1 29th Oct 16 Dear Mother

Now I end this for the present
I sorry it didn't go before but: there
were no facilities for letters over there.
I have now returned it was delightful
getting the post on arrival will write soon. C.W.W. Your letter which I got on Thursday certainly
brought the war nearer to me than anything yet.
Still it's the same for everyone; everyone has got
his bit. The first thing that struck me when I got
out here was how extraordinarily cheerful and how
decent and friendly everyone is. Everyone has a smile
no matter what happens. And the minute you
meet anyone it's as if you knew him for years.
One always manages a bit of fun— Its the people
at home it's worst for— How they stand it
I don't know. There's many hard blows have been
given and many more will come. One can
only trust that all will work for good in the end. And
certainly already a lot of good must have been done.
The men are wonderful — always ready for a joke
no matter what happens — It's splendid. The job
I'm on now isn't very amusing though I suppose it's
nothing to what the chaps have in the front line—
There's a working party supplied by various batteries to
clean up and build a trench on the ridge— Each battery
in turn provides an Officer for three days— I'm on
it now and am glad my time finishes tomorrow
The mud is awful. This morning it rained steadily
till we had to chuck work. One advantage of the rain
it keeps down the smell. Several dead men
have been dug up. Anyway it will be splendid when 2 the job is done and it was really cruel
coming along the trench before and when it's
finished it will be all boarded with clwire
netting along the sides and stays every yard with
smaller ones in between to prevent the sides falling
in. It ought to last some time — though really I don't
know whether anything will hold out long against
the rain. Will We are billeted just beside where
I was with the advance party and I am sleeping
in the same place as before — very comfortable
with a nice stove. We start out at 8 .0 and work
till 3.0. when we come home & have dinner and
are finished for the day — a fairly long spell but
much better than the way they did it before when
they came all the way down for dinner and
then all the way back again; another party came
in last night which brings the total to nearly 120.
So if only the weather takes up we ought to be able
to get on well with the work. There's another
Officer on another job here. So I'm not alone of an
evening. But still I shall be remarkably glad when
I get back to the battery again. I shall then I expect take
my turn of duty with the rest as the telephone system
is pretty will fixed and won't want much attention
in a place like this.The day seems to have taken up a bit
now (3.30 pm) it has stopped raining and isn't looking so bad.
I suppose one can't expect much more decent weather
now. I am grand myself as I hope all are at home. 3 On His Majesty's Service Oct 29th 1916
Mrs. Wynne
The Cottage
Glendalough
Co Wicklow
Ireland

CWWynne 4