Fit as Fiddles and as Hard as Nails

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[13 April 1917] probably be very disgusted – but the first drop he takes puts him over! And then he has a continuous smile – certainly his whole <face> seems to light up and beam at you, everyone he comes to he claims as an old friend and embraces affectionately, and generally tends to make things merry! he sings some rather good songs as well.

By the time we’d walked the five miles home I was quite glad there was nothing in the morning till 10.0.

I am really quite getting on at signalling there was a test this morning on the buzzer (Morse – short & long buzzes). I read messages correctly up to 8 words a minute and got most of one sent at 10. Of course a good signaller will read up to 30 or 40 words a minute but that takes months if not years of practice.

Today the weather has changed again – the wind has dropped and it has got quite mild but a soft steady rain has been falling all day – of course we’d rather <have> sun & bright days – but its a very great improvement on the continuous high wind and snow storms we were having up to last week.

As you say its a bit heart breaking being away from the battery just when things start waking up, it will be intensely

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[13 April 1917] was such a perfect day yesterday that I went out for a walk right away after lunch and by the time I got back it was time to set off for the town.

I just got your letter of 12th a short time ago – certainly three days from Ireland seems truly wonderful – the postal organisation must be a perfect marvel.

The little book is a real pleasure – I haven’t had time to look at it much, but certainly it seems a delightful thing to have. [Edward Howell Being and Doing] I shall certainly have it with me wherever I go.

Well as I said yesterday we had a little dinner – I don’t <know> if I told you that about half the course are Canadians – and we are in two Messes – Canadians in one and Imperials in the other – with the exception of myself who am in the Canadian Mess. The dinner was given by the Canadians to the rest including the School staff, a Captain and two Lieut instructors. I think it was a great success. There were 7 courses and plenty of drinks etc! One course consisted of plum pudding, which was brought in in a beautiful blaze and continued to burn as it was being handed round. Certainly the Canadians all <are> a real goodhearted, jolly set. There is one great chap – his name is Ireland and he’s a Scotch Canadian – you’ll

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[13 April 1917] an officer came down with a wireless set and some other new apparatus just come out, he gave lectures & demonstrations which were distinctly interesting, and I enjoyed looking at his apparatus. The course finishes the end of next week – I am very much wondering how I’ll find the battery and how they will have got on.

Now its getting rather late and I’m getting a bit sleepy so will leave this over to finish tomorrow.

(14th) Just a few lines before breakfast is brought in – this is another heavenly morning I do hope its the same with you – I think you really must have shaken off winter this time.

As you see my pen is now running quite well again; so I shan’t need the stilo yet a bit thank you so much for suggesting it all the same.

I sent the cover to Hanhart at the battery, and duly had a letter from him saying the book had been sent off on the 7th.

As to signalling in the battery, it is just as well for officers to be able to signal but not necessary – as there are the signallers to do that job. (15th) I’m afraid I have been very bad about not getting this letter – especially as yesterday, Sat. we stopped work 12.30.

We had a little dinner arranged for the evening in the town where I had my last course, some 5 miles from here – It

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[13 April 1917] Id be up at the O.P. before daylight – have maps telephone etc all ready. Then at the first stream of dawn start off. “Battery Action! Gunfire commence firing” – I’ll bet the battery would get the stuff through quick enough too! I keep on pumping it in – with an occasional switch as I’d finished with one section – and wouldn’t leave off till the last rays had faded from the sky – there’d be scores of batteries each with their own sector, a good few 12″ & 15″ sprinkled in and occasional little “hors d’oevres” of gas <acid> & liquid fire etc. for any stray Hun who might want a little extra excitement and by the time the operation was finished I be ready to offer a pretty useful reward to anyone who <was> able to identify the site of the town!!! I’m afraid you’ll think I’m getting a Hun myself – but thats what one feels like sitting in the midst of complete ruin pumping stuff into what must once have been quite a nice little French village; and picturing all the Huns sitting smug and comfortable in the houses without so much as a slate falling off their roof. – Well anyway so much for that – for certainly there’ll be some pretty terrible work done when we do get into Germany – which it would seem, may not be so very far off after all.

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13 April 1917

Signal School 1st Army

Dear Mother

I have been getting grand budgets of letters lately, which always give great delight. I have two grand letters from yourself with some most excellent chocolate in one – also one from V & one from Em which I rather think I acknowledged through V. Certainly I had nearly given up attempting to understand the weather – e.g. Wed – well into April and started a bitter cold windy day, and midday started to rain which soon turned to snow and continued almost steady, a regular blizzard right through the night to next morning – sickening for the present work against the Hun – anyway today at last was a real perfect spring day, the wind quite moderate & drying & hardly a cloud. I went for a short walk this evening and everything was looking simply grand. I do hope you are having the same.

