1 Please return to Lil. Mater Rex Mabs Edm Nov. 27.' My dear folks, A very nice budget from you arrived nearly midnight yesterday
with an account of your tea party, & breakfast party with the squirrels
& also a very nice letter from Mater. I was afraid that she would feel
Will's promotion as rather a blow, but as regards our respective positions
& responsibilities out there is no doubt mine is far the higher appoint-
ment as well as more pay. Respecting the future however things will
be different, but I think England & not India will be our probable
home, or still more probably Ireland where my army rank will not
count in my the position which you & I have won. I am so glad you are with Mater to make things clear
to her, & that she can see for herself by the way your work
is appreciated by the "first statesman of our times" that our past
work has not been altogether wasted. We are all getting busy for the move of our division, which
has already begun but I must not tell you the destination.
Have I missed a letter from you? I thought you were seeing
the proposed flat on Tuesday, but I have not had a line either
of its description or of itsthe results, & I'm sure Mater would be
full of her criticisms of it ! We have a very wintry day but the roads are hard, &
make good going for the troops marching & that is important. You will be glad to hear that another Division has reported on our 2 men in the trenches that they
appear absolutely fearless, most
anxious to learn everything, & the reasons of everything in an
intelligent way which compares more than favourably with any troops
including the old army. The General is now getting quite anxious to get back the
107thBde. If he had known this perhaps he would not have been
so severe on them before their departure. Yes I am sorry for Crozier.
He is a good chap & there is no comparison between him & the
boys who are now commanding some of these Infantry battalions,
but it all comes back to the slackness of some of the COs in
obeying the orders we gave them in the old days to which so
litlle attention was paid by some. All the same any man
who deserted the Division a year ago is either promoted high above
those who stayed on, or has been killed or wounded. There was a photo in the sketch yesterday of the King's
review of the Ulster division with this inscription,
"Review by H M of the Royal Ulster Volunteers which cheered
Redmond in the trenches". Can you imagine a more wicked
deliberate misrepresentation, & to think that no permission could be
obtained for these photos to be printed until now when they could
be used for this lying purpose. Really I think the war will go on till we get a pure
Government instead of a mixture such as we now have. I think
peace or a successwith some of the present Ministers to claim it as their success
would be almost worse in the end than another year's war. 3 I am not at all sure that Jessie is not spoiling Lily. Certainly
by all accounts from the letter she & Mater are doing their best to do so,
& I think that when I come back I shall have to be very strict. I hope Douglas called in & gave a good account of me & of
himself & that he will be able to return with a happy feeling that his
wife is better. I am sending instructions to his house today but if he
should not get them please tell him to report at the "new place",
which he will know, & to get the entraining officer to wire if he
questions this. My groom is not quite the same as an indoor orderly, but
managed to give me a nice hot bath last night. Rex apparently thinks he may be ordered out at any time
& I hope to be able from my lordly cháteau to supply him with any
kit which he may lack & to make things a little more comfortable
for him in his dugout. I shall have no time for a letter these next 3 days so
do not expect one for some little time. I must say how grateful I am to Mater & Jessie for
their kind care of Lily, but that this would be the case goes without
saying. I am sorry Edward has had so much trouble with his men. He
takes such a personal interest in each one of them that he gives himself far
more work than the ordinary officer. I'm afraid some of them do not deserve his
care. 4 Everyone from home writes most optimistically of Affairs. They
did so last year, & surely it is obvious that the Germans are allowing
a pessimisticf note to appear mainly to prevent our being pushed into
compulsory service by our fears. Russellthe late milyattaché at Berlin says
the British public always have been taken in by the Germans in the
past & will continue to be so in spite of the openness of their snares. Another cause I fear is to be found in some of our
Generals who like Ian Hamilton when questions are being asked
as to their reported failures become most optimistic. Two of my
political friends say the war will be over before April. Best of love to all my dear folks. I wish Edmund was not getting the additional work of
the old trust accounts. I will I hope be able to make it up to him
some day by taking on additional responsibilities. I hope Lily is giving
satisfaction with her portion. Has the Margate house been let yet ? Wilfrid BSpender.