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Gerald Blake fonds
Listing of correspondence
1) Nov. 6, 1914, 1 HLS to his Mother, 2S
...There is a strict censorship, of which I hope I have steered clear
above. We may mention no French place names, or details of our position
or movements, but I hope the above may reach you...
2) Nov. 9, 1914, 1 HLS to Clive Blake (his brother),
6S
...It is no use sending things that go bad...or that
cannot be eaten immediately if bulky. Send nothing
I do not ask for, (except chocolate etc) because you know my space is
limited...
3, 4) Nov. 18, 1914, 1 HLS to his Mother, 3S; 19
Nov., 1914, 1 HLS, to Clive, 1S
...Tomorrow we go for a spell in the trenches. The work they say is
fairly easy. We sit there hidden in hiding holes till the German infantry
advance, and then stand up a [nd] [shoot] the beggars...
5) Nov. 21, 1914 , 1 HLS to Clive Blake from Angus
Macmillan, 2S
...I have also been afterwards on our second engagement, which consisted
of 5 days and nights in the trenches. The last two of these we spent
in soaking wet clothes owing to a thunderstorm, and all our food was
full of sand...
6) Dec. 7, 1914, 1 HLS to his Mother, 3S; 1 HLS
to Clive, 6S
...We have just gone into some rather unpleasant trenches. The disadvantage
of these trenches lie in the fact that it has been raining and the roof
of the living rooms leak badly. The water has also accumulated in the
main trench to a depth of 12 to 24 inches and we have to wade through
this... Note: Letter contains a sketch of the trench.
7, 8) Dec. 21 and 27, 1914, 1 HLS to Clive Blake,
3S
...The quaint thing concerning Christmas here was the informal truce
observed by the infantry of both sides over Christmas and Boxing Days.
It began with the singing of various songs by the Germans who also had
a cornet and concertina going. Our fellows cheered each song and the
two sides shouted Christmas greetings... When morning came (we by then
had moved back into the woods) there was none of the usual sniping,
but the soldiers of both sides came out of the trenches and advanced
into the centre to chat and exchange cigarettes. They were sick of war,
confident of victory...
9) Dec. 21, 1914, 1 Field Service post card to his
Mother, 1S
10) Jan. 6, 1915, 1 Field Service post card to his
Mother, 1S
11) Jan. 7, 1915, 1 HLS to his Mother, 9S
...I hear we go up into the trenches again in a few days. You people
at home fancy things as being much worse for us than they are there.
The firing is nothing to worry about and the chief disadvantages are
the cooking difficulties, the wet accommodation, and the practical impossibility
of sleeping at night...
12, 13) Jan. 20, 1915, 1 HLS to his Mother, 3S;
13 Jan. 20, 1915, 1 HLS to Clive, 3S
14) Jan. 20, 1915, 1 Field Service post card to
his Mother, 1S
15) Jan. [28], 1915, 1 HLS to his Mother, 1S
16) Feb. 1, 1915, 1 HLS to Clive, 5S
17) Feb. 2, 1915, 1 HLS to his Mother, 5S
18) Feb. 10, 1915, 1 HLS to Clive from Angus Macmillan,
7S
19) Feb. 11, 1915, 1 HLS to his Mother, 1S
20) Feb. 29, 1915, 1 HLS to his Mother, 3S
21) March 2, 1915, 1 Field Service post card to
Clive Blake from Angus Macmillan, 1S
22) March 6, 1915, 1 HLS to his Mother, 4S
..."You need not be alarmed at the possibility of my being captured
with papers on me. Firstly they would do nothing to me in any case,
secondly I carry nothing of value to enemy, thirdly I carry nothing
offensive to the enemy such as cartoons of Kaiser, fourthly an English
soldier has a right to carry what papers he likes without consulting
the Germans. Lastly, I do not expect to be captured..."
23) March 8, 1915, 1 HLS, to Clive Blake, 5S
24) March 13, 1915, 1 HLS, to Clive Blake, 1S
25) March 17, 1915, 1 HLS, to his Mother, 1S
...The enemy has been very busy higher up the line. Most nights there
has been a tremendous roar going on, as we can hear fighting taking
place long distances away. The noise is chiefly gunfire but there is
always a crackling undercurrent of rifle shots, and periodically the
rifle fire will swell up into a great but distant roar...
26) March 18, 1915, 1 HLS, to Mrs. Blake from Angus
Macmillan , 4S
...The Huns put a six inch shell just on top of our billet and the base
of it fell through the roof, narrowly missing my head.
