France
27-5-17
Dear Everybody.
It’s another glorious day, & I am sitting in an Officers club many miles behind the lines, & right on the sea coast. I am doing a Coy. Commanders 6 days Lewis Gun course. It is a glorious spot & altogether I am enjoying it immensely, it is such a change from line work. We have been going very hard up there for over 3 weeks now, & when I left the end of the work was not in sight. The night I left was to be the last of the big night parties but day work there was in plenty. If I could just tell you what we were up to in the dark hours of midnight & early morning, it
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would give you some idea of what we are intending to do, & what a vast amount of work is required before any operation can be launched with any reasonable chance of success. Perhaps in a few weeks I will be able to let you know what measure of success we have been able to attain. At present hopes run high & everybody seems to be very confident. It is rather unfortunate for us that the situation in Russia has bot been cleared up sufficiently to enable them to put in a vigorous push. It would make our task very much lighter, & practically guarantee success.
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Your last letters to hand are all dated 25th of MArch, & again my letters come to hand several days before anyone elses. I had a line from Geo Wilson a few days ago, he was in great form & expected to be coming out to France in a very short time. With the exception of Wallace Foster, I have not seen any of the Thornbury boys. Wallace is looking as fit & as hard-a-case as ever. I am telling a yarn, I frequently see Mac Campbell, he is in the 14th South Otago Coy of the same Batt. While down on the training area at St Omen we
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all had our photos taken. The first of these have come to hand, that is, the Batt. Officers Group. I sent the whole lot off to England in one parcel & asked them to take theirs out & sent the others on to Rothie. I sent one to the Hoopers & one to Kate. Along with the ones for Rothie, will be two, marked on the back N.L. Forsyth. He is away to a school & asked me to send his home with mine. So when they arrive, will you please see that his two copies are sent on to his people. If I get time I may drop them a line
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on the other hand, I leave it to you to explain how they arrived. Norman, I think I told you before, is an officer in the Otago Batt. & is in my Coy. We had three groups taken, one of the Batt officers, one of the Coy officers & one of the whole Coy. They all came out very well, but up to date the Batt Officers is the only one that has come to hand, I will send the others on as they turn up. It is just as well they did not all come together, it ensures that they will not all go home on the same boat, & incidentally to the bottom should anything happen the boat.
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There is not much one can write about just now, we are all so dumb, so to speak. It is as much as any of our jobs are worth to say a word to a soul these days, hence the silence, see! From where I am sitting I can just see the camp of the first Women’s Batt to arrive in France. They are doing very fine work here & have relieved a large number of men throughout the Army. They are all dressed in uniform & look rather smart too. The whole thing is organised on exactly the same lines as a fighting Batt, the
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Col. of course being a lady. Just who the heads are I do not know, have not yet had the pleasure of making their acquaintance. It will seem rather strange being saluted by a pack of women, don’t you think. I hear a very good one this afternoon, the Commandant of the Womens’ Batt. & the Commandant of one of the other Camps here, were discussing something of military importance of course, over a cup of tea. It happened that their rank was that of Col. but when the man go up to go, the Lady opened
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the door & stood aside to let the man go out. He of course protested, but she insisted, arguing that he was the senior officer present & must of course leave the room before his juniors. Not a bad little affair showing the spirit of the new army, eh! No I think I must be off. In the first place I have come to the end of the paper supply, & news as well. Hoping all are A.1.
Your
Affect
E.S. McI.
