Letters From the Front

Dated:

Letters from the Front

Corp. J. Arthur Carswell writing home, under date May 6th from Belgiu, a few days before he was wounded, says:

Dear Dad and Mother:--

I buried H. Meere's brother [E. S. Meeres] last night, or assisted to bury him. He was struck by a piece of shell and only lived a few minutes. I wrote to Horace [Meeres].

We are right up at the front of the Ypres Salient and have been eight days in brigade supports. Of course they can shell us at any time, but they have forborne most of the time lately -- perhaps they do not know the whereabouts of our dugouts. We are in a grove called Maple Copse. I thought it nearly all dead when we were here a month ago, but the broken and shattered trees have quite a festive appearance now. Wonderful what spring will do. Some shelling is going on here nearly all of the time. Either one of our batteries is pounding away at them or they are trying for some ? in our lines. One can never tell when one shell, or perhaps a dozen in quick succession, will burst over your head or under your feet. Of course by now we worry little, unless the shells are coming too close. Believe me we can dodge quick now though.

They were searching for one of our batteries when they got Meeres last night. They can send over about a dozen shells from a battery before you can say Jack Robinson. Yesterday morning about four (just after daybreak), one of our batteries awoke me by sending over a dozen shells in about four seconds. I guess they had caught a working party or something. Of course, being in a sharp salient they have a little the advantage of us as they can reach us from three sides and almost from behind. They bombarded the lines with heavy shells right in front of us a few nights ago and then tried to come over but the 49th and 58th stopped them, killed some and took a couple of prisoners, one a German officer came on almost aloneand afterwards stormed at his men for being cowards. I do not believe they have stomach for an advance anyway, although, lately they have been putting up signs saying when they are going to be in Ypres.

We are in a bit of dead ground behind the lines and the bullets come in here pretty thick some nights. More shooting is done nights than days you know. Our infantry do very little shooting as a rule anyway. More a war of shells and bombs anyway. A plane is over us at the present moment and they are shelling it. Sometimes pieces of shell nearly drop on our heads, but we nearly always wear steel hats when on working parties, etc., anyway. We work a few hours a day here on different parts of the trenches. It is nearly like a big picnic this weather, if it were not for the serious part of it.

We go into the trenches for eight days tomorrow night and then back to billets near Poferight [Poperinghe?] for a few days I understand. Poferight is not a bad little place, I got leave there one time before our last trip up here and got some fresh strawberries.

Boche aeroplanes are very nervy here and they are over us a lot despite our guns. Of course ours do the same thing, but are somewhat handicapped on account of the salient. Fritz is sending over a few whizzbangs about 100 yards from us now. When they or larger shells strike a tree they sure make a splash. Right in front of our dugouts is a dressing station and they surely keep it busy at times.

Do you remember Bramley Moore¹, who contested the seat won by Lowery? He was shot through the head, and I believe he has died since. He was in our company. The bullet went through his steel hat, through his head and burst the back of his hat out.

With best love,

ART