The Schoolboy Stow-away

Leaving the trenches at the start of the journey home

Second letter from the trenches - 3

Damn I am getting the neck-ache. You can’t think how uncomfortable it is in here – the flies keep on sitting on my nose or eating up my chocolate.

At night you hear the bullets going ping-ping against the bank on the other side of my house.

We have moved further up now and we are about ¼ of a mile from the firing line.

A shell is a most horrid thing I know except Livie (you know who I mean of course)

Well I must end now, so goodbye till my next letter.

From your loving son. Brian

The original letters are believed to be lost; but fortunately they were typed up by Brian’s sister in 1973