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The Times Great War Letters: Correspondence during the First World War
James Owen
Samantha Wyndham
The Times has the most famous letters page of any newspaper. This selection spanning the years 1914-1918 shows precisely why. While many letters relate to issues around the Great War, there is room for a myriad of subjects concerning the great British public of the time which capture the mood of the nation at this key period in British history.Since 1914 the Times’ Letters page has taken the temperature of the British way of life and provided a window on the national character. This series of correspondence captures the mood of the nation up to the end of the Great War.
COPYRIGHT (#ulink_ebfe5f9c-0def-5854-9cbf-0865bff98102)
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Copyright in the letters published in this volume belongs to the writers or their heirs or executors. HarperCollins would like to thank all those letter-writers who have given permission for their letters to appear in this volume. Every effort has been made to contact all individuals whose letters are contained within this volume; if anyone has been overlooked, we would be grateful if he or she would contact HarperCollins.
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Our thanks and acknowledgements go to Lily Cox and Robin Ashton at News Syndication and, in particular, at The Times, Ian Brunskill and, at HarperCollins, Gerry Breslin, Jethro Lennox, Karen Midgley, Kerry Ferguson, Sarah Woods and Evelyn Sword.
eBook Edition В© November 2018
ISBN 9780008318536
Version: 2018-11-19
CONTENTS
Cover (#uf6aa06c2-dcfa-51ef-b02b-e85b8db02011)
Title Page (#ud4558f54-4134-5440-befe-1b96ce0667c0)
Copyright (#ulink_119d605b-edd4-5066-825a-e5d965d0863f)
Dedication (#ulink_8cdc26c8-8f90-5966-b6cb-1157a51d73be)
Introduction (#ulink_4fd466bf-bd3f-5560-9fa7-d0513c950d80)
1914 (#ulink_51f40e60-ecc7-58fa-af76-24149c84997d)
1915 (#ulink_b5dad09c-f9e8-585a-b728-5a416bbb9577)
1916 (#ulink_501d006b-0800-56d6-9804-be1db9bd89aa)
1917 (#ulink_50fc874e-15eb-510b-86e4-63335b526bbb)
1918 (#ulink_6dae72dd-2550-5c90-a6e5-ff71e82cd7b4)
Index of Letter Writers (#ulink_0e70cc8d-c472-5282-949d-b5e61e4d3a22)
About the Publisher
DEDICATION (#ulink_5a39c326-bf5b-5868-bec2-1ceb9e511fab)
In memory of the dead of the Great War, among them
John Anstruther (1888-1914), Reggie Wyndham (1876-1914)
and Ian Chrystal (1888-1917).
INTRODUCTION (#ulink_62e3c0db-757f-54ab-a409-8676a71ad4f8)
“The correspondence column of The Times may be regarded as the Forum of our modern world,” wrote the evangelist Frederick Meyer to the newspaper in 1915, “in which the individual may deliver his soul.”
The paper has published letters since its establishment in 1785, but in the nineteenth century these had often been lengthy political tracts rather than brief observations on current events. As Meyer noted, however, by the time what became known as the Great War began, the Letters Page had started to assume a form we would recognise today.
This was partly because they were, for the first time, at least on occasion, being grouped together rather than distributed throughout the paper. This greater focus arguably increased their impact, cementing in turn the page’s status as Meyer’s contemporary Roman forum – a meeting place-cum-soap box, albeit principally for the ruling class.
These developments were to be accelerated by the war that dominated everyone’s thoughts between 1914 and 1918. The letters in this selection track its progress, albeit with the proviso that strict government censorship meant that the public was unaware for much of the conflict about the true state of events, and the conflict’s real horrors.
Even so, these letters offer the most direct of routes back into the mentality of a society that was on the cusp of changing forever. And, besides delivering their soul and having their say, in a perhaps surprising way correspondents bare it, too. Set among letters from familiar names – David Lloyd George on the danger of drink, Edith Cavell on nursing before she was executed by the Germans – and ones from the pseudonyms then permitted, there are those from grieving parents still (within the conventions of the day) raw from their loss.
Many of the letters speak for themselves but it may be of help to have an outline of their increasingly distant context. The war did not come as a surprise. Conflict between the great European powers had been long feared, and expected, particularly given Germany’s desire in the preceding decades to challenge Britain’s naval, and hence imperial, supremacy.
Nonetheless, it was with some reluctance that the prime minister, Herbert Asquith, whose party had strong pacifist traditions, committed his Liberal government to war at the start of August 1914. This was technically in response to Germany’s violation of Belgium’s neutrality in entering its territory to get around France’s defences; but in reality, it was the inevitable outcome of a complex system of international alliances and dynastic ambitions.
The assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne at Sarajevo by Serbian-backed terrorists had given the Austrians a pretext to declare war on Serbia, egged on by their German cousins under Kaiser Wilhelm II. This in turn brought to the fray Russia, ruled by Tsar Nicholas II, as Serbia’s pan-Slavic protector. Germany, which had built up a huge army and navy, had long planned to fight at the same time Russia and France, who were both allied with Britain.
Other nations eventually became involved. Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire sided with the Central Powers, while Japan and Italy came in with the Allies, the latter in 1915 after being promised historically Austrian territory on its then frontiers. The war spread through European colonies across much of the globe, although the United States remained neutral at first.
The British public hoped for a short conflict, but the secretary of state for war, Lord Kitchener, foresaw that it would last for years and that Britain’s small standing army would need massive expansion. Initial German successes in Belgium and France were stemmed in part by the British Expeditionary Force and the two sides settled into a slow, grim slog for territory, characterised as trench warfare.
For much of the war the British population had little detailed or accurate information about what was happening on the various fronts. The press played its part in concealing the truth, publishing rumours of German atrocities and spinning defeats as successes. Even so, the mounting toll of casualties could not be hidden, eventually approaching three-quarters of a million British dead (although this was far less than suffered by the French, Russian and German armies). The upper and middle classes, which supplied most of the junior officers who led attacks, were especially hard hit. Eton, for instance, lost 1,157 former pupils out of 5,619 who served.
After much debate, conscription was introduced in Britain for men between the ages of 18 and 41 in 1916; the age limit was raised to 50 two years later. Before then, recruitment had been supplied by volunteers – “Your Country Needs You”, as the famous poster had it. There had been political hesitation particularly over imposing armed service on working class men, who often did not have the vote since they were not property owners.
The continued strain of the war exposed many fracture lines. Suffragists kept up the pressure to give the vote to women, although some of the main campaigners focused their efforts on encouraging women to do war work to show their worth. Long-standing tensions within Ireland, then part of the United Kingdom, as to whether it should take its orders from London led in 1916 to the Easter Rising in Dublin (and eventually to an independent Republic). In Russia, catastrophe in battle ultimately led to the overthrow of the Tsar in 1917.
Many efforts were made to break the deadlock in the trenches. British efforts to outflank their enemies by forcing the Dardanelles and seizing Constantinople were thwarted by the Turks at Gallipoli, notwithstanding much gallantry and suffering by Australian and New Zealand troops, among many others. The failure led in time to the resignation from the cabinet of Winston Churchill, seen as the architect of the plan at the Admiralty.
