Letter to Jack, 24th October 1919

Oct 24/1919

40843/1st Garr Batt
Royal Munster Fusiliers
A.P.O Box R L9 I.E.F.
Italy

Dear Jack

I have just received your letter and was very pleased with it. I am glad to hear that you and Agnes are keeping in the best of health, as I am in the pink only this last day or two I have had the tooth ache but I think it is a cold. I have had a letter from Ethel and they are all keeping well at Ilkeston. You ask me if I was cooking. No I have finished cooking and am doing guards and escorting Austrian prisoners but I can do it. I could have had a job yesterday cooking for two officers but I am not having it. never finished till 10 o clock at night and up about 7. you have no time for anything cant get out at all and they think no more about you when you have done it. of course the foods all good but in the camp were we are we live well. you can buy eggs and get all sorts of tin stuff from the canteen so we don't do amiss. I hope to get home before Christmas if not on demob I hope to get a leave it will be three years come Christmas. Dec 28th since I joined up. I don't know when we are moving out of this country but I hope it will be soon. i will let you know if I hear any thing. They keep getting rumours about that we are moving but they never come off. Write and let me know all the news send a newspaper next time you write.
With Best love to you both
Harry

Harry sounds in good shape. This letter was the first indication I had of the date of his joining the army. Before I read it, I had assumed that he'd gone to Rugeley Camp shortly before his first letter in February 1917. From this, it's clear that he went much earlier - at the end of December 1916. BL

Dieter Finzen's Blog - now in English. (and French)

A wonderful complement to Harry's blog is Dieter Finzen's diaries. Dieter is, as close as we are likely to get, to an equivalent of Harry on the German side.

The diaries are published in real time using the same "time-shift" process as with Harry's letters only with a shift of 93 years so that in "Dieter time" we are now approaching the end of 0ctober 1916.

Dieter finished his basic training and traveled to France, arriving in the combat zone, opposite the British lines on the Somme, in September 1916.

The Battle of the Somme initiating the “big push”, commenced, disastrously for the allies, on July 1st, and is reaching its final throes as Dieter arrives. Despite heavy losses on the ground, British aircraft retain air superiority and are frequently seen overhead.

Dieter is not yet involved in the fighting, and is going through some gruelling training of a kind instantly recognisable to anyone who has seen the film of Erich Maria Remarque's Im Westen nichts Neues / All quiet on the Western Front.

I'm sure that many of Harry's fans, may have been disappointed to find Dieter's diary only in German. Now that Roger O'Keeffe (Long time Harry supporter) has undertaken to provide a translation to both English and French, you might be interested in taking up Dieter's story and seeing what life was like on the other side. Sven Janke, the author, has supplied some very informative links, including one on 8 October to an excellent BBC animation that shows the the course of the Western front throughout the war on a map.

Maybe Roger could use his spare time to translate Harry's blog into German. (Only joking - well done Roger for this work)

Link to Dieter's Diaries

Letter to Kate, 9th October 1919

Oct 9/19

40843/1st Garr Batt

Royal Munster Fusiliers

A.P.O Box R L9

I.E.F. Italy

Dear Kate

Just a line to let you know that I am getting on alright, but have heard nothing yet about leave. There are some men with two or three months in more than I have got but I hope to be home before Christmas. I was very pleased to hear that Connie was getting on alright and to hear that she was very happy. I should like to hear of her walking. I mean paying her a visit the first chance I get. If I hear anything about coming home I will write and let you know . I have just wrote to Annie its the first time I have wrote since she was married. I hope it finds her alright. It is now nearly fourteen months since I was home so I think it is about time I got home if it was only for a leave. Ethel tells me theyare doing better at Trumans so thats a good sign of more work. Write and let me know how you are geting on. All the men who came up before 1st July have gone home except one or two and they are going home next week so it looks a lot better. Will write again soon.

With Best Love
Harry

"Trumans" is the lace factory where Harry worked before the war. The news about Connie is, really, a bit sad. Clearly, she isn't getting any closer to walking. A little more optimism about getting home? BL

Letters to Jack & Kate, 2nd October 1919

Oct 2/10/19

40843/1st Garr Batt

Royal Munster Fusiliers

A.P.O Box R L9

I.E.F. Italy

Dear Jack
I have received your letter alright and I am very pleased to hear that you are going on alright. I think it is a good job that you got the furniture before the railway strike came off as you might have lost it altogether. I don't think it is hardly worth while writing now, but you see it is a long while without leave thirteen months, and the war finished as they have been going at six months from Fuime out of the Y & L. I have seen some of them on the train at a place called Alexandra. I went down for a day's outing there and they were just going back off leave, they tell me what a fine place it is. There is a big do on at Rome next week and some of the R Cs [Roman Catholics] have got a chance to go for 7 days. I wish I belonged to the R.C. I might have had a chance I should have liked to have seen Rome before I left Italy. I hope to be out of this country before November is out and I might stand a chance of getting demobilised before Christmas. I would be satisfied then.. anyway we shall have to wait and see as leave as been stopped here to let the men get home that joined up before 1st July 1916. I think they have plenty of work at Trumans now but I don't know whether I shall go back or not. It will not be very nice at first being shut up after being out in the fresh air for about 3 years. Well theres one good thing to be thankful for. The place I visit is the chief place in the province of Alexandra and about as big as Nottingham. Write as often as you can.

With Best Love to you both

Harry

Oct 2/10/19
40843/1st Garr Batt
Royal Munster Fusiliers
A.P.O Box R L9
I.E.F. Italy

Dear Kate
I was very pleased to receive a letter from you and to hear that you are keeping in good health. I am sorry that Connie does not get on with her walking but we shall have to make the best of it. I have wrote to Annie so I expect I shall get a letter before long. There is no signs of me getting demobilised yet as there is some men here yet that come up here in April 1916. If I could get a leave , I could easily get demobed when I got to England but the thing is getting there as there is no leave going from here, only odd ones they are only men for demobilisation, but any way I hope to be home for Christmas. Write as often as you can and let me know all the news. I had a letter from Ethel and she said that Willie as had a cold but he is a lot better now. I hope he keeps in good health. The weather hear is very cold at night but the sun gets out well during the day. I will write and let you know if I hear anything about getting home.

With best Love

Harry

Not such good news about Connie. Harry seems to have had high hopes that the school in Liverpool would do some good. BL