{"id":231,"date":"2013-05-11T23:41:22","date_gmt":"2013-05-11T23:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/warletters.falkor.gen.nz\/?page_id=231"},"modified":"2013-06-26T20:33:55","modified_gmt":"2013-06-26T20:33:55","slug":"neil-mother-30-sep-1917","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/warletters.falkor.gen.nz\/?page_id=231","title":{"rendered":"Neil \u2013 Mother: 30 Sep 1917"},"content":{"rendered":"

N.Z. Medical Reserve Depot
\nEwshot
\nSunday
\n30\/9\/17
\nDear Mother,
\nI posted a letter to Dad yesterday. \u00a0Since then Norman & I have been warned for overseas (P.S. ‘Overseas’ probably means France but by no means necessarily so. \u00a0There are other places when the winter would not be so severe for N.Zers.) \u00a0We are with the 26ths and it is almost probable that we shall be left here. \u00a0We are emergencies \u00a0who may go or may not. \u00a0We have seen a good bit of Blighty, during our stay here – all the villages around Sling, a few of the places round here and Aldershot last night. \u00a0It is some city. \u00a0Trot didn’t think much of it, but he never seems to get enthusiastic over anything. \u00a0He didn’t go much on the air raid we were in. \u00a0The biggest thing he had seen go off before was a penny cracker, but he thought 3 cwt of high explosive going up merely a trifle. \u00a0An air raid in London now would be a far more interesting sight than the one we saw. \u00a0In order to keep the aeroplanes from bombing vulnerable points they establish a horizontal barrage two miles up so as to keep them out of good bombing range. \u00a0That means that while a raid is on there is a sort of mat of bursting shells spread over London two miles high. \u00a0The papers say the row is so terrific that you can’t hear bombs bursting unless you are so close that you run a fair chance of never being able to hear another. \u00a0Raids (which now occur every moonlight night) seem to be about the only thing worth writing about.<\/p>\n

We are going for a row on a pretty bush bordered canal here this afternoon. \u00a0Its alight – we wont get drowned, 4 feet is about its deepest. \u00a0It is about 40 miles long. \u00a0We can hire a canoe, cushions etc, for 1\/- first hour and \u00a06d an hour after.<\/p>\n

We have not seen or heard from Vic for a fortnight. \u00a0He is up among \u00a0the lassies and the bonny Leezie Lindssays of the Heelans now. \u00a0I do not think we are allowed to cable when we go over<\/p>\n

Yours
\nNeil<\/p>\n