Pièce 15 - Letter from George to Ruth Mallory, 11 May 1916

Letter to Ruth Mallory written from France

Apart from washing and dinner he had spent the last 28 hours on a train. They were very long with passenger coaches and trucks mixed up and so were very slow. The coaches reserved for Officers weren’t crowded so the snails crawl of progress wasn’t unpleasant. There was no onward train so he would spend the night in an hotel. He hadn’t yet reported at his Headquarters so didn’t know his Unit. He had a good companion for dinner. He was on leave after 8 bad months in the trenches. To think what these men had endured, he honored the Infantry. His mind had been full thinking of the beauty of Spring, the blossom and the beautiful buildings and war which was inconceivable and monstrous. He had been weighing his own personal courage and how she entered into his thoughts.