Letters from home

[gurgast]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me what people wishing to write to a family member or friend at the Front actually wrote on the envelope? Name and rank, obviously, but soldiers were not allowed to divulge their locations. And there was no address as such. They were all members of regiments or corps and had individual identity numbers, so were these written on envelopes and then used by the military postal system to locate troops?

So something like: Pvt A. Smith, 347261, Royal Dorset Rifles, France.

gurgast

[museumtom]

This should help;

Dear Sir,-In view of the great fact that it is all about a Birr man’s epistle, you may think well of publishing the following details of the wanderings of the missive;--

On 26th June last Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant E.A.Wilkinson, of Birr, formerly of the Leinsters, and now of the King’s African Rifles, sat down at Nairobi and wrote me and interesting letter, addressed to the Victoria Barracks, Cork. By the time it reached there the fortunes of war had taken me to the South of England. Accordingly, the letter was forwarded to Denham, in Buckinghamshire, but I had flitted from that delightful centre sometime before. It then got redirected to Reading again to miss me. It next turned up at the School of Aerial Gunnery, Hythe, only to be sent to France, whither I had come a little previously. But “R.F.C., France,” did not prove sufficient address, so after some time the letter was deposited at the Air Board Office, London. The people at the Hotel Cecil took the line of least resistance by sending it to my home in Ireland, whence it was forwarded direct to me here. It had just been four and a half months in motion before it came into my hands, and the cover is a work of art, as it is covered with addresses and postmarks, to say nothing of the words, “No trace at-----.”

As to the letter itself, it is in “Wilkie’s” characteristic style. He refers to a certain par in the “K.C.C.,” and says he looks forward to the arrival of the paper for news of the “Ould Country.” Incidentally he tells a good story. In his own words here it is;

“ Shortly after my arrival I experienced great difficulty with the language, and got hopelessly mixed up with some of the words, for instance, “ viatn” is boots and “viazi” is potatoes. One day I tried to explain to my boy (head cook and bottle washer) that I wanted an Irish stew for dinner, and I told him to cut up the viatn. He protested, but I insisted, with the result you can well imagine—to say nothing of the 20s pair of boots.

This goes to show that “Wilkie” preserves his spirit no matter what occurred to his temper subsequent to the boot mutilation.

Another story of his is also worth setting forth, as indicating his keen sense of humour.

One of our regiments, he writes, was some time ago issued with a sort of kilt. A Scotsman here said it was an insult to Scotland to have Askaris (native soldiers) wearing kilts. I agreed, but said it was an injustice to Ireland to have the remainder wearing trousers. I am sure all his friends in Birr and amongst the Leinsters, will be pleased to hear of his progress—Thanks in advance, yours, etc.

B.E.F., 11/11/17.

[dycer]

From a preprinted Christmas Card, sent from France.

20,Sergt. G. Souness.

Lewis Gun Section.

1/8th Batt. The Royal Scots.

B.E.F.,France.

I am making the assumption that the above was printed offering good wishes and also in the hope of receiving a reply.

George

p.s. He worked as a Postman pre-War.

[gurgast]

Thanks guys -- that was very good of you. Tom, your reply really made me smile ... no wonder the occasional parcel of plum pudding was not all that it should have been in the end!