The Telegraph Book of Readers' Letters from the Great War

by Gavin Fuller

  The question is the more pressing at this moment, as a large number of youths have been thrown out of employment, and are wandering about the streets, where they have full opportunity of getting into mischief, and joining the ‘ne’er-do-well’ class.

  There are, therefore, military, economic and educational considerations which might well be dealt with at the present time if the Board of Education and the War Office could be induced to evolve a scheme to deal systematically and on a national basis with this phase of the training of boyhood.

  I am, Sir, faithfully yours,

  W. Campbell Hyslop

  Junior United Service Club

  6 October 1914

  ‘MADE IN ENGLAND’

  SIR – I am one of those who think that we made no inconsiderable present to the enemy when, under the Merchandise Marks Act, we stipulated that things coming into this country from Germany should bear the inscription ‘Made in Germany’.

  Let us now do a favour to ourselves by making it compulsory that at test all our manufactures shall in future bear the mark of the country of origin (not town or province) – thus, ‘Made in England’. We may also then have ‘Made in Scotland’, or ‘Made in Ireland’. And if our brave allies follow a similar rule we shall not, I am sure, object to buy things we want ‘Made in France’, ‘Made in Russia’, or ‘Made in Belgium’.

  After the war we ought to be able to rely upon the national sense of patriotism and loyalty to our friends to reject any and every thing marked ‘Made in Germany’ – a mark which, for good and sufficient reasons, we must hope the Germans will continue to use.

  A ‘hall-mark’, as is suggested by your correspondents, which may be recognised by the few, is not so good as plain language, e.g., ‘Made in England’, or ‘Made in Germany’, which can be understood by the many.

  Yours truly,

  A. Tidman

  Prudential Buildings, Hull

  BOYCOTT OF GERMAN GOODS

  SIR – In connection with the campaign against German and Austrian goods, I should like to draw attention to the case of season businesses like our own, which, owing to the failure of the visiting season, are left with large stocks of foreign goods sold only to visitors.

  We buy for the most part through English agents in November to January, season accounts. We are already feeling pressed for payment. We have rent, rates and taxes to pay, and to live through winter and spring. In Yarmouth we are faced with the probable failure of the herring fishery, which generally brings a large sum of money to the town.

  We are, of course, unable to realise any of our assets. What, therefore, are we to do if these goods are boycotted? We have been quite unable to obtain English goods of the same class.

  Yours truly

  A Worried Season Trader

  Great Yarmouth

  FOREIGN BANDS

  SIR – May I, in connection with the campaign which the Board of Trade have organised for assisting British traders to secure trade formerly in the hands of Germany, Austria and Hungary, make an appeal to the loaders of society not to engage German, Austrian or Hungarian bands, as has been the fashion to do for so many years? It is a well-known fact that for the past twenty years organisers of British bands have had an extremely hard time, owing to the vast amount of foreign bands performing in this country. The proprietors of those bands have amassed large fortunes, probably every penny of which has been invested in their own country. This I feel is largely due to the apathy of the British public and society leaders in engaging these bands for their receptions, balls, &c., believing them to be far superior to our English bands.

  I remain, yours sincerely,

  Corelli Windeatt

  Kingston-on-Thames

  MUSICIANS AT THE FRONT

  SIR – I am asked to compile a roll of professional musicians, composers, singers and instrumentalists now serving, as either officers or men, in any of the forces of the Crown. The particulars I require are name, rank and regiment. The roll will not contain the names of bandmasters and bandsmen in the British Army. I will acknowledge each communication if a stamped addressed envelope is enclosed.

  Yours, &c.,

  (Pte.) H.V. Jervis Read

  A Company, Empire Battalion, 7th Royal Fusiliers, Whyteleafe, Surrey

  SCHOOLBOYS AND THE WAR

  SIR – At the present time schoolboys all over the country are asking themselves the question, What can I do to help in the war crisis? Few except the senior boys can hope to do much during the present struggle. I should like briefly to point out to them in what way they can at present best fit themselves to do that service later.

  I have taught in English schools for many years. I have also had several years’ experience of Continental schools and universities, chiefly in France. My experience has certainly shown me a far greater keenness on the part of French, Swiss and German boys. The average Continental schoolboy regards school work as a business, which has to be done with a certain degree of efficiency; he understands that he is at school to learn, and to train himself for the struggle of life, and he feels that ignorance and laziness are things to be ashamed of. In a word, there is less slackness in French and German schools than in the majority of ours.

  Now, I put it as a logical proposition to English schoolboys that it is absurd to give two or three hours of their time each week to military drill and to learning habits of discipline, care and prompt obedience, if during the rest of the week they are slacking, idling and doing careless work in class. I suggest to them that what England wants in its young generations is keen, careful, competent men, capable of contending in all pursuits with the pushing German or the intelligent Frenchman. I tell them that their duty at the present time is to cast aside all slackness and to make efficiency their watchword.

