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[Page 52]
THE DUG OUT,
21st April 1916.
My dear Mother
We are now up in the trenches again and as you can see by the above I am writing this in our home. We have a very comfortable little home this time. There is plenty of room for the two of us, and we are very cosy. We have a fine stove rigged up with everything complete, not forgetting the flue. The walls are fitted up with shelves, cupboards etc., and our sleeping quarters are on a bench raised from the ground and which just holds the two of us nicely, in fact the only things missing to give it the home touch are some pictures on the wall, a piano and a billiard table and a few more odds and ends like that. Plenty of firewood is obtainable round about and fuel is supplied so we have the fire going all night and day. My Companion in luxury this time is Don Gibson. Don't think you have ever met him, but the Karenza people did. He is one of the group taken on the "Ceramic". An old friend of Harry's and one of the best. He is also a fine cook, which in these circumstances, is the best recommendation I can think of. Here is our breakfast for this morning (served in bed) Porridge with fresh milk and sugar, bacon, steak and chip potatoes, with toast and cocoa as an afterthought. Not bad for Good Friday, and the trenches and a bit of a contrast to Gallipoli. This has been a picnic so far compared with what we went through over there.
It has been very wet and cold here lately, in fact it has been raining on and off practically ever since we got here. It also snows a little too frequently, so things in the trenches have been pretty miserable, but we are well provided for in the way of long rubber boots etc., and it does not worry us as much as it would do otherwise.
The ravages of war are very apparent round about here. We have seen numerous Villages practically razed to the ground during the early part of the fighting, but the most marvellous thing of all, according to me, is the quiet unconcerned sort of way the inhabitants of these Villages carry on their life, with probably fighting going on not half a mile away. Everything is taken as a matter of course, and they all have the one confident feeling – A successful issue in a very short time – Poor devils have been carrying that feeling for a long time now.
We have just finished having a good spell. Nothing to do and all day to do it in, with a hot bath thrown in now and again, so I am feeling tip top and will soon have to get a uniform that is larger round the waist band.
Nothing as usual in the way of news from here, of course there is a lot I could say, but the powers that be object. However, I'll be able to talk for months when I get back. Suppose Billy has left by now. Have no idea where Chas or Os are. Last I heard was they were still in Egypt.