Appendix C

H.Q. 55^th Div Arty

With reference to operations this evening I beg to report that the Artillery bombardment and barrage was excellent.  A few shots of one battery were seen to fall short and this was corrected after two minutes.  The 2 inch T.M.s fired 149 rounds and successfully cut the enemy’s wire.  The enemy retaliated within a few minutes of the opening of our barrage with T.M.s on our Stokes Mortars near Junction Trench (one gun being knocked out after firing about 12 rounds).  His F.A. barrage seemed to be concentrated on our front line in rear of crater 2A; after half an hour the enemy was concentrating on our support line.

The effect of the Heavy Artillery was observed to be especially good, and the barrage, from the reports of our own men, put up by the Field Artillery left nothing to be desired and the bursts appeared effective. German prisoners state that our bombardment was terrible and quite a number of dead Germans were found in the trenches as a result of our bombardment.

Telephonic communications between Liaison Officer and the Group were good throughout the barrage.

The barrage according to all concerned was good throughout the operation.

I should like to bring to notice the names of every battery commander who was engaged in these operations.

They are;-

Major G.B. JOHNSON

Major J.H. FOSTER

Capt. L.M.SING

Lieut W. EILLS

Lieut T.B. TOD

Lieut J.A. RITCHIE

I would enpertrise [especially] mention Major J.H. FOSTER who acted as Liaison Officer with the O.C. enterprise throughout and who sent back most valuable information.

Also I would mention Lieut. D.M. RITCHIE my orderly officer who was responsible for the excellent telephonic communication throughout.

I should like to add that all Battery Commanders had a very hard job for the 20 minutes of the bombardment.

**** Lt. Col R.F.A.

Comdg Rt. Group

29/11/16

A.A. Laporte Payne letter 27 Nov. 1916

B.E.F.

27.xi.16

Dearest,

The entirely unexpected has happened and I have received another delightful letter from you. Thank you so much for it – how feeble a mere ‘thank you’ sounds; but I have never meant it more.  My joy at receiving it was not altogether unmixed with other feelings for it made my disappointment all the more.  I will tell you about it.

You say in your letter that you would like to see me again and ask when I expect leave again. My name had been sent in by the Colonel for a Battery Commander’s Course at Shoeburyness and I was hoping to go to England and you again (one afternoon with you alone).  The thought had made me quite crazy.  For three days I dreamt about it and planned all sorts of things and then that damned brute the General stopped it.  I could do murder with great delight.  What a lot I could have explained and I should have seen you once again under very different conditions.  Then to receive your letter!  I must have been thinking about getting home to you again at the time you were writing to me.  But perhaps after all it is the best for you that I could not get away – and I must grin and bear it.  You say I can do as I like; but I can’t because I love you.

You ask me for a photo – and could I ever refuse you anything? You may have as many as you like; but you ought to surround yourself beautiful things and not with gargoyles, unless you own to the philosophy of the beauty & the beast!

At last I have someone I can write to as I want and say what I really think. I am going to write all sorts of nonsense that is very precious to me, because I know that no one else will ever I know and because I love you.  To others I must be the same – politely sarcastic and cold as usual but not to you when we are alone.  You are the first I ever loved.  I have never been serious before.

I may have played the fool but that only helps me to realise how much you are to me.

I wonder what you are doing now. It is 6.30 pm Sunday night.  How many 6.30 pms Sunday nights I have waited for you to go to your seat at Christchurch.  You little knew how angry I was when you did not come in.  those good antediluvian days – and now – C’est la guerre!

I did not mean to say that it is for your sake as well as my own that I hesitate to write to you as I feel.  Cut out the ‘as well as my own’.

Yes! I shall certainly get tired of hearing so often from you – especially when you put such ‘silly things’!

You do put silly things when you write like that.

I am cold & homesick to no night; but not so miserable as I might be. Are you thinking of me to night, darling?

The Captain wants to know what the matter is. First I am up in the clouds & then in the dumps.  Shall I tell him?  I don’t think so.  I could not tell anyone else.

If I get the blues I read in your letters – the really nice ones! They are getting so dirty.

I am still burning insense to you my ritual consists in smoking your cigarettes in front of your photo. I wonder how many different persons you are.  You say I don’t know the real you.  But there are lots of ‘yous’ and each one is better than the other.  Some silly yet sensible man said something about variability being one of the virtues of a woman.  It avoids the crude requirements of polygamy.  So long as you have one good woman you are sure to have a spiritual harem.  What rot I am talking – but then you see I am in love.

I should like to have an album of snaps of you in all the different moods and ways of you. Quite impossible!

One day I am going to make you furiously angry – but only when I can make it up in person and not with pen & ink poorly.

