Category Archives: Letter – Charles Wynne

Needless to say I didn’t recognise him

TCD MS 10247/1/838 folio 3 verso

TCD MS 10247/1/838 folio 3 verso

[12 May 1917] walked in and greeted me genially – needless to say I didn’t recognise him – but it turned out to be Samuelson of Queenstown! he is quite near so hope to see him again soon.

I had a photo taken which I am sending

TCD MS 10247/1/838 folio 2 recto

TCD MS 10247/1/838 folio 2 recto

[12 May 1917] green woods and trees was enough to do one real good. Coming back to the old battery position again after such a topping peaceful afternoon and a nice quiet little French tea – made me guess the first feelings coming back from leave!

I was so glad to get all the letters – I hope you’ll consider them thanked for as they arrive! You may be very sure that even if I’ve no time for meals I’ll make time for reading letters all right – as a matter of fact we aren’t really so busy as all that and the busy times rather come in bursts – then even if one is up all night one can usually make up for a good bit during next day. – Anyway the post still remains the great event of the day. – Please thank V for her letter which was grand – it’s awfully good putting a few chocolates in – I’m an awful glutton for chocolates.

(13th) This letter didn’t get finished yesterday so I must try and finish it by post time today – <its now> about 12 o’cl[ock] and almost too hot to move – simply glorious weather for slacking and doing nothing – and as a matter of fact we are probably having a few days slack – I don’t say rest though I still have hopes of its becoming a proper rest.

How splendid about the mines – I do hope things start moving soon. – it looks as if they would doesn’t it. Now its really two hot to collect my thoughts so will stop – By the way I had a photo taken at the course which I am sending – it think its rather good don’t you? – Post up must stop & haven’t time to send photo – will send it next time – By the way wasn’t it a coincidence: The day I was getting the pay: I was in a canteen when a chap –

Acres & acres & acres of utter desolation

TCD MS 10247/1/838 folio 1 recto

TCD MS 10247/1/838 folio 1 recto

12 May 1917

Dear Mother,

I have a day off today and we have for the moment a fairly easy time so can start writing letters. I wonder did you get the two letters I have written since rejoining the battery. I stupidly forgot to letter them but they should have been [? II] of V and I’m not quite sure of the dates though I think they should be 3rd & 7th or somewhere about those dates – Just now there’s nothing much to tell except the usual constant pounding of the guns – One of our officers who was on special leave owing to some family affair has returned which makes things a lot better for us officers. – Yesterday I had a little run on the battery car to the Field Cashiers for the battery pay – it was the first time I had been out of the zone of activity since rejoining the battery and you really cant imagine the effect – When I came back from the course there was not yet any real green out though the buds had begun to swell, but now all the trees are in their first <full> fresh show of our good old green and all the fruit trees in blossom and the green fields and all. All this after waking up day after day to these acres & acres & acres of utter desolation without even a blade of grass as far as the eye can reach – all utter brown mass of waste only broken by the various wreckage of war – cast away equipment – broken rifles and all through it scattered about the little wooden crosses with perhaps a little inscription written up by a pal – well suddenly coming out into the full blast of spring seems like coming into a dream. – and driving along in the car – through normal country – with the fresh

I was so sorry to hear of your headache

TCD MS 10247/1/837 folio 3 recto

TCD MS 10247/1/837 folio 3 recto

[7 May 1917] I was so sorry to hear of your head ache – I do hope you aren’t having many of such foolish things you needn’t ask me the question – what use would I have for headaches and such, these times! – they’re really quite out of date as far as I am concerned. How fine the Works and mines still on the ascendant. I do hope the job will quickly be definitely fixed up – now I’m a bit sleepy so will turn in – so goodnight – I will try to finish and get this off tomorrow..

Y[ou]r ever l[o]v[in]g

Charles.

I’m jolly glad I’m not a Hun

TCD MS 10247/1/837 folio 1 recto

TCD MS 10247/1/837 folio 1 recto

7 May 1917

Dear Mother

Thank you so much for your last letter – I was so glad to get the good accounts of things generally – certainly the weather is enough to make anything look up – even war.

All keeps O.K. here: except with the Hun – you talk about sparing him – well when you watch his stretcher bearers walking all over the place unharmed; while he is shooting down ours as soon as he sees them – and you read of his method of fighting in the recent sea scrap – you begin to see there’s only one argument for him. The French know it all right but I don’t believe it’s sunk into our chaps yet – still for the time we get into Germany – I’m jolly glad I’m not a Hun – he doesn’t understand what a clean fight is. –

You were asking about my address – Capt is quite O.K – there are a lot of acting ranks about – e.g. our Major – who is really a Capt. – I hope soon to get credit of back pay, which won’t be bad.

