Hospital

Oct 15^th 016

Woolwich

Dear Rev Walters

Pardon me for not writing to you, but I am in hospital again, & I do not know when I shall be out, but as soon as I am free again I will write to you.

Please accept my sincere regards

Yours most sincerely

J.W. Brotherhood.

Don’t write back.

In envelope addressed to Rev T.W. Walters M.A., Vicar of Whitwick, Whitwick Vicarage, Leicestershire.  Redirected to Leigh Rectory Oakham.

Letter postmarked WOOLWICH 20 OC 16.

YMCA postcard 29 Nov 016

Rev T.W. Walters M.A.

Vicar of Whitwick

Whitwick

Leicester shire

From Pte J.W. Brotherhood

4^th Res Batt Leic Regt A Coy

Address reply to Anglo-Continental Paper Co Louth Lincoln shire

Dear Rev Walters,

I see by the “The Coalville Times” that Mr J.J. Clarke desires the name & address of the Whitwick soldiers.  I have forgotten Mr Clarkes address so will you please inform him of my Regimental address which is on the back of this card.  You will see that I have changed Companies & also billets.  My home address is 64, Brooks Lane.

I Remain yours very Sincerely

J.W. Brotherhood.

Card postmarked LOUTH 30 NO 16.

YMCA postcard 29 Nov 016

From Pte J.W. Brotherhood 4564

4^th Res Batt Leic Regt A Coy

Address reply to Signalling Sec, Eastfield House, Louth, Lincs.

Dec 22^nd

Dear Rev Walters,

Many thanks for the Card.  Please accept my compliments.  Am writing you a letter on subject “When the Boys come Home” – reference to our conversation when I was last with you.

With best wishes I am Sincerely

J.W. Brotherhood.

Card postmarked LOUTH 23 DE 16.

France

October 15^th 1916

My dear Harry,

You will have been wondering what on earth has happened to me.  This is the first opportunity I have had of writing you for ages & ages.  I had your letter of the first on the ninth.  Since then we have been moving & working hard.  We joined the battalion again & fifty of us had to come here two days after.  We work like niggers here.  It is heavy & occupies nearly the whole day.  The letters I have sent Mother have been very short notes.  Thank Ethel for the fruit & sweets in the parcel Mother sent.  It arrived at the Prisoners Cage the day before we left.  A bottle costs five francs (4/2^d).  We wouldn’t mind giving up such luxuries to come home again.  Whilst we were at the PC latterly the rest of the battalion went up to the trenches & advanced a couple of hundred yards magnificently.  They went over the top & were under terrible machine gun fire.  We rest blue pencilled.  They had rest blue pencilled.  They were shelled constantly.  Some fellows only went up for the last night & yet they went under.  The battalion now is very different from when it left Aldershot.  My little crowd of pals who left Highbeach are nearly all wounded, several of them seriously.  I was the only machine gunner in our company left.  Rogers was one of the few N.C.O’s to come through safely.  Dickson is reported as wounded.  Any amount of people saw him so but do not know what happened to him afterwards.  Being away from the battalion means a delay in having letters but I am becoming very anxious as when Jack Francis was wounded I heard about five days afterwards.  He was last seen wounded in a shell hole & I am hoping he is all right.  Of course with all the excitement & plenty to do the mail is in a very confused state.  Jack Francis sent me a letter which arrived yesterday.  He is in St. Helens, Lancs.  I have an idea we have started leave at a tortoise’s pace.  I know not how it will affect we fifty but we are all looking forward to getting some.  Lister, a Crossleys boy was killed & Rippon, another, was wounded in the last affair.  I must write to the school & tell them one day.  When the survivors get their commissions I am afraid few of the Aldershot men will be left.  In these times we get drafts from anywhere & the fellows of our old depot companies have gone similarly to any other battalion.  If ever your group is called up I advise you to join anything but the infantry but I hope the Government won’t let you.  We miss the old fellows terribly.  Food is rather at a premium here.  The army is by no means generous & there is only a Y.M.C.A. which I haven’t had time or have been too tired to visit.  We might be worse off though, but as Mr Bristows says, not much.  I don’t know what on earth to say.  There doesn’t seem to be any news.  So I think I will close with love to Ethel.  I am

Your loving brother,

Alan.

