Letter from Wilfrid Spender to Lillian Spender, 13 April 1916

Foo, Bar; Bar, Foo

Letter from Wilfrid Spender to Lillian Spender, 13 April 1916

1 Ap.13. Dear Lil Thanks for your interesting
comments on the political situation. I am ashamed ! The padded
statement by Squiffy is
advisedly to stifle all allusions
to freespeaking. The papers on the other
side write as if it was
traiterous to want to put
men into the Government
who would carry on the war
more vigorously. They threaten
all kinds of rifts. We have
got to go slow so that the
conscientous objector may not
riot, or the pro german
refuse to pay his usual
subsidies to free trade
politics! 2 I sometimes feel as if
I should like to chuck all
interest in political life &
let our Tammany schemers
rip, but this is not only
what they want but
exactly the real danger to
our country no less real
than the German menace. I suppose something accounts
for the stopping of leave.
Perhaps it is to give the Huns
a fright as they must have
used up most of their reserves
at Verdun, tho' they have
still plenty more behind I
fancy under training. Your Wilfrid B Spender

Letter from Sir Wilfrid Spender (1876 - 1960) to his wife, Lillian (1880-1968). Spender was a member of the British Army until 1913 when controversy surrounding his signature of the Ulster Solemn League and Covenant resulted in his resignation. Spender was called up for military service in 1914 and from 1915 served in the 36th (Ulster) Division. Throughout the war, Spender wrote a collection of letters to his wife Lady Lillian Spender. The letters date mainly from 1915 to 1918, when Sir Wilfrid was serving in France. The letters concern politics, the Irish question, personal life, and Wilfrid's experience of the Great War.

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How to cite

Letters 1916, published by the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities, Vienna, 2026 (https://letters1916static.github.io/letters1916-static/item__4282.html)