By then, revelations in The Times about a shortage of artillery shells held responsible for recent setbacks on the Western Front led to Asquith being forced in mid-1915 to reconstitute his government as a coalition with the Conservatives and the first Labour cabinet minister. Lloyd George was placed in charge of a nationalised munitions policy and his successful implementation of it, together with the backing of The Times’s owner Lord Northcliffe, enabled him to unseat Asquith as prime minister at the end of 1916.
This was only shortly after the end of the prolonged Battle of the Somme, which came to symbolise the apparent futility of the conflict and its mass carnage. Civilians on the home front had also felt the effects of war as never before, with Zeppelins carrying out the first air raids over Britain and the depredations of submarines leading by 1918 to extensive rationing.
U-boat attacks on shipping bound for Britain, most notoriously the sinking of the liner Lusitania in 1915, with American passengers aboard, helped prompt President Woodrow Wilson to bring his nation to the Allied cause in 1917. The tide of the war did not turn decisively, however, until the summer of 1918, when breakthroughs on the Western Front and widespread discontent with the Kaiser in Germany led to his abdication and the signing of armistices in November.
The reverberations of the war would be felt for decades to come. The old order had been decisively shattered. Not only would the map of Europe, and indeed of the world, have to be redrawn as empires were dismembered and new nations created, but society’s assumptions had been shaken by the conflict, not least that as to which class was the only one fit to govern. And millions of those who had been affected by the war would have to live for the rest of their lives with the effects of wounds, shellshock, poison gas, grief and trauma. These letters were to prove to be the last snapshots of a vanishing age.
Notwithstanding that the letters in this anthology were written at a time when views that might give offence today were tolerated, the original language, style and format of them as they appeared in the newspaper has not been amended. The date on the letter is that on which it first appeared in the newspaper, and an index of the letter-writers can be found at the end of the book. Explanatory footnotes have been added where some clarification of the subject matter of a letter may be of use.
JAMES OWEN AND SAMANTHA WYNDHAM
1914 (#ulink_39aea8a1-ac8c-5ea9-a52f-cce665917470)
THE MENACE OF WAR
DOMINANCE OF RUSSIA OR GERMANY
1 August 1914
SIR,—A NATION’S FIRST duty is to its own people. We are asked to intervene in the Continental war because unless we do so we shall be “isolated.” The isolation which will result for us if we keep out of this war is that, while other nations are torn and weakened by war, we shall not be, and by that fact might conceivably for a long time be the strongest Power in Europe, and, by virtue of our strength and isolation, its arbiter, perhaps, to useful ends.
We are told that if we allow Germany to become victorious she would be so powerful as to threaten our existence by the occupation of Belgium, Holland, and possibly the North of France. But, as your article of to-day’s date so well points out, it was the difficulty which Germany found in Alsace-Lorraine which prevented her from acting against us during the South African War. If one province, so largely German in its origin and history, could create this embarrassment, what trouble will not Germany pile up for herself if she should attempt the absorption of a Belgium, a Holland, and a Normandy? She would have created for herself embarrassments compared with which Alsace and Poland would be a trifle; and Russia, with her 160,000,000, would in a year or two be as great a menace to her as ever.
The object and effect of our entering into this war would be to ensure the victory of Russia and her Slavonic allies. Will a dominant Slavonic federation of, say, 200,000,000 autocratically governed people, with a very rudimentary civilization, but heavily equipped for military aggression, be a less dangerous factor in Europe than a dominant Germany of 65,000,000 highly civilized and mainly given to the arts of trade and commerce?
The last war we fought on the Continent was for the purpose of preventing the growth of Russia. We are now asked to fight one for the purpose of promoting it. It is now universally admitted that our last Continental war—the Crimean War—was a monstrous error and miscalculation. Would this intervention be any wiser or likely to be better in its results?
On several occasions Sir Edward Grey has solemnly declared that we are not bound by any agreement to support France, and there is certainly no moral obligation on the part of the English people so to do. We can best serve civilization, Europe—including France—and ourselves by remaining the one Power in Europe that has not yielded to the war madness.
This, I believe, will be found to be the firm conviction of the overwhelming majority of the English people.
Yours faithfully,
NORMAN ANGELL
TRAVELLING FROM GERMANY
6 August 1914
SIR,—IN TO-DAY’S ISSUE of The Times you publish a letter by John Jay Chapman to which I and, I am sure, many others must take serious exception.
Your correspondent describes in lurid terms the sufferings experienced by travellers in Germany the last few days. “The hand of ruthless force which regarded neither God nor man was laid on them. Every decency of existing society had vanished. No appeal to any principle or power in the universe remained,” and so on ad nauseam.
I should like to chronicle my personal experience, which was of a vastly different character. Accompanied by another woman I travelled from Baden-Baden to Berlin on Friday last on a crowded train and we were, I believe, the only English people on board. The majority of the travellers were Germans and Russians. The stations en route were packed with people vainly desiring places, this state of things getting worse as we neared the capital. Everywhere we met with much more than the ordinary courtesy extended to women travelling. I was very much impressed by the real kindness and chivalry shown to us on three different occasions by German men, who voluntarily gave up their places to save us from sitting on our bags in a crowded corridor, and who put themselves to much trouble to obtain food for us at the stations.
We returned from Berlin last Saturday at 1 o’clock, and on arriving at Osnabruck at 5.30 heard that mobilization had begun. The train was held up several times to allow others to pass, all crowded with soldiers, and we knew that it might be our fate to be left stranded, should the authorities have required our train to convey troops in. Happily for us we reached England via Flushing without more inconvenience than would happen on any overcrowded train or boat.
I should like to put on record that during all those hours of intense excitement, with a nation newly called to arms, we did not meet with a single instance of rudeness in Germany. What is more, we never saw so much as a glance of enmity directed towards us. Even in Berlin itself last Saturday, where the whole town was in the throes of a deep national emotion, walking and driving among the huge crowd we never experienced anything but kindness.
Whatever our feelings may be as to the causes and nature of this war, it is devoutly to be hoped that English people will not be led astray by the irresponsible statements of travellers. We are at war with a great nation, and it behoves us to be true to ourselves and our English traditions of fair play.
FLORENCE PHILLIPS
OUR LATENT FORCES
8 August 1914
SIR,—THE FUTURE IS dark and we do not know that we will not need our last ounce of strength before we are through. We can afford to neglect nothing.
Will you allow me to point out how a reserve force can be formed which will be numerically large and which if it does nothing else can relieve more mobile and trained troops for the fighting line? In a word, the suggestion is to form civilian companies of the National Reserve. There are tens and hundreds of thousands of men in this country from 35 to 55 who are often harder and fitter than their juniors, but for whom no place is found in our scheme of defence. Many of them are good shots, they are longing to help in any possible way, and they would fall into line instantly if they could only see how to do it. They would speedily become capable of guarding railways or buildings, helping to garrison fortresses or performing many other military duties.
If I may quote the example of this little town, we held our first meeting to discuss this on Tuesday, by Wednesday night we had enrolled 120 men, and to-day we start drill and practice at the butts. Many of the men are fine shots and all are exceedingly anxious to be serviceable. It is not possible for them to take on long engagements or to live out in permanent camps, but they could do much useful work and in case of a raid they would do anything. They would from our “Land-sturm.” But at present there is no organization into which such men can be fitted. Local effort would rapidly form the various companies, but some method of common action has to be devised.
