Branches Book

BRANCHES

as news is as scarce as hair on an egg.” Since Reggie had been withdrawn from the front, he learned that there were many incidents of mail robbery. So, in his final letter back home during medical leave he wrote, “I want you to send me a correct account of what money you have received because there is some fellows have been paid short. You should receive 14 shillings a week which I hope you are getting. I only wish I had a few more bob coming you should have it all and welcome to it.” Because they did not allow soldiers to carry money while in hospitals, Reggie was more than willing to send it all back home to help his family farm. Whiskey to Drink! (date unknown) Because it was too expensive for Reggie to be shipped back to New Zealand to recuperate, he was sent to the family home of his grandparents in Devonshire Cornwall. He would stay with his aunts, uncles, and cousins during this time. He became very close to his newly discovered Cornish family, which would never have happened had he not left New Zealand. He was ecstatic to be left to roam freely, even if only for a while and wrote: “I had a great time Will. You can’t imagine the sights there is to see and the whiskey there is to drink. By Jove things did fly after two years and four months and let off the chain for ten days. I went mad. I went down to Devon and seen our relations and had a good welcome. The distance was 210 miles from Paddington Station, London to Devon and the train took 3 and half hours so that will give you an idea how the trains travel.” After his brief leave, he returned to active service. By this time in the war, the Battle of Gallipoli had been lost due to the cowardly actions of the British Navy, as they refused to attack Gallipoli out of fear. Reggie and the rest of the expeditionary force was shipped off to France to fight on the Western Front. France in the Winter (10 February, 1917) Regrettably, my great-grandfather's letters home from the end of 1915 through to 1917 were lost. We know from his war record that after the battle of Gallipoli, he was sent to the Western Front in France. He had shown an aptitude in truck driving and was transferred into the British Service Legion, where he would spend the remainder of the war driving supplies, soldiers, guns, and ammunition. The last major battle that he would see from the front lines was the Battle of Amiens. The battle was preceded with six months of preparation. Most of this time was spent in freezing cold conditions and the expeditionary force was ill-equipped for the European winter. Reggie closed his first letter from France with “I will close now as my hands are cold – there

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