Destrubé family - Letter to Maurice, Maggie and family, from Georges, October 23, 1915, Tidworth

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Letter p. 2

Date:

1915

Transcript:

had lamed many. This last affair was a Divisional affair & therefore included about fifteen to twenty thousand Troops ^{including cavalry & artillery}, half representing the attacking force & the other half, the <del>offen</del> defensive. We wore white bands round our caps & were the offensive & the enemy had a yellow band. I believe we won the fight but do not know for sure, for I may say that in these things only the officers know what is going on & even they have only a general idea, the generals themselves & their brigade & divisional staff being the only ones that really understand the whole scheme. It gives one some idea of what an extraordinary genius must be required to "run" an advance which includes a million or two of men like that accomplished by Mackensen & Hindenburg in Russia! (or General Joffre's move at the Battle of the Marne.) Can you imagine Maurice that a mere <del>brigad</del> division in column of route-march occupy over 15 miles of road! Therefore Kitchener's Army of 3 million men (if all properly equipped) would occupy, if one battalion marched behind the other,touching in one long column

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Letter p. 3

Date:

1915

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[Centre:] II [Upper right annotation:] 3 would stretch over 2,250 miles of road! nearly from Quebec to Rife! It goes home to ones imagination that way, does'nt it? Well, as I said, as private we dont know much about what's going on, & at least not any more than the section of the fighting that we re actually engaged in. Only on one or two rare occasions have we been in such a position to be able to see any extensive operations going on, it is an interesting sight when you can. So the privates lot is not a complicated one, he has only 3 things to do - obey order, use his common sense where no orders can be given, & endure. On the whole we have very intelligent officers in our battalion & I think it is general throughout the division (tho I'm sure, without predudice, we are the best battalion in it <del>)</del> as far as Infantry is concerned) But in spite of this one sees many blunders & a good deal of confusion going on at times which seems to prove that some how we dont seem to have the genius for military operations, at least not like certain other nations, like France & Germany.

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Letter p. 4

Date:

1915

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[Upper right annotation:] 4 The first day out we had the heaviest march we've ever had, men fell out exhausted on the side of the road & we had a full pack on added to which we had nothing to eat for 15 hours because when we came to the end of our march we had to start forming [out?] for battle & indeed went thro a good deal of scrapping well into the evening before we finally got supper. Nor did we get much comfort in sleep that might for we had no blanket - part of our transport having been captured by the "Enemy", so we shivered most of the night. During the night ^{(early morning)} I got up & stood around the camp fire of one of the field kitchens, there being no wood handy they had made a bonfire from fat meat & ribs which flared up & gave them a tremendous lot of light for working round the field kitchen (which of course is on wheels so that food can be cooked while it's actually on the road) It is a queer sight to see these cooks - the roughest & dirtiest chaps alive at the best - working under conditions like these. The poor beggars have to work at times very hard & at all hours.

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Letter p. 5

Date:

1915

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[Centre:] III [Upper right annotation:] 5 At this particular moment they were preparing breakfast & cutting up slabs of meat for dinner from huge hind quarters. All the fat & ribs & second class stuff was thrown on the fire which was composed solely of meat! Of course the cooks can hardly be blamed for this wastefulness, the lean itself is usually none too tender & so the fat is naturally far worse & in fact uneatable, but they havent time to make drippings of it & would have too much any way, so it goes on the fire, & I must say makes a lovely one! The food is cooked in square shaped caldrons that fit down into the stove (so to speak) of the cooker. They are called "dicksies" & each one has to do 50 men (1 platoon) ^{and there's one cooker field kitchen to each company.} We come up in file for this grub with our "mess-tins" which we always carry with us, & I might say it is rare that we get as much as we need & there is no second helping! As I said before, these manoeuvres are not much fun for the private. He does'nt know what's going on & therefore looses all interest in it & his chief concern is "when will the bally business be all over! For most of

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Letter p. 6

Date:

1915

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[Upper right annotation:] 6 the time he is tired & cold & hungry & it is hardship without romance, expecially when it is raining & he's wet through. The next day there was more marching & more fighting & somtimes orders were misunderstood & a general mix-up occured such as a neighbour battalion (or ours) going in the wrong <del>directiong</del> direction & getting in from of our fire with the result that we or they would be unable to fire on the enemy because we would be shooting our own men, & then there would come racing along a brigadier-general or staff major mounted <del>on</del> always on fine spirited horses, irritably balling-out the officer who made the mistake tho not always hitting on the one really to blame. Most mistakes happen by night when battalion Commanders sometimes take up wrong postions thro misreading their maps or mistaking roads or other features in the dark, and so it often happens that in our march we come to a sudden halt & stand in the road for a couple of hours, & not being given orders to fall out & sit on the side of the road we have to stand there not knowing why or for how long & being damp with perspiration from the

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Letter p. 7

Date:

1915

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[Centre:] IV [Upper right annotation:] 7 march & pack we soon chill down & begin to shiver in the cold night air. And then we might go on again for a few hundred yards & halt again, & so on several times & never know why. And then we may leave the road & go across-country & adopt a new formation perhaps in columns of extended companies & race along in the dark through hedges & fields stumbling through cabbage & turnip plantations or thro grain fields, destroying fields as large as a homestead & getting wet to the waist. And then a halt may come out & a "fallout & rest" & for a couple of hours we lie huddled & try to keep the cold out & manage to sleep thro sheer weariness. And we wake up a good deal refreshed & start on again, still in the dark & take to extended formation, one line behind the other & then when the postion is Taken up we lie & wait, & dawn breaks & we find ourselves on <del>the</del> a high ridge over looking an extensive valley. On our right & on our left we see strings of other battalions & presently we see long lines almost indiscernable <del>coming</del> emerging from the woods on the other side of the

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Letter p. 8

Date:

1915

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[Upper right annotation:] 8 valley & they are the enemy & we lie in wait. At such a time sometimes the scouts are called out by our [illegible] & our captain usually calls for we 3, and the order given - "go out & find out whether there are any of the enemy hidden behind that ridge in front". Often such jobs are [rotten?] because you have no <del>cover</del> cover & therefore would be seen at once if there were any men in the hollow mentioned & often the messages one has to bring back are more or less obvious so its not a bit satisfactory. But what is interesting is when you are sent out over a piece of country where there's some bush or hedges or are told to scout a wood ahead to see if it is free from an ambushed enemy - then you feel you have been doing something useful. But <del>after</del> otherwise we hate it for it is almost making of fool of you & the scouting is the only thing we take a pride in, in this Training work for it is the only job where you can use a little initiative & intelligence. It is really thro our scouting & thro our cool check in walking out of barracks & coming back a week later, & our's & Papa's original sort of letters that we have come to be known

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Letter p. 9

Date:

1915

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[Centre:] V [Upper right annotation:] 9 to the Colonel (who otherwise naturally does'nt know or recognize the name or face of the bulk of his men ^individually, that is, the privates. And he seems to have a <del>friendly</del> good opinion of us as scouts & seems to like us rather in spite of our occasional "breaks".^{(The colonel is very well liked & admired by his men.)} The same apply to some of the other officers to whom we have become well known through our peculiar ways. By the way one of our chaps of our platoon over stayed his pass by only a few hours last monday & he got 10 days C.B.! His excuse (& it was quite true) was that his mother was ill. He is a nice honest chap but he was absolutely unknown to the colonel so his story was put down as "the old yarn". The Col. said 'I've heard that too often - 10 days C.B." & before he had time to say a word in his defense the sargeant-major who ushers the defaulters in, in the strictest formal style cried - about turn left wheel, quick march! So this unfortunate chap who really had ample excuse gets 10 days because of his 1/2 day over due & we get only 8 days for 8 whole days! At the same time I must explain that they are getting stricter all the time.

