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Article with Multiple Examples of WW1 Soldier Art

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Article with Multiple Examples of WW1 Soldier Art

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You can choose 1-2 examples from this article.

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Glasgow's Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery delves into the war art made by soldier-artists serving on the front line during the First World War

Joel Parkinson grew up listening to his grandfather's tales of serving in the American Expeditionary Forces in France during World War I. Fascinated, he would admire the painting by fellow officer Lieutenant John H. Geiszel which depicted his grandfather on horseback, leading a machine gun squad through barbed wire to the front.

So began a lifelong interest in the World Wars which eventually led to him establishing the World War History & Art Museum (WWHAM) in Alliance, Ohio, USA. Many of the museum's artworks - created by front line soldiers between 1914 and 1918 - will be on temporary display at Glasgow's Kelvingrove Museum in an exhibition commemorating the centenary of World War I, titled 'Brushes with War; Art from the Front Line'.

"The idea came to me when I bought a painting by British Gunner F. J. Mears," says Parkinson.

"It reminded me of the painting of my granddad. Looking at both I realised I had never seen other works by the actual troops who served. My quest to acquire original art by the soldiers of World War I began."

The exhibition follows a chronological narrative, portraying the patriotic optimism of the war's early days through to its rapid escalation into a global conflict and finally, the increasing bitterness and horror at the enormous loss of life.

After spending five months at the Somme, war correspondent William Beach Thomas famously wrote: "Everything visible or audible or tangible to the sense - to touch, smell and perception - is ugly beyond imagination." But many would argue there is beauty to be found among these illustrations.

Life in the trenches was characterised by a near-constant tension: boredom interspersed with bouts of action. Much of the art depicts the monotony, dark humour and anxiety of the soldiers' routine - capturing the essence of their daily experiences as well as the sporadic frenzy of combat. Most major battles of the war are depicted, seen through the eyes of a soldier who fought there.

In striking contrast to the established propaganda of the time, the soldiers' artwork is stark and subdued, often portraying the hours of darkness. Indeed, the first two pieces acquired by Joel - the painting of his grandfather and 'Walking the Plank' by F.J Mears - show nighttime operations.

Another common feature of the artwork is size, with the obvious restrictions of the front line leading to many small, even postcard-sized pieces, uncluttered by detail. The result is a powerful, authentic simplicity.

Yet, where it was possible the soldier-artists have relished a larger canvas: watercolours, oils and gouaches sit alongside pencil sketches, all of them offering an equal snapshot into a pivotal moment in world history.

While a lot of the art portrays the Western Front, the exhibition also encompasses depictions of army hospitals, prisoner-of-war camps and the war at sea and in the air. Art by German, Austrian, French, Belgian, British, American, Canadian, Australian and Russian soldiers relay the shared experiences of troops from different countries and the universal desire to document it.

The loaned pieces are complemented by two sections containing works from Glasgow Museums' collection, including art by Percy Smith and Glasgow's war artist, Fred Farrell. The exhibition forms one of three displays at Kelvingrove Museum marking the centenary of the end of the First World War.

Parkinson says he's honoured to share the art he has acquired with visitors to Kelvingrove Museum, "especially at such a poignant time as we approach the centenary of the Great
War."

In all, more than 200 pieces from his private collection will be display, including the one that started it all, that of his grandfather, Lieutenant N.P Parkinson, which has been carefully taken down from its pride of place in Joel Parkinson's office to make the journey.
Brushes with War; Art from the Front Line is at Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, Glasgow from September 21 2018 until January 6 2019. Tickets cost £7 per adult/ £5 per concession, children under 16 free. A full colour book accompanies the exhibition, available from Kelvingrove Museum gift shop.

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The art the soldiers made during the First World War

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Glasgow's Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery delves into the war art made by soldier-artists serving on the front line during the First World War Joel Parkinson grew up listening to his grandfather's tales of serving in the American Expeditionary Forces...

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Roughly 10 million soldiers lost their lives in World War I, along with seven million civilians. The horror of the war and its aftermath altered the world for decades, and poets responded to the brutalities and losses in new ways. Just months before his death in 1918, English poet Wilfred Owen famously wrote:

This book is not about heroes. English Poetry is not yet fit to speak of them. Nor is it about deeds, or lands, nor anything about glory, honour, might, majesty, dominion, or power, except War. Above all I am not concerned with Poetry. My subject is War, and the pity of War.

