Belgium
April 29th 1915

My own dear Mother,

I know how anxious you all must have been during the past week or so, and yet I could not even get a card away to you to set your at ease, however, these two weeks of fierce fighting are over, and we have fallen back a mile or so to the Reserve Line where things are quieter for us.

Our Battalion has lost about 700 for we are now less than 300 strong, but thank God I am one of them, how we got through some of that fire without a scratch, I can’t understand now, some of those moments come back as a fearful nightmare, I will not try to give you any of the details now, the papers will tell you all the facts of these engagements.

One of the worst parts was the asphyxiating gas, which the Germans have been using on us. My dates are all confused but I think it was about 4 o’clock on Saturday morning, (we had been standing to the parapet all night) when suddenly the whole line of German trenches was obscured behind a thick bank of rolling yellow black fumes, and the wind being right across our trenches, it was gently fanned across to the British Lines and came rolling slowly over the ground, and as they passed through us we experienced the most rotten choking feeling, many were killed, I hear that 400 in one Battalion were killed by it, the sickness was awful, and as soon as it had passed the Germans came over, but all that day we held our line and never gave up, all night we were hard at it, they attacked again but our fire drove them back, but at daybreak on Sunday a Regiment was sent to relieve us as we had had no sleep or proper rations for a week, some days we had but a biscuit or two each, so you can imagine the boys were ready to drop, I saw several fall at their sentry posts from sheer exhaustion, we changed every half hour to relieve the strain. All these days of which I write we had an awful dose of shelling, which wiped out an awful lot of fellows and many Officers, we buried them right there in the trenches.

After we were relieved and making our way out we were cut off by the heaviest machine gun fire and shrapnel, it was too light then, so we laid in a turnip field till 3 in the afternoon, when the Germans broke through part of the line, and a general retirement was ordered, that’s when they got us, the shelling was terrific, Officers and men dropped everywhere, then our Colonel rallied together as many as could be found, a mere handful of a hundred and we turned about and went for the Germans again to hold them back, it was extremely exciting, our blood was up, and the boys were ready to go through with anything. Well we held them at last and are now pushing them back by fierce counter attacks all the time, I use the 1st person ‘we’ but of course mean all the troops along the line not merely my Batt.

Our Colonel this morning read half a dozen messages of congratulations from the King, Kitchener, French and many others. I guess the papers are full of it, and I can’t write a connective account, you will hear it all in time, but just now I can write letters.

I am well and safe, and that is all you’ll want to know now. I have many letters from you this last day but not yet the parcel you have sent me, but they are held back, I think the transports are too busy with supplies and ammunition, however I’ll maybe have it in a day or so, many transports have been blown to pieces on the road which are a terrible sight, and as for Ypres well…..!, the billets we occupied there 10 days ago are blown to pieces now as is every other home in the fine old city.

Do not trouble to send me anything, as I think we shall get them all back slowly, we have already had some new clothes and an odd toilet article here and there, you see I lost every possession I had here, I kept my pack and overcoat for a while but it was riddled with bullets before long so I threw it off and continued without it. When lying flat on the ground the pack gave our position away, so there was no alternative and certainly no time to take out anything first, so all is lost.

I had a letter from Aunt Annie, jolly kind of her, she wants to send me a parcel, if there is anything I want. Ethel has sent me one of her photos – sweet I think just perfect, what think you?

Madge too sent me a photo, very good but not flattering, I like to have it though. John has written me, he’s having a pretty easy time still much the same as we had at first I guess, I hope he’ll never see worse.

I have not referred to your home news at all, but I read it all with eager interest and am always thinking of you, I pictured the peaceful Sunday you spend at home, then looked on the Hell that was raging here – what a contrast. Thank Grandma for her two welcome letters, poor dear she does think of us here, tell her we had beautiful weather and I am feeling ever so well. I don’t know if we go to the base or not, there are so many rumours in the air, given it is all a matter whether the troops can be sparred from here yet.

My best love to you and Father, hope he is over his teeth trouble, and to all at home.