For Love and Courage

by E. W. Hermon

  The men had a real good day, I think, in spite of all things and had lots to eat tho’ we were disappointed over our geese which was a pity. They got as far as the station at Béthune but couldn’t be got off the train. We made up with hams and they had two turkeys a Troop. We had a very nice plum pudding & old Mac got the thimble. Darling mine, somehow tonight I am in no mood for writing to you. I hardly dare think of your day at home & I can’t write decently with other folk in the room. Perhaps I will be able to do a bit more when I go to bed. All being well I am going to Cecil Howard tomorrow & I might see lots of folk. Hope I shall.

  26th December 1915 – No. 18 – at 4th Corps H.Q., Lillers

  I motored over here today & am staying with Cecil Howard. I left Vaudricourt in a car he sent for me about 1.45 and got here just before 4 p.m. So far I have seen no one as we have been discussing schemes etc. for this class we are going to run on January 3rd.

  I wish I could have been at the Xmas Tree. I certainly was thinking of you all yesterday dearie, in my weaker moments, I couldn’t help it. Our longed-for Xmas at home & all bust by this damned war. I doubt very much if we shall even get the next but we will hope on all the same.

  My love to you old darling & to the Chugs.

  29th December 1915 – No. 21 – Vaudricourt

  I have such a wealth of letters from you to answer that I hardly know where to begin.

  You have no business to read anything in my letters that isn’t actually written down – it’s a dangerous practice & you might read into them something that wasn’t intended so give it up, but bar rot dearie, it has somehow been a bit of a job settling down again & it was really far easier going before than it was this time. Your bird books proved themselves invaluable in that last half hour after lunch & I don’t know how I should have got through it without them.

  We don’t seem to have lost any of our parcels, so far as I can see, in the train fire. The Chugs’ pipe certainly arrived alright & I have smoked it ever since & a very nice one it is. Quite a brainwave that tape measure. Congratulations!!

  Jacksons12 have made up for their initial error by sending us three consignments of parcels one on top of another, two complete lots have arrived together today.

  I think if I had stayed at home for Xmas I should never have come back at all. It all sounds so very jolly & I can see the whole show especially old Mairky blowing the surprise!! I thought over that stocking business and could see you putting the ‘onge’ [orange] in the toe & I am so glad that they still prove a joy.

  There has been a lot of gunning here today. I don’t know what about but the air has been bristling with shells a few miles off. Thank goodness they don’t come here.

  I have got all my horses comfortably in now thank goodness, the last troop going in this afternoon & as last Tuesday the trees were growing it’s a pretty creditable performance tho’ I says it who shouldn’t!

  My love to you my own darling.

  30th December 1915 – No. 22 in answer to 17, 18 & 19 – Vaudricourt

  For the moment my class is off. The idea was that should the time ever arise when we make an advance a very great deal of work would be thrown on the Div. Mounted Troops. The work that they have been called to do up to date is so totally different that many of the younger boys know little or nothing of the general role of Mounted Troops under those circumstances. Every opportunity is being taken to train them theoretically when troops are in the line and practically when at rest. Should we succeed in breaking the Hun line the role of the Div. Mounted Troops will be a very important one, therefore the very highest training is necessary.

  We were going to a town near here, in fact the place we detrained at originally,13 where there is a good hotel where we could feed, we were all going into a large house where we could sleep & do the indoors work. Cecil was coming to stay there too & we were to have twelve pupils. Cecil is on the staff of the Cavalry Corps.

  It’s most amusing. Henry was over here while I was at the Cavalry Corps, throwing out feelers as to whether I would take him back again & today I get the enclosed from him. I am very glad, as I don’t think I should have taken him back as he is senior to Mac & I am not going to have him make a convenience of the squadron, tho’ I should have loved to have had him really, as I was so awfully fond of him.

  I am glad you are letting Vio have old Bobbo as it is a good thing for him to have a jaunt or two away from home before he goes to school. I am afraid old girl the time will fly for you till Easter when he will have to make a longer visit. Little Ken will have a big burden on his shoulders when he has to do proxy for us both.

  31st December 1915 – No. 23 answering your 20 – Vaudricourt

  I gathered we should be rich from what the Governor said & I only hope it won’t be very long before we have a chance of spending it. It’s difficult to think of a suitable gift as most of the current subscriptions are doing alright. I should like tho’ to find some of the older funds that are feeling the pinch, especially one connected with the poorer-class children where one could do something perhaps. What could one do about endowing a bed in a children’s hospital? Could you find out one or two like that as I feel we ought to do something of the sort.

  Will you thank Woolven for his letter & tell him I hope to be able to answer it later on. Congratulate him from me on his success with the engine.

  My love to you all,

  Ever your Robert.

  1 Lens Redoubt.

  2 In his speech the British Prime Minister had referred to the possibility of conscription, which was introduced two months later, in January 1916.

  3 Cheviot Bell.

  4 Ethel Hermon had added 100 to her numbering by mistake.

  5 The regimental accountant in London.

  6 Von Mackensen was a German General, but he is referring to ‘Mac’ (Donald MacKinnon), one of his officers, to whom he had jokingly given this nickname.

