Part TWO Arthur's first letters while on Active Service

E.F.C.

Officers Rest House

And Mess

March 16th 1918

My dear Mother,

I’ve got here safely as you see and have come to the port (26) I told I should and not to the place I went to before. This camp where we have spent the night is on a hill just outside the town and we may or may not stay here tonight. We are spending the day with an Anti-Gas School but having been through a school so recently are excused much of the courses. Our party of 25 joined another of 22 when we landed and then the whole party was split into two for sleeping and all joined together at the Gas School. We slept three in a tent and were very comfortable. My bag is delightful to sleep in. I have already 3 blankets and I was served out with 5 more! Which I used as a mattress between me and the wooden floor. The sun shone all the way and we landed about 4 in the afternoon. I was not sick but felt a bit swimmy(27).

When we landed we all had to wait an interminable time at the Base Headquarters for instructions. I was awfully done up – we all were – when we got here at 8.30 but we came up in Red X lorries and had a good hot meal and turned in at once.

The first person I met this morning was “Chips” Clark, Leonard’s old friend. I told him who I was and he was awfully pleased to see me. He knew me from a photograph. He only arrived in France yesterday from 2 years in Salonika. I have no address yet for you to write to but will let you have one as soon as possible. I had to break the ice on my washing water this morning but the sky is so blue and the sun is so hot now that you can’t stand with the sun on your back.

We are waited on by W.A.A.C.s here and the food is good. Must stop to catch today’s mail.

Best love to you all from Arthur.

(26) Boulogne. Note that in the previous letter sent from London he was able to mention Boulogne and other places by name, but now that he is in France his letters have to pass the censor and he can’t mention very much.

(27)Arthur (and all his children and most of his grand children) get distinctly travel sick, so he was lucky if he only felt a little queasy. He told me that one of the other times he crossed the channel is was a bad trip, but it is not quite possible to work out from the letters which one it was. He said that there was a storm blowing, and a winter one at that with the ship covered in snow and ice, that it was a horse transport he was sent across with so it was a ship with an open cargo deck full of kicking horses and mules, oh and it was also the longer crossing from Newhaven to Dieppe!

1/3rd West Lancs Field Ambulance(28)

B.E.F. France

17 – 3 – 18

My dear Mother,

Started from my camp at 6 a.m. and got here at 8 p.m. after some journey. A Red X van, then a train with all the windows broken for 7 hours never going more than 8 miles per hour, then a cattle truck, then another one, then 1½ hours by the roadside waiting for a motor lorry and finally a long ride in a lorry. We had no breakfast but made a dinner on the train of pressed beef and ginger cake in sandwiches!! dates and chocolate. We had nothing whatever to drink for 26 hours but a cup of tea and a good dinner here put me O.K. In this village I came across Bert Gordon who married Gladys Simpson. He was very surprised to see me. I am billeted for tonight at least in a farmhouse sharing a bedroom with another subaltern and have got a real bed and sheets.

How long I shall be here I don’t know but you can safely write to this address if you write soon. Of course I have had no letters since I left Bristol so I shan’t be sorry to hear from you. I have no time for any more but am quite alright except that I am among absolute strangers who all seem very nice, so I shall soon settle down.

Best love to you all from Arthur.

(28) Part of the 55th West Lancashire Division, was at this period of the war was based around Bethune and La Bassée

The Same Address

March 19 1918

My dear mother,

I seem to have continued my previous fortune and have so far struck oil here. I shall probably be attached to this unit for about a month and am being taught things good for me to know. I shall stick to this 55th Division even longer. Our mess is in a little cottage in the village street and our billets are scattered in and out of the village. My room is a little wee place leading out of the farmhouse kitchen and my window looks on to the farmyard. The room is more than half filled by the big wooden bed. To hear me conversing with mine host, hostess, and children would amuse you greatly. Your good French is nothing to mine. My chief trouble is that the people say such a lot and say it so quickly that they leave me cold. They understand me alright as I can generally put my sentence into some form which I can trot out à la francaise. I have got an awfully good batman who does everything for me. The only thing he doesn’t do is to squeeze the tooth paste onto the brush. He comes – like most of the fellows – from Lancashire. There are some half dozen in the Mess and I am the only lieutenant. The Colonel(29) has just come from England this afternoon. He has been on leave and to receive the D.S.O. from the King last Saturday. Two of the other officers have the Military Cross.

This village is in a district which has been made very famous during the war although the village itself is well behind the lines and the whole district is quiet now. It reminds me very much of Axmouth (30). There are swarms of children about everywhere and the women all work and make it difficult to realise there is a war although the noise of the big guns reaches us at intervals throughout the day. Yesterday was a perfect day and I wrote to Margery that I was already getting sunburnt. Today it has never stopped raining all day and there is now some mud.

My knowledge of the general Geography of France is not good enough to give you any idea of where I am and the places I am close to are difficult ones to indicate. However it doesn’t make much difference where I am does it as long as I am here?

I shall expect to get letters from home in a few days. It seems strange that it is only a week ago that I was at home and Margery and I went out shopping. I hope that you and Father are alright again by this time and that Audrey has not got laid up. So far I have had very little to do. I shall always be glad to hear any news from England. The food here is tres bon and there is astonishingly little formality. All the other officers have been together since 1914 and are very free and easy. The senior medical officer (31) of the Division to whom I first reported used to live in Old Market St as assistant to Dr. Page many years ago. We get English papers the day after issue so are fairly well up and we read everything including advertisements. I seem to have written a great deal and have told you everything which may be of any interest. You needn’t worry about me.

Best love to you all from Arthur.

(29) Colonel Coffey

(30) Near Axminster, Devon. The Morris family took some holidays here.

(31) I think this was a Colonel Martin