1 Replied 26 Octr 1916 In the Field 19.11.16 My Dear Father/ I have to acknowledge
your very interesting letter of 11th inst
also to convey my thanks for the
bread and two pots of lemon cheese
which did turn up quite all right.
A little more stale than you would
touch at home, but one afternoon
tea just absolutely finished the
whole bag of tricks almost including
the paper wrappings. Yes. I would love that
salvage amusement. I fear for a
year or two after this thing finishes
I shall miss the movement and
excitement of it terribly No sign of Horace yet. There
would appear to be some considerable
delay in the arrival of his relief where
he is now. We are all at a loss to
understand what has caused this
delay as almost a month ago we got
official information to the effect that
he would be with us quite soon. Today, like other days, I of
course expect Horace to arrive & I go
back to command my Coy. but instead 2 I find myself in command of the
Battalion. About 4oc.p.m. the C.O. got a
wire telling him to take over command
of a Brigade. He didn't know where it was,
who they are, or anything but he left
here to take them over at 5.35p.m. Mother would think it a frightful
rush. Some career in this war
he has already had. Captain to
Temporary Brigadier General in two
years & a month. He told me before
he left that he would send for me
just as soon as he finds a good job
for me - preferably a staff job. Our Adjutant has also had a career
in this war - Thro' Mons as a Corporal
in the Grenadier Guards, also Aisne on
the Marne wounded, got his Commission
posted 2nd Lieut East Lancs. attached to
us as 21st & Adjutant promoted Lieut
then Captain & Adjutant & now he will
probably follow the C.O. as brigade
Major. Before this thing finishes
there will be some extraordinary
records of service. For instance, my
own in its way is odd enough I have been wearing a major's crown
for about a week now, because I 3 have been performing the duties of 2nd
in Command of a Batt for upwards of 30
days. I will also continue to draw pay as
such until some one senior to me joins
when I revert to my rank as Captain.
Again, if by any chance, I am left in
command of the Batt. for 30 days I will
be given permission to put up a
star in addition & become for all
practical purposes a Lieut. Colonel.
Extraordinary when one thinks of it? The responsibility is, of course, heavy
but I am glad to say it does not now
& never has worried me in the very
slightest. Settling a £50 loss has often
caused me a lot more worry & I didn't
do it as well. Some little time ago I was
officially approached to see if I would
take a permanent commission, but
I said most definitely & finally - NO I
would hate it in peace time anyway
apart altogether from all the other
impossibilities. If by any chance I
happened to get knocked out whilst I
wear the crown as Major Montgomery
(as I just now find myself) Emmie would
draw a Major's pension. It is a
great war & as my old namesake
foreman used to say 'You never know 4 the minute'. Please don't address my
letters as 'Major'. It is quite correct
to do so& all that & I sign my name
as such but I don't care about it
until such time as it may in the
future appear in the Gazette. The much more gratifying part
of the business to both you & me is
undoubtedly the fact that a very
pukka regular Brigadier is satisfied
to leave me responsible for a Battalion
front in the line. It all goes down
on an official document known as
my record of service & I don't lose by
it in the end, even if I do revert to
Captain again for a bit. From what
Brigadier General F.P. Crozier said to me
just before he left, it won't be for long
if he can help it. I have some good
friends at court here apart altogether
from my late C.O. No more Coy.
cmdg. for me if I can possibly
avoid it. I have 13 months of it to
my credit & I like my present
temporary job - no, my this morning's
temporary job much better. I also
have a great curiosity to do a bit of
the staff end of the game. In fact
if it lasts as long as I think it will 5 the sooner I start the Staff side the
better for me. Don't bother about
a fountain pen nib for me thanks
I rather fancy a pal of mine in
town intends to send me a whole
complete pen. This game presents extraordinary
contrasts conditions & circumstances.
I was just thinking of this tonight
at dinner & comparing our present
circumstances with those which
prevailed with us last winter. As I
sit commanding a Batt in the line tonight
I am not at all certain that I am
not quite as comfortable as you are. Counting a Doctor, a Chaplain & an
Artillery Liason Officer we set down
11 to dinner - my H.Q. mess. We had
excellent soup. Beautiful Fresh sole,
very good roast beef & Yorkshire
pudding, , stewed figs & custard, Coffee.
Savories we cut out some ten
days ago because we could only
manage 4 kinds & we are tired
of those for a bit. To drink we have
a coice of anyhting one likes.
The only thing there is any
difficulty about is liqueurs. I
Personally drink the best of good 6 Guinness Stout & every now & then
I get a few of the best cigars, either
given me or bought by me when
I dine out in style. You will
think it ridiculous, I know, but
nevertheless the men love their
officers to have good sticks & whips
& spurs & kit & to smoke good stuff. Do you remember those spurs you
were good enough to send me. Wel l
the first day I wore them, one of
my sergeants, accompanied by
a sergeant of another unit came
to my temporary home & asked me
to settle a bet. It appeared he had bet
the other fellow they were silver. I
was sorry to disappoint him, but
that is the point & the spirit. And
no one can even dimly estimate
its value when it comes to
leading & obedience in face of
the last thing in grim hellishness. No one knows just what little
thing one does or says to a man or
men which makes them yours in
all things when the big times come. I know of several cases where
this has undoubtedly been so. Our men are also just as 7 comfortable as constant thought
& unremitting labour can make
them. It is however necessary that
officers are maintained very comfortable
in order that they can be at their
best to do the best either for their
men or in the use of them. The old 'share the hardships of
their men idea' which is so truly
British is still with us but
modified. The Bosch started this
war so very much more scientifically
than we did & this was one of his
great points. I dont suppose you get time for
much reading, but if you do & you
care to read a really human
readable history of this war get
the Strand Magazine. It is
excellent & your son knows
almost every little rise & fall of
ground & line of much of the line
that is there written of. It will give you a faint
impression of what our original
Expeditionary Force did & was. No
one can really know just what
it was except those who were
through the first 6 months of it. 8 But perhaps with your old Puritan
Blood you wont care about it. Still
as effort alone it stands as
colossal. I am convinced now
that the end is certain & that we
will be the senior survivors. If
it is protracted as long as I think
it will be, the expression 'WIN' will
not be accurately applicable in its
popular sense. I forgot in
describing our mess to mention that
some of my young officers are
now playing Ping pong whilst one
with whom we dined is prowling
about NO MANS LAND on patrol &
others are inspecting the line &
sentries & guns etc etc etc & so
it goes on. The really awful part
of the thing is that this time
2 years ago I was junior 2nd Lieut
on a month's probation in the
Battalion I tonight command & am
the only officer with it tonight who
have served in France etc right
thro' with it. It is one of the
most decorated if not the most
decorated Battalion in our Corps.
It is by far the most decorated
Batt. in our Division & that is 9 a very special honour to begin
with. The awful pity of it is
that more of our home birds
arnt coming out to us. I would
rather have them than any
others in all the world. Well this all seems to be about
me, but there is so little else I
am permitted to write about that
you will please accept this fact
as my excuse. I am well & in the very best of
form & very much looking
forward to my next leave
which I hope to have in the
forepart of next month. All my love to mother Your affectionate son WM 10 26 October 1916 Harford H. Montgomery Esq c/o Messrs Wm Montgomery & Son 2 Wellington Place Belfast PASSED FIELD CENSOR 2188 WA Montgomery