1 Mater & Prat
Lily
El
Rex 21 Dec 1915 My dearest Mater & all dear Folks, This I suppose, is my Xmas
mail & it carries my very dear love to you all, & as
I know your thoughts will include the 3 soldier brothers,
so will mine think of my dear folks at home & you
all on Xmas morn. I am hoping not to receive ay Xmas gifts this
year having already had from Mater a more than substantial
one which I shall hope to use in helping the Country
now, & ourselves in the future. Really one has to think
of every ounce of Kit, which I am afraid is too often
forgotten by Staff officers with their extra comforts. I shall
not hesitate to ask for anything really useful later. In food & even luxuries we at present have no lack,
in fact in my opinion we a little overdo our creature comforts,
but that may be altered anytime. Yesterday I paid a visit to our men in the trenches,
arriving 20 minutes after a rather heavy artillery bombardment
by the enemy but having a very quiet time. I got right up 2 to the front when our men
were mining, & saw 5 poor
chaps who had just been gassed, but who I hope will recover. Really one finds it hard to forgive the brutes who started that
form of warfare, & I should have been glad to bring up some
of our German sentimentalists from home! Our own Ulstermen win for the cheeriest of the
men I saw, & were working with a will at improving the
lines. The other battalions who had of course been longer
in the trenches than ours looked war weary & worn &
I felt glad we had so many men still out of those conditions
till a little of the winter weather has passed, but I suppose their turn will
come before very long. Some of the trenches were so bad that they could not
be used, & consequently parts of our line were entirely cut
off from all communication by day, but every night
under cover of darkness the men are relieved from their
24 hours isolation in the mud. One of the burning questions was fuel , & the French
Railway authorities do not seem to me to have done all that
was possible in this matter. Our men seem to have done very well, & also
appeared genuinely pleased to see me, & also glad at the 3 hopes which I was able to hold out that they might
come back to the Division. I had different accounts of how they got on with
the Dublin's & other Regiments, the officers said excellently,
but the men told me quite another story. I fancy it is
as well that they are likely to be separated before Xmas; tho'
our men will be in the trenches till Xmas night. One wandered about on one's own- with Douglas who
was glad to have a view at the front - & it was
very difficult as one walked down a track by the side of
a bank to realise that if one walked by a short cut
leading a little to the left ( & used at night ) one's
chances of reaching the trench line would be very small.
One of our own officers was wounded at this spot, &
a bullet whistled just past my head as I went along as if
they knew one was passing, or had seen my cap. I had on my top boots which was as well
for the mud was half way up them in places. I took a long view through a periscope from
one of our advanced sentry posts & thought I saw a
movement in a trench 40 yards off. It may have been a 4 hat, or else it may have been a bit of the head of the first German
I have seen out here! There was a good deal of musketry & 2 heavy
shells boomed not very far off but I did not see where
so it was probably quite 400 yards away. I mustn't let my pen wander on, especially
as I hope to see you all if the fates are propitious
as there is a chance of my getting home for 6 days
on the 31stof the month or 1st of the New Year! Till then at any rate my dear love to
all including the stalwart Hubert Lassie Reggie
for whom a good nickname would be podge, the Walters
twain & the wonderful Mabs who without a cook
can still find room at her Xmas party for Granny . B Your loving son frater & Uncle Wilfred B Spender Mabs
Edwin
Bert