Letters from France | Page 5

imagination. They begin by being soldiers in blue, and imaginary
uniforms. Then they do arm drill and imagine they have rifles. Then
they do Brigade operations and have an imaginary enemy, get killed by
imaginary shells, shoot with imaginary rifles, fire imaginary cartridges
out of imaginary guns. In the end there is Heath Robinson and his gun.
I can't venture to read this letter over, and I am afraid no one else will.
But my imagination is now so good that I can almost imagine my little
Mother doing so, if no one else has the courage to do so.
Well the others have returned and common sense is returning, so I must
shut up.
Good night, little Mother, and much love to all,

From your loving Son, ALEC.
P.S.--I shall soon be home on leave as a lunatic.

11TH SUFFOLKS, B.E.F., Wednesday, January 12th.
My darling Mother,--
I am beginning letter No. 2, so that, although you will not get it for a
few days, I may add to it occasionally and despatch it to you when it
reaches a decent length, and before it reaches the colossal and
iniquitous verbosity of my former screed--a monologue on the Great
European War.
I finished letter 35 last night. To-day we again spent in improving our
billets. The sailor is always known as the handy man, but I doubt if he
would have a look in even with amateur Tommies like ourselves. We
made scrapers for each barn door out of nothing, mats to scrape our
boots on out of straw, roadways over muddy places out of brushwood
and tins, &c., and incinerators out of mud. We could easily make bricks
without straw.
The G.O.C. inspected our billets this morning and complimented our
arrangements, and seemed highly pleased with them. The men are
extremely smart at present; the easy time and change of circumstances
seems to have returned to them all the original keenness we had rather
lost during our rather boring time during the last few months.
We had our first shot fired in anger yesterday. A Taube flew over a
mile or two up and a long distance away, and a sentry, to show his
appreciation of its attentions, loosed off his rifle, much to his own
surprise and his neighbours.
To-night I invented a new dish--an omelette made of scrambled eggs
and minced bully beef. It was very good. To-day we route marched,
and inspected gas helmets and ammunition this afternoon. To-night we
are making a savoury--it is still in the making. Its ingredients

are:--Cheese, butter, eggs, mustard, pepper, and a little brandy to act as
vinegar. It is a recipe of our own and I hope it turns out well.
To-night is a time of great excitement. A post has arrived--a letter from
you written last Thursday to Sutton Veney and from Father and one
from Win. Your parcel has not arrived yet. I did not get a tin box, as we
are not in Egypt. I have no new uniform.
I am keeping the knife, fork and spoon. I am enclosing a 10s. note to
pay for it and the knife (slight pause). The savoury was good.
(P.S.--Later, note not enclosed.) Please tell Father he is very generous,
but I have plenty money, as Miss Jennie would say. I think I must be
awfully extravagant. I spend a lot of money, but I always seem to have
plenty. I generally buy good things and few.
Can you send me a pound tin of solidified methylated spirits for
"Tommy's Cooker." (No substitutes.) Cost 1s. Yesterday I took a
fatigue party of 30 men over to a large town near here--(I wish I could
give you its name)--to unload stores for the division. We marched there,
and the men loaded and unloaded, while their officer betook himself up
to the town and purchased tinned fruit, potted meat, &c., and executed
all sorts of odd commissions for various people.
I went and lunched at a French Cafe. I got a great shock, when I entered,
the outside, as it seemed a common eating house, but then I went
through the kitchen into another room, where there were two large
tables round which were seated English and French officers mixed, and
they brought us our food without one having to commit oneself too
much in French. We did not know what we were eating, but it was very
good. I had a Trinity Hall man on my right and a Caius man on my left,
both of whom knew several friends of mine. One of them was a captain,
and in his battalion was Kenneth Rudd, a great friend of mine at Jesus.
We returned in waggons, big motor transport waggons. We finished
loading, and then I asked the A.S.C. officer