A generally quiet day, although the Battalion did provide a
60-man working party in the morning.
Pte. William Knox (see 25th December) again wrote to his wife, Ethel (I am most grateful to Rachael Broadhead and family for allowing me access to William’s letters).
“I now sit down and write you a few lines hoping they will find you quite well as I am very pleased to say that it leaves me very well at present. I am still out of the trenches as yet but we go into the firing line on Sunday for four days and then four days in reserve and then the firing line again for four days. We have twenty four days to do so we shall have had enough before we have finished. I hope the weather will keep like it is just now as it is nice and dry and very warm. I will now take the opportunity of thanking you for your parcels which I received quite safe and they were very nice. The one you sent me for Xmas came just right. It arrived in time for tea. I had given it up as lost. It must have cost you a lot of money as it was such a large one. I bet you thought that you would feed me up didn’t you Love? I was feeding on sweet cake for about a week. I had nothing else but cake. I had a very decent time of it as my pal (Sgt. Billy Oldfield, see 25th December) and me shared all our parcels with one another. He is a very decent chap. He has just been promoted to Sergeant and he does not drink at all and he will not go out without me. We are just like the Siamese Twins. A lot of the other chaps do not like it, but they can go to Hell to what I care.
We shall soon have the New Year here now and I hope it shall be the last one we shall spend apart from one another. I do wish this rotten war was all over so as I could get back home to the one I love so well. I always used to think that I loved you a lot but it was nothing to what I love you now. It is an old saying that absence makes the heart grow fonder and I am sure it is so with me. How I wish that I was near you now. I would not half hug and kiss you. In fact there would be nothing left of you when I had finished with you. So you may know what to expect when I come home on leave. I don’t care how soon the time comes as I am simply pining for some love. It seems ages since I saw you last darling but we must wait patiently for the time to come when we shall never have to be apart from one another. It has learnt me a lesson but still I am only doing my duty and I know that you are more proud of me than you would have been had I been forced to go. If I have good luck to come through this terrible ordeal I shall always be able to say that I did my duty when the country asked me to do so. I hope you received my parcel quite safe that I sent with that chap of ours that came on leave”.
Pte. Joseph Simpson
(see 24th December), who
had originally served with Tunstill’s Company, but had been wounded and
invalided home, returned (at 5pm) to Brocton Camp. Staffordshire, where he was
serving with 11DWR. He had been absent for the previous six days (from 9.30pm
on 24th December); he was
admonished and forfeited six days’ pay.Pte. William Knox (see 25th December) again wrote to his wife, Ethel (I am most grateful to Rachael Broadhead and family for allowing me access to William’s letters).
“I now sit down and write you a few lines hoping they will find you quite well as I am very pleased to say that it leaves me very well at present. I am still out of the trenches as yet but we go into the firing line on Sunday for four days and then four days in reserve and then the firing line again for four days. We have twenty four days to do so we shall have had enough before we have finished. I hope the weather will keep like it is just now as it is nice and dry and very warm. I will now take the opportunity of thanking you for your parcels which I received quite safe and they were very nice. The one you sent me for Xmas came just right. It arrived in time for tea. I had given it up as lost. It must have cost you a lot of money as it was such a large one. I bet you thought that you would feed me up didn’t you Love? I was feeding on sweet cake for about a week. I had nothing else but cake. I had a very decent time of it as my pal (Sgt. Billy Oldfield, see 25th December) and me shared all our parcels with one another. He is a very decent chap. He has just been promoted to Sergeant and he does not drink at all and he will not go out without me. We are just like the Siamese Twins. A lot of the other chaps do not like it, but they can go to Hell to what I care.
We shall soon have the New Year here now and I hope it shall be the last one we shall spend apart from one another. I do wish this rotten war was all over so as I could get back home to the one I love so well. I always used to think that I loved you a lot but it was nothing to what I love you now. It is an old saying that absence makes the heart grow fonder and I am sure it is so with me. How I wish that I was near you now. I would not half hug and kiss you. In fact there would be nothing left of you when I had finished with you. So you may know what to expect when I come home on leave. I don’t care how soon the time comes as I am simply pining for some love. It seems ages since I saw you last darling but we must wait patiently for the time to come when we shall never have to be apart from one another. It has learnt me a lesson but still I am only doing my duty and I know that you are more proud of me than you would have been had I been forced to go. If I have good luck to come through this terrible ordeal I shall always be able to say that I did my duty when the country asked me to do so. I hope you received my parcel quite safe that I sent with that chap of ours that came on leave”.
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