The obvious danger of such organization is lest it should divert men from the Territorials or any other more useful branch of the Service. But to recognize the danger is to avoid it. The Reserve company would not go the length of refusing to enlist young men who cannot or will not become Territorials, but it has the constant end before it of encouraging them to go further and of preparing them so that if they do join the more active Services they are already partly instructed. I am convinced that if they are properly run these civilian National Reserve companies would be not only of value in themselves but would be a stepping-stone for the younger men to take them into the fighting line.
The official organizations have so much upon them for the moment that the work can only be done by independent local effort. But when the men are there, as in the case of the existing National Reserve, they will command attention and find some means of arming themselves. We have our own record of organization, and I should be happy to send copies of our method to anyone who may desire to form other centres.
Yours faithfully,
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
THE USE OF THE UNTRAINED
8 August 1914
SIR,—THERE IS NOW no thought in the mind of any reasonable Englishman but to bring this war to a speedy and successful conclusion. Every man with any military training will be already in touch with his proper centre for utilization, and with that sort of man I, who am altogether untrained, have no concern. But I wish to point out that there is in the country a great mass of useful untrained material available and that it may be very readily called upon at the present time by the establishment of local committees. I suggest the formation at once of corps of local volunteers for use in local services, keeping order, transport, guerilla work in case of a raid, and so forth. I have in mind particularly the boy of 15, the man of 47, the mass of the untrained, the Boy Scouts and ex-Boy Scouts who have not gone on to any military training. There is no reason why all the surplus material should not be enrolled now. With it would be a considerable quantity of bicycles, small cars, and other material. This last line need not be drilled; it should not be expected to use either bayonet or spade; but upon the east and south coast at any rate it should have bandoliers, rifles, and Brownings (for close fighting) available, and by way of uniform it should have a badge. Perhaps it would not be a very effective fighting force, but it would permit of the release of a considerable number of men now keeping order, controlling transport, or doing the like work. Nobody wants to be a non-combatant in a war of this sort.
Very sincerely yours,
H. G. WELLS
CUTTING DOWN ON TEA-CAKES
11 August 1914
SIR,—WE HOUSEWIVES of England might assist the country somewhat during the coming time of stress by cutting off or cutting down the supply of cakes which are consumed at the tea-table both in the drawing-room and servants’ hall. In that way we could economize flour for the bread which is a necessity.
MRS. STANLEY BALDWIN
ENGLISH NURSING IN BRUSSELS
15 August 1914
SIR,—I NOTICE THAT there is a big movement on for the establishment of Red Cross hospitals in England. In the natural course of things these will get almost exclusively naval men, whereas the Army wounded will have to be dealt with on the Continent, and as far as can be seen at present mainly at Brussels.
Our institution, comprising a large staff of English nurses, is prepared to deal with several hundreds and the number is being increased day by day.
May I beg on behalf of my institution for subscriptions from the British public which may be forwarded with mention of the special purpose to H.B.M.’s Consul at Brussels.
Thanking you in anticipation, I am, Sir, yours obediently,
E. CAVELL, Director of the Berkendael Medical Institute, Brussels
British nurse Edith Cavell would be executed by the Germans in 1915 for aiding Allied soldiers hiding in Occupied Belgium.
MOURNING CLOTHES
17 August 1914
SIR,—IF THE COUNTRY should decide to dispense with such mourning the economic effect will be to save a disturbance of cash expenditure. Mourning will still be bought for those who die natural deaths. But we should have a huge additional and artificial expenditure, temporarily inflated by the heavy death-toll of the next few weeks; and the money so saved will be available for the support of ordinary trade.
MRS. EDWARD LYTTELTON
The war’s heavy death toll ended the expensive Victorian ritual of mourning expressed through gradual changes of clothing.
EMPLOYMENT OR RELIEF
18 August 1914
SIR,—WILL YOU ALLOW me to raise my voice on behalf of the many women workers who are being rapidly thrown out of employment by this tremendous inrush of well-meant but short-sighted voluntary work?
The matter is one which has already received her Majesty’s serious attention, and also that of the council of Queen Mary’s Needlework Guild. It has also been the subject of a few broad hints on the part of our leading newspapers. But still the inrush continues, the tide of voluntary work still rises, and is already beginning to swamp the vast hosts of needy women who depend on their skill or their handiwork for bread for themselves and their little ones.
There are three points which I would like to place before all those who at the present moment are throwing themselves so whole-heartedly and so injudiciously into this veritable vortex of voluntary assistance.
1 Have they thought out the fact that by all that voluntary work—typing, secretarial, nursing, as well as needlework, they are creating the very evil which they are preparing to relieve later on—namely, unemployment?
2В Have they thought out the fact that every garment sewn or knitted by an amateur is so much bread taken out of the mouth of a poor seamstress?
3В Have they thought that it would be a far finer and more patriotic thing to deny themselves the pleasure of working and sewing parties and to use their local funds for purchasing made garments from their local outfitters or giving out the work to their needy sisters?
The purchase of certain descriptions of ready-made garments has almost entirely ceased in some small country towns. The small drapery dealers will very soon have to shut up their establishments or in any case greatly reduce them, and thus one of the many channels through which the poor seamstress, the shop assistant, the clerk earns her precarious livelihood will be closed to her, and presently she will have to be relieved out of the local fund or left to starve if she is too proud to ask for relief.
She would be far happier in earning her bread to-day than in accepting relief from any fund later on.
I am, Sir, yours faithfully,
EMMUSKA ORCZY
A PROTEST AGAINST SECRECY
5 September 1914
SIR,—YOUR CORRESPONDENT MR. Charles Whibley is obviously not interested in the lives of sons and husbands at the front. As one who comes from a fighting family of many generations and who has three sons in France to-day, I cannot too strongly express the dislike of the present secret methods felt by all whose dear ones are opposing the German hordes. We want no revelation of military secrets, but we would like to know the kind of life being led by our kith and kin, and we strongly object to the abandonment of the British tradition of the publication of generals’ dispatches. At the time of writing we have received practically nothing from Sir John French, except through Lord Kitchener’s statement of last Sunday.
Your obedient servant,
A FATHER
LADY FRENCH’S APPEAL
11 September 1914
SIR,—WILL YOU ALLOW me, through the medium of your columns, to convey my gratitude to those who have responded so generously to my appeal for socks and other comforts for the troops? I have received many contributions of money, which I am spending on wool, flannel, &c., and also on employing some women (who are out of employment in consequence of the war) to knit and to make garments. Some ladies who are very kindly helping me have collected a small fund for providing a substantial mid-day dinner and tea for these workers, which in many cases is their chief or only meal; and Messrs. Harrods have most kindly placed a room at my disposal for the women to work in. I shall still be most grateful for any further help.
Yours faithfully,
ELEONORA FRENCH
GREATCOATS FOR SOLDIERS
19 September 1914
SIR,—I HAVE BEEN told on most excellent authority that 200,000 of our newly-raised Army are without greatcoats. It will take some time to make them, and cold weather is coming on.
May I suggest a temporary substitute? In the Civil War in America in 1861-65 thousands of the Confederate soldiers wore blankets altered as follows:—A slit was cut in the centre just large enough to put the head through. The slit was then hemstitched to prevent its getting larger. A flat button was then sewn on one side at the centre of the slit, and a tab with a buttonhole on the other side, so as to close the hole when not in use. Some of the Southerners added a small slit or a piece of tape in which they carried a toothbrush instead of a flower.
