The soldiers had time
to write letter and their relatives back in Hamilton certainly had enough
interest to both read them and share them.”
On November 5, 1914,
the Hamilton Herald reprinted not one, but two letters brought to them by H. G. and Mrs. Wright,
proud parents of Lieut. George Craig Wright.
George Wright had
left Hamilton with the first overseas contingent of the Thirteenth Royal
Regiment, and was writing home first on board ship while crossing the Atlantic
Ocean on a ship known as the Monmouth, and the second first about his arrival
in Salisbury Plain for training:
“The boat we are on
can only make about twelve knots. The speed in the first place for the fleet to
travel was nine knots, but for a couple of days we had a lot of trouble with
the Monmouth. Some parts of the day she would be alright and could possibly go
along in fine style, but, of course, would not be able to go any faster than
the other boats in the line, namely, at the standard rate of nine knots. But
then, sometimes, she would drop away down to about eight knots, and
consequently would hold everybody back. They finally got away from that by
putting the Monmouth out of the line, and letting her go along by herself, so
that sometimes she would be at the head of the line, and at other times would
be at the rear.
“We were kept at
Gaspe bay until Saturday, October 3, waiting for all the transports to arrive,
finally pulling about 4 o’clock on the above date. In all there were about 31
troop ships, and we sailed away in three lines having ten ships in each line,
each being about a quarter of a mile in front of each other, and a mile of each
side. Besides, we have four battleships in front, one on each side and one in
the rear. You can imagine that it is a pretty impressive sight to see two large
fleets steaming across the Atlantic. Right behind us is your old ship the
Laurentic. The Virginian is also here, but not the Victorian. The boat we are
on is one of the smallest. It is about 450 long and 8000 tons, but she plugs
away alright
“We have had pretty
fine weather, although today, it started to blow a bit., and early in the trip,
we had a big roll for a few days, and quite a few were sick, but it did not bother
me at all, and the only meal that I missed was dinner one night – that I had an
attack of indigestion, no doubt caused by the high living we have had aboard
ship after the meals we had at Valcartier.
“At the present time,
we do not know where we are going, although we are steaming directly for the
English channel, and only about 200 miles out. There is a rumor that we are
going to land at Plymouth, but that is no certain by any means.
“We get up every
morning at 7:30, and have physical exercises for a half hour, having breakfast
at 8 o’clock. We then have company drill for an hour from 10:15 on the forward
deck, weather permitting. After that, we have an officer’s signaling class for
half an hour. Lunch is next at 1 o’clock. In the afternoon, more company drill
at 2:30, with another signaling class at 3:30. From 4 o’clock until dinner time
at 7, we have no special work, except, of course, afternoon tea at 4:30; this
is very important. We generally put in the time lazily hanging around, with
occasionally a little shuffleboard and, sometimes, a game of bridge. After
dinner, we have studies and lectures until 9 o’clock, retiring whenever we feel
like it.
“Well, it is now
Wednesday evening, and we have just arrived in old England, so I will finish this
letter in order to get it mailed as soon as possible. WE are at Plymouth, but
have not as yet disembarked. We expect to get off tomorrow. We do not know as
yet where we go into camp, probably at Salisbury.
“Yesterday, we had a
pretty strong gale, and it lasted until we reached the bay at Plymouth this
evening. It was pretty rough, but I do not think anyone was the worse, as we are
all pretty well seasoned to it, after three weeks on board. It will be rather
odd going ashore, as the old boat seems like home, although tonight everybody
is getting rather restless, just waiting to go ashore. The waiting, I think, is
the worst part of the whole trip.
“We had a mighty good
time all the way across, too. I enjoyed it very much and am feeling fine.
Tomorrow, if possible, I will cable in order to let you know about my safe
arrival. This bay we are in is a sight worth seeing just now, for it is full of
ocean liners, battleships and cruisers, with quite a few torpedo boats thrown
in. It is pretty around here, too.
“Well, I think I have
told all there is to tell, and my next job will be getting this posted as soon
as possible.
“Give my love to the
kids.
“From your loving
son,
“George”
“P. S. Did I tell you
that I received my sleeping bag all right? I got it just before leaving
Valcartiet. It is O.K.
“G.C.W.”1
1 Boys Able
to Weather It : Lieut. G. G. Wright’s Letter Indicates That Troops Are Fit”
Hamilton Herald.
Novemner 5, 1914.
Lieutenant Wright’s
second letter home was written a little over a week later, from Salisbury
Plain:
“”Dear mother:
“I just received your
letter October 6, and was very glad to hear from you, as it had been some time
since I heard from home. WE just arrivedhere today after being in Plymouth for
a week. It was pretty slow living there in the river and watching the other men
disembark. We, however, had leave ashore once in a while, and therefore saw
quite a lot of Plymouth. It is a grand old town, and I enjoyed very much
wandering around seeing the country.
“We left the boat
yesterday afternoon at 5:15 o’clock, and marched three miles in the rain
through the town to the station, arriving at Lavington at 11:30, and then came
the hard work. We marched away at 12:30 in the morning, still raining, and, of
course, it was pitch dark. You could hardly see your hand in front of your
face. We had to go eight miles to our camp, and it took a little over three
hours, getting in at half past thee in the morning., tired out and wet, but the
worst was yet to come. We got the men under canvas all right, but we had no
place to go. I tried to get warm by a fire. We could not get a change of
clothes, as our transport had not arrived.
At 5 o’clock, I got
so tired that I went into a canteen tent, and lay down on a table, wet clothes
and all. I went right off to sleep and slept for two hours, after which I felt
much refreshed, but I was still wet and we were not able to change our clothes
until about ten o’clock. If I had gone through all this at home, I would surely
have had a cold, but there it did not bother me a bit., except for being a
little stiff, I feel fine now. I am rather glad to get under canvas again, for
we were rather crowded on board ship, and it was not very, very comfortable. I
might say we just spent four weeks on that boat.
“We will be at
Salisbury for two months anyway, and maybe for the most of the winter. I am
going to get a few days leave pretty soon and will go up to see London.
“Well, mother, give
my love to father, and all the kids.
“From your loving
son. “George”1
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