Letters From the Front

Dated:

The following is an extract from a letter written by an officer of the Patricia regiment:

Since our arrival in France we have been on the move continually. We have a kind of 'tour de role' which begins with our turn in the trenches, support, and then rest - this last being most acceptable. Our first experience in the trenches was one which most of us would have liked to have missed, but at the same time one which we hope never to experience again. We marched for two days carrying 'our all', and went into the trenches to the music of rifle fire in front and behind, and all around,, especially around and might close to our heads. When we arrived all safely in the trenches, we found ourselves up to the knees in mud, and we remained there for 48 hours. The first day we were subjected to a most appalling shell fire, about 150 shells fell all around us, and sometimes they came eight at a time. One felt that our chances of coming out alive were nil, but wonderful to relate, our casualties were few. On the second day, it started again, but our artillery fire soon had supremacy, and our feeling for the British gunners was a great desire to buy each of them a Scotch and Soda. We were relieved that night, and had a rest for a few days. The next time we went to other trenches which were just as bad, but only remained 24 hours. Here the German snipers gave us a hot time, but with little fatal result. The country around here has been blown to the dickens by the Germans, and we see prosperous looking towns and villages razed to the ground, not a house intact, and the roads full of shell holes, all the farm houses and barns have been demolished, and the country, which must have been very prosperous before the war, is now simply a ruin. Our day is coming, however, and as we maintain and increase our supremacy in artillery we will gradually drive the beggars out of the country.