My darling Mother,—
We are all still together, with not much to do and plenty of time on parade to do it in. I will give you one of my men's description of their billet: "I am situated at present in country not unlike Welphine. Our billet is pretty decent, on the first floor of a large building, which bears a slight resemblance outwardly to a Workhouse. What an existence! Look up 'Dante's Inferno,' and you will get some idea of every soldier's environment." I am afraid that our mess is none too quiet at times itself, though at present they are all quietly playing cards and reading. To-day being Sunday Kitty and I had a holiday and had breakfast in bed at 9-30.
I am just recovering from rather a bad cold; we all have come in for one, and it seems to make most of us rather argumentative on all subjects relating to trench mortars, various regiments, &c., being a motley collection of regulars, New Army and Special Reserve, and Territorial officers drawn from all sorts of regiments and representing every branch of the army except the R.E. We have R.F.A., E.G.A., R.H.A., A.S.C. and Infantry. Rather a cosmopolitan crowd, and we, most of us, all hold different views on every possible subject that turns up, but we manage to agree on the whole.
Last night Brand and I took our beds outside. It is topping weather at present—very hot, but I like hot weather. Our mess-room leads out into a sort of terrace with a wild garden all round. It must have been very pretty before the war, even in its deserted state it is very nice; forget-me-nots and bits of lake and stream everywhere. I feel as fit as a fiddle and am as brown as a berry.
And guess what time I was up this morning—6-0 a.m., and it will be 5-0 a.m. to-morrow for a field day. When you are in rest you do just twice as much work as in the trenches. But the only think I dislike is moving.
I am waiting very impatiently for our gramophone to arrive, it is so topping out in the open at night. I am afraid that I have been a long time writing this letter, but, as you know, we are still in rest, and I have little news. In addition, we have been kept very busy. To-day (Sunday) we paraded at 4-15 a.m. (just think of me on parade at 4-15!) and I wasn't late; we had a field day, lugging heavy guns about in the heat, and firing dummy rounds. Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed it. To-night Lake and I went for a bathe in the river. As I think I have told you the country is very like Cambridge, or rather more like Norfolk Broads, streams everywhere, wide rivers and small streams intersecting all the fields, so that, unfortunately, wherever you take a short cut you have to jump all sorts of ditches, and already three of us, including myself, have bathed in our clothes. Leading off the rivers are smaller rivers, and everywhere by the riverside are small white farms, each owning two or three flat-bottomed boats like large canoes, shaped like gondolas, and they go everywhere in them, and take their horses too.
I hope to come home for leave on the 1st of June, but leave may be cancelled before then. We have an allotment of leave for the Battery, but I cannot take the first leave myself. Thank you very much for the pleasant parcel, with pyjamas and papers, received the other day. Well, good-night, little mother, you can always know that the fewer letters I write the more harmless time I am having, because I have less to tell.
Much love to all, from your loving Son,
ALEC.