Z1360/1/6

Letter (3 sheets) from Wilfred Hammond, marked Same Address, Sunday no. 2 Dear All I am writing to all combined for one or two reasons as follows:-Firstly, I am sadly in arrears with all my letters and have a number to answer as soon as possible. Secondly, it is rather difficult to write a letter in this place that makes interesting reading and if one is going to make up letters to several members of the same family the result is that one incident is repeated in all the letters. Continued Thursday L.Cpl. W. Hammond 8064 18th K.R.R. B.E.F. I was writing the above sitting in a deck chair at the old camp when the Hut that the chair belonged to closed and I had to cease fire. While we were in bed (!) that night we were warned to stand by for going up the line. We spent Monday getting the rest of our equipment and left the camp at 4 am Tuesday morn. We had to get up at 2 am and of all the rotten experiences, one of the worst is scratching about at that time of the morning, putting puttees on and getting one’s “brekker” without any light whatever. We had a long journey down in a luxurious cattle truck and had half an hours’ stop at one place which is a very well known seaport that you all know the name of. Here we got out and were able to buy some buns and tea at those admirable institutions, the YMCA Canteens. I was also able to buy a yard or so of bread known to troops as “Zepps”. We are quite a few miles from the trenches now, within shell fire range if it were worth firing but there is a such a small chance of doing any damage that shells never come over. We were road building yesterday and our chief occupation when not on duty is watching shells burst round aeroplanes. We have seen some thousands of shells fired at ‘planes but have never seen one damaged yet. If I have no time to finish this, I will now give the most urgent part of my letter which is: Please send a 10/- note to me with the utmost speed possible as I am stumped now and here we are able to buy stuff from villages and farms. You can register it if you think it worth while, in fact I think I should. I put this lot in because we had to parade in a hurry but I have more time now so can carry on. Since we were at the last camp two drafts have gone up to the line which is not very bad about here. We have been down to a village near here on the last two nights and it is rather interesting to see the effects of the fighting (I ought to have mentioned that the Allemands once occupied this part of the country) as there are sand bag barricades all over the shops. Some of the houses are slightly knocked to pieces, about half the houses are occupied by the French civilians. There are also a large number of British “Tommies” billeted in the houses, being out of the trenches for their rest. We went in one small shop and in there was an old girl making pillow lace. They are Belgians round here and the good old girl referred to all cash as so many sous or half-pennies, thus “cinq-sous”. Today is a glorious day and there seems to be quite a lot doing up the line judging from the reports and aeroplanes. The bangs (at this distance) sound exactly like the banging of a door in an empty house. Although 5 or 6 miles behind the line any gas attack that happens to be going off comes right back here and hence we are not allowed out without gas-bags. Also the civilian population to a man carry them. One of the houses in the village has this notice in the window: Chips, 2 Eggs, Coffee, Custard, 1 frc. And I lack the necessary. We went in yesterday and had some Custard and it was the goods. No more now only send cash. Yours, Wilf

n.d. [June 1916]

From: 1916 To: 1916

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France, letters, service personnel, overseas (WW1), 18th Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps, LANGUAGE, food, aircraft, money, YMCA, bread, aerial action overseas, aircraft, Belgium, coffee, eggs, custard, lace making