To mark the WWI centenary, we've put together a sampling of poems written in English by both soldiers and civilians, chosen from our archive of over 250 poems from WWI. We've also compiled a collection showcasing the poets who served and volunteered in World War I.

While many of these poems do not address a particular war event, we've listed them by year, along with a selection of historical markers, to contextualize the poems historically. You may notice that more poems in 1914 and 1915 extoll the old virtues of honor, duty, heroism, and glory, while many later poems after 1915 approach these lofty abstractions with far greater skepticism and moral subtlety through realism and bitter irony. Though horrific depictions of battle in poetry date back to Homer's Iliad, the later poems of WWI mark a substantial shift in how we view war and sacrifice.

1914
Archduke Ferdinand assassinated. Outbreak of war in July/August. Germany invades Belgium. First Battle of the Marne, First Battle of Ypres. United States remains neutral. Trench warfare begins. The Siege of Antwerp. The Christmas truce.

" Channel Firing" by Thomas Hardy
" On Receiving News of the War" by Isaac Rosenberg
" Peace" by Rupert Brooke (published in Poetry)
" The Soldier" by Rupert Brooke (published in Poetry)
" The Dead" by Rupert Brooke
" Joining the Colours" by Katherine Tynan
" Men Who March Away" by Thomas Hardy
" War Girls" by Jessie Pope
" On Heaven" by Ford Madox Ford (published in Poetry)
" To Germany" by Charles Sorley
" For the Fallen" by Laurence Binyon
" Phases" by Wallace Stevens (published in Poetry)
" Iron" by Carl Sandburg (published in Poetry)
" The Bombardment" by Amy Lowell (published in Poetry)
" War Yawp" by Richard Aldington (published in Poetry)
" Fallen" by Alice Corbin Henderson (published in Poetry)
" August 1914" by Mary Wedderburn Cannan
" August 1914" by Isaac Rosenberg
" August, 1914 " by Vera Mary Brittain

1915
Germans sink RMS Lusitania. The Dardenelles campaign. Battle of Gallipoli. Second Battle of Ypres. First use of poison gas.

" In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae
" Absolution" by Siegfried Sassoon
" Home" by Edward Thomas
" Champagne, 1914-15" by Alan Seeger
" Belgium" by Edith Wharton
" Before Marching and After" by Thomas Hardy
" In Memoriam (Easter, 1915)" by Edward Thomas
" The Owl" by Edward Thomas
" A Lament" by Katherine Tynan
" The Spring in War-Time" by Sara Teasdale
" Into Battle" by Julian Grenfell
" On Being Asked for a War Poem" by William Butler Yeats
" Rouen" by Mary Wedderburn Cannan
" Marching" by Isaac Rosenberg (published in Poetry)
" Such, Such is Death" by Charles Sorley
" The Falling Leaves" by Margaret Postgate Cole
" When You See Millions of the Mouthless Dead" by Charles Sorley
" This is No Case of Petty Right or Wrong " by Edward Thomas

1916
Battle of Verdun, Battle of the Somme. President Wilson re-elected with campaign slogan, "He kept us out of the war." Rasputin is murdered.

" Rain" by Edward Thomas
" Break of Day in the Trenches" by Isaac Rosenberg (published in Poetry)
" The Troop Ship" by Isaac Rosenberg
" The Kiss" by Siegfried Sassoon
" The Poet as Hero" by Siegfried Sassoon
" As the Team's Head Brass" by Edward Thomas
" Sonnet 9: On Returning to the Front after Leave" by Alan Seeger
" In Time of 'The Breaking of Nations'" by Thomas Hardy
" Easter, 1916" by William Butler Yeats
" The Trumpet" by Edward Thomas
" The Messages" by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson
" The Death Bed" by Siegfried Sassoon
" Lights Out" by Edward Thomas
" The Night Patrol" by Arthur Graeme West
" The War Films" by Henry Newbolt
" The Twins" by Robert Service
" Ode in Memory of the American Volunteers Fallen for France" by Alan Seeger
" At the Movies " by Florence Ripley Mastin

1917
Germans issue Zimmerman Telegram to Mexico, United States declares war on Germany, draft begins. U.S. troops land in France. Third Battle of Ypres. Bolshevik uprising in Russia, led by Lenin, headed by Trotsky.

