C/O Mrs Hookham 24 Donavon Ave Muswell Hill London N10

(no date but Papa wrote on it 4 July 1917)

Dear Father

I am taking the opportunity of the hospitality of my above friend to write to you what serves as my periodic essay to you. I think my last letter to you dealt with my adventures up to the advance to Bapaume from Le Sars. Our Battalion has not actually at the taking of Bapuame since we were employed repairing the lines of communication including the main Albert Bapaume Rd so that we arrived 2 to 3 days after the town fell. On entering the famous old town we found it in a most dilapidated state. The Germans had purposely blown off the fronts of all the houses one with dynamite and tarred the woodwork so as to make the houses and rubbish burn.

We were at once set to work to clean up and as we had no shovels of our own we were forced to scour around for German implements and in a few days we had cleaned the town up sufficiently to billet a brigade of troops in the cellars etc. There was to be ever present danger of mines in the cellars and also the danger of falling walls and in fact we had several very narrow escapes. The best remaining buildings in the town. The Town Hall was used as a billet for my platoon and a part of it was used by the official billeting section and the town Majors staff. We occupied this Hall for six days and slept on French mattresses left there by the Germans.

During over 10 days work in a Bapuame we built all sorts of defences around the town filled a mine craters in the roads and generally repaired the way for the artillery etc to come up. On the sixth day we watched a fight between a squad of our aeroplanes and a superior squad of our planes which resulted after a very exciting 15 min in the loss of three of our planes 64 German planes 2 catching fire and falling to Mother Earth in flames three pilots could be seen falling to the ground also so that you see things are often become quite exciting in the air as well is on the ground and the death rate is rather big among the aviators.

After we had been an Bapaume 9 days we were called on to proceed to another village near Lagnicourt to act as support troops to our 27th Btn who were going to have a try for Lagnicourt village which they did successfully. We had not left Bapuame and the billets in the Town Hall 2 hours before we heard a great explosion in the distance behind us. On enquiry we found that the Town Hall had been blown up with a automatic bomb left by the Germans to which had taken effect after 12 days. I think on that we were rather lucky to have missed it don’t you considering that 29 people including two French MPs lost their lives.

We then went and took over the firing line from the 24th Btn in and held it without any adventure except that our trench got blown in and Harold Mitchell and five others buried for a time. Next night we were relieved by the 50th Btn ion and we went back to Mametz Canal for 8 days. Here we were in the big attack by the Germans. We then marched back and I was a Lance Cpl at the time to the vicinity of Bapaume and went into the front line on the left of Lagnicourt at a place opposite Noreuil which position we held for 2 days and were relieved by the 28th Btn. We came back to Bapaume and for 10 days we practice a form of attack which we knew meant something special. Finally our division attacked Bullecourt, the 4th Div having partially failed previously.

I however was held back from the attack and was employed detonating bombs at Noreuil during the time our Btn was engaged to the Bullecourt. However our division also partially failed and we came back sadly battered about our Battalion losing 450 men out of 620 with nothing much accomplished by the way of conquered territory and they put 2 more divisions that same spot later on until they did succeed.

We then entrained on May 6 at Bapaume and went back as far as Albert where we detrained and marched 4 miles to Contalmaison camp where I was made Corporal and where we stayed were about 8 days. While here I managed to erect a decent cross over the spot where Bert Allan was killed at Pozieres about 2 miles distant. At Contalmaison we were reviewed by Gen Birdwood as usual and then went out for a long expected spell marching through Aveloy and Senlis Herrisart to Rubempr� where we stayed for about a month and had a real good time with concerts sports leave to Amiens carnivals football and cricket matches etc.

We then packed up feeling much better for our spell and took the train back to Bapaume where we remained in reserve for about 10 days. Here I was made Lance Sgt and duly entered the Sergeants Mess to begin to consider myself ‘some nut’. After about three days as a Sgt I was granted leave on 22nd of June and caught the leave train to Boulogne at 11am. On that date I arrived at Boulogne the same night and we were all marched to Vidors Billets where we stayed until next morning. We then embarked on the package steamer for Blighty and were escorted across by two destroyers and finally arrived quite safely at Folkestone near Dover. We then entrained and after about 3 hours arrived at Victoria Station and were met by an Australian Horseferry Road man and marched to Horseferry Road. Here we were paid and equipped and stowed our packs away. We were also given good advice and a few invitations to stay at Lords and Ladies places if we wish to do so.