Only one thing I am afraid of and that is whether you are certain or not. You must be quite mad to fall in love with me.  Aren’t you in love with love and not with me whom you know so little?  Here’s a motto for you – Nihil praeferendum honistati.

I must not write so many letters to you as you really cannot have so many arriving by post with my name on the outside – you are quite right (as always) in putting Esq^r.

Monday morning

It is a glorious day to day, but much colder. I am alone at the battery.  I should love a walk with you.  I am going to the trenches this afternoon with a signaller – what a substitute!

This morning I have been wandering around like a ‘mischievous elf’ I have started a ‘stock pot’ for the battery. I don’t know in the least how it is done; but I told the cook to put in everything from bones to brown paper.

I must close now. I hope you are well & Mrs Cross & everybody.

With all my love

Ever yours

Archie

Mr. A Smith,

C/O Mrs Griggs,

24 Parkeston Rd.,

Parkeston

Harwich

Nov 27^th 16

Dear Father

Here we are again back in the old spot.  This is a very quiet little place but it is only about 30 min walk from Dovercourt, so I am generally down there in the evening.  I was looking forward to seeing some of my old friends here but they have all been sent away at different times.  So far we have had a very easy time much better than Felixstowe.

I am glad to say I have managed to get into a very comfortable billet again, the person in the house is very good she has made a grand fire for us each evening it is even more comfortable than the other place.

Thank you for your letter; it came just a few minutes before I left.

Fancy Albert Taylor being home again, I should very much liked to have seen him. How has he been getting on I should like to know?  I hope they are all well.

It is very good of you to mention about sending a parcel it will be very acceptable. The grub is very bad here worse than Felixstowe; but I make up for it when I go down town.  I had an egg, toast, & cakes for my tea yesterday.

Well I have not very much news to tell you so I think I must finish now.

I believe we get six days leave for Christmas, but it will either be before or after nobody is allowed to be away on Christmas or Boxing day so I am looking forward to seeing you then if not before.

I hope you are well also Jess, Ethel & Winnie.

Well Au revoir

With much love

Your devoted

Son

P.S. I had a letter from Ciss I am glad she is getting on alright; have you been over there yet?

A.A. Laporte Payne letter 26 Nov 1916

France

Nov 26 1916

Muriel Darling,

Thank you so very very much for your lovely long letter which has made me quite happy again, and was more than I expected or deserved. It arrived last night while I was in the trenches for my two days tour of duty and my servant had strict instructions to bring your letter down to me if it arrived.  Your letters are all I have to live for now.

The photo came as well. It is now in front of me as I write.  How I wish you were here in person.

But will you ever forgive me for my last horrid letter to you? Of course I was not angry with you – how could I be? – but I was disappointed at not receiving the other sort.  After so anxiously waiting for your letter – cursing delays – I said what I felt.

It was anger with myself more than anything. Now I am all remorse.

Don’t take any notice of my childish note, please darling. At least I was honest in that I wrote what I felt at the time – an unreasoning anger with circumstances of my own making you see, if I did not care so much that I should not have minded.  You see how selfish I am.  I want you all so much that I get so irritable – especially out here.

There are two sides of me. Generally, I hope, I love you so much that  I could and would give you up if I saw that it would be best for you that I did so.  And I believe now that I ought.  That is why I have acted as I did for so long but I could not go away entirely and then I was weak enough to give way and please myself.

Haven’t you known how hard it has been & how near I have been to what I did that memorable Saturday evening, many times before? You see when I am away I say I will love you as I ought to do – entirely unselfishly, but when I see you I generally almost give way & say “I don’t care” but all the time I do, I do.

The thought of leaving you after that week was too much for me and now my longing for you is too much for me.

Muriel can’t you see how much better it would be for you if I loved you in the first way. All real love must be sacrifice, and I can’t, I can’t, but someday I suppose I shall have to.

You make me smile when you write of yourself as a ‘rotter’ and an ‘ordinary person’. I have met a few people before & after I met you (I haven’t forgotten that day – I wonder if you remember it – I must tell you all about it one day) – and I know – so don’t fill up your letters with that sort of thing again.

Fancy me, who have played the fool for so long and scoffed at love, being in love! But, heaven knows why you are too.  I am the happiest being on earth and yet at the same time the most miserable.

Why do you love me, Muriel? I never tried to make you.  All I dared to do was to see you sometimes and I always thought I was such a dull person at Banchfield and that you were taking pity on me.

I must hurry up as I shall not be in time for the post orderly and I want this to go this evening.

One thing is worrying me & that is about H.G. Did you refuse him in July?  And why?  He is a much better man than I am Muriel but even he is & never can be good enough for you.  What annoys me is his audacity in asking you and then I think of my own presumption – and then refuse to think at all.

Thank you so very much for having your photo taken again & for me too.

