1915-06-07tt

The letters from Hamilton soldiers kept coming, and on June 7, 1915, the Hamilton Spectator published some of those letters which had been brought to that newspaper’s office to share widely :

“Pte. W. Bingham, who is a member of the 4^th battalion, has some interesting observations to make about the situation in France. In two letters to his wife, he says, in part, as follows:

“ ‘You will have heard by now that we have been in the thick of the fray, and that we have made a name for ourselves, but we only did what other regiments have been doing all along. I came out without a scratch, but my nerves were badly shattered for a few days. That was only natural, however, or it was my first experience in real warfare. I have been in and out of the tenches several times, but compared to this affair, it was more in the natural of a picnic.

“ ‘It has been stated in the papers that the Germans were short of ammunition. Those who wrote such tales should be here when the enemy is making an attack, and they would quickly find out how little they know about it. I am given to understand, and quite believe it that there was more ammunition used in one week’s fighting than there was used in the South African war, which lasted two years and nine months. Men who were in that war state there is a Boer war fought every day here, so don’t think they are running out of that material because they are not.

“ ‘But in spite of this we shall beat, and although they are making a brave show just now, I shouldn’t be surprised to see them collapse suddenly and before long. I may be home in less time than you imagine

“The second letter in part is :

“ ‘This is the first opportunity I have had of writing for some time. The place I have been is altogether too hot to allow any time for writing. We have had an awful experience these last few days. Thank God, I have come through safely. I am not going to try to describe to you the horrors I have witnessed. You will read all about it in the newspapers far better than I can tell you, but I can tell you that we have had a great many casualties. In fact, it is a marvel to me that any of us escaped with our lives. Scores of my chums fell all around me. Some will never rise again. Those of us who reached the trench we started to take seemed to have charmed lives. Bullets and shells were falling around us like hail, but we still kept going on, making rushes of seventy to one yards at a time, until we finally reached the trench ahead of us, covering over 1,000 yards of open country, with nothing but Providence to protect us from thousands of German bullets and shells. We got there and held it all day, subjected the whole time to murderous artillery and machine gun fire. But it was useless. They couldn’t shift us. We have a terrible time, but it was well worth it, for by holding out we prevented what might have been a big reverse, but instead has turned out a glorious success. Quite a few fellows you know have been killed. Poor  Chris Duggan has gone. His last words were “ ‘Well, boys, I have done my bit, goodbye.’ Burt West got three severe wounds, but they were not fatal.’

“In another letter, Gunner Fred Fish says:

“ ‘I was indeed pleased to get your welcome letter which was handed to me on the line of march just as we pulled out of action. I am sure you must have felt very anxious when you read of the heavy losses our division suffered. We certainly were an uncomfortable lot the whole time we were there.

“ I noticed with surprise that the Spectator says we were in reserve at the time of the big battle. Well, from the start of the German massed attack when they used that gas, until after our infantry had been relieved, we were right on the job and under murderous shellfire all the time. We could all write a book on our experiences, but I won’t deal with any of these just now. Sufficient to say that the place is one vast grave yard, and the stench of the bodies is too horrible to think of.’

“Mrs. C. W. Fish, 149 Glendale avenue, has received the following interesting letter from her son, Colin:

“ ‘Just a few lines to let you know I am in the best of health and pleased to hear you are the same. We had no one killed in the big battle and only seven wounded, and these were getting shelled from each flank by coal-boxes, and from the front by Whistling Willies. The Whistling Willies you can hear coming a mile away by their peculiar whistle. When they burst, it reminds you of a ginger-beer bottle being opened. These we utterly scorn. When we hear the Jack Johnsons come, you should see us scatter to our dug outs like so many rabbits.

“ ‘Mr. German puts up his gas and our infantry retired to their third line of trenches. The Germans then advanced and as luck would have it, the wind changed right around, at the same time about fifty batteries opened a rapid shrapnel fire, so Mr. German could not get back nor go forward. When the gas cleared, the infantry went at it with the bayonet. The Germans lost about 2,000 killed and no prisoners were taken. Don’t worry now. COLIN.’”¹

¹ “ ‘Boys, I’ve Done My Bit, Goodbye,’ Said Duggan : Fell at Langemarck When the 4^th Charged”

Hamilton Spectator.   June 7, 1915