Dundee
Sept 17th 1915.
Dear Everybody,
You will perceive that I am a bird of passage. Arrived back in Dundee from Edzell last night, after spending a very enjoyable week there; am now practically a professional golfer. It really is a very bonnie spot, & the people I was staying with are really very nice indeed. They, Mr & Mrs Johnston & Mr & Mrs Black were having their annual holidays & asked me to join them. I have some rare good photos of the people themselves & various views of the immediate surroundings of the town. It is just a small highland villiage between Aberdeen & Dundee, & a few miles off the main line, not marked on the average maps. The Johnston’s are old friends of Smiths, & now I am spending a few days with them prior to leaving Dundee for Milnathort, they are, or he is a very
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successful chemist at Broughty Ferry, which is a suburb of Dundee. First I must explain how it is I did not arrive back with Mr & Mrs Johnston from Edzell. They unfortunately were interrupted in their holiday & had to go home before half their time was up. The man Mr Johnston left in charge got drunk & of course was absolutely incapable of carrying on. It was rather a damper for the party but that gradually wore off & the rest of us enjoyed ourselves immensely. Just after I arrived here Mr Smith came along to see us, & much to my surprise & amazement brought with him a letter he had received that day from Jeanie Gillies, telling him that you had all got word that I was wounded & that I was lying in Netly Hospital, how bad you did not know. Well of all the things that ever I heard that beats them, to think that the very thing I was trying to avoid had happened, I purposely did not send you a cable thinking that you would
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only worry over what would be wrong with me. Yet some busy-body was kind enough to let me down. Jeanie went on to say that the first hospital ship, or another hospital ship was expected to arrive in a very short time, & that you would not be surprised if I was among those that were being returned amongst the wounded. It beats everything to know how these yarns get about. However that was about all that the letter contained, which was of any interest to me. It is the first letter I have seen from N.Z. for over 2 1/2 months. I might tell you I am expecting to receive the letters you post to N.Z. Record office London before the ones from the Dards. I have forgotten the date on which I sent you the cable, but think it was about the 7th or 14th of Aug. If in the former case, I should get a letter in about a weeks time, if in the latter in about a fortnight. Have seen no N.Z. papers either since I left London so you see N.Z. might
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be anywhere for all I know about it. Last mail I contented myself with sending out post cards, hope you were satisfied. Despite the fact that I was having such a good time there did not seem to be worth writing about. Of the military situations you get more than enough, & just as accurate accounts as we get. The air raids in London have been pretty successful this last two times. On both occasions they did a lot of damage to houses & killed quite a number of people. However, were they to do twice as much it would not be any more than we should expect these amazing times. Of submarines & Americas attitude the least said about it the better. The House of Commons opened here again last Tuesday, & judging by the tone of things we are in for some fun. The question of conscription was raised in the house, & Lord Kitchner has made some pointed remarks in regard to the falling off
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of recruiting. However I sincerely hope that the conscription will not be the next order of the day, if we can possibly manage to win without it I think it would be much better. Well now I think I will hold this over to a later date. I am not quite sure when the next mail goes out, but am getting prepared for it, & availing myself of the opportunity afforded me by a wet morning. The weather has at last broken, but I do not think there is going to be very much. Here we are again this Tues morn. of the 21st, & I did not forget that I have passed another year over my head. Remember well how we spent the last 19th of Sept. Hurrah! since writing a few days ago I have at last got some word from home, received two letters yesterday one from Balamona, & one from Rothie, dated Aug 6th
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& July 30th. It is grand to feel that you are in touch again, but most extraordinary how you should have got such reports of me, & official too. However no use thinking about it for I suppose we shall never find out. I have an official list of the casualties up till 31st July & my name does not appear among them, so how it got to N.Z. I can’t make out. As regards cable sent with reply paid have not received it yet, but did as you will know before this reaches you receive a cable while in Inverness, it, I took it, was a reply to the one I sent from London. Strange how the first should have mis-carried. Perhaps it was addressed to Netley Hospital, but even then it should have found me for both letters received were addressed there. Never mind the thing is over & done with & I am pleased to say that I will now get my mail regularly. Another most extraordinary thing is the light your letter throws on George Menzies movements. Instead of being sent back to N.Z. he has sent over to England, & I did not know anything about it. The best of it is that I have written to Mrs Menzies lamenting the nature of his wound. I could cut my fingers off for that part of it, it would only disturb her the more. Your letter says that he is in Victoria Hospital England. I wish you had sent a fuller address, because I am afraid if I write
