June 1st 1918
Dear Doris,
Yours of the 22.4.18 to hand some days ago. –
Sorry the "anti-hun" poster stamp I put on the back of one of my letters was unintelligible (is that a good word). – I thought that anything French was quite fashionable these days in the U.S. – probably my impression was gained from "Goodbye Broadway, Hello France" and other atrocities – To be frank I'm not much of a french scholar myself. – A girl in England recently asked me to write her a letter in french and I fell down hopelessly. –
– Still I think I can give you an idea of what was on the stamp, tho' I daresay you got most of it from the pictures. – It goes something like this if I remember correctly – "Remember! – This boche who has burnt, killed, and pillaged – and this commercial traveller who will come to offer you his goods – are one and the same – NEVER FORGET IT!" –
That is the spirit we must create in America as well as in Europe if during the peace that follows this war, the hun is not to become a strong military power once more.
– It is for everyone to bear in mind what the hun did in 1914 and that he will do the same again if he gets the chance, no matter what smooth words he may have to say in the peace line.
– So you think that in the pictures of the four of us on the promenade at Nice, I look like the kid of the bunch. – I'm forced to admit it. – I always have been "the kid" in whatever crowd I belonged to, and the trouble is I can't make myself look any older. – The lack of a few years and a bit of dignity has held me up on promotion for over a year. – My colonel said once that I'd be a capable officer when I grew up but that was after a rather lively guest night in mess when a couple of us played the goat. – Still we should worry and get wrinkles, eh what?
I can be dignified at times you know. – You should see me in the orderly room, holding company office and dealing out justice to the various delinquents. – It has often been necessary for me to admonish men twice my age and let them off with a fatherly lecture. – Sounds funny but of course it is reasonable when you consider that although they may be older than me in civil life, I am older on the military side.
– Was rather amused at your describing my pal, Bull, as a "typical Englishman" as he was born and brought up in Winnipeg.
I rather think that national opinions of what is typical in another nationality, if you understand what I mean, will undergo quite a change after the war. – The nations are getting mixed up a bit and seeing each other at home which is very different to seeing odd specimens when they are abroad. – Previously I think our ideas of "typicals" were taken from the musical comedy stage. – England, figuratively regarded America as somewhat outlandish person, dressed in peg top trousers, padded shoulders, shoes with great bumps on the toes and a large cigar, and who prefaced every remark with "Well, I guess – " –
America returned the complement by imagining the "Picadilly Runt" as typical of England, namely a rather callow youth with few brains and a monocle and whose favourite expression was "My word."
Both nations then took the "dancing master" person as typical of France. – In other words it was an extreme that was mistaken for a type, which is maybe more or less rational as such a distinct specimen is much more impressed on you than the average person like yourself.
That is one way in which the war has brought the British Empire closer together. – Thousands of us from the overseas dominions have had an opportunity to see England at home, while England has had a chance to learn that we don't all wear leather shirts and carry guns.
– Say, did you get all these statistics about California out of your head, or did you look em up? – If the former, you sure have some headpiece. – I'm blowed if I could give you even an approximate statement as to the area or population of Quebec. – You said in your letter that all the news these days comes from this side of the water, but really you know there isn't such an awful lot to write about.
– Fritz does get a bit nasty now and then, but he hasn't done anything new for a long time. – Last evening just as we were sitting down to dinner he put on a shoot, but we didn't pay much attention to it as his target was evidently a railway junction a good ¼ mile from the mess and everything was going over, until one fell short and landed in the cabbage patch square in front of the mess. – Luckily it was a "dud" (defective fuse. Didn't explode) but just the same we decided not to wait for the next and sought the dugout with some speed, while the soup got cold. – We sat there and cursed the boche gunman who had been responsible for the slip.
When the hate was over we came up and examined the hole and decided that it was just as well it had been a dud for a 13-inch can muss up a lot of landscape when it goes off.
– By the way, I am mailing you today a copy of "Sapper"'s books. – "No Man's Land" – Hope you find it interesting. – It's really very good, and his descriptions are accurate, which is more than you can say for a lot of writers. – One of the yarns in the book – I think it is called "A day of peace" gives a very good description of an average day in the life of a Field Co'y of Engineers.
Really, I must close this off or they'll be charging me extra postage. –
Drop a line soon,
Cheerio,
Murray