" Dulce et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen
" I Have a Rendezvous with Death" by Alan Seeger
" Blighters" by Siegfried Sassoon
" Two Fusiliers" by Robert Graves
" Anthem for Doomed Youth" by Wilfred Owen
" Returning, We Hear the Larks" by Isaac Rosenberg
" The Dead Kings" by Francis Ledwidge
" Servitude" by Ivor Gurney
"from Battle of the Somme: The Song of the Mud" by Mary Borden
" Dead Man's Dump" by Isaac Rosenberg
" Counter-Attack" by Siegfried Sassoon
" Sergeant-Major Money" by Robert Graves
" The Work" by Gertrude Stein
" To His Love" by Ivor Gurney
" After the War" by Mary Wedderburn Cannan
" To Any Dead Officer" by Siegfried Sassoon
" Photographs" by Ivor Gurney
" Breakfast " by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson

1918
U.S. President Wilson issues Fourteen Points to peace. Germany launches Spring Offensive, bombs Paris. United States launches attacks at Belleau Wood and Argonne Forest. Bolsheviks murder Tsar Nicholas II and Romanov family. Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates, Germany signs armistice on November 11. Paris Peace Conference.

" Strange Meeting" by Wilfred Owen
" Futility" by Wilfred Owen
" Attack" by Siegfried Sassoon
" The Veteran" by Margaret Postgate Cole (published in Poetry)
" Repression of War Experience" by Siegfried Sassoon
" Grass" by Carl Sandburg
" Dawn on the Somme" by Robert Nichols
" God! How I hate you, you young cheerful men " by Arthur Graeme West
" Lettres d'un Soldat" by Wallace Stevens (published in Poetry)
" Ypres" by Laurence Binyon
" Spring Offensive " by Wilfred Owen
" Epitaph On My Days in Hospital" by Vera Mary Brittain
" Roundel" by Vera Mary Brittain
" War Mothers" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
" Glory of Women" by Sigfried Sassoon
" Smile, Smile, Smile" by Wilfred Owen
" S. I. W." by Wilfred Owen
" And There Was a Great Calm" by Thomas Hardy

1919 and After
Armies demobilize, return home. Peace Treaty of Versailles ratified by Germany; U.S. Senate votes to reject treaty and refuses to join League of Nations. Proposal and constitution for League of Nations. The Cenotaph unveiled in London. Treaty of Sevres in 1920 ends war on Eastern Front.

" January 1919" by Christopher Middleton (1919)
" Everyone Sang" by Siegfried Sassoon (1919)
" The Cenotaph" by Charlotte Mew (1919)
" First Time In" by Ivor Gurney (1919)
"from Epitaphs of the War, 1914-18 " by Rudyard Kipling (1919)
" Gethsemane" by Rudyard Kipling (1919)
" Hugh Selwyn Mauberley (Part I)" by Ezra Pound (1920)
" A.E.F." by Carl Sandburg (1920)
" To E.T." by Robert Frost (1920)
" In Memory of George Calderon" by Laurence Binyon (1920)
" War and Peace" by Edgell Rickword (1921)
" Trench Poets" by Edgell Rickword (1921)
"Soldier-Poet" by Hervey Allen (1921)
" For a War Memorial" by G.K. Chesterton (1921)
" Festubert, 1916" by Edmund Blunden (1921)
" Elegy in a Country Churchyard" by G.K. Chesterton (1922)
" Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries" by A.E. Housman (1922)
" Soldier from the wars returning" by A.E. Housman (1922)
" I Saw England - July Night" by Ivor Gurney (1922)
" Champs d'Honneur" by Ernest Hemingway (1923) (published in Poetry)
" Laventie" by Ivor Gurney (1925)
" A War Bride" by Jessie St. John (1928) (published in Poetry)

Read more poets who served or volunteered in WWI

Browse more War Poems
AUDIO
Poet's Choice: Of Love and War: D.A. Powell reads poems from Rupert Brooke and Gwendolyn Brooks.

Anything But Sweet: Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et Decorum Est" and modern warfare.
ARTICLES
"100 Years of Poetry: The Magazine and War": A historical look at the role of poetry in wartime.

