There had to be a movement for letters home. Those heartbreaking letters from the line , often by people who had never written them before; from some who couldn’t write and had to dictate them. They used the stock phrases that were seen to be the polite way to write; they were heavily censored if they said anything real about where they were or what they were doing, and in any case, they were writing to family and loved ones at home who they didn’t want to worry.
At first the training in the camps and the good regular food and the fun of being all together to lads who had been used to long hours of work must have been relatively easy to be jaunty about; everything changed of course when they arrived in the trenches themselves and began to get a sense of the true nature of the nightmare they found themselves in. It was in any case so far removed from any experience anyone at home would have had there were no words to express the truth.
The girls were trained as nurses with rigid discipline. And when they were moved, they were not always in dressing stations behind the lines; many of them were very close to the fighting. Their work was far from angelic: dirty, exhausting and very dangerous. Many of them died, as the men did, from the shelling; they also died, as the men did, from infections caught from their patients.
I tried to express the disjunct between what they said and how they increasingly felt by interspersing the letters they actually sent home with the other refrain – beginning ‘I’m thinking of you’, which expressed how they really felt under the bravado; but could not write.
They were so young. If your had your parents’ permission, you could sign up at 16; many, many lads lied about their age and went at 14, 15.
MOVEMENT FOUR: DISPATCHES
NARRATOR
It was all so exciting! First everything – first time on a train, first time on a ship, first time abroad- new people, new work.. new hills and trees and valleys.. new food, new words..
And all of us had our best friends to share it with – our pals, all together in the same regiment. All together against the foe.
So much to write home about.. but .. no Mum to wrap you up in red flannel if you caught a cold.. no little sister on your knee.. no sweetheart to walk out with.. no way to talk about being scared, or homesick.. in any case, that wouldn’t be what your Mum and Dad at home would want to hear..
SONG FIVE: DISPATCHES
BOYS AND GIRLS
I’m thinking of you
Every day.
It seems so odd
That you should be
So far away.
I hope
We’ll all come home
One day
It seems so odd
That we should be
So far away..
Far away
ALL BOYS
All very well here.
Bright and hot and sunny.
I can stick a bayonet
In a scarecrow dummy
I can strip a rifle down
Quick as shoot a bunny!
What a lark! What a lark! What a lark!
Thank you for the honey!
We are doing very well.
All the lads are happy
Drilling in the lovely sun
Getting really savvy
I am getting very strong
Learned to dig a lavvy!
What a lark! What a lark! What a lark!
Give my love to granny!
Boys and girls
I’m thinking of you
Every day.
It seems so odd
That you should be
So far away.
I hope
We’ll all come home
One day
It seems so odd
That we should be
So far away..
Far away
NARRATOR
The girls were learning too -they were dealing with a terror greater than they had ever known: Matron.
ALL GIRLS
Training here is very hard
Very scared of Matron
If your cap is crooked or
You haven’t ironed your apron
She will fry you with her eye
Until you’ve got it straightened
What a lark! What a lark! What a lark!
Thank you for the bacon!
NARRATOR
But then we moved to the front.. And things were different.. The letters still kept coming, but it was getting harder and harder to be cheerful… Joe and Mary wrote to each other, and said as much as they could-
Dearest Mary, I hope the cow is well now and your mother’s tooth is better. I keep seeing you on the hill where we always used to walk. I wish I was there with you..always, Your Joe.
and she replied:
My dearest Joe, I hope this finds you in the pink as it leaves me…The cow is better, thank you. And my mother’s tooth is out. I’m not much one for writing, dearest Joe. But I’ll be waiting for you on the hill, just like I promised. I’ll always wait for you, my dearest Joe. Your Mary.
BOYS AND GIRLS
I’m thinking of you
Every day.
It seems so odd
That you should be
So far away.
I hope
We’ll all come home
One day
It seems so odd
That we should be
So far away..
Far away
BOY SOLO
I’m sorry that
My writing
Is
So shaky
The paper’s always
Wet here
In
The trenches
I’m sorry that
My writing
Is
So shaky
The paper’s always
Wet here
In
The trenches
My pencil goes
Right through it
My pencil goes
Right through it
The noise is
Fairly loud here
The noise is
Fairly loud here
But I am
Very well
And
Keeping cheerful
But I am
Very well
And
Keeping cheerful
I’m sorry that
My writing
Is
So shaky
In the trenches..
In the trenches..
In the trenches..
2 replies on “When the War came: Movement 4: Dispatches”
Hi Mum,
It’s wonderful – a really moving piece.
Paul
Thank you, love. Last two movements coming up! xxx