Letters from the front by Lt R.V. Conover 4th Bn CEF

Published in the Brampton Conservator newspaper in 1915. Taken from author Lynne Goldings’ “Beneath the Alders Newsletter”  November 2021 edition. https://lynnegoldingauthor.com/november-newsletter/ 

February 21, 1915 (to his parents) 

I received your letter last night after returning from our tour of duty in the trenches. Very fortunately we had no casualties in the Halton Rifles contingent, although the lads in my platoon would persist in putting their heads up above the parapet of the trench to see what the Germans were doing. It is not a healthy pastime as the Germans are mighty fine shots with their rifles. They are equipped with telescopic sights and can hit a man’s head every time it appears. Fortunately the Saxons occupied the trenches opposite us and they are rather less vindictive than the Prussians who are regular devils.  

The trenches are not so bad, they have boards on the bottom which keep the men out of the mud. The men are kept constantly bailing and pumping the water out of the trenches. The men have dugouts built in the walls of the trenches for sleeping apartments. The officers have another, a trifle larger where they have their mess. They have a stone in it for cooking. The men have charcoal braziers in their dugouts for cooking and heating purposes. They are much more comfortable than they were some time ago when it rained so terribly. Fortunately, the rain has abated. We have only every other day now instead of every day as it used to be.  

I was astonished at the extraordinary cheerfulness and marvelous good health of the men. They are very cheery. I am speaking now of the men whom we relieve. Our fellows were very keen and smile back at the Germans with such good marksmanship that the Germans learn it is not healthy to show themselves. Some of the Germans get quite cheeky and move about quite unconcernedly early in the morning. At night we can hear them laughing, talking and singing as our trenches are only about 100 yards from theirs. One of their chaps whistled, “Many brave hearts are asleep in the deep.” Our chaps chaffed them quite a bit. Queries about the Embden and Blucher [types of guns] brought back a volley in return.  

The Germans appear to be getting short of ammunition, as they do not fire as many shells as they did. Whenever they do, our guns quite easily silence them. They hurled several minewafers [presumably a form of grenade] at our trenches one morning, but their ranging was very poor and they either fell short or overshot the trench. They use a trench mortar for this. Our artillery got the range and half a dozen shells made it so uncomfortable for them that they thought discretion was the better form of valor and since that we have heard nothing of that particular gun. The artillery keep up an intermittent duel, shells are constantly flying over the trenches with a shrill whistle. The objective is usually guns or buildings where troops are supposed to be.  

The trenches are close to each other, unless the Germans attack, our artillery doesn’t shell the trenches of the Germans as they might hit our troops. The Germans have a very great respect for our rifle fire. It is only the accuracy and rapidity of the English rifle fire that has stopped the German attacks in the past. At first our artillery was not as strong as it is now. But now we have more and as a result our trenches are not shelled as frequently as they were. 

February 24 

Our battalion was complemented by general…who commanded the brigade to which we were attached. I believe he has asked for our brigade to be attached to his brigade as a Fifth Battalion. This particular brigade was in the thick of the fight at the beginning of the war. I have just received a couple of Brampton papers which we have been circulating among the lads from Brampton. We were glad to get them.  

All the Brampton men are well.  

R. Conover