  7 The ‘Jane’ was a commonly used term for ‘lavatory’.

  8 Tom Woolven, the gardener at Brook Hill, had sent a formal congratulatory letter.

  9 Horses.

  10 Their second son would soon be christened Kenneth Edward, sharing the same initials as the regiment, K.E.H. Ironically, he would celebrate his third birthday on Armistice Day.

  11 During his leave Robert had lectured on the war to the people of Cowfold.

  12 Of Piccadilly.

  13 Lillers.

  FIRST CASUALTIES FOR K.E.H.

  JANUARY SAW LITTLE change in the fortunes of the Allies. The stalemate on the Western Front continued, though a German offensive near Arras in the last week of the month made minor gains. Retaining supremacy in the air, German Zeppelins dropped nearly 400 bombs on the English Midlands, causing more civilian casualties, and their U-boats continued to destroy and disrupt British shipping. The Russians, however, were making some progress on the Eastern Front, notably in Armenia, whilst the Allies successfully completed a covert evacuation of Gallipoli under the noses of the Turkish enemy. In London on 5 January 1916, Parliament introduced the Conscription Bill to raise 2 million more men for the armed forces, as until this time the British army had been an entirely volunteer force.

  On New Year’s Day one sergeant and eight men from ‘C’ Squadron went into the line as divisional snipers, working mainly in the Double Crassier at Loos, the twin slag heaps close to the town, which provided an elevated vantage point for snipers. It was here that the squadron would suffer its first casualties.

  1st January 1916 – No. 24 answering your 21 – Vaudricourt

  My dear old girl,

  It was bad luck that the one Xmas that we had so looked forward to should be bust up but it can’t be helped. The men did appreciate their holiday very much, as they said so in their letters.

  Can you get me 20 pairs of the half Wellington clogs. The ones we wear are no good as one goes over their tops at once. This would run to about £10 & I should like them as soon as possible. To revert to your No. 20, all the spare men in the
squadron & two platoons of cyclists hand the nails!!

  Ever your Robert.

  3rd January 1916 – Château Drouvin

  It is no use having a wife unless one can use her in times of disappointment as well as in times of joy. As the time for the publication of the promised dispatch of ‘Mentions’ drew nearer the more certain I seemed to be that I should get my ‘Mention’. While I was at home I hoped against hope that it would be published so that we could read it together. It didn’t appear and I still hoped on & now it has come I haven’t got it.1

  I wanted it so much for your sake dearie, I didn’t care for my own so much but I knew it would give you so much pleasure that lately it has become almost a mania. Now for the present my chance has gone. It may occur again but there is no opening at present so one will have to wait on in hope. I oughtn’t to worry you with this dearie, but it damned near broke my heart this morning. I will write you again later.

  3rd January 1916 – No. 26 answering 22 & 23 – Château Drouvin

  In the first sort of flush of disappointment I am afraid I wrote you rather more than I ought but I had somehow made so sure about it. In the early days so many folk had said to me what a splendid work it was that I was doing for the Division. The General himself said to me that he would never forget what I had done for them & one day talking to a French General to whom he was explaining the school he said ‘We are going to give him a medal for this’. However, there it is & it’s no good grousing.

  We moved today into our Château & are more comfortable than we have been since we came out I think, which is always something. I am so glad to hear that the Chugs did so well at their play & I do wish I could have seen them. Their essays were top-hole too. Lass dear as you say, we have two things to make us happy & the rest doesn’t matter at all. I know in my own inner self that the old squadron is good through & through. I don’t mind what they want of it, I have no misgivings at all that it will do alright & that is enough.

  My love to you all.

  5th January 1916 – Château Drouvin

  My darling old girl, don’t set your hopes on anything resulting from my visit to Cecil & Co. I had a very pleasant time & they were all most awfully nice, but the impression that I came away with was that they were all professional soldiers & that for the mere amateur there was no room these times. One is looked upon even by ‘K’s’ army rather with a quiet condescension these days, but nevertheless outside the Holy of Holies. I may be quite wrong but certainly that is my feeling. I don’t much regret it – one can’t expect once one has left to be remembered & I left to suit myself & would tomorrow if I could & the war was over.

  I’m looking forward to another evening together I can tell you. Many thanks for the photo of the Chugs.

  7th January 1916 – No. 30 answering your 27 – Château Drouvin

  I got a lovely letter from you tonight on my return from the trenches. I have got 8 men & a sergeant up there as Divisional snipers & went up today with Syme2 as a companion to see them. Things were very quiet today & bar a few light shells now & then there was nothing doing at all.

  The class is on again & is only postponed for the present minute, & begins either the 16th or Feb 1st. With regard to the posts, your letter & old Bob’s both arrived together so it seems that if you post at 8 a.m. the letter arrives the same time as those posted 6 p.m. the previous evening. You old rotter, of course I remember the first date in the book. Surely a certain evening in the garden at Staplefield!! 2d please.

  It’s getting very late now old girl & I have walked simply miles through very muddy trenches & so am for my downy couch.

