1 Church Army Recreation Hut
ON ACTIVE SERVICE
WITH. THE. BRITISH. EXPEDITIONARY. FORCE My very dearest Mother, A 1000 thanks for
your daily report of Uncle
Frank, I hope it is not
giving you too much trouble but
you have no idea what a relief
it is to hear from you I am sorry
to hear there is no decided change for
the better but still it looks well if
he has had no return for so long Oh
I do hope he will get better it must
nearly kill poor Granny as I do not
think she has ever been the same since
poor Uncle Bernard’s death R.I.P.
I have been wondering ever since your
letter, where did Uncle Frank Haemorrhage it
sounds so extrordanary with his complaint 2 as I never heard of his
lungs or Stomack being
delicate. & how is poor Aunt
Maysie I wrote to her the other day but
it is so hard to express one feelings
on paper. Oh ever so many thanks for the cake it
was just delicious infact every one
said it was the best cake they have
eaten since they came to france I do
not mind how many you send out !!
especially if you want work for the
cook, I hope every thing is a satisfac
tory with her as the cake & all ought to be well— A most extraordinary thing has happened
to me, the other day a new M.O. turned 3 up from 32 General & he had
been here a week or so I just
met him a few times he
seems quite nice & an Austra
lian, the other day he went back to 32
to see a friend of his & his greatest
pal there is a Mr. Mac Donnell who asked
him if he knew any of the girls at
25 General so he said No only just a
few, then he said do you by any
chance know a Miss Martin, so he
said yes she just happens to be one I
know as she was working in my ward
because he said Ihave just received
a letter from an Aunt of mine telling
me she is at 25 & that he is my 2nd
cousin, he has never seen me & I have 4 never seen him & he is Australian.
The whole thing sounds so funny I never
knew I had any Mac Donnell cousins
however he is coming out to see
me some day when I suppose I shall
learn more about him — can you give
me any light on the subject?­­ Captain
Pinnock says he is a real good sort & one
of the boys, most probably he will come
out on Sunday for Tea — I wonder who
wrote to him to come & look me up.
I was wondering was it Minnie Fitzgerald
I wonder if you would mind sending me
out those very strong pair of Brown
boots & there are some brown stockings
in my white cupboard behind the
the door, it is so frightfully wet here
at times I think they would be 5 good things to have out
here. I hope by this you will
have had good news of
Tommy — it is really terrible
to think of all the things that have
happened in this year and cause so
much extra worry & sorrow but it is
Gods Holy Will — so we must face it bravely.
We have a new Chaplain here a much
younger man & in a way better for
a large place like this it is really sad
to hear the way religion is looked up
any one is good enough & some just
remember their Mothers teaching them
to make the Sign of the cross & then when
they left home they when to any church
& now they do not know what they
are. No indeed I shall not forget to
pray for Ireland, it nearly breaks my 6 heart sometimes to hear the
way the men speak of the Irish &
how they will have to fill up the Irish
Div: with English men. This morning
I have spent reading the weekly Irish
times of the 14 Oct: I do not know that
I quite approve of Redmond’s speach
about conscription it would be a pity
if we had to have it but at the
same time if the men do not come
forward it is the only thing to be
done. Ireally do think that threatening
Ireland with it has stopped recruiting
to a certain extent don’t you— Must close now it is time for duty.
Fondest love to every one a big kiss
to Andrew & Desmond & heaps of love
to you dearest of Mothers. 7 20 OCT 1916 Mrs Martin Greenbank Monstown Co. Dublin Ireland