Series 03: John Brady Nash letters, January 1914-December 1915 - Page 188
Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 188]
[At the top of this and following pages of this letter is the word "Girls". Not transcribed.]
Thought struck me this morning:– If when I leave here, my place is in such proximity to the fighting that only postcards will be allowed 'twill be good idea to devote writing time to the completion for publication of a Shakespearean article, the outlines of which are here, circled by brown paper, upon my table. 'Midst the clang of arms, the boom of cannon, the rolling of artillery, the digging of the trenches, the clatter of the horses, the voices of armed men, the surgeons work, and the physicians duties, it may be healthgiving and useful diversion to turn my mind to litterary thoughts; no because of a feeling of competence for the work, but with due humility of thought that the Editor of the "XIXth Century & After" may think it to be worth publishing. What think you of the idea? Now, of course a talk with you on paper, allows the thinking tablets of my mind some exercise, then the result of such, used as at present, would have to be kept in an envelope for transmission, at a later date, whereon it might be flate, stale, and uninteresting.
11-45 am. A copy of The Times dated London Tuesday March 2nd, has just reached me. The postmark was "Chester", but no other means was discoverable by me, on looking through the columns, to identify the sender. On looking closer at the postmark I see that it is "Chesterfield", the writing suggested to me of Dr Peck, it must have been he who sent it. 'Twas good of him.
Herewith I send you a cutting telling of Sgt. O'Leary V.C. and how he earned his decoration. It fits in with my lines about the officer who came through unhurt after seven horses had been kill shot under him and all his brother officers killed. The guardian angel of O'Leary protected him in real earnest. This is a very nice way of looking at the subject, and one that it is commended to the faithful and thoughtful in more countries than ours, &
[Michael John O'Leary (1890-1961) was born in Ireland and served with the Irish Guards and later the Royal Northwest Mounted Police in Saskatchewan, Canada. On the outbreak of WW1 he joined the British Army and was awarded the Victoria Cross for "conspicuous bravery at Cuinchy [France] on the 1st February 1915".]