Transcription
8th Queens
B. E. F.
26. 2. 1916.
My dear Mother,
It is your turn for the news to-day. Many thanks to Olive for a letter from Invergordon & to Cecily for Punch.
No mail came in yesterday & I expect there will be others to acknowledge when it arrives. We came into the trenches two nights ago, but only finished this relief about 4 a. m. as we could not start at the usual time on account of other reliefs going on. It has been pretty cold since we have been in & there is plenty of snow on the ground & it looks as if more is coming. However we manage to keep pretty warm, & there is no wind. The Bosch is very quiet at the moment, though he is very busy working in his front line opposite us & we have accordingly been strafing his new work to-day. Some aeroplanes have been over dropping bombs on Ypres, why I don’t know as there doesn’t seem to be much there to drop bombs on, but they dropped them & the bombs went off, so I hope they are satisfied.
I fear there is nothing to tell you, as nothing is happening beyond the usual routine. They seem to be a bit noisy away to the flanks, but here it is absolutely quiet.
I can’t make out what the Bosch is up to, after all these little attacks he has made. It looks rather as if he was feeling for place to go for, but I don’t think he can be very satisfied with the result. Anyhow he has not progressed very far anywhere & his losses must have been pretty heavy.
I don’t know when we shall be going out again but I think we shall be in a day or two longer than usual as the other Battalions seem to be doing the same. All the recent attacks seem to have upset the ordinary routine & it takes time to settle down again.
Love to all.
Jack.
Commentary
On the 24th, the battalion moved up the line arriving at their trenches near Hooge at midnight. When this letter was written, Peirs had been in the line for two days, which was enough time to observe some enemy activity. The battalion war diary indicates that the German artillery opposite ‘was very active’ shelling along their lines, principally on their flanks. Though Peirs doesn’t mention it, the battalion’s snipers had been busy shooting at enemy working parties opposite.
I fear there is nothing to tell you, as nothing is happening beyond the usual routine.
That being written, Peirs demonstrates some concern as to what the Germans might be up, since they seem to be testing British lines with small attacks and not-so-random bombardments.
What he doesn’t mention in this letter is the major event of the week – the German offensive at Verdun – which began on the 21st. Instead, he’s focused on the routines of trench service and speculating as to whether the Germans are getting ready for an attack at Ypres.