Oct 17^th.  We moved last night after having rejoined the battn the previous day at a nice village to another decent little town near the very big one where we were before only for a few days I expect.

I received your & Ethel’s letters of the eighth yesterday & will reply again.

Very busy now.

On Active Service envelope addressed to Harry R King, Esq., Glen Hilda, 38, Park Avenue, Worcester.  Ans^d 22/10/16

Postmarked FIELD POST OFFICE 117 18 OC 16.  Hexagonal Passed Field Censor 3274 cachet.  Signed ** Bollard.

YORK 14 OC 16

D & M.S. Marlbro Lines.

To Major Scovell General Staff Northern Command York.

Am applying to obtain services of Capt Dorman Smith as instructor School Aldershot.

RJK

TO CONFIRM TELEGRAM

42

General Staff,

Northern Command.

To General Kentish, Marlborough Lines, ALDERSHOT

G.4716  Oct. 14^th aaa Will you postpone Dorman-Smith’s application until you hear from me aaa writing tonight

From Major Scovell.

TO CONFIRM TELEGRAM

33

General Staff,

Northern Command.

To General Kentish,

Senior Officers School,

Marlborough Lines,

ALDERSHOT

G.4700 Oct. 13^th aaa Will you be able to take Captain Dorman-Smith 5^th Northumberland Fus Fusiliers as an instructor otherwise shall try to get him myself.

From Scovell

O.H.M.S. 60

A.G. B*** Major,

Senior Officers School

To Major Scovell, General Staff, Northern Command York                  14^th Oct 1916

Am applying to obtain services Capt Dorman Smith as Instructor

From School Aldershot.

——————————————–

General KENTISH,

MARLBOROUGH LINES,

ALDERSHOT.

G.O.C. here most anxious for you to lecture officers school and others on leadership aaa early next week would suit if convenient.

Do come if you can.

Major Scovell, Brocton Camp.

Headquarters,

Northern Command,

YORK.

15^th Oct, 1916

My Dear R.J.K.,

Here is an unsolicited testimonial to the Northern Command which is rather pleasant reading:-

“I am running the 2^nd Anzac Corps Schools here and in consequence have had many opportunities of seeing numerous and varied Schools in this country.  I thought it might interest you to hear that in my humble opinion the Northern Command Training Schools have not much to learn from this side of the Channel but that the reverse in many instances is very much the case.”

Yours ever

(Sgd) G.J. Scovell.

Brig. Genl. R.J. Kentish D.S.O.,

Army and Navy Club,

Pall Mall,

LONDON, W.

Please remember to send me your dossier you promised me.  I am dying to get it.

France 7^th October 1916

Tuesday

My Dear Ethel,

Just a few lines to answer your very nice, although short letter of the 29^th.  I quite understand that Harry steals all the news & leaves you practically nothing to write about but next time you write first and do him in.  Now I have written him a fairly long letter and practically exhausted myself so I am afraid this letter will also be short.

I very much hope Alan will be able to get home, wouldn’t it be fine if I could get home at the same time but I don’t think it is much good thinking of leave at all.

I think you deserve to get into hot water, reading other people’s letters, but I have said enough in Harry’s letter.  I do want though to buy you both a Christmas present & hope you will help Mother by telling her what you would like.  Will you please me?

I am glad you like Madge’s husband and hope it will help to break your loneliness: it is a pity though that it is so awkward getting to their place.

My sympathy is entirely with the man in the antique shop.  In a heated argument with an Irish woman he could not expect to do any good.  Did he know the person he was talking to was Irish?

Well now I must get to bed so you must excuse more tonight.

With fondest love

I am, Yours,

Bernard.

P.S. How are Ada & Cecil getting on – remember me to them when you write and also everyone else I know in Dublin.  B

No envelope with this letter.

There is an earlier envelope marked On Active Service envelope addressed to Harry R King, Esq., Glen Hilda, Park Avenue, Worcester, England.

Ans^d 8/10/16

Postmarked FIELD POST OFFICE R.6.  2 OC 16.  Hexagonal PASSED FIELD CENSOR 3624.  Signed T.B. Cox

There is no letter with this envelope.