France 14/11/1916

Dear Mother,

I am now out of the Hosp and am quite well again and have been sent to the base where I was when I finished my training. I expect I will be sent back to the Battalion shortly as it is sure to be wanting men.

The mud on the Somme is awful and I don’t think any of the descriptions one reads in the papers exaggerate at all. On one occasion 6 mules got bogged out of the track into a big shell hole, possibly 2 holes together, and were smothered in the mud before they could be got out. Some of the shell holes are 10 ft. deep and soon get full of water and slush which is like quicksand and constitutes one of the many dangers to be met with on the Somme. Soldiers walking on the roads have their boots covered to a depth of 4 or 5 inches at each step, so you can just imagine what its like off hard roads and in the trenches.

In the trenches it is up to the knees, even up to the waist in some cases. However our lads manage to carry on and go over the top somehow in spite of it all and I suppose the Germans are in just as bad a plight, if not worse.

When I was down at the hospital in Rouen I got a pass and went into the town. One of the places I visited has the Art Gallery where there are some very fine pictures. Some are by Raphael, while there are dozens of Joan of Arcs. Rouen was the town where she was burnt by the English and there is a big monument on the hill by the town. I would like to have stayed longer but as we were under the British regulations at the hospital (which are very strict), I did not get the chance of a second visit.

The River Seine flows through the town and the river was crowded with boats going to Paris. The French people are very good looking there, especially the women who dress perfectly and we had practically a free hand and did as we liked. They think our hats ‘tres bon’ and the artillery mens leggings also take their fancy.

I had a really good feed too in one of the restaurants and had a nice clean garcon to wait on me. The feed cost 5 frs (3/7d) and consisted of 4 courses, which were very small ones. Sardines and potatoes, fish and chips, mutton and peas and some kind of pudding and wine. Not too bad eh better …

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