Previous to the Civil War I had seen this plan adopted by some of my shipmates when forming part of naval brigades landed on active service.
Yours faithfully,
ELLENBOROUGH, Commander, R.N., (Retired)
ALIEN ENEMIES
19 September 1914
SIR,—MAY I CONGRATULATE the police on having arrested and secured conviction for Mr. Rufus Royal?
The arrest of this man in the Central Hall of the House of Commons shows how easily aliens of a thoroughly mischievous type may be in our midst unknown to these around them.
I have known this man for months as the secretary of some labour organization. He often spoke to me in the lobby and corresponded with me, and only 10 days ago a big stationery firm rang me up stating that he had given my name as a reference, I need hardly say without the slightest authority; but the point is that all this time, so perfect was his English and his appearance, that I never had the slightest suspicion that he was an alien. My correspondence has shown for weeks past the well-grounded suspicion that there are a number of these dangerous people in our midst, particularly all round our coasts, and this arrest and conviction shows, I think clearly, the need for increased vigilance on the part of our police, and perhaps, stricter conditions in regard to aliens in our midst.
Yours, &c.,
W. JOYNSON-HICKS
Popular authors had stoked fears of spies even before the war; there were said to be 60,000 Germans and Austrians living in Britain when the war started.
HINTS TO RECRUITS
22 September 1914
SIR,—AS ONE WHO volunteered and went through part of the South African War as a Tommy, I hope the following tips may prove useful. They may be obvious or controversial, but I give them for what they are worth, and because I know that to some at least they will prove useful.
First of all I strongly recommend all now enlisting to possess themselves of a good strong pair of leather gloves—such as the old omnibus drivers used to wear. The nights will soon be getting cold, windy, and frosty, and I know that when in South Africa I would have given anything when on sentry-go for a pair of such, for the barrel of one’s rifle was ofttimes icy, and one’s hands got too cold to hold it properly. Many now becoming soldiers, too, are not used to manual labour. Put a company of these to dig a “one hour’s shelter trench”—i.e., to work hard for one hour with pick and spade, and then count the blistered hands. The spade, we all know now, is almost as important as the rifle, and gloves will help here. Further, in the rough and tumble of war hands will get cut and torn, and sometimes fester. Gloves then again useful. And finally, with much crawling to do over possibly gorse and thorn, strong gloves certainly save the hands, and so make for efficiency. But, to save myself from an obvious reply, kid is certainly not the leather such gloves should now be made of. Another point. Campaigning, a fork is a luxury, but what you do want is a spoon, a good strong clasp-knife, and a tin-opener. I was in Switzerland last week, and when there bought one of the knives that every Swiss soldier is supplied with. It is extremely practical, and contains a good strong blade, a tin-opener, a screw-driver, and a piercer or marline-spike, all strong and well made and not too heavy. A very useful gift, too, is a well-made pair of folding pocket scissors.
In South Africa those of us were lucky who had the chance of buying a strong, fairly large enamelled iron mug, which we hung on to the strap of our water-bottle by the handle. It was handy as an extra article of mess equipment, for filling one’s bottle when streams were too shallow, and also for getting in a hurry a dollop of anything that was going—even a drink from a stream or a lucky pull from a water-cart. The regulation mess tin—and what a practical and handy article this is—cannot be got at without taking off one’s kit, and besides, in our case, used often to contain our day’s ration of meat.
Bootlaces, bachelor’s buttons, safety pins, a large hook and eye or two, and a few split copper rivets may, of course, obviously be useful, and a good tip is to sew two brace buttons side by side in place of one on the trousers, and to start off with only the very best braces.
The loss of a button or the breaking of a brace may temporarily put a man quite out of action. For papers, wrap them in a large square of green oiled silk. This “kind of” gets stuck together in the pocket, and my papers, after many months in the field, were quite legible and not much the worse at the end from the damp coming from both within and without. One sentence more. Chocolate is good—very, very good—but to many one thing is better. Good hot, strong peppermint drops; not bull’s-eyes—they are too sticky—but the hard white sort. They are grateful and comforting if you like when one’s hungry and cold. But some may prefer chocolate—so let’s send both.
Yours faithfully,
RIGBY WASON, late O.R.Sgt., Inns of Court O.T.C.
THE VALUE OF COCA LEAVES
28 September 1914
SIR,—IN YOUR ISSUE of to-day’s date you have a letter recommending coca leaves. It is well that the public should be warned that cocaine is a most dangerous drug. The cocaine vice has only recently been introduced into India, but it is now in many places recognized that the cocaine habit is a much more serious vice than either opium or hemp. It is therefore most seriously to be hoped that no individual hearing of the marvellous effects of this drug will unwittingly allow himself to become a victim to the vice.
Yours faithfully,
C. STREATFEILD, late District Magistrate, Benares, India
SHILLINGSTONE’S RECORD
30 September 1914
SIR,—THE LITTLE VILLAGE of Shillingstone in Dorsetshire, with a total population of 575, has sent 66 men to the Colours. It would be interesting to know whether any other village of the same size has beaten this record.
Yours faithfully,
BASIL THOMSON
TEMPERANCE AMONG WOMEN
6 October 1914
SIR,—IN YOUR ISSUE of to-day (October 3) your correspondent Margaret Taylor pleads for pressure to be put on Government for earlier closing of publichouses, a plea that cannot be too strongly endorsed by the women of England. When we see the increasing numbers of our poorer sisters in and out of gin palaces, we realize the immediate possibility of the degeneration of the homes our men “have left behind them.”
When the first war panic burst the dread of supply stoppage caused hundreds of homes to be broken up, the women living in lodgings instead. They are now in receipt of more money than they have ever had in their lives. This, with no man at home to see to, gives them hours of the day to get through. Can we blame them if they forgather in the only social place that opens its welcoming arms to them? To save the “home-life” for our men to find on their return, can we not take rooms in the most congested parts of our great cities, encourage our women to meet there, supply them with papers, the latest war news hung on the walls, paper, pen, and ink, free of charge, coffee, cocoa, and tea to be had at cost price? With cheery fires and simple amusements at night we shall soon find our women ceasing to care for the doubtful joys of the gin palaces. This plan has been carried out most successfully along our coasts, for the concentration camps, and been much appreciated by the men. These men are under discipline; our women are not; therefore their need is greater. The whole scheme can be carried through at very little expense—each local centre managed by a local committee. As we are starting immediately in Hammersmith, I shall be glad to give all details to anyone who is willing to inquire.
Yours, &c.,
EMILY JUSON KERR
THE DEATH OF MARK HAGGARD
10 October 1914
SIR,—IN VARIOUS PAPERS throughout England has appeared a letter, or part of a letter, written by Private C. Derry, of the 2nd Battalion, Welsh Regiment. It concerns the fall of my much-loved nephew, Captain Mark Haggard, of the same regiment, on September 13 in the battle of the Aisne.
Since this letter has been published and, vivid, pathetic, and pride-inspiring as it is, does not tell all the tale. I have been requested, on behalf of Mark’s mother, young widow, and other members of our family, to give the rest of it as it was collected by them from the lips of Lieutenant Somerset, who lay wounded by him when he died. Therefore I send this supplementary account to you in the hope that the other journals which have printed the first part of the story will copy it from your columns.
