Thursday

July 13^th 1916

My Dear Harry,

            I have just received your letter dated the 9^th and have been laughing ever since – I really never thought you were so dull before, and am afraid I will have to leave the explanation of the joke until some future date.

            It is very good of you to write me every Sunday and my rule is to reply to you as soon as I receive yours, but even then it is as you say impossible for letters to be passing evenly.  As you will notice your letter only took four days to reach me so it is improving.  My letters must take longer, as altho’ I am writing this on the 13^th it will not leave the Battery until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest.  I wrote you about a week and hope you have received it.

            I was very surprised to hear Lord Rhondda had bought our concern, and at first was a little bit anxious about the effect it would have on me, but now I don’t care much what happens as after all it is quite a small matter.  When I enlisted W Davis & Sons made certain promises and under the special circumstances, sale or not should not affect them.

            As you say it is hardly worth while sending papers out here as they are so old by the time they arrive.  Mother sends out a Cardiff weekly paper which gives some idea of what is happening.  Your news of the Western Front appeals to me very much for a special reason.

            We have been getting a lot more sleep recently, altho we are still very busy, but everything is working much more smoothly than when we came here first.  I am very glad to say that the deafness is leaving me now, altho’ there is still a ringing or buzzing noise continually in my head.  I am getting a lot more accustomed to the guns but even now if on the gun floor when the gun fires, and I have not my fingers to the ears, for a second it gives a most intense pain.

            I recently had an opportunity of examining a German dugout and it was a wonderful stronghold.  The roof was level with the ground and consisted of about 5 feet of concrete with girders interlaced; the sides were also of concrete and immensely thick, whilst the door consisted of steel.  It had however been fairly well done in by our guns & the steel doors were torn from their hinges and cut & ripped as though they were tin.  It certainly gives the impression that nothing is shellproof.  From the appearance of the interior (which when I saw it was in a very battered state) it must have been a very comfortable place, as there was a tier of bunks (spring mattresses made of wire netting) in one corner, and also a big tortoise style of stove and remnants of armchairs.  It is always easy to decide who occupied any trench out here: if the Germans there are numerous black bottles lying around, and if our men empty tins at one time containing butter, bully beef, jam etc.

            I am just going to drop Ethel a few lines so you must be content with four pages

            Yours,  Bernard.

In envelope addressed to Mr & Mrs Harry R. King, Esq., “Munmore”, Zion Road, Rathgar, Dublin. Ireland.  Ans^d 23.7.16

Postmarked FIELD POST OFFICE T.37.  19 JY 16.  Hexagonal PASSED FIELD CENSOR 3447.  Signed WD Samuels.