Winston
Churchill to the Duke of Marlborough
22.1.16 6TH ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS
IN THE FIELD
My dear Sunny,
Your letter was very welcome, and will I hope be repeated. I must
write to old Morley. He responds to attention, but he c'd not reasonably
expect me to oppose the war of leave the gov't on its declaration. "My
propensities were all the other way."
I have been commanding this battalion for the last 3 weeks, & now
in a few days I shall take them into the line. I have paid a couple
of visits to the trenches & they are the best & most
comfortable I have seen, in what is now a large & varied (examination?)
of the front. They are dry, well supplied with dugouts, good communications,
good wire, & minor conveniences. Our battalion H.Q. will be
in a farm about 500 yards from the front line. Few of the buildings
in this area
are much knocked about but this farm has been hit a good many times & is
a target. This is the blemish on an otherwise harmonious scheme.
When we go into 'rest' we only retire about 1500 yards, and so
we shall dwell for the next few months continually within range
of the enemy's artillery, field as well as heavy. Things are however
fairly quiet at present on this sector; tho' no doubt we shall
stir them up a bit. We shall not be far away from that wood in
which you used to take an interest in the early days of the war.
The battalion is one of the 9th (Scottish) division which fought
heroically at Loos, storming the German trenches with a loss of
6000 men out of about 9000 engaged. It is in consequence shattered & only
2 officers who were present in the battle are still on duty. I
have no regular officers (except Archie Suielaei/Swilaei?) who
I brought with me & made 2nd in command) & hardly
an officer over 25 years. The average must be about 231/2. I have
1g 2nd Lieuts. Re. these circ's. you will realise
that my task is not an easy one, & that a very great deal of
labor & responsibility will fall on me when we are actually
in contact with the enemy. The battalion has improved since I came & the
utmost loyalty & wish to do right characterizes everybody, & I
am hopeful that we shall get in all right. But think what the professional
soldiers will have said 2 years ago of a battalion so composed & efficient.
I watch politics as through a reversed field glass. L.G. seems
after all his manoeuvres to be quite isolated & kept in control.
He was foolish to throw me over for together we were a power. Asquith
flourishes like the green bay tree, & everything looks like
holding together for some time to come. Meanwhile so far as I understand
it the policy continues to be unwise. We are locking up a large
army at Salonika whose only rôle seems to be to make enemies
of the Greeks & to prevent the Turks & Bulgars from falling
out. We are locking up another large army in Egypt, which K[itchener]
and EG [Edward Grey] have got on the brain. The German game is
a clear one. They should continue to frighten us at both places
with the expectation of an attack & do their utmost to push
large Turkish forces to Mesopotamia & Persia & rouse the
East against us. Meanwhile they should invite us to break our teeth
on their tremendous defensive lines in the West & in Russia.
There is every reason to believe they will take this extremely
obvious & disagreeable course, & that we shall continue
to do at each stage exactly what they wish & need us to do.
However I am not going to let myself be fretted by events I cannot
control & of which my news may at any moment be cut off.
With every good wish,
Your affectionate cousin
W.
P.S. How lucky Cornelia is with her children. Chelmsford was as
an extraordinary choice. But I daresay he will do it very well.
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