Oct 10/17

Dear Mother

I hear a mail goes out today, so I’ll scribble you a line to catch it. Genl Maude flew over from Baghdad today in an aeroplane to inspect our Brigade, & to thank us etc & make the usual complimentary speeches. He said we had done great things etc etc etc & from all accounts the capture of Ramadi & the rounding up of the whole Turkish force here seems to have been a tremendous event & one of great importance.

We are still camped on the scene of our victory, & we move camp tomorrow, right up near the outpost line, so we shall be very much “at the front”. We are still without tents & sleeping on the cold hard ground. There seems to be a good deal of difficulty in getting things up, grub is rather short at times, but the show is being run well on the whole, & in a few days things ought to be running as smoothly here as anywhere else; one can’t expect much, as we have only just captured the place!

I thought of asking old Maude this morning about those socks, but my courage failed- all C.O’s were introduced to him, & we shook hands and he asked us how we were etc- He did’nt impress me much, he is not the hard, stern, cold conqueror I expected him to be, he is rather the reverse, but this does’nt seem to interfere with his capabilities at all does it.

We had a sharp shower of rain last night, unpleasant while it lasted, no tents etc, but it’s been a beautiful fine day today. We have had a lot of wind & dust lately, but I think we ought to be pretty free from the latter in our new camp as it is right on the bank of the Euphrates.

I have taken a lot of photographs around here, & I do hope they come out as they should be most interesting. I wonder if the stores in Bombay ever sent you those of Amara & Baghdad which I told them to send you. I have’nt seen the prints of those myself yet, but some of the films looked as if they would print quite well.

Reuter is most optimistic in his wires about France, & we certainly seem to be giving the Boche a rotten time now, & getting the submarines in hand too. Air raids are distressingly frequent, but I see reprisals spoken of, & L-G- seems to have sanctioned them, so I expect by the time you get this some raids will have taken place over Germany. But the war seems no nearer its conclusion.

Must end up now

I’m very fit & well, & going strong. All our wounded are doing well I hear, except one Indian officer who died yesterday. He was badly wounded in the thigh, poor man, & such a good officer too. The fortune of war! Well he died a soldier’s death anyhow.

Best love to all

yr loving son

Ted

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Stanley_Maude

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Turkish_prisoners_Ramadi_World_War_1.jpg