the  
Abbey & St Paul's - they're nothing to get excited about. 
I've already visited most of the places of interest here  
and intend going to Liverpool on the morning of 23^rd. 
On the 19^th I spent much cash on clothes - my  
Egyptian stuff was too thin & light for murky, 
misty, foggy London - and as I wanted a complete  
rig out it was a very opportune time for getting one.
On same day had the good fortune to meet Major 
 Giles - (shell shock & slight wound) Fowler & Hancock, 
just convalescent from wounds, Blackburn V.C.
just from Hospital - McCann M.C., - & Capt. Huscombe 
[[?]], Clark, Gordon Cornish, with myself on leave - 
so we had a splendid time. 
You can imagine the pleasures of that impromptu  
meeting - there were 4 groups of us - all arrived 
at the Trocadero within 10 minutes of each other, 
& you can guess such an unexpected reunion was  
a splendid & exciting event. 
Yesterday I visited the Abbey - but was disappointed  
- a service was on so I stayed through it & then

79 
London 21.7.16  
(cont) 

through the usual tour. Most of the tombs were  
sand bagged, most of the important treasures had  
been removed to safer places - as Zep raids are 
very real here. 
I spent the afternoon about Whitehall - Parliament  
House, War Office, [[?]], Horse Guards etc 
This morning I did the "Tower" enjoying myself  
very much. The "Beefeater" who showed me round  
was very thorough, & my history was well brushed  
up. This afternoon I intend to go to St. Paul's, -  
tomorrow visit Wandsworth & Epsom Hospitals as  
several of my boys are there & I must see them. 
I found out Horseferry Road where Scott is. I  
was pleased to hear he was doing fairly well &  
I hope to see him personally. 
   I am afraid I must ditch Scotland this trip, 
time is all too short and there is so much of  
interest to see. As I must be back here by the  
27^th Liverpool & Environs will keep me busy till  
then. 
I will close now for time being, with very 
very much love, & best of all good wishes from 
Rollo. 

81 
England Imperial Hotel 
Russell Sq. 
London W.C. 
26.9.16  

Just a hasty line to let you know I have 
visited the 'Boltons.' 
They are a tip top lot of people, and made 
my stay with them most pleasant - I only wish 
I had been able to put in more days there. 
I will not attempt to give you all the news, 
but will write a full a/c. when I get back to  
the Battⁿ again - but I visited several of the 
clan about Liverpool. 
I spent a very pleasant evening at Mrs Palmer's 
place - N^o 6 Wynesdale St. Aintree. She was Jessie 
Armitage - (Hannah's sister) & her husband Jack 
is 2^nd Steward on the Cunard's Carpathia. 
I saw Will Armitage at Waterloo - (Lizzie and 
met Sue & Kitty - then on to Letty's place. There 
is a baby-girl 18 mths old - & her husband Arthur 
Simpkins - has tried twice to join up - but a weak 
heart has turned him down. 
I have to catch the boat back to "IT" again early 
tomorrow - so cannot write much more. 
Zeps have been busy lately - 6 visited Wigan & 
dropped bombs 18 mils. from Lpool - 15 last night. 
People dread these visits a bit - as far more
damage is done than appears in reports

83 
London
26.9.16 cont 

Well - I will write a full account of my 
trip in this country in time for next mail - 
so I will wind up with very much love, best 
of all good wishes, & hopes that you are all in 
the same excellent health as 
Your loving son 
Rollo. 

Copy of Menu (Xmas Card) 
Birthday Dinner - Major Jacob. 5.7.16.

