TRENCH LIFE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2600, 23 October 1915, Page 12

TRENCH LIFE

SOLDIER'S CHEERY LETTER,

The following are extracts from a letter from Specialist F. J. Spence No. 5 Battery, New Zealand Field Arti - loryy 4th Reinforcements, now m tfallipoLi:— , "Am going to try to write you a few lines and tell .you as much as 1 dare. Of course, you know we musn t put in dates or places in any of our letters, by order of tho censor. To commence with I am very much alive, and am writing this in our dug-out. There are three of us here on 'phono work, and wo liavo watches four hours on ami eight off. We have made it aU snug and 'comfy,' covered in, etc. Quito handy to our work, too, wo do all our own cooking. It's just like batching, only under rather extraordinary circumstances. Imagine having with ■shells screeching overhead all the time, tfnd stray bullets whizzing by. Wo are surrounded by guns, practically, and nearly all the shells go over our heads. Any amount of enemy shells go over us as well. There aro snipers about who pay considerat e attention i>3 us, and tvo au awful lot 01 bullets from the infantry trenches. This 'screeching shell' business is not a mvth by a long way; it's the real thine alright.' We have had one or two casualties in our crowd, but liothimr start jjn<r I've been missed heaps of times : very lucky. Have had bullets drop all round me, but nothing doing so far. Whilst writing this I occasionally lookout and it reminds me of a balcony on a big hotel. We get an issue of cigarottos, matches, and very nice stew. I was here two davs before I had a wash. One washes at the peril of his life hero. Re tucker: For breakfast we get either bacon or bully beef. The bacon is real decent. For dinner, with the bnll.v, wo make stew with dried vegetables and biscuits. I can tell you it's 'some' stew, to. Have got a good supply of cocoa, bovril, etc., so you sec, so far we are not doing too badly. One of the greatest pests is the (lies. Wo hnve t\> eat our meals quickly, or tho flics take charije mul eat them for us. Giad to say all our boys aro doing weil, and fiiditing like —you know."