Letters From the Front

Lance Corp. Colin Ramsay Broughton, 5th Battalion CEF

News from the Front - 5th Battalion CEF / A close call while sniping / Losing a best pal.

Red Deer News Published:

Additional letters by Lance Corp. Colin R. Broughton may be viewed through this link. It appears that his family submitted the letters to the Red Deer News for publication in the paper. Soon the letters would stop. He died 26 July 1916 while serving with the 5th Battalion, Saskatchewan Regiment.

Dated:

Letters from the Front

Belgium, April 26, 1916
Dear Dad and Mother,
I guess that you will be wondering why I have not written lately. We have been far too busy to do any writing lately. We have had a very long spell in the trenches this time, and about the worst trip since we came out. It rained nearly all the time, and we were not able to take off our boots and sox [socks] to get them dried, as we were only fifty yards from the Germans. So you will see that we had to be on the job for 24 hours per day.
The Germans tried to drive us out of our trenches, but did not succeed, we hung right on to the end, the cost in lives was rather heavy, but it was worth while. Our position was a very important one, and the Germans were situated on high ground, and they could look right down into our trenches. It was not safe to look over the parapet without using a periscope. they even kept us busy making periscopes, for as soon as they caught sight of one they would snipe at it. I was doing a little sniping myself, but a German got ahead of me once, and shot my rifle right out of my hand, almost breaking it in two pieces. Fortunately the bullet missed me, but I got a small scratch on the ear from a piece of steel off my rifle.
The bombardment started a couple of days later, and considering the small space of ground covered and the short time it lasted, it was the worst I have seen. I do not know how we managed to stay through it all. They were bombing us with huge trench mortar bombs loaded with anything from twenty to sixty pounds of high explosive. One of these bombs dropped on the next dugout to mine, and the first thing that I knew was that the roof and the wall had buried one of my boys and me. Fortunately there were two or three of the boys close by to dig us out, and we did not even get a scratch.
We were very disappointed that the Germans did not make an infantry attack on our line, for we were all ready and waiting for them, and we should have given them a very hot reception, but they did not come. I think they must a suffered a great deal more than we did for our heavy artillery just blew their trenches all to pieces, and after the bombardment was finished we could hear the groans and cries of their wounded men.
I lost one of the best pals I ever had, during that bombardment. He was not a Red Deer boy, but one of the reinforcements, and we had been chums together ever since he came out to France.
Love to all, Your loving son,
COLIN

Transcribed by: M. I. Pirie