Autographs on above -
R. B. Jacob (Major), A. J. Herbert (Major) Capts Fowler, [[?]] 
Harwick, [[?Loutil]], Armitage,  [[?]] (Staff), Chaplains -  
G. Walden (Capt), L. W. Jefferies (Major)

85
St. Omer
France
Dear Father & Mother
30.9.16

I am now back with Bn again after a
splendid furlough. Plenty of work to do, but will be
able to write a long letter soon. Enclosed plot is my
successor in No. 9 Platoon my senior sub., a good chap in
all ways. He got a severe shell shock on night of 14 Aug,
but worked his way back to Br. during next few days
I recommended him for his good work, & he gets a
"mention."
Also enclosed - absolutely priceless & sacred - my
colors- worn at Tel el Kebir, Sinai, and both
Moquet Farm stunts 1215 Aug. & 2.4 Sept. besides
Heur Baix in June. They are a trifle bleached and
mudstained - but keep them for me.
I am putting in for a job if successful will
tell you in my next.
can't give any further news at present- se will
close with very much love & best of all good wishes.
Your loving con
Rollo

87 
France 
2.10.16 

Dear Father & Mother 
Although I do not feel capable of making a  
decent fist of it - I am going to attempt giving you a full a/c  
of my trip to England. I am not sure if dates are correct - or  
that the sequence of visits is O.K.  - but the variations will only be about  
4 hours. The 'leave party' from our Bⁿ consisted of Clark, Monte,  
& myself with 4 N.C.Os - none of them were any particular chums  
- so they scarcely crop up in my doings
On the afternoon of the 17^th the C.O. was good enough to save us  
rising at 4 a.m. next day - by allowing us to proceed to Hazebrouck 
overnight - thus saving us much early morning travelling. We left  
at about 9 am. on the 18^th Sept. France was miserably muddy, wet, 
& gloomy and I felt elated to get away from it. At Boulogne
we boarded a transport as soon as possible, & were awfully afraid  
of being suddenly called back to H.Q. before we'd got away.
However we left Boulogne at last & had a rough time crossing  
quite 50% being "upsy". On board I met Gordon Cornish & Cliff Boone,  
returning to Salisbury Camp - I hadn't seen G.C. since Aug 15, nor
Cliff since Nov. 14 - so you can imagine the joy at meeting. Poor  
Cliff lost his brother Reg at Pozieres Windmill - (an old 79^th).
We gladly sighted the chalk cliffs at Folkestone, rather a dirty  
greyish color - & not the poetical silver white we expected - and  
I felt 10 yrs. younger a few minutes later when seated in a  
train & being whizzed up towards London. It was late afternoon  
but the weather was fine, & the everchanging vistas constantly  
flashing by held my breath & gaze all the time.

 89 
Contd. Desc. of Visit to England. 18th Sept
  
The hop fields, the meadows, real Arcadian woods, pretty little  
villages, all ran into one another - but I was able to appreciate  
the beauty of it all instead of it being a kaliedoscope blur.
Just as darkness was falling we got into thickly populated
parts - towns full of streets with closely packed houses, & so on,
and soon a huge building loomed up in front of us. An English 
officer interested in my intense admiration of the trip - told  
me this was the "Crystal Palace". Then we ran through a  
long tunnel right under the Palace - & soon glided into 
Victoria St. Railway Station. We soon detrained, strolled  
along the platform, & out through the barrier into the waiting  
crowd looking out for their dear ones home by that train.
Pathetic were the sights, and I was glad to get away.
We got into the street mesmerised by the dimly lit scene,
& constant whirling streams of people - busses & taxis - but devil  
a taxi could we get. So we did the next best thing and  
asked a policeman - who soon put us on to Bus N^o 77 - 
change at Charin' Cross - & get a N^o 11. The policemen of
London live up to their reputation & are a marvellous & fine lot.
On board 77 we went down Fleet St & passed Horseferry Road, Trafalgar Sq.  
to Charing Cross - & then N^o 11 took us down streets whose names  
I don't remember - but anyhow we saw all the lions of the  
place that first night - Whitehall, The Abbey, Houses of Parl,  
War Office, Admiralty, Horse Guards, India Office &c.
Mighty glad did we feel - & also much like ducks out of
water as we strolled into the dining room of a fine hotel.