I’m afraid I probably won’t be able to write many letters as we’re very busy now. I have a slack day today – by chance more than anything else, but usually its night and day – the battery has a permanent programme involving twelve hours shooting a day till further orders – this is quite apart from other work that comes in every day – 200 rounds

I don’t think the Hun has got more damage left in him

TCD MS 10247/1/836 folio 9 recto

TCD MS 10247/1/836 folio 9 recto

[2 May 1917] despair will be greeted with loud roars of laughter! I’ve certainly never had more laughs than out here – our mess is really a sort of perpetual pantomine – War would certainly be a terrible thing if taken seriously – so the only way out of it is as long as you can to refuse to take it as such – certainly so far we have I think been a phenomenally lucky battery – long may it last. I certainly don’t think the old Hun has got much damage left in him but of course we don’t get the news like you do at home.

Well now goodbye Mother dear very much love to you all.

Your very lov[ing]

Charles.

So glad V. over the measles though surely she needn’t have made it German in war time

Our Officers Mess is a shell hole with a tarpaulin over it

TCD MS 10247/1/836 folio 8 recto

TCD MS 10247/1/836 folio 8 recto

[2 May 1917] Certainly its great luck the weather being so grand – our Officers Mess is at present a shell hole with a tarpaulin over it – sounds like real campaigning doesn’t it? but when one goes on to say that the hole has been more or less squared off and has a nice folding round table in the middle with a table cloth really if one didn’t look at floor or roof I might almost imagine myself at the little table at the Cottage; home again! All the men are in various extraordinary little shacks improvised all round, and as long as <the> weather lasts all are as comfortable as could be.

Certainly I think the result of all this business will be that when we’re all home again the little jobs that used to completely to prostrate us with

I don’t expect we’ll have spare time just now

TCD MS 10247/1/836 folio 7 recto

TCD MS 10247/1/836 folio 7 recto

[2 May 1917] Well certainly the weather since I joined the battery has been really heavenly – the only thing I’m sorry for is now that everything must be rushing out leaves flowers etc – of course here we don’t have things like trees so can’t watch them coming out.

I was awfully glad to get the letters from you & Em.

I do hope something will soon be fixed up about the mines – it would be great if it could be.

Will you say how glad I was to get letters from Aunt Clara & Aunt Fanny – I don’t expect we’ll have a great deal of spare time just now – but I’ll try & write if I get the chance.

How good Bob getting home for a bit of leave – I’m so glad he’s well –

One is plagued at all hours by returns and reports to HQ

TCD MS 10247/1/837 folio 2 recto

TCD MS 10247/1/837 folio 2 recto

[7 May 1917] here – 400 there – which means that getting on for a thousand rounds are fired everyday; the shell alone weighing 100 lbs each comes to some 50 tons which has to be unloaded from lorries – carried up to the gun & finally put through – which you see gives the men a pretty useful amount of work – besides this theres always work about the battery – improving gun pits – making ammunition shelters – checking stores and providing shelters for them – making shelters for gun detachments as well as all the 101 little things that continually want attending to – so you see it’s usual half the night and all day hard at it which puts a great strain on the men.

Then one is plagued at all hours of the day by returns and reports to hqrs – the list of which alone covers a couple of pages of foolscap. – and every odd moment one has to speak on the ‘phone to hdqrs about some inane matter so I must say ones apt occasionally to get a bit “shirty”. But still there’s always a joke going in the battery and its wonderful how well we all get on – I think somehow it would be a bit of an eye opener to the Hun if he could see it! And all the time we’re cheered up by knowing that it won’t be so very long now

Its wonderful the complete peace of an early morning

TCD MS 10247/1/836 folio 6 recto

TCD MS 10247/1/836 folio 6 recto

[2 May 1917] with the old trench warfare and things are altogether different – there is nothing the Hun can put up that can worry us. You can imagine the German soldiers feelings driven to a counter attack at dawn after perhaps half a dozen previous ones have been literally wiped off the earth by the guns before they even get near. Its wonderful the complete peace & silence of an early morning till on the minute <when> with one crash everything opens up, from the hundreds of field guns right up to old “Grannie” the 15″ how[itzer] who puts over nearly a ton of metal at a time! It would surely break any infantry specially when they feel that their artillery does practically nothing.