It seems that after he had given the order to fix bayonets, as told by Private Derry, my nephew charged the German Maxims at the head of his company, he and his soldier servant outrunning the other men. Arrived at the Maxim in front of him, with the rifle which he was using as Derry describes, he shot and killed the three soldiers who were serving it, and then was seen “fighting and laying out” the Germans with the butt end of his empty gun, “laughing” as he did so, until he fell mortally wounded in the body and was carried away by his servant.
His patient and heroic end is told by Private Derry, and I imagine that the exhortation to “Stick it, Welsh!” which from time to time he uttered in his agony, will not soon be forgotten in his regiment. Of that end we who mourn him can only say in the simple words of Derry’s letter, that he “died as he had lived—an officer and a gentleman.”
Perhaps it would not be inappropriate to add as a thought of consolation to those throughout the land who day by day see their loved ones thus devoured by the waste of war, that of a truth these do not vainly die. Not only are they crowned with fame, but by the noble manner of their end they give the lie to Bernhardi and his school, who tell us that we English are an effete and worn-out people, befogged with mean ideals; lost in selfishness and the lust of wealth and comfort. Moreover, the history of these deeds of theirs will surely be as a beacon to those destined to carry on the traditions of our race in that new England which shall arise when the cause of freedom for which we must fight and die has prevailed—to fall no more.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
H. RIDER HAGGARD
PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALLERS AND THE WAR
14 October 1914
SIR,—I AM WRITING to suggest that the professional footballers of the hundreds of clubs throughout the country should be allowed to enlist under certain conditions which might be arranged between the War Office and the Football Association. The men might be allowed to take part in the Saturday fixtures both at home and away, arrangements being made that men of the London clubs should be trained in and near the metropolis, those of the Lancashire clubs in and near Manchester and Liverpool, &c. Possibly a professional football brigade could be formed, and as their training will take a long time their services will not be required out of the country until the football season is practically over. Hundreds of amateur footballers, and other sportsmen have already joined the ranks, and surely the professional will not be less patriotic than his fellows, and will be proud to help to keep the flag flying and the ball rolling at the same time.
Yours faithfully,
WILLIAM A. BECKETT
INVASION BY AIR
16 October 1914
SIR,—ONE DOES NOT want to raise an unnecessary scare, but in the case of invasion by Zeppelins the total or partial obscuration of the lights of London will be of little avail if an airship is able to pick up a guide on the coast to direct it on its way. Is there at present anything to prevent some of the well-to-do aliens who show such an affection for the east coast from guiding the invader by driving a motor with a bright headlight along the road to London? The hour and place of the airship’s arrival might very well be arranged beforehand, and the car could easily be identified from above by preconcerted distinguishing marks.
Yours truly,
MAKE SURE
GERMAN SPIES
19 October 1914
SIR,—I WAS GLAD TO read your article to-day in The Times on German espionage and preparation for this war. Here is an instance. About three years ago I was staying in Norfolk, and I asked a friend of mine if the Germans had ever found out a place called Weybourne, on the coast, where Nelson said was the place to land an invading force for England. My friend answered: “Found it out; the Germans have bought land there and built a hotel.” About 10 days ago I was motoring along the coast there and was stopped several times by the cycle corps guarding the coast. I happened to ask one of the men how much coast they looked after, and he told me from Hunstanton to Weybourne. I said, “There is a hotel at Weybourne which belongs to the Germans.” And he replied,“I don’t know about that; but a short time ago we made a raid on the hotel and found several Germans in it.” I send you this in case it may be of interest to know preparations have been made in this country just as in France and Belgium.
Yours faithfully,
J. B. STRACEY-CLITHEROW
WAITERS AND MILLIONAIRES
22 October 1914
SIR,—AS I TALKED this morning with a distinguished German, long resident in this country, he observed:—“From our point of view it is inconceivable that your Government should permit Germans and Austrians to reside freely in your midst, knowing that in the event of a successful raid upon England they will at once rush to the help of the invaders.”
On the important question of German and Austrian waiters and managers at English hotels he said:—“It is equally inconceivable that the German people would for one moment tolerate English waiters in German hotels at any time. Hotel managers and waiters have particular opportunities for spying on visitors to hotels. They have master keys in their possession opening all the bed-rooms, and can therefore search correspondence in the absence of the visitor; they have opportunities of listening, and it should be noted,” he remarked, “that there is hardly a naval or military town, hardly any resort of British military and naval officers, hardly any strategic point of Great Britain, that is not provided with its German hotel waiters.
“As to the hardship caused by the expulsion of such as are married,” he added, “surely some of the wealthy naturalized German financiers who have so long thriven in this country might look after the wives and children of such of their compatriots as may suffer from a necessary measure of protection. I observe,” he added, “that their names, as a rule, are noticeably absent from the charitable and other funds now appearing in the newspapers, despite their recent lavish expenditure on town and country houses, racing stables, yachts, and Scottish and other shootings.”
I enclose my card and the name of my German informant.
Yours faithfully,
VIGILANT
THE NAME OF “THOMAS ATKINS”
27 October 1914
SIR,—WITH REGARD TO a letter in your issue of 24th inst., signed “Arthur Mercer,” I am afraid your correspondent’s account of why the British soldiers are called “Tommies” is incorrect; the true reason is that in all the old War Office forms of soldiers’ accounts the method company officers were to pursue in keeping them was illustrated by one finished example, and the name taken was “Thomas Atkins,” hence the name.
I am,
THE EDITOR OF “HISTORY OF 32ND LIGHT INFANTRY”
THE INDIAN WOUNDED
5 November 1914
SIR,—AS WOUNDED INDIAN soldiers are being received at Netley, the need for Indian volunteer orderlies is greater than ever. Nearly 70 members of the local Indian corps are already serving as nurses there. Leaving aside the medical members of the corps there are now very few left to answer the further call when it comes. May I therefore trespass upon the hospitality of your columns to appeal to the Indian young men residing in the United Kingdom to enlist without delay? In my humble opinion it ought to be our proud privilege to nurse the Indian soldiers back to health. Colonel Baker’s cry is for more orderlies. And in order to make up the requisite number, and also to encourage our young men, several elderly Indians occupying a high position have gone or are going to Netley as orderlies. One of them is a barrister, having a Privy Council practice, another is an educationist ex-Vice-Principal of a celebrated college for Indian Princes, and a third is a retired member of the Indian Medical Service, having served in five campaigns.
I hope that the example set by these gentlemen will infect other, with a like zeal, and that many Indians who can at all afford to do so will be equal to the emergency that has arisen. Those who desire to enlist can do so at the Indian Volunteers’ Committee’s rooms at 10, Trebovir-road near Earl’s-court, at any time during working hours.
I am, &c.,
M. K. GANDHI
In 1906, while living in South Africa, Gandhi had been a volunteer stretcher-bearer in a war against the Zulus and had become politicised by witnessing the attitudes of British troops to non-whites.
MORE HELP FOR THE WOUNDED
5 November 1914
SIR,—WE READ IN your columns and we also learn from private friends how urgently additional, and especially speedy, surgical aid is needed for the wounded in France and Belgium. A few hospital units officered entirely by women are already there and are doing splendid work. Will your readers help us to send more? The Scottish Federation of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, under the leadership of Dr. Elsie Inglis, have specialized in this form of national service. They have money enough to dispatch one complete unit, which is on the point of starting. They are keen to send at least three if the necessary funds can be obtained. They ought not to start with less that £1,000 per unit. Please help us to raise the money quickly.
