France
15.5.16
Dear Mother
Your letter of Mar 11th arrived today along with five others – the first I’ve had for a fortnight or so. Am glad to know that my letters & parcels are going through alright. I sent some Egyptn stamps to May & also to Nellie but you do not mention them, but I suppose they arrived alright. The photo of the three of us on the donkeys seems to be getting a good hearing. It is certainly among the best I have, & it was a nigger guide who squeezed the trigger. I will enlarge all the best of them to p.c. size when I get back – there is a special enlarging appliance for them. If you, or anyone else, should happen to want one enlarged to that size in the meantime you could get it done at Sucklings. I suppose they charge about 1/- ea. You’d have to send the neg but it would be alright with them, only don’t lend it to any outsiders as they might not value it as highly as I do. Am rather surpised to hear that Albert H has not been keeping well. I am afraid his mother must be imagining a lot. Since his attack of measles, which was decidedly slight, he has been quite well.
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Was sorry to hear of old P Maher’s death. I saw about it in an Ensign about a week ago & wondered what was the trouble, for although I knew he was often laid up I had heard of nothing serious lately. Ruth must be very amusing. I would like to be home for a while to get a few snaps of her before she gets too big. Am still waiting for the p.c. of her & Rodie, also the one of May. Since writing last we have made a shift & are now about as far from the firing line as Rodie’s place is from the school. The town shows many signs of bombardment & scores of buildings have large shell holes, 3 to 6 feet across, in them. The churches are not badly damaged but two of them have great gaping holes in them, & many of the coloured windows are gone & it is useless to replace them at present for as lately as this afternoon shells have fallen in the town. A billet we were in yesterday had at least three shell holes in it & might have more by now, but as a rule there has been no great danger lately. Shops are open & everything seems to dodge along, as usual & the civil population are not in the least put out. In a fruit shop I saw plums 4d ea & peaches 10d ea, so someone is still having a good time inspite of the war. Most prices
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are fairly reasonable & we can get two fried eggs bread butter & coffee for 7. 17th Last night we went out for a stroll after tea & saw the other end of the town where the bombardment has been heaviest. That part is almost entirely deserted & the buildings very badly damaged many of them are just heaps of ruins. One church has its tower blown right away & of another church only the walls remain, statues, chandaliers & carved woodwork lie smashed & scattered all around. Mark Collins arrived at our billet last night & is now attached to our section. He is looking very well. Has been in England until about 5 weeks ago & has been at our base since then. He thinks M Farrington is still in England. Your Regd letter of Mar 21st with 1/2 sov from P Boraman reached me safely this morning. Most of the questions you ask have already been answd. So far I believe all you letters & most if not all the papers have reached me since joining the mainbody but it is a good idea to number the letters. The stamps referred to above evidently got through alright as they are mentioned in May’s letter. Had a p.c. from Min Looney a fortnight ago. She was still at Port Koubbeh Hosp. Cairo but was not sure of her next move &
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thought there was a chance of another trip back to N.Z. Those sticks on top of the pyramid that you enquired about are simply to support something in the nature of a flagpole. Of course the pyramid doesn’t come to anything like a point but has a fairly large flat top with a few big blocks of stone in the centre. Why those old sticks should be carried up & put there it is hard to understand unless it is a miserable attempt to modernize the pyramid & as such it is a typical example of the Egyptian idea of improvement. It is just possible that they use them to support a screen to keep the sun off in summer. 19th Envelope with newspaper cuttings arrived today. The explanation by Malcolm Ross of the Xmas Gift problem is probably the right one. The Govt, or whoever was responsible, should never have undertaken to collect parcels for individual soldiers & send them over in bulk, unless they had an adequate staff in Egypt to see to their prompt distribution. Perhaps we’ll be home for next Xmas, if not it is to be hoped they’ll have benefitted by their experience.
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Re those white flowers I told you about I find they have just ordinary roots & just dry up & break to pieces – they must be a kind of butter cup I think. I am sorry I can’t send you some as they are very pretty. 25th Intended posting this a week ago but have been very busy & hadn’t it finished when we got marching orders. I am now in the trenches & have already learnt to tell the difference between the sound of shrapnel screeching through the air & the noise made by the high explosives, & am beginning to look on myself as something of a veteran. Yesterday Bagrie & I were having dinner sitting in the trench & had just opened up a tin of honey that we had carried out from town & had spread a piece each when a shrapnel shell landed on the parapet & burst. Pieces went singing every where but we were quite safe in the trench except for mud. You never saw such a mess. It settled our bread & honey completely & filled the tin with great lumps of clay. It was enough to make a saint swear, but I suppose we can’t have all our own way here. Mark Collins Albert B & I are all in the same dugout. More news next letter. Goodbye
Love From Len
