Same address
5th May 1917
Dear Mother & Dad
Here I am again still in the pink & the best of spirits. I’ve just had a glorious feed. We have had some canteen stuff up this morning & I had five shillings worth of [??] wines. I had half a tin of peaches with some condensed milk, some chocolate & biscuits. I had to leave my ordinary ration (All the more for breaker.) Dear Mother & Dad I am please to say we get 1 pound of bread a day here so it is a bit better than the Peninsular. The weather is fairly hot here & the flies are getting very troublesome. We have also got some “company”, but we are in nothing the state we were on the Pen. We can get a fairly good supply of water here too & that us a blessing I can tell you. Dear Mother I hope this will reach you by the 19th as it is your birthday. I wish you “Many happy returns of the day” & Edgar wishes you likewise. I forgot how old you are. Is it 45? I am sorry I haven’t a card to send you this year because the artist Con Grange as you know was wounded in the last scrap. Things are still quiet here. Johnny doesn’t seem to have many shells to send over & it’s a jolly good job too. By the way perhaps you would like to know Johnny has got my Chessmen & a letter I wrote to Fred & several other articles. Oh what a lot of things I should like to tell you but they will have to wait till I come home. I believe there is a mail tonight. Mail day is a Red letter day for us. I hope this will find you both quite well. I saw Edgar this morning & he gave me a little tea & sugar so after I have finished this I am going to make an afternoon can of tea. Edgar by the way is now servant to our Major. Well dear Mother & Dad I must close now. Best love & May God bless you.
I remain
Your Everloving Son
Lionel
x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Same address
May 8th 17
Dear Mother & Dad
I am glad to say I am going on quite alright. Edgar has gone away to hospital. I don’t quite know what is wrong with him but I think is a touch of Malaria. I am glad he has got out of this show. I will write to him & let you know how he is getting on. There is nothing doing here at present. We are quite safe where we are now. I have not had the books this week yet. I do hope they will soon come as I am hard up for reading matter. Dear Mother & Dad I am writing this in my dugout. The flies are very troublesome. I have just had a shave & I do want a hair cut. Our barber lost his tools during our scrap. I haven’t heard from Auntie this week yet. Dear Mother I hope it did not upset you last week hearing about Wallie but I thought it was best to let you know. Edgar has written a letter of sympathy to Mrs Hay for him & I. if you wish to write the address is 115 Rushin Ave, Manor Park. E. I often look at those postcards you sent me & my photos, I have got quite a collection now. I am afraid I must close now as I have no more to say at present. I hope this will find you in the best of health. Best love & May God bless you.
I remain
Your Everloving Son
Lionel
x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Same address
May 16th 1917
Dear Mother & Dad
I received your nice letter dated the 23rd April quite safe yesterday. Thank very much for the P Card. Windsor Castle is a nice place isn’t it. I am still jogging along A.1. I have not heard from Edgar yet so I cannot tell you how he is. Harry is here & quite well & Con is now convalescent. That is about all I can tell you. I hope Fred will be able to get home now he is at Beckenham. I am still waiting for his photo. Surly he can afford to have it taken drawing such a big wage. I daresay Fred heard from me that I was wounded for I wrote to him the same time as I wrote to you. By the way Edgar got those things away for me. He has sent them to his home first. So Mrs Bigg will send them on to you. I am sorry but I lost the piece of bayonet, but the cartridges & bullet are alright & they are the chuf things. You want to know long we were fighting. Our boys were in it for two days. Wallie was hit in the evening of the first day & I was hit about midday of the second. Dear Mother I am glad you are so much better & I hope you are quite well by now. They keep Dad well on the go don’t they. They ought to let him have his Sunday off. I have not received the books yet. Well I think I must close for the present. I will [??] [??] [??]. Hope this will find you quite well. Best love & May God bless you.
I remain
Your Everloving Son
Lionel
x x x x x x x x x x x x x
May 20th 1917
Dear Fred
I received your letter yesterday. I bet you were surprised to see Mother & Dad & Florie. Well Fred we are having a rest behind the firing line. The dug-out we are in are as “coolly” as “blazes”. I [??] [??] [??] joining yours on one of the chaps tunics. What? Fred fed up with the Army already. Why I should think you are having picnic. Have you had a rundown to Charlton yet. You are quite near at Beckenham. I have a new number now nearly as big as yours it is 275600. Our guns are sending a few over as I am writing this. We have just had a kit inspection. Sunday afternoon & all. There’s no rest for the wicked. Dear Fred this is all for now. Ta Ta.