"How Should We Write About War and Trauma?": Tom Sleigh Looks to David Jones

" Now Online: Siegfried Sassoon's War Diaries "

" Poetry in the First World War" from Poetry magazine (1940)
ONLINE WWI RESOURCES
PBS: The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century
Oxford University: The First World War Poetry Digital Archive U.S. National WWI Museum The Telegraph: Life on the Eve of War

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World War I: Poetry by Year by The Editors | Poetry Foundation

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Roughly 10 million soldiers lost their lives in World War I, along with seven million civilians. The horror of the war and its aftermath altered the world for decades, and poets responded to the brutalities and losses in new ways. Just months before his death in 1918, English poet Wilfred Owen famously wrote: This book is not about heroes.

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Searchable database available

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John Henry Anderson was born in Malakwa, British Columbia, Canada in January, 1892. He enlisted at Vernon, British Columbia on July 14, 1915 and served with the 7th Bn. Canadian Infantry (British Columbia Regiment). Anderson was part of the attack at Vimy Ridge and died between April 8th and April 10th, 1917. The collection consists of two letters from Anderson, two letters of condolence following his death, and several photographs. For Anderson's complete service file, click here.

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John Henry Anderson was born in Malakwa, British Columbia, Canada in January, 1892. He enlisted at Vernon, British Columbia on July 14, 1915 and served with the 7th Bn. Canadian Infantry (British Columbia Regiment). Anderson was part of the attack at Vimy Ridge and died between April 8th and April 10th, 1917.

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In Flanders Fields by John McCrae | Poetry Foundation

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"It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country"

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Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen | Poetry Foundation

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Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,

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from At the Somme: The Song of the Mud by Mary… | Poetry Foundation

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Pte. George Maben writes to his Mother in Red Deer, Alberta

Red Deer News published Wednesday, November 07, 1917

Sunday, September 16, 1917

Transcribed by: M. I. Pirie

Pte. George Maben's letter to his mother written on September 16th, 1917, appeared in the Red Deer News (Alberta). At a later point, he became Sgt. George Maben, 183708. Maben was born in Scotland in 1892. At the time he enlisted in November 1915, his family was in Red Deer, Alberta.

Another of Maben's letters, written to his mother on November 21st, 1918, appeared in the Red Deer Advocate - link to letter.

His brother, Lance Sergeant William Maben, 466951, 49th Battalion, Military Medal, died October 1st, 1918.

The McIlwraith "boys" are mentioned in this letter. They were likely Pte. Gordon McIlwraith, 184135, and William McIlwraith, 183709.

George Maben writes to his mother, Sept. 16, from Can. M.G. base, 4th Co., A.P.O., Sect. 18, B.E.F., France:--

Dear Mother,

Just received your most welcome letters dated August 5th and 13th. I was very glad to hear from you and to hear that you are all well. This is the first mail I have received from you since I was wounded. It has travelled all over France but it has found me at last. I am glad to say I am in the best of health. My arm is all right again but it swells up a little once in a while. The shrapnel is in it yet but it will get all right after a bit.

I had a letter from Billy yesterday and two cards. ¹ He is getting along fine. He has been looking all over for me. I wrote him when I was hit, but I guess he never got my letter. So he will not know till he gets my last letter that I have been in the hospital. The last time I went in the line I passed his company. They were all lined up the side of the road, but I did not know he was there at the time, or else I would have stopped and spoken to him. We had lots of time, but I expect to see him before long. I will soon be going back to the Company again. I have not heart from the McIlwraith boys yet. I hope they came through the Loos scrap all right. That is the place where Fritz got me.

We have been in some very tight places and had some very narrow escapes since we came over here, but I did not want to tell you as it would only make you worry more over us, and I did not want to do that, but I see that I will have to give in since Bill Mc has told his father all about it. But the main thing is that we have come through them all safe. I got a bit of a scratch but that was nothing compared to what some of the boys got. I will only be thankful if I come through the rest of the war as easily as I have gone through the other places. The noise of the big guns gets me once in a while, but my nerves have not given in yet. I am just as steady as ever but more on the alert. Once bit, twice shy.

I guess Billy Mc will have got your letter by the time I see him again. He will be glad to hear from you. It is surprising what those two McIlwraith boys have come through. I know that I am bigger and stouter built than they are and I sometimes have all I can do to handle the work laid out for me, but they are always willing to do a job and it does not matter how hard Fritz is shelling a place, if they have to go through it they go without saying a word.

