1 B.R.Force 23/9/1916 My dearest Father, Life in the army I find is a life
of delightful and unexpected surprises. You
are told that you are going to some large town,
and at once visions of comfortable quarters with,
perhaps the luxury of a real bed, loom up before
you; you reach the town only to find you
do not stay there but have to tramp out into
the open country and fight for a corner in
some ancient barn You hear that the journey is to be done by
rail, but nothing is said of the ten mile
march before and after reaching the station,
while the crowning joy of all is to count on a
month's rest and then find yourself back
in the trenches within a week. All these
pleasant surprises have been mine recently.
We had a few very pleasant, restful days
in the place I last wrote from, a delightful
spot on the bank of a wooded river, but
since then we have been on the move by rail
and motor lorries and 'Shank's Mare' till we
found ourselves in Normandy, where 'the boys'
had the time of their lives among the apple 2 orchards. As once more, over the frontier
with a country not unknown to both of
us and here we have settled down to
work again but in almost the quietest
part of the line, a striking contrast to
our stirring times at Loos. Though all this moving about is trying more
especially as much of it was done at night
with long stretches without one chance of a
meal , in other respects it was very pleasant
and an agreeable change. I was not too
well for some days with a slight attack
of dysentery from which a great number
were suffering but that trouble is quite
past now and I am in my usual
good form. the enjoyment of the little holiday was
somewhat spoiled by an experience which I
trust may never be repeated — the execution
of one f my own men. It was the one
thing I dreaded most when coming out
here, and it is strange this holy
duty should have fallen to me for
the man did not belong to my regiment
but was transferred to more us a short
while ago from another. I did all I
could to save the poor fellows life as I
believe there was a strain of humanity in 3 the family, but it was his third offence
warranting the death penalty so my efforts
were unavailing. Somehow he had been left under the impression
that the sentence would not be
carried out, so I had to bear the news to
him that he would be shot at six next
morning. The poor chap took it well, though
he felt for his young wife who lives in
Dublin. I chatted with him for a while and
cheered him up, getting him to accept his
punishment, terrible as it was, from the
hands of God as a certain pledge of his
salvation. As he wanted to sleep a while I left him
but returned early next morning, heard his
confession, gave him Holy Communion and
remained praying with him till the fatal
moment came. It was a strange experience
to sit beside a man in the full vigour of
life knowing that in half an hour he
would be in eternity. Honestly I believe it
would have been easier for me to have
been shot myself than to go through
that awful scene. My one consolation was
that he could not be better prepared for death
and that he faced the inevitable so calmly.
'Alright I have a bit of a smoke, Father?' were
almost his last words, for a moment or two 4 after the door of the stable where he was
confined was thrown open from soldiers
blindfolded him and led him out to
a tree to which they bound him securely.
Drawn up in front were a file of ten men
with loaded rifles. At a signal from the officer
they took aim, 'fire' came the order and as the volley
cracked out I raised my hand and gave him a
last absolution. the body quivered slightly & then
the head dropped, the legs gave way and another
victim of the war had gone to God. Sep 24 th I got this far last evening while
waiting for the final stage from journey,
little thinking of the pleasant surprise which
was awaiting me. You dear letter of the 15 th
was waiting to relieve me on my arrival
and hence I am glad to be able to send
you in return the best of good news. I a writing in a magnificent chateau, the late
residence of H Hennessy of brandy fame, quite
a small palace, though somewhat the worse
for two years military occupation including
a visit from the German Crown Prince and his
Staff. I have just been for a stroll round the
park and gardens and lakes, doubly enjoyable
for the glorious weather which has come
back to us again. This is to be our
Head Quarters for some time to come, I believe.
We are not very far from the Front Line 5 but there seems to be a kind of mutual
like the understanding up here to lie low like the
famous Brer Rabbit and ' do nuffin', for I
have not heard even a rifle shot for hours,
in fact I am wondering has peace been
signed ! I need not say what a relief &
what a rest this quiet change is to us all, in
fact I am hoping the was may last ten years
yet this is such a charming place, but how
it has escaped destruction is a mystery to me. To complete our good fortune ' leave of absence'
has been opened again for us. I do not expect
to get away for some time as there are many
who have not had a holiday since we landed
in France seven months ago and naturally
they are first for the list, but it cheers me up
to look forward to seeing you all again in
the near future. I hop you will lay in a
good stock of 'Bully Beef and Biscuits' in
anticipation of my visit for I warn you
beforehand that I want at least seven meals
a day to keep me in fighting form. Before leaving the scene of our last fierce
fierce fighting I paid a visit to the town of Albert
to see one of the many wonders of the war.
In the town stand the ruins of a once
magnificent church, a famous shrine of
our Blessed Lady, a huge statue of whom
crowned the town. This statue was struck by 6 a German shell and knocked from its
position many months ago. As it fell,
the head caught somewhere and the
statue remains hanging in the street at
right angles to the town apparently.
missing an arm. Our Lady is holding the
Divine Infant at arms length over her
head as if calling to someone to catch
him before he falls. The whole thing is
very curious if I can I shall send you
a photo later. You can be quite at your ease about me
now. Danger is reduced to a minimum, even
if I had not a single reason to find that our
Blessed Lord intended to bring me safely through
this time of trial as He has done in the
past. I am a bit tired after so much
moving about for the past month but I
mean to rest now that I have the chance
& the place combined; otherwise I am in
the best of health and spirits too, The little
trouble I spoke o has quite gone. Thousands of thanks again for your welcome
letter you are indeed good to write so often. Much love to everybody and heaps to your own
dear self, As ever, dearest Father
Your loving Willie