However I had nowhere particular to go so I wandered out on a bus to Uncle Geo’s place at Putney where I was duly welcomed with 3 kisses by Mrs George Uncle George and cousin Norah are rather nice but noisy girl of 28. These people are terribly noisy and rather uppish. Uncle George is partly bald with white close-cropped beard and good-natured and fussy and evidently wanted to do all he could for me. Aunt w Uncle George (I don’t know her name) is an ass absolutely and doesnt understand Australian way. She is very generous and hospitable but quite silly to boring in her conversation and from the start wanted to treat me as a school boy. She wanted to give me hot water bottles and mind my money and pay all the fares etc and completely gave me the pip. I did not come home early she imagined me run over or dead and robbed etc and would wait up until all hours until I began to hate the sight of her constant dribbling talk and desire for explanation as to why I was late etc. Norah is a rather smart business like girl of 28 and helps their father at his office. She is fairly good looking too and I ? ? sort of girl alround and I got on very well with her. Hylton is a rather delicate man of 35 and is in his fathers architecture business near St Pauls Cathedral. He is fairly well-educated a thorough gentleman in matters and very effected in his speech so consequently I did not feel exactly overwhelmed with his company. We went to the theatre together and also to dinner which cost him about 25/- and me 15/-. The other daughter Gladys is married to a nice chap named Glenn and live at Esher in Suffolk. They have a lovely home and do the Grand at meal times and generally run an expensive home and live well. She is the best looking member of the family and is a nice girl. She has two little boys one 11 years old and one 9 who are terribly old-fashioned but bright children. Vivian is married to a half Hun girl named Margaret Billison and personally I regard them as very nice people indeed especially Margaret (alias Daisy) and ? wife. Vivian is a Dover engineer and is working for the Admiralty at Dover and areas coining money and has quite a nice home right on the edge overlooking the Downs of Dover and they see a lot of ? take place in the channel. I stayed there for 11/2 days and then came back to London.

Uncle George showed me around all the sights London such as London Bridge, Tower Bridge, London Stone Temple, St Paul’s Mansion house, Guildhall, Bank of England, law courts, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace and a lot of other places of course. I also gained Aunts E and Clare and trotted off to the zoo with them. They are good sports and paid for everything they climbed up on top of buses and walked me to the National and another Art Gallery to and also went to the ? with them for about 10 miles with me.

Well I spent altogether about 4 out of 8 days at Putney 11/2 days at Dover 1/2 a day at the hospital where Harold Mitchell is progressing very well indeed and the rest of the time I spent with my best and dearest friends the Hookhams.and herein comes a story of great woe and distress and I am afraid I am steeped in the deepest of hot water?

Uncle George made me absolutely sick and I felt it quite a taste to go to St Aubyne. When I came back from Dover instead of going back to Putney I went to the Hookhams who are very nice people and they of course were glad to have me and we all went to Monicas restaurant and had dinner and then went to see George Roby in a Zig Zag at the Hippodrome. I spent a very good evening. I went back to their place with them and stayed until Sunday at 3 o’clock and I went back to Putney and reported and found them out or something as no one came to the door when I knocked so that I just simply stalked off again back to Hookhams . I sent St Aulbyns a wire on Saturday after to say I would come back to them on Sunday you see. Well I went back on Monday to France so I did not say goodbye to them. Since then I hear that Aunt Emily had been to the Hookhams and save them a good tongue banging for making me welcome there. Rather cool cheek don’t you think? St Aubyns people are mad also for my not going there so things seem to be rather mixed. They imagined I was going to tie myself to their apron strings which I did not feel inclined to do.

I am now on my way back to France and expect to go into another scrap almost immediately so you can watch for news of July 4 onwards and possibly you may hear of me about Lens or Lille way.

I am in perfect health and have gained 7 pounds ‘on active service’.

So far Blighty is a nice country.

They all wish to be remembered to you.

Yours sincerely and affectly

Walter

PS- I saw the results of the Case? Zep Raid on London

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