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30^th June 1916

SOLDIERS of the 19^th DIVISION.

            On the eve of a great battle with a treacherous and detestable enemy whose greed of power brought about this bitter war, I wish to remind all ranks of the great things expected of them in the strenuous days before us.

            Never before has the military situation been so favourable.  Not only our own Army in France, but the Armies of our Allies on both Eastern and Western Fronts are combining in operations which may well prove decisive, and result in the expulsion of the enemy from the territory he has for so long occupied and oppressed.  He is now nearing the end of his resources: his material and his manhood are alike on the high road to exhaustion.  But victory will never be ours until a decisive and overwhelming blow has been dealt to his military forces.  That blow it is now our purpose to deal him.  It is for this moment that we have trained hard and waited patiently.

Let us make full use of our opportunity and fulfil the expectations of our leaders, our friends and our country.

I rely with confidence on your courage and grit to uphold the glorious traditions of the British Army and of the fine old regiments to which you belong, and to make the name of the 19^th Division famous in history.

Remember we are fighting for the ideal of freedom and the honour of England.

Let each put forth his maximum endeavour and let us advance to victory imbued with the determination to win and strengthened by the righteousness of our cause.

T. Bridges

Major-General,

Commanding 19^th Division.

Flanders,

June 30^th 1916,

My dear Harry,

The last letter I had from you is dated 25^th.  It arrived on the 28^th.  By now your questions also will have been answered.  Every letter I have from you is expected to tell me where you will be placed.  I hope to goodness it won’t be Aberdeen or any place like that.  Any place away from the Bristol Channel is out of the question.  When we are all in the trenches there are at times several opportunities of reading.  I enjoyed the book you sent me.  The plot altogether surprised me.  I would like the other tattered specimens.  Fellows have magazines sent them with the advertisements cut off to save waste so it will be quite the correct thing.  Again I have three books in my possession and every time we make a move each gentleman that has borrowed suddenly discovers he has finished the perusal of the borrowed and returns it with thanks and “Not at all bad” and “Just finished its”, so that if they are tattered they will be in bits & ready to be discarded.  Our Captain suggested each man taking out a book & then interchanging thus forming a library.  I went one better with a pal’s “Bachelor in Arcady” by putting on the end cover (inside of course) “This book has been read by”.  Every reader then signs.  I also put a bit of homemade poetry rather personal to the owner inside the front cover.  The days of omelettes have gone alas!  (I suppose I should put alas first, should I?)  We sent one of us down for a dozen eggs just before tea intending to take them into the trenches (Note alliteration) hard boiled.  They arrived hot so we scoffed all but four for tea.  We had a bottle of sauce from the Canteen the other day & by pouring it into our stew made the stew quite eatable & enjoyable in fact.

July 5^th 1916.  I am afraid there has been a considerable delay in the finishing off of this letter during which time it has suffered handling about.  Today we are in a rest camp for a short time and I have plenty of time again.  It was our turn in the front line the last time but it was quiet.  To continue.  My progress in pipe smoking has been arrested lately – I don’t know why – but I am having another shot again.  You will have heard that Bernard is in the firing line.  I don’t know where the artillery firing line is – only a few miles back I expect.  Your expectations are being realised as you will see in Dublin.  Is there any news yet where you are to be stationed?

Hoping to hear from you soon I am, Harry

            Yours as ever,

                        Alan

July 6^th 1916.

My dear Ethel,

There is only time – I am sleepy – for a short note.  I enjoyed the raisins very much.  I like them.  The moustache is quite flourishing.  Some of our chaps tried the game of sending picture postcards with the names erased but our officers (being infantry) are not such slackers.  Once again we are within the omelette area.  There are two canteens and so I am told a coffee shop.  Estaminets flourish (to a great extent I judge) in this district, where the white wine is drinkable.  My pals and I are waiting for the first opportunity to invest in a possible bottle of champagne.  One of them was twenty-one on the fourth and we were going to have quite a celebration.  Then we found we would be in the trenches so we took the trouble of lugging up sacks of tinned stuff & resisting the temptation of immediately devouring parcels we had received only to find out that we had to be ready to move off at any minute which meant everything had to be packed up.  It is surprising how we survived the ordeal.

Unfortunately the estaminets are only allowed to sell cheap beer, red and white wines.  What we feel we want is Benedictine, Malaga, etc.  The first number of our magazine has been issued.  If you would like one apply to Chancery Lane Printing Works, Plough Court, Fetter Lane, London EC with 4½d.

All the Tom Webster sketches are drawn by him here.  He is in our platoon.  Well with best love I am

            Yours affectionately

                        Alan.

They won’t let us send magazines.

On Active Service envelope addressed to Harry R King, Esq., Munmore, Zion Road, Rathgar, Dublin.

No postmark but signed by NG Flaw.  Hexagonal Passed Field Censor 3274 cachet.

Ansd 16.7.16 endorsed on front of envelope.

All the notebooks were written on the right hand page and additions, photos, cartoons or other documents were added to the left hand page.

Lord Henry Scott was commanding the Bde from 28^th of June to the 8^th of July, 1916, so I commanded the Bn.