I am great on the sleeping stunt all right. As soon as I lay down I dose off, but I can't say about this snoring, I have never listened to myself but such things happen.

Well, mother, I think that conscription would help us out a lot. I would give the old men in the line a chance of a rest, but as it is we are out one day and in the next. So, if we had the men out here it would help us out a lot.

¹Billy is his brother Lance Sergeant William Maben, M.M., who died October 1st, 1918 while serving with the 49th Battalion CEF.

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Transcribed by: M. I. Pirie Pte. George Maben's letter to his mother written on September 16th, 1917, appeared in the Red Deer News (Alberta). At a later point, he became Sgt. George Maben, 183708. Maben was born in Scotland in 1892. At the time he enlisted in November 1915, his family was in Red Deer, Alberta.

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Born on Cree Red Pheasant Reserve, Sask. Olympic runner and police officer.

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France

Sept. 10th, 1917

My Dear Sister,

Received your very welcome letter yesterday and was very glad to know that you were all well. I also received the parcel some time ago and you may be sure the contents were very welcome. The tobacco came in handy as I was broke and without tobacco. I should have written at once and thanked you, but I was very busy at the time and kept putting it off. Then I was taken ill with trench-fever, and didn't leave my bed for ten days. I am about over it now, though my legs still pain at times, especially during wet weather. It's just like rheumatism and many a sleepless night I had to put up with. I was in bed most of the time while we were on Divisional Rest.

I am indeed sorry about our brother is having so much trouble with his eyes. He ought to see a specialist about them before he losses his sight. Julia told me about Jessie thinking of going to the hospital to nurse. It's a noble profession, but I'm glad she's not taking it up. It's a thankless job. Just like soldiering.

I have met quite a lot of Edmonton men since I came to France. We do such a lot of moving about, that we run across someone we know almost every day. I met Mr. Penny two weeks ago and spent a nice evening with him. You remember he used to live next to Williamses. He is Quartermaster now and holds down the rank of Captain. I've met Frank Walker of Fort Sask. several times and he always stops to shake hands, and do you remember Harry Higgins, brother of Marla (Minosa)? I met him in England. He was a sergeant in the 128th Batt. I don't know if he is over here yet or not. I met Tom Longboat in England too. I hear that he has been killed since. Dave McCullough is over here too. I see him every once in a while. It sometimes seems as if Edmonton had moved over here and left all the women folk behind, one meets so many from home. Every once in a while some one would come up to me and say "do you remember the time you chased me on your motor cylcle"? Many an hour we pass away talking of old times and wishing we were all back home again.

Well sis, in spite of the fact that we are used very decently by the French people, there's no use denying the fact that we are all aching and longing for our own beloved Canada. Of course there's work to be done yet and I spose will stay there till it is finished. A man has lots of time to think of his people and home out here, and one does get awfully lonesome at times. I know in my last trip to the front line, I dreamed of home and about "all the mothers, sisters and sweethearts" I ever had.

Of course we have lots of fun too. It isn't all hardships and loneliness out here. Most of the boys turn (Fatalists). I don't know if I've got it spelled right, after a few month fighting. They believe that everything is prearranged by Divine Power, and if it one's time to die no matter what one does, one has to die. Their motto is "If my turn comes next, I can't do anything to avoid it, so "I should worry". They don't worry either. Of course there are lots who suffer from shell shock or nervous breakdown, and they can't fight against fear, but most of the boys have a keen sense of humor, and laugh at almost anything. I know of one in particular, a corporal. He is the life and wit of our party. A shell landed close to him one night and the concussion threw him on his head several yards away. The shock stunned him for a minute and when he came to the first question he asked was "Is my head still on?" That sent the rest of us into a roar, and only a minute before they were all ready to beat it to the nearest dugout. It's the likes of him that make army life bearable, and the army is full of such as he. Then we have our sports & games, concerts and picture shows where one may forget his troubles awhile. But best of all for cheering a soldiers heart is a letter from "Home". There's always a scrambled when the mail is being given out. Yes, and there's hardly ever a vacant desk at the Y.M.C.A. writing room. Letter writing with us is sometimes very difficult. A soldier loses his pack and with it his writing material. Maybe his pack gets soaked with rain, spoiling his papers and the nearest Y.M.C.A is in the next town. He puts his writing off till a better time which does not turn up before he goes to the front line. A week or two slips by before he is able to write a letter.