  Would it not be possible to organise an Efficiency League for our secondary and public schools? Accepted members might have the right to wear some distinctive mark, and just as Boy Scouts are pledged to render useful service and to do at least one helpful deed a day, so they might be pledged to do their duty as boys by fitting themselves to be capable men. A moral, manly movement of this kind would be of immense value to the country. Will not the headmasters of our schools help to start it?

  Whetstone

  7 October 1914

  SOLDIERS’ WIVES

  Appeal for Hospitality

  SIR – You kindly published a letter from me at the beginning of the war in which I suggested that people living in the country might be glad of the opportunity of showing sympathy with our soldiers and sailors by taking their wives and newly born babies for a period of convalescence after leaving the hospital.

  I had a very gratifying response to my appeal, and numbers of mothers have, after the good rest, returned to their homes much more fitted to face the trying future. Moreover (and the value of this cannot be over-estimated), many women have for the first time been taught how to look after their infants properly.

  These facts, and the many touching letters of gratitude which have reached me, embolden me to ask for more offers of hospitality. Now that the schools have reopened there must be many vacant rooms in country homes. I am in touch with many of the hospitals, and shall be only too pleased to make the preliminary arrangements.

  Yours faithfully,

  Muriel Foster

  18 Hyde Park Terrace, W.

  GENTLEMEN PRIVATES

  SIR – Could not some relaxation be permitted in garrison towns during the war in respect to certain customs prevailing in normal times? I refer to Oxford and Cambridge men who have enlisted in the ranks under a deep sense of duty, risking practically everything to help their country at this time of need, yet, directly they get into the uniform of a private soldier certain clubs and hotels are closed against them in those towns. Why? Because they are wearing the King’s uniform! They may be members of their Varsity and London clubs, but that does not count where custom prevails! These men do not grumble at their unaccustomed surroundings and associations in whic
h they are placed, but at being practically black-balled because they have responded to their country’s call to arms! Is there any sense or justice in this?

  Yours faithfully,

  B.R.E.

  Tunbridge Wells

  9 October 1914

  OUR SOLDIERS’ WIDOWS

  Need of Provision

  SIR – Now that the Government has increased the separation allowances to such a figure that it will provide reasonable comforts for the wives and children of their breadwinners who have joined the colours, the next most important step should be for the State to make full and adequate provision for the widows and fatherless children of those of our heroes who have sacrificed their lives to protect the hearths and homes of all those who are left behind, and some of the children of whom will, we hope, become our future soldiers and sailors.

  At the present moment all that this ‘grateful’ nation does is to grant the pittance of 5s per week to the widow and 1s 6d to each of the children. This means poverty.

  The death-rolls of our splendid soldiers and sailors are arriving almost daily, and widows, who have lost the separation allowances, will either be compelled to try to drag along as best they can on this so-called ‘pension’, or obtain Poor Law relief as a permanency, or the homes must be broken up.

  May I implore you to give me space for this letter, so that the great heart of England may be stirred – by a knowledge of the deficiency – to press that the widows and fatherless children of our brave men shall no longer be reliant upon charity, however ample it may be, but that permanent and satisfactory pensions shall be guaranteed to them without further loss of time, for the credit of England?

  I am, Sir, yours, &c.,

  Fredk. M. Gratton

  Aspenden House, near Buntingford, Herts

  10 October 1914

  BOYCOTT OF GERMAN GOODS

  SIR – I cannot help thinking that the suggestion to boycott German goods at the present time, if adopted, would be much more harmful than beneficial.

  The stocks of German goods now held in this country by warehousemen and retailers were purchased and paid for long before this deplorable war commenced, or was ever thought of by the English trader. The goods belong now to our own countrymen, who are doing all they possibly can to assist, by subscribing to the various funds, and also helping to support the wives and families of thousands of employees fighting for their country.

  Doubtless all of these traders would much rather deal in English-made goods in preference to foreign, and are just as earnest in wishing that this present great trouble may lead to a large increase in our home industries; many, to my knowledge, are also giving practical assistance by placing orders for supplies with English manufacturers for goods hitherto made in Germany. I would also point out that the trader in foreign goods here has hitherto had no option; he has not been able to purchase dolls, mechanical toys, and the hundred and one other articles he is required to supply, except from foreign sources.

  There must be at least at the present time a million pounds sterling worth of German fancy goods and toys in the United Kingdom, bought and paid for prior to the war. To attempt to boycott the sale of these goods would mean a most serious loss to our own countrymen only. No more German goods are likely to be imported for a very long time. Why not let the suggestion to boycott toys and fancy goods remain in abeyance until the termination of the war is in sight? The Germans will then be seeking business; boycott German goods then by all manner of means.

  The difficulties of constructing suitable machinery and getting into the correct manufacturing groove will preclude English manufacturers turning out sufficient supplies for some little time to come. The German stocks will then have been got rid of, and the market open to receive home-made productions.

