Wednesday 15th December 1915

Front line trenches east of Bois Grenier.

Back again on familiar territory, despite the difficult conditions and with a period of relative quiet, some of ‘Tunstill’s Men’ found time to write home to offer their thanks for parcels received and to reassure loved ones about their welfare. Pte. John Dinsdale (see 12^th September 1914) told well-wishers; “I write to thank you for the splendid parcel I received a few days ago. You have good choice in sending stuff we like. The worst is it does not last long. I may say parcels are very acceptable and we all look forward to them, and to letters, very eagerly. I would also like to thank all the people who subscribed for the parcels. We have had some very wet weather out here; the trenches are knee deep in water and most of us have jack boots when we are in the trenches. The rain has damaged the trenches a good deal but still, in spite of water, mud and German shells, we keep in the best of health”.

Pte. Tom Swales (see 25^th August) also expressed his appreciation of gifts received and made light of the dangers in his letter, “Just a few lines to thank you for the parcel I received a few days ago. I am sure it is very good of you to put yourself to so much trouble for us, and I am sure you have good taste in what to send the boys in the trenches. Please also thank the people for their generosity in subscribing to your scheme. We have had some very wet weather lately, which has made the trenches very unpleasant. The rain has made a pond between the German trench and ours, so there is no fear of them advancing unless they swim across, which I don't think is likely".

It was also during this tour in the trenches, though the exact date is unknown, that Pte. William James Jakeway (see 11^th September) wrote to his brother (an extract from the letter would be published in the Keighley News on 23^rd December), “We can’t get any sleep as our artillery is bombarding the German lines and, of course, they are replying with a few. They sent a shell over the other day and it dropped among a dozen of our lads, killing four and severely wounding the others. I daresay you wil have seen by the papers that a lad of our Battalion has won the DCM (Pte. Sydney Wakefield, see 23^rd November) and that one of our officers has won the Military Cross for bringing in wounded under fire (Lt. Leslie Guy Stewart Bolland, see 10^th December). To say that all our Battalion are Kitchener’s Men we are not doing so badly. We have been served with fur coats, mackintosh capes and Wellington long boots, so you see they are doing all they can to keep us warm and dry. We are in the same trenches at present as we were on the morning of the big bombardment of September 25^th and they are in a mess. Talk about mud-larking – you would would think we had been having a game of rugby and throwing each other about. Mud from head to foot; even the food we eat has mud on. But all we can do is laugh at one another and think ourselves lucky we are living. … I hope the band has a good time this Christmas (Pte. Jakeway had been a bandsman with the Savation Army). The only bit of music I have heard since I left England was a band which the Germans had in their trenches one afternoon. So when I come home I will blow that instrument of mine straight”.

Image by kind permission of Andy Wade and MenOfWorth

L.Cpl. Arthur Halstead, serving in France with the ASC, and attached to 1^st Cavalry Division, submitted his application for a temporary commission; he would subsequently join 10DWR as a Lieutenant. Arthur Halstead was born on 28^th December 1893 in Halifax, the second son, though he also had six older sisters, of Elijah and Sarah Ann Halstead. His father had worked as a labourer in a wire mill, but Arthur himself had been working as a clerk in the offices of the Halifax Guardian when he volunteered on the outbreak of war. He was in France by 26^th August 1914, which strongly suggests that he prior military experience, most likely with the Territorials.