September 6th, Monday
A glorious Sept morning, still and calm and warm, but alas this morning early I saw the swallows and I fear they’ll be off soon.
September 13th, Monday
A week’s interval
I have again allowed a week to lapse, sometimes it seems a pity to do this just now when one ought to have so much to write about, but though the days are very full its much the same, one after another, and the War drags on, no great changes have taken place on the Western Front , for many weeks the Russians continue their sad retreat, the Germans penetrating further and further, but it is in no sense a disorderly retreat, only one wonders how much longer it can continue without becoming so.
During this last week there have been great Zep raids over London and Mother actually witnessed one. She actually saw it about 2 streets off and watched its bomb throwing progress surrounded by aircraft all firing at it and said the noise was terrific. (For her Mother’s letter about this Zeppelin raid, see the adjacent window with picture and transcript). Sinnott (Wynne’s groom of pre-War days) who is home on leave left Waterloo by the last train on the 9th and as the train left the station a Zep passed over and dropped 4 bombs but luckily missed the train. He is looking very well and it is so delightful seeing him again. He has 7 days leave after 13 months absence. My days are spent between letters, chickens, house and the Hut, to which I go 3 nights and one afternoon a week. On Saturday Win came too and we were there from 11 until 5.30 the morning being spent in cleaning, dusting and tidying. The Tommy who plays so beautifully, Mr Burgess, a former professor of music at Oxford, was there practicing and it seemed strange to be scrubbing tables to the accompaniment of the classics! We lunched at the Hut in the storeroom off ham sandwiches and lemonade and thoroughly enjoyed it. Herbert writes that one of his guns has been fitted up as an aircraft gun and the other day they brought down an aeroplane, splendid luck for the gunner. Ell wrote me yesterday, he is out of trenches again and playing polo and football once more.
September 14th
Last night Win and I went up to the Hut. She comes often with me now and is very useful. I go again tomorrow but the weather has broken and I do hope its not going to last as bicycling at night in the wet is so horrible. It has been a miserable day and so cheerless and cold. I bicycled into Farnham this morning to get a new blue apron having lost mine out of the basket coming home last night. In the Hut I noticed a lot of tiny soldiers, none of them over 5 foot I should think, and on enquiring who these strange dwarfs might be I was informed that they belonged to the Bantam Battalion of the Welsh Fusiliers and South Wales Borderers who came in a few days ago.
September 15th
Another cold wet day and tonight coming from the YMCA it rained quite heavily and blew in my face, most horrible and I am rather wondering how I am going to face the winter night rides, it’ll be rather a problem but I do so hope I’ll be able to carry it on.