Dear Mother and Father
We have not had a mail for over a week now and think that there must have been something doing in the Channel. Leaves are all at a standstill. My Brigade put in for special leave for me but had no luck. It got as far as the GOC of the army, and he returned it with a polite note at the bottom. It is the men I feel sorry for as they really do want leave now.
The weather is shocking. Tommy only has one set of clothing and boots and is out in the wet all day and night. I feel awfully sorry for them, but it can't be helped, the work has to be done and there's an end of it. But we, of course, can generally get a change somehow.
We have been expecting to take part in a show here for the last few weeks and fancy the weather has put it off. It takes you all your time to walk in an ordinary way so there's not much chance of an infantry attack. When I was in the observing station last doing duty I saw a good example of what it must be like on the Hun's side. It was just after daylight and they were walking over the top very nearly to the front line, taking for granted that all the British gunners were still asleep, which is generally the case, taking them on the whole. The trenches must be very bad when a man does this, as a machine gun is a very nasty thing to run up against. These fellows had sticks to help them along and even then they made very slow progress. I had some rather good fun, from my point of view and most of them when shot at dropped their load and got back into the trench very hurriedly. He has made things very nasty for us at the Battery position this week, hit our Mess twice and knocked in two gunpits. We had one poor fellow killed. The wall of the pit was knocked in two days ago but no-one was hurt, then he had the bad luck to be hit just over the heart by the splinter, like the finder of a nail from a shell that burst 30 yards away, which killed him. We also lost a very good chap, a signaller, two days ago. It always seems to be the best men who are killed, but a signaller is always more or less under shell fire and runs far more risks than the ordinary gunner. I had a letter from Jack the other day. He tells me he is OC of a section in the DAC. We are in hopes of being taken out and sent down somewhere about where he is. Our gunners are about worn out and due to have a spell on the line where it is quiet.
Same old cry, no news. With very best love to you all.
From your loving son,
Bertie.
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