27) March 21, 1915, 1 HLS, to his Mother, 2S; 1
HLS to Clive, 4S
28) March 26, 1915, 1 HLS, to Clive Blake, 9S
29) April 9, 1915, 1 HLS to his Mother, 5S; to Clive,
5S
...Towards the end of the last day, someone trod on the dam and burst
it down and flooded us out. The way out of this trench was the worst
part of it, for we had to clamber in full kit up a 6 foot perpendicular
wet clay bank, and then wade for about half a mile through slush a foot
deep... That little spell of trench work sent every man into hospital,
with frozen feet and other ailments...
30) April 15, 1915, 1 HLS to Clive, 9S
31) May 1, 1915, 1 HLS to his Mother, 6S
...It was just there that we caught a whiff of the gases the French
accounts speak of. It is not an unpleasant smell: rather sickly and
blossom like. It is a green sort of smell. The gas makes the eyes water.
We were told it is not poisonous but makes people drunk, and can be
evaded by means of a wet handkerchief in the mouth...
32) April 30, 1915, 1 Field Service post card to
his Mother, 1S
33) May 29, 1915, 1 HLS, to Clive Blake from Angus
Macmillan, 3S
...out here, barring the chance of being struck by a shell, bullet,
bomb, bayonet, aeroplane dart or being gassed, or frostbitten or eaten
alive by lice, we get on quite cheerily...
34) July 25, 1915, 1 Field Service post card to
his Mother, 1S
35) July 25, 1915, 1 HLS, to his Mother, 2S
36) July 27, 1915, 1 Post Card to Clive, 1S
37) July 29, 1915, 1 HLS to his Mother, 1S
38) Sept. 5, 1915, 1 HLS to Clive Blake, 4S
39) Sept. 11, 1915, 2 HLS to Clive Blake, 8S
40) Sept. 16, 1915, 1 HLS to Clive Blake, 11S
41) Sept. 20, 1915, 1 Post Card to Clive Blake,
2S
42) October 6, 1915, 1 HLS to his Mother, 4S
43) October 13, 1915, 1 HLS to Clive Blake, 11S
44) November 3, 1915, 1 HLS to Clive Blake, 12S
45) November 12,1915, 1 HLS to his Mother, 7S
...Yesterday we tried the new smoke helmets issued to all the troops...the
stink of chemicals inside is perfectly beastly, and the method of breathing
through a little tube takes some getting used to, but they are better
than gas.
46) November 18, 1915, 1 HLS to his Mother, 5S
47) November 28, 1915, 1 Post Card to his Mother,
1S
48) December 10, 1915, 1 Field Service post card
to his Mother, 1S
49) December 9, 1915, 1 HLS to his Mother, 3S
...It is often hard to do one's duty, sometimes almost impossible. I
hope no one of our family would ever fear danger, but separation is
the thing we shrink from. However it need not be for long. God has preserved
me so far, and we must rely on him to reunite us all, in the old home
very shortly...
50) Dec. 10, 1915, 1 Post Card to his Mother, 1S
51) Dec. 10, 1915, 1 Post Card to his Mother, 1S
52) December 11, 1915, 1 HLS to Clive Blake, 4S
53) December 17, 1915, 1 Post Card to his Mother,
1S
54) December 19, 1915,1 HLS to his Mother, 3S
55) December 23, 1915, 1 HLS to his Mother, 6S
56) December 24, 1915, 1 HLS to Clive Blake, 10S
57) December 27, 1915, 1 HLS to Clive Blake, 6S
58) December 27, 1915, 1 HLS to his Mother, 4S
59) Jan. 10, 1916, 1 Field Service post card to
his Mother, 1S
60) March 13, 1916, 1 HLS to Clive Blake, 4S
61) April 2, 1916, 1 HLS to his Mother, 8S
62) April 16, 1916, 1 HLS to Clive Blake, 4S
63) June 2, 1916, 1 HLS to his Mother, 3S
64) June 11, 1916, 1 HLS to Clive Blake, 6S
65) June 20, 1916 , 1 HLS, to his Mother, 4S
66) June 22, 1916, 1 HLS to Clive Blake, 5S
67) June 26, 1916, 1 HLS to Clive Blake, 3S
68) July 28, 1916, 1 HLS to Clive Blake from Angus
Macmillan, 2S
69) February 19, 1917, 1 HLS to Clive Blake from
Angus Macmillan, 2S
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