Personal Diary Entry: 21st May 1916

Went to church in the evening.

Letter to Mother: 21st May 1916

My dear Mother

Tell Dorothy to continue sending out 7d books; I should also like a couple of thin shirts and drawers (linen if there are any) sent out with the next parcel. We are having perfect weather again now and are having an easy in the chateau. I attended a large gathering yesterday about 25 miles away, everyone was there from all over the place., including lots of people I hadn’t seen for years. We had a very good lunch afterwards, and a very pleasant drive there and back, on the way back we looked in at another small demonstration, and brought a few people on to tea here, where we found the divisional band playing in our garden. Roger Brand and Guy Sawyer came and looked us up just before we moved back here. Jack Brand left on leave three days ago to get married. Everyone seems to be going home to get married just now.

I got a letter from Graham telling me about Archie, and seems very doubtful about his getting a commission.

All the pink and white may and horse chestnuts are in full bloom everywhere now.

Your loving son

Cuthbert

Personal Diary Entry: 20th May 1916

Breaking up day of the Army School at Flexicourt. Fuller, Gee and I went over in a car. Perfect weather. The usual crowd from all parts of the country. Napper Tandy, Armitage, Luckock, Hugo Headlam, Roger Brand and many other people including General Paris, Naval Division and Sketchley who have just arrived in the country, also Dowell, now a Brigadier.

They gave us a very good lunch. After lunch we went on to the trench mortar school at Valereux, where we had a small demonstration as to the utility of trench mortars. It was not convincing as De Lisle upset their set scheme and made them do it more under service conditions. Bayley and Fuller came back to tea, and we found the Divn band playing in our chateau garden.

Personal Diary: 19th May 1916

In the morning the RIF turned out all available officers and NCOs and carried out a scheme with the Royal Flying Corps, sending & receiving messages with an aeroplane and signalling by flares. Not a great success. The Borders repeated the exercise in the afternoon.

De Lisle, Fuller and Abbot all turned up about tea time. I exercised a new horse, that has just been issued me, after tea. It seems a useful sort of animal.

Personal Diary Entry: 18th May 1916

The Brigade was relieved by the 88^th Bde in the trenches during the afternoon and evening. The KOSB went into the huts in Mailly Wood, SWB in Acheux Wood, Borders and RIF at Laurencourt with Bde Hd qrs. Relief completed without incident. Perfect summer weather again the last two days. Roger Brand and Guy Sawyer turned up in a car about 3.30pm just when all our kit had been packed up, and Cayley had arrived to take over, Jack Brand left at 4am for England to get married.

Letter to Mother: 8th May, 1916

My dear Mother

I went in yesterday to a certain town some distance off to attend a concert for wounded French and English soldiers got up by the French. On arrival (a few minutes late) we found the house full up. However the Corps Commander happened to arrive at the same moment and he took us into his box. It was quite a good show. It began at 1.30pm and we had to leave when it was about two thirds through after 5 o’clock. They were all star performers, with two or three acts from operas etc.

Otherwise the week has been dull. We are still up in the trenches, and a little mild bickering is going on. 

The rats over my bedroom are in the pink of training, they are all out the whole night going for all they are worth. In the morning the bed is alwys covered with oats they kick through the ceiling. I wish they would get a big shell among them when I am out to quiet them down a bit. 

It has turned poisonously cold again today just as I have started summer underclothes, there was hail at intervals. This village is in a mass of orchards all round and they are really looking very nice just now.

You will feel very lost without the car. I wonder whether Peggy will return, if so she had better come out here.

Love to all

Your loving son

Cuthbert

Letter to Mother: 9th April 1916

My dear Mother, 

We are having a quiet time here, and the flowers and fruit trees in our back garden are looking quite nice, all the anemones and small yellow flowers in the wood and orchards are out. A paragraph in the official despatch in the papers of the 8th refers to us, and was unpleasant while it lasted.

The man who took the photos of our staff college trip came to see me the other day. I have seen all sorts of people here lately which makes it rather pleasant. They dropped a couple of bombs on us this morning one fell against the wall of the house we recently moved out of, but only smashed most of the windows, the other was a most indifferent shot. Roger Brand was in to tea yesterday looking very fat and well, I haven’t seen him since I left school. Please order a refill for our orilux electric torch made by J H Steward 406 Strand to be sent out to me; also tell Hales that I am not in a field artiIlery brigade and I want my papers addressed properly. It has turned colder again now. I should like to have seen the garden the day after the blizzard.

Your loving son

Cuthbert

Letter to Mother 3rd April 1916

My dear mother, 

We got across all right without any trouble on the night of the 29^th. On arrival (about 10pm) we found a car waiting for us, so we started off at once. I got to my billets at 1.30am to find the brigade was marching at 7.30am so I didn’t get much sleep. We marched about nineteen miles that day, and got into some very uncomfortable billets where we stayed until yesterday, all the men were in canvas huts, we got a fairly good farm to live in. Yesterday we did another longish march and are going into the trenches. Our head quarters are in quite a good house. There appears to be a good arrangement here, we don’t shell their village as long as they don’t shell ours. 

 

The line is very quiet except for one small bit of ours that they object to. We shall not be in for very long, and then out again for a rest.

The weather at present is perfect, warm sunny days. 

Love to everyone. 
Your loving son, Cuthbert