91 
English trip contd. Sept 18
  
This was one of London's best hotels - "The Imperial" but we were  
not in brilliant mess uniform. I was wearing my old service dress,  
muddy looking leggings, service boots, & dirty old spurs, but we sat
down to one of the finest meals I have ever had. Fine thick
carpet underfoot, snow-white linen cloth, decent cutlery, with
flowers galore as decoration, & such a 'spread' - well such things  
we hadn't seen for many a long day, whilst a band - all
elderly men - played beautiful music. We stayed on in the
dining room till 9.30 - then went upstairs to bed (think of it)  
and you may guess we slept well. That little spell was worth  
5 years - as I deliberately forgot entirely the existence of the 50^th  
for the time being - so as to have an absolute rest & I got it 
Next morning after a hot bath (!) & breakfast I hurried out  
to interview tailors, base-kit stores,  & so on to get ourselves  
respectably attired - and at lunch time we were far from home.
The useful police put us wise to a good place to lunch - hence  
we arrived at the 'Trocadero'. The place was crowded, and I  
was slowly working in, when I suddenly heard a familiar voice  
sing out "Taka heena Army" - a pure Anzac cry from Egypt.
I looked round & caught sight of Murray Fowler waving a
napkin at me – & there in a mob around his big table -
I saw Hancock, Monte, Blackburn, Giles, McCan, Jose, Inglis 
(all old 10^th) Day, Bailly, 27^th & Hewitt of Artillery - all our  
S. A. chums - & you can imagine how Cornish & I welcomed them
That meal cost us £9.18.0 - but Blackburn doesn't get the
V.C. every day, so it was excusable. We spent the afternoon

93  
London trip contd      Sept 19. 

at the Hippodrome in the Royal Box - "Flying Colours" and
this cost us 5 or 6 gs. I'm afraid we rather took charge of
the show - but - McCann does not get the M.C. every day -
Then we had dinner together - & bang went many more  
sixpences - more theatre - "Happy Day" - and I remember
joining in with the song "The Perfect Day" before parting.
It was a perfect day too I can assure you, the best & first
time I have ever been 'perfect' in all my life - but it was
worth it - for you can't imagine how pleased we ten of
the old 10^th were to be together once more.
Very penitently next morning I went to Service at The
Abbey - & then walked round it. I would have preferred to go  
about on my own - but the commercial spirit pervades
even the Abbey, & we were carted round by a guide, who
spoke of the 'Show' in much the same way as one would
have the murderers at a Waxworks described. I soon lost
that party & fossicked round by myself.
Zep. raids have caused certain precautions to be taken to  
protect the most valuable & sacred relics - which were reposing  
in vaults - whilst many famous tombs were sand-bagged - so  
that the war seemed near even in that famous Church.
It was splendid to have a decent Church Service again, & I
purchased a fine handbook - it will do fine for School Library.
The vastness & scope of the architectural beauty of the Abbey is 
indescribable, one felt awed to see the carving, & as for the 
masonry & the building I cannot describe it adequately so say nix.  

95  
London Sep 19-21 (cont) 

After lunch went a Parl. House - had a look round - but the
actual "meeting room" was closed. Visited the famous Whispering  
Gallery - listened to our gentle angel footsteps (!) (awful noise), &  
also took in Westminster Bridge same trip. Old Big Ben is  
a monster - but looks fine & speaks plainly.
I deliberately walked past the Mounted Guardsmen at the
Horse Guards to get the salute (first time I've pandied to  
get one) but it was worth it - it made one feel a soldier.
That evening I spent at one of the theatres.
Next day - about the 21^st - I went to Buckingham Palace
to watch the Guards change over. The Guards were in field  
dress - but the bandsmen in Review order. It was a grand  
sight - fine band, splendid parade ground - but I guarantee 
my old C Cy. with a band & similar surroundings would make as  
good a showing as the best of the Guards - Anyhow they  
couldn't teach us much.
From there I went to the 'Tower' - extremely interested in
the Beefeaters - all old warriors - Tel El Kebir ribbon 87, Boer War 
81, Boer Wars, Afghanistan, New Zealand ribbons & medals. Most  
of them have about 4 ribbons & appear to be going strong.
One of them took me over the Tower - & brushed up my History  
well. I bought pictures of this place too & a handbook for reference.
The Armory was most interesting ranging from a B.C. helmet  
to the fine suit made for Chas II by his admirers. This of course  
is all obsolete now - except the cuirass (artificial) of some Guards, 
& our trench helmets are copies of the old steel hats - whilst  
some [[faddists?]] wear patent bullet proof waistcoats.