By the way you talk of not strafing Hunland well I suppose when one thinks of it somberly it is the thing – but I must say I’ve often longed for the days – when there’s a nice smugly prosperous German town in front – Cologne from accounts would do well to begin on – and then give us unlimited ammun[itio]n long days and good observation.

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[13 April 1917] Well to change the subject a bit one of the budget of letters I got yesterday was quite a pleasant one from the battery saying that my acting Captaincy had gone through all right – so now I’m 2nd Lieut acting Capt. and can put up the badge of Capt and draw the pay, in fact really its just the same as substantive rank of Capt as far as practice goes. Certainly its a bit of luck – I’m afraid I can claim no credit – simply a pure piece of luck happening to fall my way!

Anyway the extra pay will come in handy. As I told Veronica we had an exam the end of last week – the result has now come out and I’m afraid is not very good as far as I’m concerned – I was bottom in one paper – and 4th in the other – I don’t think the Examiner had very much experience in correcting and imagine that they won’t give full marks for an ordinary short concise answer unless its followed by a lot of talk & blather – anyway I’ll know for next time The papers were both rather puerile – and I don’t imagine the instructor could teach me very much about elementary electricity & magnetism – which was one paper – I asked the examiner to give back the corrected papers but he would not do so. I think everybody was surprised at the method of marking.

Today was quite an interesting day as

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[10 April 1917] have to lay out 3 miles of wire under a furious Hun bombardment – with an hour to do it in!!!! It would amuse and interest me to watch the instructor doing it.

The guns must be pretty busy now. One can see the continuous series of flashes lighting up the whole sky towards the line though one can’t hear them which rather surprises me, as we’re only some 25 miles or so away – I suppose its on account of the wind being wrong.

Now I quite realise that this has somehow turned out a stupid letter – but I’m getting sleepy and stupid so will say good night now. Yrs v lvg Charles.

I’m so sorry this is such a rotten letter must try and do better next time!

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[10 April 1917] Anyway from accounts I have faint hopes you may have to pause a bit for Chinese & Japanese!! – when do you start Hindustani? By the way don’t forget the common language English while you’re at it – at least not till we all learn Esperanto!!!

As to your questions – there is an A.S.C. driver for the car – so we have nothing to do with the driving – he is a very good man, and has a wonderful sense of direction and memory for roads – which is an invaluable gift out here – he would go over any distance once only night or day and could at any time no matter how long after, take you there without hesitation – night or day, its wonderful – I don’t know how its done at all. The course is four weeks altogether so it should finish the end of the week after next. I do wonder how the battery is doing, pretty busy I expect by now.

I saw some time ago Punch had been raised to 6d. will you please let me know the extra so that I can send a cheque.

I suppose you will have heard details by now of the bank holiday entertainment we had for the Huns – the last wires here were all right.

(Later) We heard the result of the Exam this evening. I was bottom in one paper with

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[10 April 1917] 26 out of 50 and middling in the other with 44 – I can hardly set up as an unpreducised critic but the result seems to be to tell a good deal more against the examiner than the examined – however I console myself for by considering that if I could have the instructor for a weeks course in electricity etc & in the setting and correcting of Exam papers he might have done better a fact rather brought out by the fact that when I asked him he refused to let us have the corrected papers back. An ordinary examiner in the first instance would have set a less puerile paper and if he had to correct it would have given full marks in one case and pretty near full in the second.

The lectures every day from 5.30 – 6.30 are also intensely stupid and boring – flag wagging during the day is quite interesting though – I’ll be the real signaller when I’m finished!! I believe they expect people at the end of the course to be 1st class signall instructors a position which really I understand takes at least a year to reach! Anyway its interesting to learn the elements of electricity and magnetism and the exact no. of inches a stay should be fixed from the foot of a pole in an air line. Can’t <you> picture me taking out my foot rule – slide rule etc when I return to the battery and

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10 April 1917

Signal School 1st Army

Dear Win

Thank you so much for your last letter you’re right it was very ungrateful of me to forget to acknowledge the chocolate. I had it in my mind when I started writing and remembered it again when the letter had gone but of course that wasn’t much good to you – thank you so much for thinking of sending it – it came in most acceptable – though as a matter <of fact> all the French shops are now packed with chocolate etc. still of course one can’t always get into a shop specially about 3.o’cl in the morning.

I expect you have heard all my news from home so there really isn’t much to say, the course is going on smoothly enough. We had an Exam last week end which was rather a futile effort, except for succeeding satisfactorily in breaking up my week end with Jack.

It was certainly grand seeing him again and the weather actually condescended to be grand. Though now of course the usual cold & wind & snow storms again. Certainly no more of France for me after this war.

I sometimes get a wee bit anxious for you and V. – I’m afraid by the time I call back, home will be a perfect Babel