Also the small photo of a place that will be always sacred for me. Thank you too for the box of cigarettes.  I am smoking them now.  Oh! for the summer, the garden the moon and you & I.  well, if I never get that it will have been worth living for and, who knows, perhaps the other thing too.  I remember when I first came out my thoughts were of you and the old home & ever since you & they have made all this worth while.

I must close now or I shall be late. I will write again tonight.

All my love my darling

Yours always

Archie

Postcard to T. Smith Esq., 24, Palmerstone Rd., Bowes Park, London N.  Postmarked Felixstowe S.O. Suffolk 2 PM 24 NO 16.  Also endorsed Enteritis.

Nov 24^th 16

Dear Father

I hope you received my letter.

We are leaving tomorrow Saturday for Harwich; will let you know my address as soon as I get there.

I hope you are all well.

With best wishes from Alf

A.A. Laporte Payne letter 23 Nov 1916

France

Nov 23^rd 1916

Muriel!

It was perfectly horrid of you to write such a letter as I have just received. I was furious.  After waiting anxiously for a week to hear from you – cussing the delayed mails and other things – I got that.  Thank you so much for it of course.  It was nice and long, and I know I ought to be very grateful to you for writing at all and giving me such an “interesting” and newsy letter, but next time don’t forget to begin with “Dear Sir” and enclose a “Hendon & Finchley News” or whatever the thing calls itself.

But seriously, Muriel, couldn’t (or wouldn’t?) you have forgiven me that letter if you did not approve of it. You seem to acquiesce because you think I want to receive such letters.  Don’t you understand me yet?  I suppose I am much too mad for that – and I am very mad to-day.  I can see you were angry with me – unhappy me! – My best intentions and efforts seem to go wrong.

You will never be able to condemn me for sarcasm again. You were splendid – much too clever for me.  Your letter was a masterpiece, calculated to do one of two things – either to hint that I was to follow your example in future, and write copy book or you wanted to rebuke my answering you by writing as I did.

I know I am being frightfully rude and I am appalled at what I have written but I am going to send it because I know I am absolutely in the wrong and you are quite right, and you will see what a selfish creature I am still. I cannot be responsible for my actions when like this and you must forgive me my bad temper which has already reviled on my own head as I have been left alone tonight.  One is in the trenches on duty and two have gone out to dine because they said I was un-bearable.

Further there has just started a furious strafe. One of our new windows has just gone with the concussion.  A bullet went through another and also the door of my bedroom which is most annoying.  One telephone wire has been cut and the wretched linesman has been sent out by hardhearted me to patrol the line.  We have not opened fire yet but am expecting a message from the trenches at any moment.

Meanwhile I am enjoying all this as it is in accord with my mood.

It has prevented me from throwing the furniture about and breaking a few more windows and also acts as an accompaniment to my writing.

This is the rudest thing I have written or said to you and I am conceited enough to hope that you won’t be offended. You will see that I did not write “you were perfectly horrid” but “it was” whatever “it is”.

“With best wishes”!

“Yours very sincerely!

Archie

P.S. Remember that you ought to continue making copy books or cease to publish.

No 27521

Pte. A. Smith

3^rd Essex Regt

“C” Company

Felixstowe

Undated

Dear Father

Just a few lines to let you know we are so far settled.

I met my friend down here & we are now sitting on the sea-front.

We have not got to do anything until tomorrow morning so the best thing to do is to keep out of the way we know a thing or two now.

Will write more later

With much love

Your devoted

Son

Mr. A. Smith,

C/O Mrs. Dewell,

Clarkson Terrace.

12, Gainsborough Rd.,

Felixstowe.

Nov 21^st 16

Dear Father

Many thanks for sending my letters & papers on.  No doubt you have been expecting to hear from me before, but I have had so many letters to write, & we are drilling all day until tea time.

I am beginning to settle down to army life again but it seems very rough the first start off.

There are several men here that were out with me in France & more keep on coming in every day.

You will note that I have given you the address where I am staying it will be better to address letters there as I shall not have to go round to the dining hall then where they are given out.

I am pleased to say the person where we are staying is very nice she will do anything for us brings in tea & cakes, & different things; so I generally get her to make tea for me the army food is very bad.

How did you get on with the safety razor are you going to purchase one?  Guess I will see you shaving yourself next time I come home.

It has been very wet & cold here lately but today has been much better quite warm again.

How is Mr & Mrs. Warman I was pleased to receive Lilian’s letter & will write to her very soon.

I have not had time to look at the paper received this morning so if there is a letter enclosed you will understand why I have not answered it.

I have not any more news to tell you at present.

Glad to say I am feeling quite well & hope you are all in the best of health.

With much love from

Your devoted

Son

A.A. Laporte Payne letter 16 Nov 16

France

Nov 16 1916

Dearest,

No letter has ever been waited for so anxiously by me as your this time – and I got two and they arrived both together so you had your wish.

