Cocks letter diary, 1916-1919 / Verner Cocks - Page 567
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[Page 567]
met one of the Bank boys, Johnnie Maddox. Paris is overrun with Yanks. Their flag is everywhere and they run everything there. Their Army seems to be one of Red Cross officials and Y.M.C.A. men who have held the Paris front well.
I am going to try and get a couple of days leave to get up on to some of the old Somme battlefields and take some pictures. I believe trenches and all signs of war are fast disappearing. A chap just back told me he had eggs & chips in Villers- Brettonneux. It seems sacrilege to spoil these historic spots like this. I don't think tourists will ever have a chance of seeing the ravages of war they are disappearing there. This same fellow said he was very disappointed to see the barbed wire removed, trenches and dugouts filled in and a heap of dead horses and captured guns removed from a certain spot, we knew as Gun valley. There are no derelict tanks about and the very ruins seem to be springing into life and a state of civilization again.
I believe they are going to preserve the ruins of Ypres and build a new city some distance from the site of the old. I would give anything to wander back to the wonderful old ruins of Villers, Corbie, Hammel and up to Peronne and to take you all over those parts as they were in the days of war - they have a wonderful fascination for me.
Goodbye for the present. Remember me to everyone. It is not worth writing as I think I will be home soon - will wire you from England.
Tell Mother I received two bonser cakes the other day - they were the New Year ones. Haven't had any Aussie mail for six weeks - we hear that influ is rampant in N.S.W. and everyone is wearing masks.
Goodbye again and love to all from
Your affte son
€‹Verner