I am laying on the ground trying to finish this letter before dark. I hope I do for I don't know when I'll have another opportunity. I wish mother understood English and could read. I can't think of anything that would interest her, and she always complains that we write such short letters. It's the people who read our letters to her who are to blame. Don't tell her that I was sick when you write, sis. It won't hurt her not to know.

I had a tough day the day before yesterday. I don't know whether it was the gas that sickened me or the berries that I ate. Some of the gas that "Fritz" is using now does not affect one till about 24 hours after. I was taken ill while on the march with vomiting, and later "sapoosowin" very severe. I wasn't able to hold down anything for two meals after. However I'm completely over it now, so there's nothing to worry about.

Well sis, I don't know what else to tell you so I better close now. I'm enclosing a picture taken just after my attack while we were out on rest. The French people at whose barn we were billeted, used me very nice. They used to feed me on fresh eggs. If I didn't have a girl in Canada, I'd have certainly have fallen in love with the oldest girl. She wasn't much on 'looks', but she was a good girl, and a worker.

Give my love to Grannie when you see her. Love to the children.

Remember me to what few friends I've left. For yourself, good wishes, love and affection, from

Your brother

Alex.

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France Sept. 10th, 1917 My Dear Sister, Received your very welcome letter yesterday and was very glad to know that you were all well. I also received the parcel some time ago and you may be sure the contents were very welcome. The tobacco came in handy as I was broke and without tobacco.

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William and his Brother Herb both fought together in the War, this letter is one describing the pain felt following the death of his Brother to his Aunt at home.

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Bandsman W. Cunliffe
75th Battn C.E.F.
c/o Army PO London England
no 164557.

Oct 23rd 1916

Dear Aunt

i am very sorry to have to inform you that Herb is dead. they were returning home after carrying ammunition up to the trenches . a german shell fell amongst them one man was instantly killed, herb was severely wounded and died about half an hour after he had been taken to the dressing station there was a party of seven of them all salvationists but one, he was a good christian though, he was killed instantly one of the others was wounded in the leg another one was severely shell shocked and had to be sent away, the boys did their best for herb untill the stretcher bearers arrived, they bandaged him up the best they could in a shell hole with shells falling all around they tell me he was cheerful till the last, he was a good boy you dont know how much i shall miss him. i would far sooner it had been me than him. he was so fond of his wife and children and used to talk of the time they would have together, when he got back only last week mary sent him a lock of one of the childrens hair it is in his bible now with other little cards that have been sent from time to time. i was not with their party i was out with another party all night working under shell fire we did not get back until morning they did not tell me he was dead untill after i had a sleep. my deepest regret is that i was not with them they aught never to have separated us i would rather have died with herb than have been left, we were allways together and god alone knows how we loved each other. still allthough it is very hard to [?] God knows best someday we shall understand why God takes away our loved ones. he has been buried here in a cemetary and if you was here you would know that is something to be thankful for. oh aunt Ellen it will be a blessing when this cruel wicked was is over God values one human soul at more than many worlds yet thousands and thousands of lives must be sacrificed for the possesion of a few miles of land, i know it will be an awful blow for you but God will help you to bear it he has his reasons for allowing these things to happen perhaps he wants to draw us nearer to him. i trust and pray that he will draw each one of us nearer to him. all herbs money and articles of value are being sent on by the Chaplain. i will close now good bye and God bless and keep you from your loving Nephew Will.

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Bandsman W. Cunliffe 75th Battn C.E.F. c/o Army PO London England no 164557. Oct 23rd 1916 Dear Aunt i am very sorry to have to inform you that Herb is dead. they were returning home after carrying ammunition up to the trenches .

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France Oct 24/1917

Dear Mother & All:

Just droping you a few lines to let you know that I am still well & kicking. I have sent wizz-bangs lately because we were out resting & billeted in barns some distance from Y.M.C.A.s & it was difficult to get paper. Had the pleasure of helping some French farmers pull their mangles and believe me we made short work of what would have been a weeks work for the farmer himself. In payment he gave us a light lunch which was sure appreciated even if it was light.

It is beastly sloppy now & it looks as though it doesn't intend to stop raining until next spring. Those top boots you mentioned will sure come in handy this winter & please stick a few eats & smokes as I'm beastly hungry.