Do you really think I want you to go back to copy books and exist as we did before?  Did I mind your letter?  It was nothing to what I should like to get from you; but still it is a delightful advance on what I used to get.  But can’t you see that it is not for my own reasons but for your sake that I hesitate even now after your letters?

I should like to have a long talk with you now to explain things you can’t or won’t want to see. As I can’t write what I want to say I shall have to wait and what an awful time it will seem to me.

In the meantime what sort of modus vivandi shall there be? My letters hadn’t they better be proper ones?  How can a fellow resist when you urge him to do what he wants to do.  I don’t want to receive proper ones if you feel at all inclined to write the other sort.

At the end of one letter you say you were stuck though not for lack of ideas. Can’t you let me have some of those ideas?  Let me know just what you think and feel.  When I want you so much real letters will be something, and I shall get to know what you are really like – your real self which you say I shall hate.  Shall I?  (I must never be sarcastic again though must I?)  You will only confirm what I know already.

You are a darling to think of me on Sunday last. It was a horrid day for me leaving you as I did, but perhaps it is just as well for you and everybody else that I had to go.  You would probably get tired of me and I should certainly want to monopolise too much of you.

There is one sentence in your letter which I have read over and over again and which made me so happy. Can you guess which it is?  My love, and I do love you, Muriel – didn’t you always know it? – It seemed such an insult to offer you.

Two attempts at writing this letter were interrupted first by the Colonel and then by the Captain. Your letters arrived here last night and I could not resist writing at once to thank you so very much for your three.

It is bitterly cold here now and with no fire and a wind blowing my hands are so cold that I can’t hold a pen properly – so please excuse writing. Last night I was down in the trenches and it was cold.  I would have given anything to have been dining once more at Branchfield.

Doesn’t it seem strange after all this time to be writing like this. Will it make it easier or harder for you to write?  I wonder.  You will have to teach me how to write a love letter.  I know I can’t do it yet.  However much I could make love to your person writing is not so easy.  It seems so cold and ordinary.  Will you have a large photo taken of yourself and send it to me and then I can put it in front of me when I write?

You ask me if I am sure I have not made a mistake. I have no fear on that, but are you sure?  I have real fears on that point.  You are the first who has ever made me unselfish – so you see you have done some good already.  One thing I do ask of you and that is to be honest with yourself and I shall be quite happy.

Shall want to talk about when I see you again. I wonder how you will treat me then.

I wonder if I shall get a letter tonight. How I shall long for the mail now.  We had no English mail on Wednesday night you can imagine how furious I was .  This is the third letter I have written to you in five days.  I shall, like you, have to put the brake on.

I hope you and Mrs Cross and everybody are keeping well

With all my love

Ever your

Archie

A.A. Laporte Payne letter 14 Nov 1916

France

Nov 14^th 1916

My dear Muriel,

On my return last night to this beastly place I found your letter on Nov 1^st awaiting me, in which you say that I “may be in England before this gets to France”.  What a wonderful person you are.  How did you guess?

I was very glad to see your handwriting. It cheered me up a lot.

Leave seemed like a delicious dream now it is all over.

That is the worst of having such a good time. If people would only make it unpleasant then we should not mind coming back.  Thank you so much for contributing in no small way to making the short time at home so delightful.

When you have existed for half a year solely for the purpose of living for one week you can realise that it must be an extraordinary good week not to fall flat.  Anticipation is so often better than realisation; but it was not so this time.

Reg and I had breakfast on Sunday morning at 6.30 and he came to see me off at Victoria when I met a fellow I knew.  We had a couple of hours at Folkestone which we spent on the Leas.  It was very calm – not like the journey over.  We left Boulogne at 4 am the next morning and arrived at the Wagon Line at noon, when I had a bath and a shave.  I rode to the Gun Line in the evening.  Everybody is in a very bad way and instead of being cheered up I was still more depressed.  One Sub was in hospital with influenza.  Another had rheumatism so badly that he could not ride his horse.

The remaining one was ‘fed up’ because he had nearly all the work to do. The Captain was in the dumps as he had fallen out rather badly with the Colonel.

So you see what a cheery crowd I joined, and I did not make matters better at all.

We are in the same place but may move at any time.

I tried to get this letter off by to-day’s post, but I am afraid it is too late now. We have been rather busy to-day.

How did the second rehearsal of the Strolling Players go off? It will be over by the time you get this.  I wonder if you will arrive home at 10 pm this time!

My work is over for the day, I hope. I have just finished censoring letters and writing returns and intelligence reports which all takes time and is very boring.  My occupation seems to have had a bad effect on my letter.  This one is very flat I am afraid and have to apologise for the mad previous one but please remember it was written on Saturday night.

I hope you are keeping well

With best wishes

Yours very sincerely

Archie