  Sunday 9th January 1916 – No. 32 answering your 29 &? – Château Drouvin

  I got two lovely letters as above today & was more than pleased with them. It is no good minimizing the fact that this has been the greatest blow I have ever had since I have been a soldier. I have certainly got over it now but I’ve had some rather bitter days this last week. Chaytor & old Harry3 are absolutely furious about it which is something & it endorses one’s own opinion & makes it not too egotistical. It is not as tho’ I had failed them in anything.

  If there is another Squadron with a better record in France outside the Regular Cavalry I’ll take my hat off to it. We were the only unit to complete our horse standings during our rest & now other units are coming to see our stables because there is nothing like them in the country!! It’s damned hard lines, & the squadron has dug well under heavy shell fire & the C.R.E. most grateful for the work done & most complimentary. It’s practically the only unit in the Div. that can be put on work of that kind without supervision from R.E. officers. There is on top of that, my inauguration & running of the Bomb School & the fact that I made the Battye bomb safe & I haven’t heard of an accident since. I cannot now understand why I was left out & one can’t ask!

  How terrible about those women and children on the Natal.4 I will try & find time to write to Mairky. Tell her I loved her letter especially the part about the ‘Trakshunengen’ for crossing ‘ruf ground’. My love to you my own dear.

  10th January 1916 – No. 33 – Château Drouvin

  I rode down to see the Cavalry today & was lucky enough to find old Vic out of the trenches & in the rest billets. I had a bit of a crack with him. I didn’t think he looked well in fact rather bad but he had been up all night & it was probably only want of sleep. I was very glad to see him.5

  I woke up with a beastly head this morning & have had it all day. I expect it was the unaccustomed warmth of the new eidy. I think a bottle of old Charles’s tonic would be a good thing. I also want a bottle of hair wash & some toothbrushes.

  My love to you dearie mine.

  11th January 1916 – No. 34 answering 30 – Château Drouvin

  I was very glad to get your letter & was hoping for two but only one turned up. Do you remember Shaw6 the man who lunched with us at Sandy’s after the London show? He was killed the day before yesterday. He was running our Maxim gun & was killed by shrapnel. I am afraid it will mean that I shall lose Syme, but I hope not as I hear they have got another lad trained as a machine gunner at home.

  It is very bad luck that both our officer casualties should have proved fatal. However, such is war. The French papers say that in the letters of a number of men taken by the French at Hartsmannweilerkopf7 the writers suggested to the recipients that they should kill their officers & come home!!

  It is good news about Salonica & I am awfully glad they have got everyone off those damned Dardanelles. It really is one of the most wonderful feats that have ever been accomplished in war.

  My love to you all my darlings.

  12th January 1915 – No. 35 answering 31 & 32 – Château Drouvin

  My dear wife,

  I have already instructed you to the effect that you are not to read into my letters what is not down in actual words on the paper. I am perfectly well & as happy as circumstances will permit. I had a second go of whities last night with a trifle better result & am feeling much better for it tonight.

  We will try and save all we can as then we can have a bit of a bust later on if things look settled & if they don’t then we can probably tide over a bad time on the savings. I will think over the Dr Barnardo’s Home Subscription or rather donation. What I feel about a big institution like that is that the particular child would be admitted just the same whether we paid for it or not & that if we could equip a bed at a child’s hospital over & above their usual number then one would have done some definite good. We have got a lot of money & I am prepared to put down from £50 to £100 for a decent object like this & you could put what you like to it. If you could find out from Juckes if he knows any hospital that needs some of the latest plant for their operating theatre we could give it. Something to alleviate suffering. An X-ray plant or something of that sort. I should much rather do something like this & I should like it done anonymously.

  It is rather an odd break from such a subject but my snipers got two Huns yesterday whi
ch has pleased them awfully.

  We had a party of naval men from the fleet here the other day & they did awfully well. They were in our trenches when the Hun sprung a big mine & two of them manned a machine gun & had the time of their lives. Their officer said he couldn’t go back without some Hun rifles, so in broad daylight he jumped over the parapet & collected 3, but the Boche made it so hot for him that he had to get into a shell hole & wait for two or three hours before he could get back again but he brought in his rifles alright. I hear one of the men is to get a D.C.M. out of it.

  I don’t think old Juckes’ bill is too high if it includes both Ken’s show & yours. Please note that the ‘Chidley boos’ are very expensive luxuries. The pen is fine old girl & I like it awfully now, since getting it I have used no other!!

  My love to the Chugs.

  13th January 1916 – No. 36 answering 33 – Château Drouvin

  My darling old girl if you had been in the room watching me write the answer to that 2nd question you couldn’t have described what took place more accurately!! It was on the tip of my pen to write ‘a certain day when you nearly chucked away a damned good bargain’!8 And then I thought that it was so obvious that it couldn’t be that & I plumped for the other!! I admit now I couldn’t have told you the month to save my life, but I should have supposed it to be summer because you wouldn’t have been at Inverloddon9 & that is about as near as I could get without the book so far as dates are concerned, but both incidents I remember well!! I will admit that you have scored one this time because it exactly fits the whole dilemma!! I as near as anything put down the right day & it was a hope against hope that I had made a lucky shot!!