On the 13^th of July 1916 a wire came to say I had been selected to command an Inf Bn and was to report at Belle Eglise on the 14^th.  I started at 7.15 a.m. there appeared to be only one Belle Eglise this was west of Paris, the station master obligingly made out my time table via Calais and Paris.  I reached Abbeville at midnight and Paris at 5.55 a.m.  Here I had to report to the A.P.M. driving there & back right through Paris in a taxi.  I saw the preparations being made for the ‘Quatorze Juillet’.  There were no British troops at Belle Eglise so I went on to Beauvais where I had lunch and then proceeded to Abancourt where I found an R.T.O.  He explained that Belle Eglise was the name for the new railhead just constructed, travelling in guards vans and on the tenders of two engines I at last reached there about midnight on the 14^th.  A Sergt Major kindly surrendered his bunk to me – there was no other accommodation – a phone message was sent through to the Reserve Army.

On the opposite page is a photograph of Major Allason, Lieutenant Tophy, Captain Barrett and the French Translator De Rosen.

A car appeared about 11 a.m. to take me to Bareuil on the way I met the 1^st Bn heard that Col Onslow had a Bde and at once phoned the Mil Sec^ry requesting that I might be appointed to them.

Barueil proved to be a Dump of officers awaiting appointment to command B^ns meanwhile they were to be employed instructing “young officers” the first batch of these arrived that evening before any provision could possibly be made for them.  About 150 hungry officers were asking for breakfast next morning and were told to use their emergency rations.  This most of them had considered a superfluous addition to the weight they were already carrying so their faces fell.  By dint of borrowing we managed to get them some biscuit and tea but the idea of going to school again did not please them especially those with ten years previous service.

On the opposite page is a newspaper cutting of a map of the Somme area.

A car turned up about midday to take me to the 1^st Bⁿ. 

Took over command of 1^st Bn. 16/7/16.  I joined them at Lahoussoye and took over command from Major Lawder. 

“M” Coy Bombing Team

2^nd Res Batt S.A.I.

Score 189   2/7/16

L/Cpl Leathern

Pte. Rethmen

   “   Woolmore

   “   Lanford

   “   Hambridge

   “   Van Staden.

C.R.A.C.  73225/13 (A2)

Col. J.F. Purcell, D.S.O.

Comdg South African Res. Bns.

Reference your appointment to command South African Reserve Battalions date of assuming has been reported to War Office as June 22^nd, this being the date on which notification was received approving your appointment vice Col Martyn

Charrington Captain

Staff Captain for A.A.G., A.C.

Aldershot

28^th June 1916

In OHMS envelope addressed to Col J.S. Purcell D.S.O.

Cmdg South African Res Bttn.

Opened G.H. Elliot

O.R. Sgt.

Somewhere in France

Sunday June 25^th

My Dear Ethel & Harry,

            Thanks so much for your two letters.  They reached me only last Friday, which was the first day on which we have had a post, but from now on they should come regularly.  It was great excitement receiving the mail, for two or three days we were expecting the letters to arrive & then when they did it meant a lot for nearly everyone.

            We were not long in France before we were sent to our present position in the firing line, in fact we only had 4 nights rest before getting here.  Since we have been here we have had to work fearfully hard both day & night but the back of the work is now broken.  Today and last night there has been one long continual roar of guns & screaming of shells.  The noise is terrific and Fritz is getting it very hot.  Last night we had the night in bed but it was impossible to sleep owing to the noise.

            You want to know how I fill up my time, well, up to the present I don’t seem to have had any to worry about, and, in fact, last night was the first opportunity I have had off writing a letter since I have been here, as I had rather a batch of letters on Friday I was very glad of it.

            It is a great experience out here and it is marvellous how unconcerned & cool everyone appears under most extraordinary conditions.  The War here appears to be just a huge business not half so confusing as Selfridges, but a bit nosier.  It is not half as bad as I anticipated, and the danger seems very small.  When we are firing it seems almost as though we are at practice in England; the only difference being that we are not the only people firing.

            I am very glad for both your sakes that the trip to London was successful and hope that you will be sent to some decent place, and that it will be a great benefit to you.

            Three of us have built ourselves a beautiful and select little dugout of which we are very proud.  It is a splendid little place and in time we will have every convenience.  We are all positive it is absolutely splinter proof.  To get in it is necessary to crawl on hands and knees, as the entrance is so small.

            When at the Rest Camp I cut off the moustache you speak of but the same morning the Sergeant Major gave us a lecture on the subject so it is flowering once more.

            I was not able to get my photo taken at Ross as both the photographers have enlisted & there was no one carrying on.

            Alan’s description of an artilleryman’s life out here is to say the least of it slightly exaggerated.  One would hardly call it a bed of roses & recently I have been wishing I was in the Infantry.

            Thanks again for your letters – you can’t imagine how much they are valued out here – keep on writing

            Yours with love

                        Bernard.

In envelope addressed to Mr & Mrs Harry R. King, Esq., Munmore, Zion Road, Rathgar, Co. Dublin. Ireland.

Postmarked FIELD POST OFFICE 110.  29 JU16.  Hexagonal PASSED FIELD CENSOR 3447.  Signed F.G. Dweryhouse