Yours obediently,
MILLICENT GARRETT FAWCETT, President, N.U.W.S.S.
Fawcett was the leader of the main organisation campaigning for the right of women to vote. Her sister, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, was the first British woman to qualify as a doctor.
THE NATION AND THE WAR
A FALSE PERSPECTIVE
9 November 1914
SIR,—IS IT NOT TIME that the Government took the country into its confidence and told us what, in its opinion, we have got to face? Unless they do, the country is in danger of being misled. Owing perhaps largely to the censorship arrangements, the mass of the people are gaining a false perspective, which is obviously having its effect on recruiting. They read in the official news—as is natural—mainly of the successes and heroism of the Allied troops, and for the rest they are fed for the most part on imaginative and incredible stories of the utter demoralization of their enemies. The determination and vigour with which the Germans are pressing their attacks and the critical nature of the struggle is thus hidden, and the great mass of the public is lulled into the belief that the war is as good as over, and that it is only a question of holding on till the Germans give way.
To anybody who understands the true position this complacent optimism is without foundation. We have got to beat, not hold, the Germans, and the task of driving them out of Belgium alone from line after line of trenches, yard by yard, mile by mile, is bound to be tremendously difficult and costly. We shall do it, it is true, but only if we spare no effort to bring every ounce of the fighting strength of the nation to bear, and that means pouring into Belgium men, more men, and ever more men, as fast as they can be trained, until a decisive superiority is established and all hope of success to the German arms disappears. An equal battle is a bloodyand a fruitless battle. Decisive superiority in numbers is the surest, the shortest, and in money and life alike the cheapest road to victory. This course, too, is the only one consistent with our pledged word to Belgium and to France.
Can we get the men voluntarily? Let the Government tell Parliament what is required, and we can then give our answer. If we cannot get them, then let us have done with fervid appeals and unfair pressure on individuals, and let us shoulder manfully as a nation our common burdens, just as at the crisis of her fate that other great Anglo-Saxon democracy did 50 years ago during the Civil War. Nothing will do more to bring about an early peace, or more to hearten our Allies and depress our enemies, than a declaration by Parliament that it intends to invoke its ancient common law right and if need be to call upon every citizen to serve the country in arms until the war is over and the battle for freedom is won.
Yours faithfully,
ARATUS
DEEDS AND NAMES
9 November 1914
SIR,—MAY I, AS AN Englishwoman and the widow of a soldier and mother of a soldier, enter my protest, through your columns, against the silence in official quarters regarding the county names of our Regular regiments which are so gloriously upholding England’s honour at the front?
Up to the time the London Scottish were officially mentioned by name for their splendid action we all submitted to this silence as being possibly a wise line to take, but now it is unbearable to know our Surreys, Hampshires, Kents, &c., are performing quite as heroic deeds as the Scots and only to come at the fact through seeing their county names in the casualty lists and through reading an occasional uncensored private letter.
I remain yours truly,
ELIZTH. BUTLER
TEMPTATIONS TO SOLDIERS
9 November 1914
SIR,— WILL YOU KINDLY allow me, through the medium of your paper, to make an appeal to my country men and women upon a most vital subject which is causing me very great uneasiness? All classes in the United Kingdom are showing a keen interest in our Forces engaged in the struggle now going on for our country’s existence as a nation, and they are being munificent in their efforts to supply the wants of our gallant soldiers and sailors fighting abroad. But I feel it my duty to point out to the civil population that putting temptation in the way of our soldiers by injudiciously treating them to drink is injurious to them and prejudicial to our chances of victory. Thousands of young recruits are now collected together in various places, and are having their work interfered with and their constitutions undermined by being tempted to drink by a friendly but thoughtless public, and also by the fact that publichouses are kept open to a late hour of the night. I cannot believe that the owners of such houses are less patriotic and more self-seeking than their fellow-subjects, or that they would deliberately, for the sake of gain, prevent our soldiers being sufficiently trained in body and nerve to enable them to undergo the strain of the arduous service which is before them—a strain which only the strongest physically and morally can be trusted to endure. I therefore beg most earnestly that publicans in particular and the public generally will do their best to prevent our young soldiers being tempted to drink. My appeal applies equally for the members of the Oversea Contingents, who have so generously and unselfishly come over here to help us in our hour of need. I hear that 300 of the Canadian Contingent are to take part in the Lord Mayor’s Show next Monday, and my sincere hope is that, while extending to them a hearty British welcome, no temptation to excess may be put in the way of these soldiers of the King, men whom the nation delights to honour, which will tend to lower them in the eyes of the world.
ROBERTS, F.M.
Field Marshal Earl Roberts was a former Commander-in-Chief of the forces. He died shortly after writing this letter, while visiting troops in France.
THE LEAGUE OF THE KHAKI BUTTON
13 November 1914
SIR,—MAY I THROUGH your paper ask your readers to join the League of the Khaki Button? There is no subscription and no expense other than to buy and wear a small khaki button. Every one wearing the button pledges himself not to stand anyone a drink or to be stood a drink until after the war is over and peace has been declared. If every one would pay for their own drinks we should save our soldiers from a great deal of temptation. The pledge of the Khaki Button is not intended to interfere in any way with hospitality in our own homes.
I am, &c.,
E. F. CROSSE, Archdeacon of Chesterfield, Founder of the League
A LAST TALK WITH LORD ROBERTS
16 November 1914
SIR,—AS I WAS PROBABLY one of the last persons who saw Lord Roberts, outside of his family, on Tuesday night, the day before he left for the Continent, I think it might interest the public to know what were almost the last words be spoke in England in a public capacity. He had granted me an interview for the Echo de Paris, and, before giving me his views on the situation and on the work done by the French Army, he spoke of his visit to France on the morrow and of the reasons for which he was going over to see Sir John French. I have not, in my interview, reported everything he said there, for one at least of his utterances seemed to me to interest solely England. But to you it will certainly be very interesting.
Lord Roberts said that, while the primary reason of his visit was to see his dear Indian troops (of which he was Colonel-in-Chief), he intended to speak to General French about the too great secrecy which was, to his mind, kept by the military authorities at the front and at home concerning the work and the brave deeds of the English soldiers.
“I naturally approve,” said Lord Roberts, “that all the military movements, whatever they be, should be kept absolutely secret from all war correspondents; but it seems to me that they should be allowed to receive at least a fair modicum of information. Why not allow them to write, for instance, in detail of the glorious actions fought by our troops, several days, it goes without saying, after these actions have taken place? I am referring naturally to the English lines. You in France are in a position different from us. You have conscription. Every man is called to the Colours, and you do not rely on the public enthusiasm to recruit your Army, which can very well afford to be �la grande silencieuse.’ In England we want men, many more men, and if we do not let our people at home know in detail of the life of our soldiers at the front, of their brave fights and gallant deeds, how shall we awake in the soul of our young men the high sentiment of emulation which will strongly contribute to lead them to the recruiting office? They are brave, no doubt, willing to offer their lives to their country if necessary. But they often do not know that it is absolutely necessary, and that every minute they lose now is a priceless minute, maybe a battle jeopardized in the future. They do not know enough that our men are always fighting against tremendous odds, that we want more men and still more men to equalize matters. They are not sufficiently able to follow day by day—as much, at any rate, as the military necessities would allow it—the life and the fighting of their friends who have enlisted. What has been done for the London Scottish might to my mind be done with great good result for many of the other units, and I will talk to French about it.”
