Letter from Wilfrid Spender to Lillian Spender, 9 August 1916

Foo, Bar; Bar, Foo

Letter from Wilfrid Spender to Lillian Spender, 9 August 1916

1 9 Aug I am very good in beginning a 2nd scrap today!
Have you had any scrap note from Cox's about the purchase of
500 War certificates in your name as they have not replied
to me yet? The news today is not very good and I wish
the communiquÃ© when edited had shown this more clearly
as I think it is a mistake to pet the people all the time. On the whole however I feel convinced that the Germans
are having a very bad time and perhaps this is all we
can expect. My previous remark still holds good I am
sorry to say. I got some enforced exercise trotting between my
2 offices over 500 yards apart but it is rather a waste
of time sometimes, and now I am on sticks having
spent the 1/4 hour before lunch in my room instead of
going back to my old hut. The hut is the information
bureau which is a little disturbing sometimes, but the
other room which I share with Major Lord Gort â€” (who
was the original of that ilk?) â€” is also a gossipy place when 2 one wants to settle down to quiet steady writing which is
none too easy in this weather. Just back from a ride
we got such a welcome from Mount Joy it might almost
have been the original meeting with the Fanny by the fuss
that was made. Douglas is very much in clover here with
a mess which he says is as good as the HQ mess of the
Division for which he always expressed the most profound
contempt. Walter is in talks about my becoming 'quite a blood'
I shall really have to answer this! My last letter posted
at 11 AM this morning and this posted at 7 PM tonight may
be 24 hours apart in arriving but the 2 posts are
only temporary. There are some advantages in being at
GHQ in getting 'papers' quickly amongst others. I had 2 things especially to tell you which I can't
remember. The soap has come, many thanks it is good
but made in America! I hope the Patn is better again
he always finds the heat trying, I know. What a pity
we can't manage to take them in at Seaford or Borden.
You have never been down there again. Barge I listen to
on the telephone quite often. Jack Stuart a Staff College Contemp
turned up to lunch today as a Brigadier, but did not or

Letter from sir Wilfrid Spender (1876 - 1960) to his wife, Lady Lillian Spender, née Dean, (1880-1968). In this letter, Spender discusses a purchase of 500 war certificates, as well as the progress of the fighting and various details relating to the work he is doing. He thanks Lillian for sending him soap and asks after the health of her father. He mentions that an old acquaintance from the staff college had turned up in the canteen today, but completely ignored Spender.Wilfrid Spender was a member of the British Army until 1913 when controversy surrounding his signature of the Ulster Solemn League and Covenant resulted in his resignation. Spender was called up for military service in 1914 and from 1915 served in the 36th (Ulster) Division. Throughout the war, Spender remained in contact with the Ulster Unionist leadership, and consistently opposed Home Rule and the six-county solution. Lady Lillian served in the Ulster Volunteer Nursing Corps during the war, and was an organiser of the Ulster Division Comforts Fund. This letter is part of a series of correspondence from Sir Wilfrid Bliss Spender to his wife Lady Lillian Spender. The letters date mainly from 1915 to 1918, when Sir Wilfrid was serving in France. The letters concern politics, the Irish question, personal life, and Wilfrid's experience of the Great War.

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How to cite

Letters 1916, published by the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities, Vienna, 2026 (https://letters1916static.github.io/letters1916-static/item__0792.html)