LETTERS

From 'Letters to a Soldier', 1915 to 1919 ...
Those of May to December 1916

Beechwood Mossley, Mchr,
May 27/1 6

Dear Cecil,

Your FPC of the‘2I St duly recd. I regret to say I made a mistake in sending ojf last week ’s parcel which came back here to have the No ofthe Regt put on last Wednesday. We corrected it immediately and sent it of the second time and Idaresay you will get it today. I am sorry this has put you to any inconvenience, for
we had only been flattering ourselves lately how well the thing had worked from the beginning. I trust the same mistake was not made with the letter enclosing the £1 note. However if the letter has not reached you let us know at once and we will replace it. We are anxious to know how you like your new job and are looking out for the letter.

Shaw Dawson is over at present, probably on his last leave. Mr Walsh left for France (or somewhere) last week. Alec is still here, not yet had his personal call. He has had some photos taken one of which he gives me to enclose with this letter. I hope you are keeping quite well. Hope also that you have found your new work is preferable and more congenial to you.

We in England are watching the struggle at Verdun with intense interest; the news tonight is satisfactory, the French seem to be defending the place most tenaciously and are inflicting heavy losses on the Germans. A great many people are now wanting the war to be over and I think that peace ought soon to be bought about. We sincerely hope this will be so, as the cruelty of the whole ajfair is beginning to shock the sensible people. Today we have had O’Donnell to tea. His brother as you know is a prisoner in Germany and is quite well. He gets the parcels they send out, but the Germans sometimes pinch the tea and sugar. Last night we sent your weekly parcel containing currant bread cheese, peaches, cream, health-salt, mints, cigars, cigarettes and a writing pad and envelopes. Hoping to hear from you soon, and with best love from all,

Your affectionate Father

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Beechwood Mossley, June 2/I6

Dear Cecil,

I enclose you a treasury note value £1 as the one sent in our letter of May 20th does not appear to have reached you. I fear a similar mistake was made with that letter as with the parcel that was returned viz the omission on my part to put on the no. of the Batn. I have made enquiries at the GPO today and hope to get the missing letter and contents returned here. For your information I am enclosing a copy herewith of the missing letter. Today we sent off your weekly parcel containing Plum cake, tart, syrup, apricots, health salt, chocolate, cigars, cigarettes and Bachelor’s buttons.

We were pleased to get your letter to Elsie which she replied to immediately.

Tomorrow, Elsie, Marion and Alec and one or two other friends have arranged for a long walk over the hills, I think the weather afer a few bad days is more promising and I hope they will have a good time. Jessie is here to tea; she says Charlie is now at home on leave; he is learning machine-gunning and has not yet gone out. Garnet wrote to Alec the other day and said he was coming home on leave about June 6th. We hear Sam Rhodes is in Kent, slightly wounded when bayoneting a German.

Please write soon. Love from all. Father

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Beechwood Mossley, June 10/16

Dear Cecil,

We posted your parcel yesterday which contained plum cake, tart, parkin, cherries and cream, home-made toffee, cigars and socks with an enclosure of cigarettes and tobacco from Bernard Clementson. The only letter or card received from you during the week arrived on Monday and mother wrote you in reply the same day. We are expecting to hear hom you today or tomorrow saying you are safe at the Base. Garnet has been here to tea Yesterday) and remained till nearly 11 o’ck (new time). He seemed very well, but says his nerves are still wrong at times.

He is near Amiens and shewed us a lot of pictures of the place. The news of Lord Kitchener’s untimely death came like a thunder-bolt on the British public. I was in Manchester when the news came and I never saw such a scramble for papers. It is a great pity, and as yet the tragedy is unexplained Some of the survivors may be able to throw some light on it. As regards the North Sea fight, this seems to have turned out a real victory for us the German losses being greater than ours. Read AG Gardener’s article in today’s “Daily News" entitled “A look before and after" - it sums up the position very well indeed. Hope you are well.

Love from all. Father

editor's note: New Time - Daylight Saving was introduced for the first time in 1915. Lord Kitchener had been appointed Minister of War in 1914, and was famous for the poster "Your Country needs You!" He was killed on 5th June 1916 when a warship carrying him to negotiations in Russia was struck by a mine off the Orkney Isles.

The North Sea Fight was the Battle of Jutland, fought on the 31st May and the lst June. The German Navy broke out of its home ports on the 29th May and were soon attacked by the Royal Navy. Several ships on both sides were sunk and there was much loss of life. Although the battle itself was inconclusive, the German fleet was never again in a position to contest the high seas with the Royal Navy, and was reduced to a submarine activity and a few minor forays with surface vessels for the rest of the war.

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Beechwood Mossley, June 17/16

Dear Cecil,

Your weekly parcel posted yesterday contained plum cake, parkin, peaches and cream, chocolates, health-salt, cigars, cigarettes and foot powder. Your PC dated 7th and letter dated 11th both received.

This is a queer Whit week we are having this year. As you will have seen from the papers the Govt cancelled the Bank holiday and have kept all the munition makers at work and all trades are, more or less, falling in with the arrangement. The cotton mills here are, in most cases, stopping only today and the Sunday School processions are being held tho ’ not on such a scale as generally, the brass bands in particular being reduced in number. We shall have more heart for holidays when the war is over, which many people think won ’t be long.

The Russians are forging ahead and taking large numbers of prisoners daily. I fancy the Austrians are getting tired. Well, the sooner the better.

Alec is called up today and leaves for Hudd and Halifax this morning. They will I expect give him the option of returning home till he is 19, but if he passes the doctors and there is an opening in one of the Cavalry Regts he may stop. He will return home and wait his time if there is only the Infantry open.

With love from all, Father

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Beechwood Mossley, June 24/16

Dear Cecil,

We posted your weekly parcel yesterday. It contained Madeira cake, parkin, apricots, cream, pastilles, caramels, health-salt, cigars, cigarettes, socks and cotton shirt. We hope the latter will fit all right; will send another one next week. Alec went to Huddersfield and Halifax last Saturday and passed the doctors as fit for general service. He asked leave to return home until his 19th birthday (10th July) which was granted He applied to be put in one of the mounted regiments but it is not certain whether any cavalry will be open at that date, but it won 't make much difference as I am told that many of those sent out are acting as Infantry regts and there is little chance of his getting into any of the special jobs as these are reserved for tradesmen in Category B or C.

You have not yet said what sort of billets you are in or how you like the new job. We trust you have found the change acceptable and up to your expectations. We have received your letter dated the 13th inst and a FPC written on the 19th has arrived tonight. Mother thinks you are always in the trenches when the cards come and was consequently a bit disappointed that you had to leave the Base sooner than you had expected. We shall be pleased to have your new photos as soon as they are ready, but better still we hope to see the original on an early date.

We should think that leave of absence has had time to go all round ere this, some feel sure it can ’t be long before we see you. We are all keeping fairly well under the circumstances, but of course very anxious at times - not as to the result of the war, as everything points in our favour, but we are wanting it soon over. There is no particular news to send you beyond what you will see in the “Reporter ".

Hoping you will continue to be fortunate and keep well in health, I remain,

Your affectionate Father

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Medal Card Herbert Cecil Shaw, Private 20th Battalion Royal Fusiliers; 2nd Lieutenant South Lancashire Fusiliers

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Letters to a Soldier, Introduction