I thought, Sir, that these views would certainly interest you. Lord Roberts spoke strongly and felt, I have no doubt of it, the urgent need of more “advertisement” for the Army, although he did not utter the word, if England was going to get all the men she wants.
It does, perhaps, not become me as a foreigner to broach upon these matters. We value, in France, too highly the value of the English alliance to think of—I would not say criticizing—but even scrutinizing too closely the methods, through which England has got together and increases every day her valiant Army. It is England’s sole business, and nobody in my country would presume to intrude upon these matters. But, knowing the deep interest which is felt in the matter here, I thought it was almost my duty to let you know what he said about it. I have therefore—let me say it once more—only expressed Lord Roberts’s views on a subject on which I personally have none, would have none, and on which I heard no Frenchman ever venture an opinion.
May I add that Lord Roberts expressed that which gave me infinite pleasure—the highest opinion of the French Army, of the French generals, and of General Joffre in particular. He spoke highly, too, of the French gun—“as a gunner,” said he—of the wonderful power of our 75. He added that he knew very well that France had had up to now to hold the longest line of battle, that all her men able to carry arms had been drafted into the Army, that part of France had suffered terrible devastation. But he added that we should shortly feel the effects of the great support which England was preparing to give us.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
GASTON DRU
“FOLLOW YOUR PRINCE”
19 November 1914
SIR,—THE APPEALS FOR recruits are too long and not simple enough. I suggest the following, printed in bold type:—“The Prince of Wales is at the front. Men are badly wanted to save the country. Enlist and follow your Prince.”
Yours faithfully,
HENRY F. DICKENS
SIR OLIVER LODGE ON THE SOUL’S SURVIVAL
24 November 1914
SIR,—IN VIEW OF THE eminent position of Sir Oliver Lodge and the prominence you have given in The Times of to-day to the report of his statement that he has obtained definite scientific proofs of the continued existence of some of his dead friends, I ask for permission to request him not to delay longer the publication of his promised information regarding the nature of the proofs on which he bases this announcement.
Sir Oliver’s belief that he has talked with the dead has been published before this; and this is not the first time he has been challenged to produce his proofs to the scientific world. But hitherto he has confined himself to the mere reiteration of his conviction of the reality of his discovery.
That a serious statement of this kind, on such a grave subject, solemnly given forth ex cathedra by a professor of science, must surely have harmful results on the minds of many needs no argument. Numerous mental wrecks have been occasioned by so-called “spiritualistic” studies among the large class of persons who are ready to believe most of what they hear. It is not too much to say that, unless Sir Oliver Lodge is prepared to submit his evidence to competent judges, the reiteration of his claim to have talked with the dead is unjustifiable and even inexcusable.
Your obedient servant,
H. BRYAN DONKIN
Lodge was an eminent physicist who came to believe that the spirit lived on after death in an invisible substance that he thought filled the universe: ether.
ST. ANDREW’S DAY AT ETON
24 November 1914
SIR,—IT HAS BEEN decided to transfer the usual fixtures on St. Andrew’s Day at Eton to Saturday, November 28. This has been done for the benefit of the very large number of Old Etonians serving in the forces, for whom Saturday is a much more convenient day for getting leave.
The Wall match will begin at the usual time; and there will be an Old Etonian match in the afternoon.
Yours faithfully,
ANTHONY BEVIR, Captain of the School
IN CASE OF A RAID
3 December 1914
SIR,—THERE IS CONSIDERABLE talk in East Anglia and Essex of the martial spirit of the civilian inhabitants and of the deeds they mean to perform against invading Germans if they get the chance. This martial spirit is creditable, but it cannot be too clearly stated that at the present time a civilian’s martial spirit can only be properly shown in one way.
That way is to enlist in the Regular Forces.
The Germans have not fought according to the rules of civilized warfare as laid down at The Hague. But in this regrettable fact we can find no excuse for imitating them. It is against the rules of civilized warfare for civilians to attempt to kill soldiers. Single snipers would expose their villages to reprisals whose nature we know; and, further, no bands of snipers formed suddenly in an emergency would have the slightest chance of being recognized by the enemy as combatants.
Moreover, the majority of potential snipers could only be armed with a shot-gun, a weapon hopelessly outranged by, and practically useless against, the military rifle.
But there is a stronger reason against civilian fighting. As the military representative on the Emergency Committee which has charge of a large district as dangerously situated as any, I have received a personal positive instruction from the General Officer commanding the South Midland Division that the military authorities absolutely discountenance, and strongly object to, any form of civilian fighting. The arrangements to repel a raid are in their hands; the responsibility is theirs; and any man who acts contrary to their wishes must thereby confuse their plans, impede their operations, and endanger their success.
Any civilian who wants to help against a raid should go to the chairman of his parish council, and through him offer his services to the Emergency Committee of his district. The details of the very exhaustive and elaborate arrangements are now being completed, and there is, or will be, should the moment come, sufficient work to employ all male civilians with wit enough to understand the high value of hearty and obedient cooperation. It would perhaps be impolitic to publish particulars, but the chairman of every parish council has full information and is in a position to allocate duties.
Any civilian, whatever his motive, who tries to repel a raid on his own initiative and by his own devices will be guilty of an act essentially unpatriotic.
ARNOLD BENNETT, Military Representative on the Emergency
Committee of the Tendring Division (Essex)
WOMEN DOCTORS AND THE WAR
5 December 1914
SIR,—AMONG THE MOST urgent national necessities of the moment is an ample supply of experienced, and well-trained doctors—and there is a very marked shortage. Many of our best physicians and surgeons have already gone to the front and as their ranks are thinned by the inevitable wastage of war many more are prepared to follow.
To some extent medical women are already filling the vacancies thus caused at hospitals and other institutions, and are proving themselves equal to their professional and administrative duties. Partly in consequence of the present emergency it has become apparent that the demand for the services of medical women is greatly in excess of the supply. In addition to this the principal missionary societies are suffering from the impossibility of obtaining sufficient medical women to staff their hospitals and dispensaries, and a similar difficulty exists at home in the case of various departments of the public service.
May we not hope that when this urgent demand for women doctors is realized by the public many women of good birth, education, and ability will be desirous of entering the medical profession? It is certain that all such women cannot, and do not, expect to marry, and that in default of this most natural and desirable condition of life some women must seek other spheres of usefulness. From an experience of medical life now verging on 40 years, I venture to think that no career could offer greater happiness and satisfaction to a woman, nor greater opportunities of practical usefulness, than medicine. I should like to point out that women medical students need not of necessity be very young. The more mature woman has certain great qualifications for the task; her verbal memory may not be so strong as that of her juniors, but her trained mind, experience of life, and general savoir faire are of considerable service to her as a student and still more as a practitioner.
That women are capable of rendering efficient professional aid is proved by the fact that at the present time several hospitals officered entirely by women are at work in the theatre of war, and that the services of these medical women are much appreciated by their professional brethren and by their patients.