  Yours faithfully,

  Equity

  MOTOR AMBULANCES

  SIR – I feel sure if owners of motor cars realised the urgent need of motor ambulances to convey the wounded from the field of battle to the various hospitals there would be many more offers than have recently been made.

  The fact that wounded men have succumbed to their injuries, and that transport by train is painfully slow owing to delays at sidings and other circumstances, should, I think, call for a special effort on the part of all who wish to relieve suffering.

  I have recently had occasion personally to observe at Sézanne and other stations in France the misery of our soldiers in the trains. I have spoken to wounded men lying on the floor of vans, condemned to one painful position during many weary hours of jolting. Such trains take from ten to twenty hours to do a journey which by motor car would be done in two or three hours. Surely with our many relief funds and charities this should be the paramount charity to engage our attention.

  Yours faithfully,

  Nora Logan

  170 Piccadilly, W.

  DOCTORS AND THE WAR

  SIR – I see that Major W.B. Fry, RAMC, who is well known to us in Woolwich, together with a number of other doctors, was taken prisoner by the Germans on 23 August.

  Our Woolwich medical officer of health, Dr Sidney Davies, who was on holiday at the outbreak of the war, is still detained in Germany.

  Should there not be at once a prompt exchange, or better still a prompt liberation of doctors, so that they may at once attend to their duties under the most favourable conditions?

  Faithfully yours,

  C.H. Grinling

  17 Rectory Place, Woolwich, S.E.

  13 October 1914

  MUFFLERS FOR THE TROOPS

  Lady French’s Appeal

  SIR – I have been requested by the authorities at the War Office to collect 250,000 mufflers as quickly as possible for the use of our troops at the front. I shall, therefore, be most grateful for contributions either in money or kind towards the fulfilment of this object.

  The mufflers should be two and a half yards long by twelve inches wide, with no fringes (but other sizes would be accepted), and the colour of the wool should be khaki or grey.

  Parcels containing mufflers, if sent by post, should be addressed to me at the Manor House, Waltham Cross, Herts, but, if sent by rail, should be forwarded to Enfield Station (GNR).

  I am continuing to keep open my fund for the supply of socks and shirts, contributions to which should be sent to the depot at 54 Beauchamp Place, S.W. I would venture to request contributors to either scheme to be so kind as to mark their goods ‘carriage paid’, as in many instances railway charges have had to be paid twice over.

  Might I add that I have now ninety women working for me, both at Messrs Harrods and also in a room kindly lent me by Messrs Tudor? These women would otherwise be out of work owing to the war, and I am naturally anxious to obtain sufficient funds to enable me to keep them employed throughout the winter.

  Yours faithfully,

  Eleonora French

  The Manor House, Waltham Cross, Herts

  POSTAGE ON SOLDIERS’ LETTERS

  SIR – At a time such as the present, when the people of Britain are amalgamating to make the lot of the soldiers on active service as pleasant as possible, I think it a crying shame that my wife should be charged 6d postage on such a paltry article as six envelopes and a similar number of sheets of notepaper. As everyone knows, the pay a soldier can allow his wife is small enough, without having it reduced by such exorbitant charges as these.

  Hoping you will have the space to insert this in your valuable paper, and probably bring same to the notice of the Postmaster-General.

  I am, Sir, yours faithfully,

  Coldstreamer, on active service

  15 October 1914

  OUR APPEAL FOR THE BELGIAN PEOPLE

  Hearty Support From All Quarters Duke of Norfolk’s Letter

  SIR – May I be allowed to say how thankful I am that the Daily Telegraph has set on foot the Shilling Fund for the Belgian refugees?

  England’s loyalty to treaties and Belgium’s heroic sacrifice and stubborn fight to uphold the same c
ause are two of the great inspiring facts which this war will pass on to history.

  Your fund not only bears a practical testimony of sympathy to those who in this connection are most worthy of help, but it spreads broadcast the opportunity of proving that the obligation laid upon us is widely felt by all classes in our country.

  I remain, your faithful servant,

  Norfolk

  Norfolk House, St James’s Square, S.W.

  THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET

  SIR – I feel it is a great honour and privilege to plead the cause of the brave Belgians who, under storm and stress of battle against a powerful and relentless foe, with their small army, by the wonderful stand they have made on behalf of King and country, have called forth the admiration of the civilised world. May I hope and trust that the fund your newspaper is raising as our debt of honour to the brave Belgians will meet with the success which it merits.

  I do not doubt it. I feel assured that everyone, rich and poor alike, will welcome this opportunity of paying their small tribute, and I ask you to accept 100 shillings with my best wishes for your success.

  Alas! nothing can restore to Belgium what she has lost in brave men and glorious monuments, but the tale of the courage and heroism of the King and his people will remain in the pages of history, and prove an example to generations yet unborn. Neither time nor circumstance can efface the memory of brave deeds, and already the Belgians have enlisted the sympathy of the whole world by the patience and courage with which they have borne their terrible misfortunes.