Well mother this is all at present. Hoping this finds you all well.

Your Loving Son

Roy.

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France Oct 24/1917 Dear Mother & All: Just droping you a few lines to let you know that I am still well & kicking. I have sent wizz-bangs lately because we were out resting & billeted in barns some distance from Y.M.C.A.s & it was difficult to get paper.

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Official Art - First Glimpse of Ypres | Canada and the First World War

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Canada's contribution to the First World War led to growing autonomy and international recognition, but at great cost.

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B Company, Canadian Army, First World War

Holding the line in the trenches between Lens and Arras

December 24 -- Quiet day, a few mortars but none near us. A mild day, misty and clear towards evening. I received Xmas cards and letter from Muir Smith of Hythe. Its kind of them to remember me. This is my first letter in the "front line".

December 25 -- Had a box from my wife (Hattie). This forenoon has been lovely. When I came out of dug-out the whole of "No Mans Land" was a sparkle with hoar frost, and the sky was clear and air cold. A proper Xmas barring these hideous performances. Have been day-dreaming, having happy pictures of my sweet wife and my darling kiddies. I can see their joy now as they arose this morning. Oh the joy of childhood days, "Backward turn oh time in your flight. Make me a child again just for tonight".

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From the diary of Corporal Albert C. West

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December 24 -- Quiet day, a few mortars but none near us. A mild day, misty and clear towards evening. I received Xmas cards and letter from Muir Smith of Hythe. Its kind of them to remember me. This is my first letter in the "front line".

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February 15, 1918 -- Left guns at 12 noon for wagon lines. Got a change of tunic and pants.

February 16, 1918 -- Started away on leave from Neun Le Mines. Fritz was shelling station. Had to beat it to Bethune Road down in boxcars and caught the leave train. Arrived in Balounge about nine p.m. Slept in the fish market all night.

February 17,1918 -- Arrived in England. Three boatloads of troops arrived about 2:30 p.m. and took the train to London. Arrived in London about 5.30 p.m. Went to the Maple Leaf club, had supper and cashed my cheque. Had a bath and clean change of underwear and clothes and then made my way to Burton Station via the tube. Caught the train to Manchester.

February 18, 1918 -- Arrived in Rochdale 7:15 a.m. Reached Bagslate about 8 a.m. Went to town to see my relatives on Rathway Street. Had the afternoon with Dad.

February 19, 1918 -- Went to Heywood. Saw several relatives in town and went to Jack Lindsay's place at night.

February 20, 1918 -- Went to Heywood. Saw several friends. Had tea with Ernest Milne.

February 21, 1918 -- Stayed around Rochdale and Bagslate all day.

February 22, 1918 -- Got up early, caught the Norden for Rochdale and made for Ellen Hannahs and then we both made our way to Radcliffe to visit cousin Edith and Sarah Alice. Had a pretty good time. Got back to Nowden about 10:30 p.m.

February 23, 1918 -- Went Rochdale in the morning. Also in the afternoon with father and mother and stayed in all night.

February 24, 1918 -- Went to Heywood in the morning. Had dinner at Jack Lindsay house. Went to school in the afternoon. Had tea with Jack Lindsay. Met Jane Ellen. Went to church at night. Saw Ada Bottomley. Got home 9 p.m.

February 25, 1918 -- Harry and me went to Manchester with cousins from Radcliffe. Saw Mrs. Hall and had dinner there. Then I went to Miles Platting. Saw Mr. and Mrs. Burkhead and we had dinner and tea with them. I made for Moss side. Saw Will Holt. Left Manchester about eight o'clock and to Norden about ten p.m.

February 26, 1918 -- Stayed around Norden and Rochdale and sent some presents home.

February 27, 1918 -- Went to Rochdale in the morning. Also in the afternoon had tea with Nellie and Mother and Father in Rochdale.

February 28, 1918 -- Walked to Heywood in the morning and said good-bye to several of my friends with Rex Tod. I had tea with Mary Boyd. Got home at 6 p.m. Very stormy.

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The 1918 Wartime Diary of Private Charles Robert Bottomley

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February 15, 1918 -- Left guns at 12 noon for wagon lines. Got a change of tunic and pants. February 16, 1918 -- Started away on leave from Neun Le Mines. Fritz was shelling station. Had to beat it to Bethune Road down in boxcars and caught the leave train.