Letter from William Montgomery to his parents, Harford and Sara Montgomery, 30 October, 1916 Letters 1916-1923 William Alexander Montgomery

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 Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities Vienna, AT 2026

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A letter from William Montgomery to his parents, Harford Hugh (1856-1933) and Sarah. Montgomery starts off the letter by thanking his parents for the parcels they have sent him which include soda bread and other foods. He writes of his wishes for a better position in the army and his plans to meet a friend for dinner in town. He also reminds his parents that he had received no parcels of tobacco.This letter is part of a large collection that William, a Captain with the 9th Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles, wrote to his parents, Harford Hugh and Sara Montgomery, throughout the war. The Montgomery family lived in Malone Park, one of the wealthiest suburbs of Belfast city. His first letter is dated 3 December 1914. Captain Montgomery was a decorated soldier. He was awarded both the Victoria and the 15 Star medals and was promoted to the rank of Major. His father owned a fire assessor business.

 Public Record Office of Northern Ireland Papers of the Montgomery Family, D2794/1/1/17 https://letters1916.ie/item/683 English William Alexander Montgomery 1916-10-30 Harford Hugh Montgomery Monacherra, Malone Park, Belfast, Ireland Male World War I (1914-1918) World War I (1914-1918) Personal Relations

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 10 Nov 1916 In the Field 30.10.16 Dear father & Mother I thank father for his letter of 26thinst. & mother for hers of 26thinst. I haven't got the soda bread & 2 bottle of lemon cheese yet. In fact as you will see from the Certificate enclosed herewith our parcels are not reaching us as they should. You may take it that I acknowledge receipt of all parcels from you & Emmie & in fact everybody else. Once or twice I have when writing Emmie asked her to advise you that I had got a parcel from you. It is possible that she may have forgotten to tell you when she saw you. ask her about it. I have got that Acetylane Syrup, the one you recommended 2I am writing by it now. It is just the very thing I was looking for. I have ordered those Trench card things & Tin holders direct from Moore & Coates. I am very much obliged to father for bothering with them especially when he is so busy. This fountain pen is absolutely finished. Major Haslett hasn't turned up yet but he might be here tonight, as a reinforcement officer is notified to reach us tonight. Meantime I am having a delightful time as acting 2ndin Command - the best job in the regimental side of the Army. I had a very straight heart to heart talk with the C.O today - And & he has promised me that when he leaves this Battalion, he will 3fix it that I get a good job. He won't of course let me go before that except possibly temporarily. I told him that soldiering is I hope only an incident in my life that I have seen all I want of the regimental end of the achievement& would now like to do a bit in the side that I would be better fitted for viz. Staff. I, as the C.O says know this end of it fro A to Z. I know it far beyond the point of boredom. The C.O.'s leaving the Battalion depends on when he gets a Brigade this I think must certainly occur before the Spring. I have the knowledge & I don't see why I shouldn't personally benefit by its being put to its best use in the country's cause. The C.O has 4been exceedingly nice about it. He told me he had been thinking of my position for some time back particularly as it became affected by Horace's return, and that even if I hadn't spoken to him he was going to see both the Bridadier & the Major General about it right away. In fact I think he is seeing the Brigadier about it at this very moment. I wouldn't leave the little devil even if I were only in command of a platoon & of course as he knows that, it made it easy for him to have Haslett promoted & made acting 2nd in command during Woods absence on his 2 1/2 month course & thus in his opinion increase the efficiency of hisBattalion by having both of us instead of only one. His argument 5 to me in the beginning of the having Horace back business was that Horace was senior to me, that it wasn't his fault he was wounded & that he was both fit & keen to return & therefore he would return. All of which I most cordially agreed with possible excepting the 'fit' part. The C.O. & I discussed all this as far back as 7thJuly. Later of course I got my A.S.O.4that influenced him further to give the majority to Horace. I tell you all this just in case you might happen to hear the matter discussed. Horace is in the devil of a stew about it. I am very sorry to hear that the Salvage business isn't going on as you could wish. What is the good of it if it can't be pushed. About knitted things - Socks 6Socks Socks. I wouldn't let anyone bother about sweaters at present. One can't have too many socks in winter. There is nothing else new here that I can tell you. I am in the best of health & form and very much looking forward to taking Horace to dine at a place where he can crack bottles to 'wet his crowns'. I haven't dined there f'in town' for quite a long time now. no money. But Horace will make that all right for once anway & then we expect a few more Military Crosses to be announced shortly; so this will tide us over for quite a bit. We got 4 more military medals for N.C.Os & men within the last week. Some beribboned Battalion this. Your Affect. Son W.T Montgomery Certified that I have received no tobacco from either England or Ireland since 25thAugust 1916 when I was last in Belfast. W. Montgomery Capt 9thBatt.R.I.Rifles 30.10.16 10 Nov 1916 F.H.Montgomery Esq C/o Messrs Wm Montgomery & Son 2 Wellington Place Belfast. Wm.A. Montgomery Passed Field Censor 2188 Monacherra, Malone Park, Belfast, Ireland Letter from William Montgomery to his father, Harford Hugh Montgomery, 26 October, 1916Letter from William Montgomery to his parents, Harford and Sara Montgomery, 30 October, 1916Letter from William Montgomery to his parents, Harford and Sara Montgomery, 29 December, 1915 William Alexander Montgomery Letter from William Montgomery to his father, Harford Hugh Montgomery, 26 October, 1916Letter from William Montgomery to his mother, Sara Montgomery, 13 October, 1916Letter from William Montgomery to his father, Harford Hugh Montgomery, 19 November, 1916Letter from William Montgomery to his parents, Harford and Sara Montgomery, 30 October, 1916Letter from William Montgomery to his father, Harford Hugh Montgomery, 29 September, 1915Letter from William Montgomery to his father, Harford Hugh Montgomery, 16 November, 1916Letter from William Montgomery to his father, Harford Hugh Montgomery, 13 December, 1915Letter from William Montgomery to his parents, Harford and Sara Montgomery, 18 November, 1915Letter from William Montgomery to his parents, Harford and Sara Montgomery, 29 December, 1915Letter from William Montgomery to his mother, Sara Montgomery, 23 December, 1915