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Letter p. 10

Date:

1915

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[Upper right annotation:] 10 But to get back to those field manoeuvres - for I want to give you a glimpse of a bit of Army life as there is nothing much else to write about <del>& to</del> ^{I must} fill up a few pages otherwise Papa will thank me again for more correspondance which he never got! In these battles we have it is very hard to know who would really win but in the fighting positions <del>I</del> we held over the valley I spoke about a little while back we naturally had the best of it as we dominated a ^{very high} ridge & they had to come up & attack us. We have blank ammunition to give the right effect & the fight usually ends in a bayonet charge. After this we got a much needed breakfast & then an other tedious & tiring day & a rear guard action is perhaps fought. And if we are lucky we form the "Reserves" & therefore do not have to put our night in fighting And even if there is no fighting at night at all one unfortunate battalion has to do the Outpost work <del>up</del> which is a sort of screening fan of groups of sentries & armed groups who have to keep armed & on the alert all night in case of suprise attacks; & there are the "patrolling groups & reconnoitring parties & so on. On a wet night when you are shivering <del>&</del> it

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Letter p. 11

Date:

1915

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[Centre:] VI [Upper right annotation:] 11 does'nt make much odds whether you are on duty or not for in any case you cant sleep for the cold. Each sentry has 2 on & 4 off, & he mus'nt forget who he is & his exact position, & <del>these</del> this information is passed from sentry to sentry when the next come on duty. So when you "come off" you go & wake up the next chap who perhaps has managed to fall asleep in spite of cold or rain (for he's allowed to rest when not on guard). It seems cruel to rouse him & he curses it all as you drag him half asleep reluctantly to his post & beat & tell him "now dont forget, - you're the 3rd relief sentry, over no. 2 sentry groups, over no. 3 Picquet 2nd Outpost Company. No. 2 Picquet is on your left & no. 4 Picquet on your right, your own picquet is back here & the Reserves behind that again & this over here is the enemy's front & they are coming in the direction from Winchester, a patrol-party passed by a few minutes ago, expect them back from this side & the pass-word is "Egypt". And if an officer goes round inspecting & the sentry cant give his position nightly, there is

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Letter p. 12

Date:

1915

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[Upper right annotation:] 12 hell to pay! On the last particular night we were soaked & chilled through for the weather now is far from warm, & for the sentry it is rather funny to see these poor devils <del>th</del> who are trying to sleep, huddled up together, most of them awake & shivering, a few asleep snoring & the others grumbling & cussing or patiently sitting it out, & sometimes I would <del>spo</del> stop & tuck them in with their one blanket & exchange jokes about it. At day break we rallied in again to <del>a</del> bivouac & got a few camp fires going from wood [rustled?] around & then some time that day the battle<del>d</del> came to an end & no one was sorry & we marched home. There is every indication now that we are prepairing for Serbia. Tomorrow we start out again for another 3 days, & that is just the sort of training that is needed, for it wont be a question of trench warfare in the Balkens or at least not at first. There seems no reason to believe we will go immediatly, worse luck, & most people seem to think we will be reserved for a last decisive blow.

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Letter p. 13

Date:

1915

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[Centre:] VII [Upper right annotation:] 13 Most of Kitchners army is exceedingly well equipped & trained, so it's only natural that a good deal is to be expected of us after 12 months training. I cant tell you how fed up we are and how demoralizing this ceasless irksome routine is & to be kept here still training when men are so badly needed to end the war. Two or 3 months concentrated trainⁱⁿg would have been enough for we 3 chaps <del>[illegible]</del> ^{& we} would have been just as far ahead as we are now. I would'nt mind half so much if I could be doing something <del>worth</del> where a little bit of intelligence is needed or where I might learn something that if not useful for the war, would help at some other time - some thing that would excuse the brain a bit, - carpentry, engineering or anything that might have have the least bit of interest in it, even officer work (much as I'm not struck on it) And we have to give up our whole time to this Training - one years sheer waste of time, & the end not yet in sight! For the rumours about going away in a few days seem to be without foundation. All the colonial element & most of the others in

