To his mother Charlotte Capell
Monday, 28th Aug [1916]
6th Lon. Fd. Amb. [Millercourt1]
Dearest Mother:
A change! – I am in a party detached temporarily to work with another F.A. Imagine a
collection of tents, little & big, on the crest of one of the characteristic "Downs"
you have read of: – all wind-swept & bare of trees. Not a house for miles. The tents
all gaudy with Futurist colourings – anti-aircraft! We are a long way still from the
firing line, tho' one can see on a distant crest a series of explosions perpetually -
the Furnace. – – Occasionally a shell lands in an unfortunate little town in the dip
below us.
It is wet, windy weather. We are sleeping in tents, but on sodden ground & without
a blanket this is chilly enough. We are under the rule of an alien sergeant-major, &
"fatigues" early & late are the rule. Ancient wire entanglements line the camp & one
has the impression of being an interned alien. Certainly the German prisoners that we
saw the other day do just the same work & live the same as we today! And after living
so long together & then suddenly pushed into strange company we have just the
impression of being with foreigners.
If this lasts long the tedium will be extreme. Nothing to read! The semi-starvation
of army rations unsupplemented! – – Bridge must be our resource. How long our stay
at this Ruhleben will be I haven't an idea. I had your letter, thank you, my dear.
But a lot of my papers, etc. seem to have "gone west". I am rejoiced at being free of
the Q.M. stores. The Q.M. was an impossible outsider, & the Q.M.S. quite, quite
mad. – – Ever your Richard
1 The Ambulance moved to the rear of the Somme front at Millercourt, 5 km west of Albert.