1 25th General Hospital
B.E.F 8thJuly 1916 My very dearest Mother, The news about Gerald
came as a great shock to me, it
was so sweet of you to write &
tell me as I would have got a
terrible shock had I seen it in the
paper 1st the wonder is I have
not as I get a daily Mail
every evening & I am sure his name
has not been in the casualty list.
I do hope by the time this reaches
you, you will have heard something
more definite, as I am very anxious,
poor Gerald what a rotten time he
has had. I only wrote to him on
the 4th & asked him why he had
not written since he went back.
I received your letter at 7 A.M. this 2
morning, just before going on duty. I
was never so glad in all my
life we were so terribly busy as it kept
my mind occupied, we are really very
very busy, convoy after convoy &
some of them have such nasty
wounds, some with Gas Gangrene which
means immediate operation to get
free drainage otherwise it means
high amputation. All the time I
am writing this I hear nothing but
ambulance driving up at night it
is exactly the same — Really if I
only heard Gerald was alright &
only slightly wounded it ought to
be a great relief to know that
he is out of it for a bit, no
matter how bad the men are they
all say how glad they are to be
away & how lucky they are, they
are also very cheerful & say it
will be over in october, I do hope
this is true — I hope you have
had good news of Tommy lately,
many thanks for sending on his letter 3
I really do not know what to think
about poor Charlie, if Fr Murphy
says we may believe that mans
story which in a way ought to
be a relief to know he died without
much suffering. I feel sure he went
straight to Heaven after all he went
through. I pray every night for you
& all and hope we will all be consoled
soon by this cruel war ending. Very many thanks for all the parcels
none have arrived yet if you do
not hear for a couple of days
don’t worry it is only because we
are so busy but up to this we
have been able to take our couple
of hours off every day except once —
but sometimes I feel too fed up
& tired & think it better to go out
for a walk than write— I hope there is good news from
Gerald M. I often think of him
and wonder how he is, he is such
a nice boy— 4
Will you give my fondest love to
all at 20 Clyde Rd & tell A. Sissy
I will answer her letter very soon —
I hope you are all keeping very well
at home, please thank Desmond for
his sweet letter tell Andrew I am
anxiously awaiting one from him — I
often wish they were both out here
what fun we would have on the sand.
Now I must end as I must
fly off to duty. With heaps of love & kisses
Anxiously awaiting your next
letter, should he be in Hospital
in Boulogne I shall try &
manage to see him — Your ever loving daughter, Marie I have forgotten heaps I wanted
to tell you however it will do again.