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to that address it will take it busy to find him. However I will make the attempt & address it to the record office, that being the best channel I think. If I had only known I could have seen him before coming up here. He might be away by the time I get back, hardly likely though. Glad to hear you are having so much success with your functions for raising funds, it is just splendid the way everybody is working. These people I am staying with are up to their eyes in that sort of work, Mrs Black is sec. for a canteen they are running for the soldiers that are in training here. (At the momement there is a flying machine passing over the house, they are getting very common now.) However they are not content with that but do a lot of sewing for the soldiers at the front as well. I am afraid if it was not for the work done by the men & women in this respect, the lot of the soldier would be a pretty hard one indeed. I suppose you will be filling in what spare time you have in preparing the bazaar you speak off. Having missed so many letters I suppose I will all the news of the local doings during the “Thornbury Season” However it can’t be helped, perhaps some of them will
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turn up later on. Now what about this Janey Millar, you will be causing an eruption with Er, John Kerr if you are not careful. Charlie. That is enough. I see you must have got my letter from Gallipoli asking you to enclose paper & envelopes as this letter contains both. It will not be necessary while I am here of course, but when I go back will save me a lot of trouble if you will continue it. The one thing necessary out there is to carry nothing more than is absolutely necessary. Another good idea would be to send out small light packets of cocoa every week, not much you know, but just something that will post handily, & reach me by parcel post. Invariably if you send too big a parcel it does not reach there for long enough. I think all parcels go by a different boat or something. You can get now cocoa made up in a kind of tablet, with milk and sugar combined, very good they are. Have as an experiment tried some here. I intend to take some out with me, but again there is always the question of weight. Another good thing would be an occasional tin of that meat extract for
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making soup. Jessie will remember Joe Meier giving me three tins when leaving Well. I gave some of them to some of the men on the boat who were a bit off & I can tell you it was very acceptable, & is very handy when on the job. You speak Jeanie of Jack McIlwrick & wonder how he is getting on. Well I am afraid up to time of writing you know as much about him as I do. I am very much concerned about the lot of them over the operations on and about the month of Aug. particularly from the 6th to the 10th, they have I am afraid had it in the neck properly. I have written for an official list, & am to have one as soon as one is printed. The authorities over here are compiling one every month.
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When writing on the 17th I said the weather had broken, well it kept up a cold showery appearance for four days, & has today cleared up for another fine spell by the look of it. Am still very much taken up with Scotland, it is a bonnie place, & every body seems to be very kind. I am to spend this week end with this Mrs Johnstons father who lives just across the Tay river from here. I am to meet a young fellow there who is going to take me for a motor run, out to his sheep farms. He is supposed to be a very successful sheep farmer so it will be very interesting to see how these things are managed over here. Just when I am to get away from here I cannot yet say, they are making arrangements for me to meet certain people days ahead, & for me to stop a night here & a night there, all unknown to me. Very good of them isn’t it but it will have to stop somewhere, more’s the pity.
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Well now I think I have come to the end of my rope. In this mornings paper appears a long dispatch from Sir Ian Hamilton. I wonder if you will get it out there. I think you will, & yet I have a good mind to send this one on. At any rate if it arrives well & good & if not I will have forgotten it. It does not deal with the operations dating from 31st June, but from the beginning right up to that time. It is very funny over here to meet people who have sons or brothers going out to the front, if the lad happens to be detailed for France there is a sigh of relief. But on the other hand if for the Dards, a look of despair comes over them, they all without exception seem to think that all is lost & that the lads are off to h_ straight. If they hear of anyone who has returned from there they will not rest until they have had speech of him. Then they look at him & marvel at the idea of him returning
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from such a place. I have on one or two occasions had the ordeal of speaking to despairing mothers. In spite of all you say they invariably wind up by say, but Oh! if it had only been France I would feel happier, such is life in these amazing times. As my time is not up till the 11th Nov. you will see that I have still a long way to go. I am doing fine, getting back to normal weight again, & I think feeling healthier than ever. Am thinking, if everything goes on as well as they have been of trying to get away a bit sooner. They might keep me for long enough at the base, & if such should be the case it would be too long before getting back. Well now I must stop. Am going to send a PC to children. Hoping all is going on as well as ever. Au rêvoir for the present.
Your Loving
Brother E.S.McI.