I remain
Your Everloving Brother
Lionel
Same address
May 20th 1917
Dear Mother & Dad
I received your nice letter & the books quite safe yesterday. I also had one from Fred. He tells me how surprised he was to see you. Well I am please to say I am still quite well. We are resting at present some way behind the firing line & I think we are still going back further. I heard from Edgar & he is in hospital at Alexandria & is getting on fine. Dear Mother I daresay you had my new number from the Records office. It is 275600. My name is in the casualty list. I am sending it on to you. Most people thought they were the casualties in France as all the new numbers are down. There are a lot more to be published I should think. I have never known a list to be published like they have the one I am sending. They are all from our brigade. It has caused a great disturbance around West Ham. For in the report in the papers our boys were not mentioned & now you can see the “Essex” were right there. Well dear Mother & Dad I hope this will find you quite well. Thanks for P.C. of Kew. It looks lovely & so does the castle you sent me last week. We have just had a short service. Our Parade brought us a few sheets of this writing paper. Very good of him wasn’t it. It is very hot here today. I am putting in a letter for Fred so please send it on, also one for Auntie. I do this as our issue of Green envelopes are very scarce. Well I am afraid I must close now as I have no more to say. Ta Ta. Best love & May God bless you.
I remain
Your Everloving Son
Lionel
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
P.S. Please send me a couple of copying ink pencils. LFK
Usual address
May 27th 17
Dear Fred
Just a short note in answer to your letter I received yesterday. Please to know you are getting on alright but I can’t quite make out what you mean by training reserves. Please explain better in your next letter. I am still in the ‘pink’. Our boys are down from the line having a rest. We are right near the sea & it is “bonza” in the water. Edgar is in convalescent in Alexandria. Say Fred do you want any flies we’ve got plenty here if you do. My dug-out is swarmed with them. It is not quite so warm today & it’s a treat too. Well Fred I said it was a short note so it is. I must close now hoping this will find you quite well. Please excuse paper as I am very short no Y.M.C.A.s near here. Best Love.
I remain
Your Everloving Brother
Lionel
Usual address
Whit Sunday May 27th 17
Dear Mother & Dad
I have just received the letter from you with all Fred’s letters. It has been all round the hospitals after me. The envelope is covered with writing. I hope to have another letter from you tomorrow as it is rumoured that there is a mail at the base. I am pleased to say I am quite well & that Edgar is now convalescent. I had a letter from Fred yesterday& he says something about training reserves. I hope he doesn’t mean he is to be transferred into the infantry. I liked reading Fred’s letters to you. I had to laugh the way he asked for the money. No beating around the bush with Fred. I hope you get on alright now Florie has gone. Dear Mother & Dad our boys are back from the line for a rest we are near the sea & it is grand in the water. The water is quite warm. In fact it is warmer in than out. I am going for a dip as soon as I have finished writing. I want to write to Renie & Fred if I can. I received two novels from Renie. I get through some books on the quiet. It is Whit Sunday today. We are having a service tonight. I think I have said all for now. I will write again in a day or two. I hope this will find you & Dad quite well. Best love & May God bless you.
I remain
Your Everloving Son
Lionel
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Usual address
May 30th 17
Dear Mother & Dad
This is only going to be a short letter as I have not had a letter from you this week so far & I am sure I haven’t got much to say. I am still quite well & we are still by the sea. I have not heard from Edgar lately so I do not know how he is. Harry is quite well & Con has been transferred into the Camel Corps so it will be sometime before I shall see him again. The weather is still very hot. Dear Mother & Dad I hope this will find you quite well. I have just been looking at your photo & the views of Ealing you sent me. I hope I shan’t have to wait long for your letter for you don’t know how I long for them to come. You will see I have got some more writing. We had a few from the canteen. They went one between three so I have got little bit to go on with. It is now about six in the evening & it is the best time of the day. We have just had dinner. We had shackles thickened with flour.
May 31st
I had to leave this last night as I had to go & get some canteen goods up for the Company. I have just come back from a dip in the sea. It was grand I had a letter from Fred this morning. It had been all round the hospitals. I am going to enclose a letter for him so please forward. I think I must close now as I have no more to say. Best love & May God bless you.
I remain
Your Everloving Son
Lionel
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Usual address
May 31st 17
Dear Fred
I have only just received your letter written on the 2nd of April. It has been around the hospitals. So please to hear of your doings. I hope you are still in the pink. I am still jogging along A.1. I have just had a bonza swim. The weather is very hot here. I am sweating like a bull as I am writing. We have got our blankets over our dug-out as a shade. I bet is was nice at Aldershot if you were near the Hog’s back. I don’t go much on this country. Edgar has not rejoined the batt yet. Dear Fred do not be offended but I think you ought to read your letters through after you have written them. There is a sentence in your letter I can’t make head or tails of. I am sending it for you to see. Well dear Fred this is all for the present, Ta Ta.
I remain
Your Everlasting Brother
Lionel