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Letter p. 14

Date:

1915

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[Upper right annotation:] 14 our battalion are filled with discontent ^{at the delay} but none more so than we. But I must dry up on the subject for it is an unpleasant one. When I was trying to sleep in the rain the other night under the trees, the good old West was in my mind the whole time. What joy would have been mine if with Guy & Paul we were under a Spruce tree instead of an Oak & at beaking of dawn found ourselves in Canada - out in the wilds instead of on Salisbury Plains! and the war, - only a nightmare! Those days with Guy, in the winter or summer when out on one of our "trips north" stand out the more so now that we belong to the army, as the greatest days of our life! In those days there was no "Fall in", ^only to be "mucked about" for another day. It did'nt matter then if the night had been "tough" (& they often were) for when dawn broke it meant another day of adventure & enterprise that satisfied ones great ambition for that sort of thing, and you know how keen we were on the life & the land "up north". And I still love that land with the same

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Letter p. 15

Date:

1915

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[Centre:] VIII [Upper right annotation:] 15 keenness & that wilder life that we used to occasionally get such as the trip Guy & I made to Sandy River. The wonderful, beckoning mystery of those far away lands & forest - solitudes still has the same appeal to me, - How strange it should be so! Poor old [Guy?] who has become ^almost dumb from disgust at this waste of time & delay dreams & reads of that life at all times (except when he does not think at all of anything, which is a thing that often happens to us when we are "on parade" & the job we have on hand prevents continuous thought & leaves the mind a total blank!) We took to that life out West as tho we had been pre-destined to it, - like ducks to water - & we always showed that love of that sort of enterprise from the begining when we were kids & used to break-up, dig-up & build -up all sorts of things in the house & in the garden. On saturday morning we had a rather intersting firing practice. The whole battalion had to advance over about 1/2 mile of ground, making it in short rushes of a hundered yards or so, & at

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Letter p. 16

Date:

1915

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[Upper right annotation:] 16 the end of each rush we lay down & fired at dozens of ^{[silhouette?]} targets (shaped like a man crouching) that were stuck into the ground here & there. We had 25 rounds of ball - ammunition (ordinary 303 [Maurice?]). It was quite good fun; it made a tremendous klanging away & one could have thought oneself in real action. When will our time actually come? This is a rotten week end, its been raining steadily, even if we could have got a pass I doubt we could have caught a train for London, for it was late when we got back saturday afternoon. We shall try very hard for a pass next weekend & I feel sure we can get it by talking "nicely" to the [coy?], sergeant-major with whom we are on good terms. I will let you know if I cant get it by wiring saturday. I was glad to hear that dear old Grandmaman remained behind, it seems to be she's so much better off with you [Pumps?] than at Boulogne <del>all</del> all alone. It is very satisfactory to get good news from you at Rife, I'm so glad that the world is using you pretty well. How I would love to sleep in & see your dear little home, dear Maggie, now that you have got it nearly all fixed up. I miss the little home of logs

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Letter p. 17

Date:

1915

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[Centre:] IX [Upper right annotation:] 17 so much & those that are in it. I'd give anything to give you a hand at washing-up Mag & would like to tease & argue with you & have the great long talks that would take place & will take place if we are ever given ^half a chance to come back. I'd give just anything to see you once more & dear old Sylvie too, but it cannot be & I suppose we are lucky we can write & should be thankful for that. I suppose Syl is still in [Quebec?] & unable to decide to leave <del>[Quebec?]</del> it. I wish she would come in time to see us before we go. I have no more time to write now & its almost time I dried up anyway for I dont want to bore you with too much of it. So with very best love to you both & Pumps & family your loving brother Georges