HG12/13/4

Typed letter from Henry Hugh Longuet Longuet-Higgins, St Mary's Rectory, PO Box 185, Johannesburg, South Africa to Edith Augusta Mary Bazeley.

14 Apr 1915

From: 1915 To: 1915

Pleased that Blundell is doing well. Thanks for the Daily Mail account of the 'Battle of Wipers.' John [brother?] was in the battle of Neuve Chapelle and got shot in the thigh on the third day. A 'Jack Johnson*' exploded 8 feet from him and perforated both his ear drums, so he has 2 months sick leave. Writer has put in his offer to serve as chaplian to the troops, but is afraid it will not be looked at. Kenneth [brother?] is to 'march parasangs along the Dardanelles' Last weekend the writer had to go to do duty at Ermelo, 175 miles away - eight and a half hours each way on the train. Scheme to build a chapel at the General Hospital. Goes out once a month for a ride on horseback, which is very enjoyable. A man from the Provincial Legislatue suggests that the church should proclaim that the service of women during the war should be a normal and regulated thing and not merely a spasmodic effort. 'Many of them will not want to marry if they could. Such should be offering themselves in scores to the sisterhood for work amongst the poor in parishes, in hospitalsm in orphanages, in the mission field and so on.' The writer agrees with his views. [Note: *Jack Johnson (1878-1946) was a famous American boxer whose nickname was 'The Big Smoke'. Shells that gave off a dense black smoke when they exploded thus were dubbed 'Jack Johnsons'.]

item

Longuet-Higgins, Henry Hugh Longuet,
Bazeley, Edith Augusta Mary,
Longuet-Higgins, John Esmond Longuet,
Longuet-Higgins, Kenneth Aislabie,
Blundell

general correspondence, Johannesburg, South Africa, World War One