Letters from George Alexander Hugh Murray to his family, 1916 - Part 7

though I write & write again &
I wrote to the address that
you sent me but no good.
This is a great country for
rain for hardly at day passes
now without some rain
falling & today was a crowner
It was the heaviest I have ever
seen.
It is hard to write much for      
every thing has to be censored
& you cannot say what you
would like to.
I have lost my new plate of
teeth so have to do the
best with the few that I
have left & most of them
are not up to much 

It is cold here at nights now
so what must it be like in
the middle of winter especially
as the ground sticks to
you much more than the
chballic soil & it is white 
chalky stuff into the bargain
I am quite well and hope
all at home are the same.
I had a letter from Charles
Georgeson (the address that
you sent me). The Letter was
following me all over the
country before I got it
I have nothing else to say this
time so au Revoir from
Your loving Brother
George 

George A. H.Murray
France
3/9/16
All at home
Since coming out
of the trenches this time I 
have received three letters
and a parcel. One from
Bess, Lena & home, but the
best of all I received one
from Les ^brother the first I have
had from him since
arriving in this country
though I wrote times
without number
I was very lucky during
our stay in the trenches this
time. I got knocked twice
with pieces of shell case
but not too hard to do
any damage
Last night I received two
Warrack papers & a couple 

of others
General Birdwood presented
ribbons to those who were
recommended for bravery in
our first incounter with the
Germans at Pozieres &
I can say that the fourth
Brigade has so far topped
the score for they received
fifty odd decorations
twice as many as any
other Brigades
We are now about twenty
miles from the firing line
but you can hear the
continual roar of the
Guns so you can imagine
what it must be like
when you are having
then  all those shells
thrown at you &
them bursting all around
for when one bursts 

within ten to fifteen
yards of you it is not a
very nice sensation for
if you do not get hit
with a piece of iron, you
you get covered in
dirt & that falling from
a height is not too
pleasant for I have
experienced it many
times
I cannot think of any thing
more this time so I will
close from your loving
son & Brother
George  

 George A H Murray
France
7-9-1916
All at home,
I have not had a letter
from home for a while now
though one cannot expect too
much when one is continually
shifting from one place to another
for then one never sets settled
in any of the billets & some
of the billets are not much
better than Pigsties for they are
neither clean nor keep the
rain out of which we are
getting plenty at present &
when it comes down it makes
no pretence but comes down in
a regular torrent.
Today was the first war news
I had seen for a long time
though I am practically in
one of the hottest spots on 

the Western front but when
one is in ^the line he never knows
what is going on his right or
left & never has the inclination 
to find out, for all
the th time he is looking
after him self & that takes
a bit of doing especially
when there is a bombardment
or the enemy putting over a
barrage.
Today was the first we
heard about the Big Zepps
raid on England & of them
bringing one down I bet
there was some great rejoicing
for it was the
first that ever fell on
English soil.
It will be well over two years
since I joined by the time
you receive this letter
& in that time I have 

seen many different places
but this foot slogging
in France topp tops the
score for one has to walk
from & to the battle front
& when we go out inc we go
it might be  25 to 30 miles
back & then have to march
that distance back again
but now that we are going
to a new front where
the Huns use the gas very
freely & other Colonial
regiments suffered very
heavily in the beginning of
the war, this all might be
changed but I think
I would rather have the
lead than the gas
It is getting very wintery
weather now & some

places snow has fallen
so what must it be 

4
like in winter. No wonder
the poor Tommies were
dying from frost bite but
we I suppose we will
survive it some how for
it is said that we are
one of the hardiest races that
are about here.
Well, I cannot think of
anything more at present
& I will ring off
From your loving
Son & Brother
George 

George A. H Murray. 
11/9/16
Belgium 
Ypres
11/9/16
All at home
It is now well over four
weeks since I received a letter but I
receive papers more regularly but
they are not so much compared
with letters
Well you can see my the heading
that our Battalion has been
shifted to another front & it
was about time we were, or
there would have been none
of us left for we have been
loosing very heavily especially
the first time we went into
Pozieres (in the Somme district)
when we lost 143 (all ranks)
the first 24 hours our company 
was in. So that is a fair
average out of 225 but on
our second visit to that