WITHIN SOUND OF THE GUNS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2799, 17 June 1916, Page 6

WITHIN SOUND OF THE GUNS

IN FRANCE

LETTER TO THE MAYOR An interesting letter lias been received by the Alayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) from his son, Mr. Geo. Luke, formerly an engineer on the steamer Kauri, who left New Zealand witli the Seventh Reinforcements, and is now "somewhere in France." Mr. Luke writes"From what.wo.can hear of the guns here it would seem that the bis weapons have, been getting in a lot - of work lately. Every night they aro going at it hammer and tongs. Some- . timc3 i I wake at night ,to hear and feel tho air reverberating with the continual rumble of the guns. There has been considerable.. activity on the front adjacent to us, and from tho papers it seems the Germans took a trench, but were immediately ejected. They used gas in tlieso attacks. I think sonic of it must have been in the air at this place, because the bright parts of our rilles were quito tarnished all that day. We have had instruction in gas attacks, and "have been through tile real stuff .with our helmets on. On the same day we experienced the effect of a tear shell. ■ My word, they aro cruel methods, but the projective measures seem-to be very efficient if used right. Our side seems to be doing good work in thp air. A bit of excitement was caused by the bringing down of a Fokkei machine. . . . Our boys have at last been paid,' and they are .happy again. It is too bad keeping.tliem so long without money. It,is, to my mind, a bad idea, as some of the boys set their minds on having a 'bust up,' and the longer the wait the bigger tho "bust up.' A few of us have been extravagant' in the 'tucker line. The fowls have had to work overtime to keep us supplied. The woman in the house is very good. If we would let hor she would cook them and give us the use of everything for nothing. As it is, it turns out very cheap, though some things that you would imagine would be cheap'here are just the opposite. Butter, for instance, is 3s. per lb., and milk is not plentiful. Bread, which is about the size of a seat of an ordinary chair, and two inches thick, costs 10d: Green .Stuff, that the people grow themselves, is very cheap. With all we managed to have a 'blow-out' now and again for'a small sum; -' Most-of the boys who had cold aro better. The weather lias been a great help. It has been lovely-for the last week; a trifle Warm, perhaps, when working, but beautiful in the early morning, tho long twilight and cool evenings. . . .1 suppose you will be'having compulsion in New Zealand shortly. It is certainly the only way of getting tho required men. . .-. We had a real treat yesterday in fche' way 'of a wash.;. All the boys were given a hot shower, and it was the one thing that the Army has carried, decently. They'said it'was to be hot, and I for one got a shock to find it'so. It was, as the French say, 'bon.' I did not tell you that I had been detailed to the sniping and scouting section of our company. Afy shooting has been pretty good, so I am to train for this particular/work. It all depends how I get on with my futuro shooting whether I stay with them or not, as only tho best shots are wanted.. In any case, the training is worth having, as it is not so solid as the other work."