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.