Captain Arthur Gibbs - Letters Home 1914 -1918

[John_Hartley]

This may be a tricky one to obtain as it was privately published by Gibbs' daughter a year or so back. I suspect, there are not many copies around.

The originals of Gibbs' letters are at the IWM and that's where I came across them while I was doing some research. They're a fascinating comment on Gibbs' life on active service with 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards.

I'd written to the copyright holder, via the IWM, as I hope to include some extracts in a book I'm writing. And, along with a nice letter giving approval, the family sent me a copy of the book, which contains a full transcript of the letters.

From Xmas Day, 1915 "The rats and mice abound in the trenches. I wonder if you could get a catapult or 2 and some bullets, it would be great fun with the rats then. When you send out slab chocolate will you please put it in a tin, otherwise the mice get at it, as I have already found out. It doesnt matter about fancy chocolates, as they are eaten so quickly. We had the pheasant and the swiss roll up in the trenches: they were splendid."