March 30/18
Dear Mother
Just a scribble to say I’m all right. I suppose in the midst of all the terrific fighting in France they have found room in the papers for a brief reference to our little show out here- The regiment has been in it: we were’nt in the actual fighting, but took part in the pursuit which was a great show.
We followed the retreating Turks for miles at a tremendous pace & roped in hundreds of prisoners and got any amount of booty in the shape of ammunition and kit and guns of every kind. I expect it has been in the home papers, and the amount of stuff that was captured. The sight along the road which the Turks retreated along was a wonderful one, strewn with kit & equipment & wounded & prisoners all the way along, and it has been a really wonderful experience to follow a beaten army in retreat. We are busy collecting all the captured material now and sending off prisoners. I am quite all right and very fit and well.
Today is a dusty boisterous day, a howling southerly gale and impenetrable dust everywhere- And here we are at the end of March and it’s still nice & cold, and a night you want all your bedding. This last week has been a strenuous one for us all, but it has been so completely successful that we are all fearfully pleased with ourselves-
We get regular news of the terrible fighting on the Western front: how ghastly it all is, and at the moment of writing things seem to hang in the balance a bit, but the powers that be all seem confident that we shall hold them and I’m sure we shall.
I’m very busy just now and have only time for a short scribble. Awful luck the regiment getting in for 2 such successful shows as Ramadie & this one have been.
Best love to all
Yr loving son
Ted.
meanwhile…
“No prisoners” scene from Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