I am, Sir, faithfully yours,
MARY SCHARLIEB
THE TREATMENT OF THE GERMAN WOUNDED
8 December 1914
SIR,—I HAVE JUST returned from an official visit to the military and private hospitals organized for the care of British and French wounded at Paris and Versailles.
In many of these hospitals are German wounded. I spoke to every German wounded man that I saw and learnt from them that not only had they no complaints but were more than satisfied with the way they are tended and treated. As far as I could learn there is no difference of condition between a German wounded soldier and a British or French. I understand that in Germany there is a widespread erroneous impression that their wounded are being harshly treated by us. So strong is this belief that I hear that my brother, a colonel of the Guards, who is lying very grievously wounded in the military hospital at Frankfurt a/M, although now admirably cared for, is not allowed to be visited by German friends in retaliation for the supposed ill-treatment of their wounded by us. The German wounded in British and neutral hospitals in France are allowed to be visited by the many kind ladies who bring gifts and comforts for the wounded, and receive their share.
In view of the wide circulation of The Times, which I understand still continues in Germany, I shall be glad if you can publish this letter.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
LIONEL EARLE
SWISS RESORTS FOR THE WOUNDED
9 December 1914
SIR,—WILL YOU KINDLY permit me to contradict the rumours more or less prevalent to the effect that St. Moritz and the other resorts in the Engadine will not be open to visitors this winter owing to the war? St. Moritz already has a fair number of its old patrons, and although it is not expected that the season will be a full one, still the conditions now prevailing ought to encourage those who wish to enjoy their usual holiday in the High Alps to do so under favourable circumstances. Perhaps the following facts might help to dispel all hesitation:—(1) The journey out by Paris, Lyons, Culoz, and Geneva with sleeping cars is short and comfortable. Passengers may take as much luggage with them as they please. (2) There need be no fear whatever with regard to the supply of provisions; food of all sorts is abundant in Switzerland; the same may be said with regard to fuel, and there will be no lack of servants. (3) An English chaplain is already in residence at St. Moritz. (4) There are no difficulties about money; English cheques are cashed at the current rate of exchange. (5) The skating and curling rinks will be efficiently maintained as in previous years.
The hotels at St. Moritz are throwing open their doors in a very hospitable fashion to our wounded and invalid officers. A certain number of these will be received gratis, the others at merely nominal charges, and the local medical men are generously offering their professional services free. There will be no subscriptions demanded from officers for the use of rinks, or any outdoor or indoor amusements. I may here mention that the Swiss Government offers a warm welcome to our soldiers, provided they do not appear in our own uniform, and the War Office offers no objection whatever to their going.
Any officers wishing, therefore, to avail themselves of the opportunity presented to them of recruiting health and strength in the splendid climate of the Engadine are requested to apply to Georgina Countess of Dudley, British Red Cross Society, 83, Pall-mall.
I am, Sir, yours truly,
J. FRANK HOLLAND, M.D., H.B.M. Consul
GRUMBLING—AND MORE SWEATERS
11 December 1914
SIR,—THE WEATHER IS very cold, and the troops are very wet, and the mud is very bad, and the embarcation officer at Southampton sends our parcels to the German by mistake, and Mr. Penoyre proves to be an elderly alien female enemy making enormous profits out of sweaters in Mile End-road, and everything is wrong and it’s all the fault of the Government.
Thus my correspondents. Otherwise I should have thought that the Government of this country is engaged at its proper task of carrying on war advantageously with the enemy. To this end it has called for brave hearts, and is now engaged in equipping the brave bodies that contain them. But this will take till the day after to-morrow or longer, and meantime voluntary help, such as your readers have lavished through me, must do its best and keep its temper. I am very sorry, Madam, that one of your mits got into the Gloucester’s sack and the other into the Worcester’s. But would ladies please stich these most useful things together? And, yes, Madam, it is quite true that I did give your nice golf coat (the very small one of rose du Barry silk with the lace insertions) to a Belgian lady—and much comforted she was, poor thing. But would some of my kind senders mingle more discretion with their kindness?
I submit that the knell of Empire will not sound for these blunders of mine. But I do foresee grave ill if once the great civil population of these islands begins to count as a thing of any merit the little they can give and do for those who, through wet and cold and worry and waiting, give and do all for us. It is laid on us all, as never before, to do our utmost and keep, though it be a very mask for tears, a cheerful countenance.
I had almost forgotten. I want, please, a great many more sweaters to dye khaki, and a great many more ladies’ golf coats—long or short, but not the very small ones. The response to my asking for these has been prodigious, I know, but I want a great many more.
Yours faithfully,
JOHN PENOYRE
FRIGHTENED EWE FLOCKS
28 December 1914
SIR,—AT AN AUDIT dinner held here yesterday the farmers present stated that on the previous Friday night the ewe flocks for a distance of 20 miles round had been scared, had smashed through their pens, and were found scattered about the country. One farmer stated that his ewes had been penned in by iron hurdles strong enough to contain bullocks, but the sheep in their mad rush had broken them down.
The general opinion was that an aeroplane must have passed over the district and frightened the ewes, and I was asked to write to the War Office about it. The evidence of this, however—to the effect that some one in a neighbouring town was reported to have heard an aeroplane that night—is too slender to justify me in troubling the War Office at this moment. Moreover, the same thing happened three years ago, and one of the farmers present recalled a similar occurrence 20 years back, long before aeroplanes were invented.
The matter is of some importance, because an injury to our ewe flocks at this period of the year may prejudicially affect the lambing season. It is possible that the cause may be traced to some atmospheric disturbance, and it is in the hope that some one may be able to suggest the true factor in the case that I have ventured to trouble you with this letter.
Your obedient servant,
HOLCOMBE INGLEBY
1915 (#ulink_503843bb-fb8d-5b83-846e-5a219057641f)
THE SWORDS OF FALLEN OFFICERS
2 January 1915
SIR,—MANY SWORDS SENT home from the front by the regimental authorities have been so badly labelled that it has been impossible to identify them, and they lie derelict. Some also are said to have disappeared en route. The pain caused to relatives by the non-receipt of a lost one’s sword is great. Every care should be taken in the transmission of so precious a relic.
Yours,
THE FATHER OF AN OFFICER KILLED IN ACTION
“GOING WEST”
4 January 1915
SIR,—IN REFERENCE TO the question in one of your “Letters from the Front” in to-day’s issue, as to the origin of the soldiers’ expression for death—“going west”—it may be of interest to your readers to know that the idea that the souls of the departed have to journey westwards is a very ancient one. It was the belief of the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians. The sun was supposed to descend through a hole in the ground and to travel all night eastwards through the realms of the dead. Souls had thus to travel west to reach the entrance to this happy underworld. The belief is still held by many pagan peoples all over the world—Brazilians, Australians, and Fijians, among others. Dr. F. B. Jevons (“Introduction to History of Religion,” here (#u00b401d2-35fc-4898-bac1-3b82633510be)) says:—
“The funeral dirges of the Dayaks describe how the spirits of the departed have to run westwards at full speed through brake and briar over rough ground and cutting coral to keep up with the sun and slip through the crashing gates by attaching themselves to him. The ghost who could not keep up with the sun and arrive at the entrance simultaneously with him had to recommence the journey next day.”
Yours, &c.,
ETHEL M. WALLACE
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