Pièce 13 - Letter from George to Ruth Mallory, 9 February 1917

Letter to Ruth Mallory written from France on 'Feb 9 1917'

The Colonel had visited the previous day and at his instigation brought a bottle of whisky with him which was well received by the French.

There had been a disquieting break before he could continue the letter but he couldn't give details except that the French batteries had been badly bombarded. He was mainly concerned with counter battery work.

He had walked a short distance to see an 'Archie' battery and found Buttonshaw who hadn't liked the O. C. in the 42 Battery and so had got out. Hoped they would do some good firing as the French weren't impressed with the English work so far.

He had started keeping a literary notebook in which to work out his ideas.

He hadn't written to anyone but her since he returned from leave. Asks if she had heard from Mary as he had received a letter from Ralph saying she was unwell. Asks how Doris Mallory was and if she had heard from her or Trafford who he was concerned for until he had got busy and then he had forgotten about him.

He liked the quiet exile as long as it remained quiet.

10th Feb - the Colonel had sounded happy on the telephone and he was going to visit the French aviation for him. He was glad of an outing. There was nothing much to do between lunch and dinner and they hadn't been receiving many papers which he wanted to read to see the opinion of the neutrals. He wanted America to join the war to damage German morale.

He wasn't in the mood to write to her but wanted to sit and talk to her and see her reaction to things. He was sitting in his white chamber which was rapidly becoming brown and black because of the stove. He had chill blanes on his right foot.