Many thanks for letter received yesterday, also thank Mater, Aunts Sally and Joan for their shares in the parcel, also Jack and Tom for the fags; it is jolly decent of them to think of me in this way. Also thank Sarah for her letter; I've not received Janey's letter this week yet.
We are in the trenches again for another four days and it has been miserable this time. Started off with an all night thunder storm, and the rain was something awful, and ever since we have had nothing but heavy rains. So you can imagine the state these awful French trenches are in, and we will not be sorry when we go out tomorrow.
Our Artillery has been doing good work. Every day for about 2 or 3 hours they have bombarded their trenches and the village just behind them, and the noise they make is awful. I bet it fairly puts the wind up old Fritz. We must be getting plenty of shells now, or we would not be able to send hundreds over every day.
It is quite a change from ---- I expect John would tell you about the shelling there, Well now it is just the reverse. We have also a bomb-throwing machine, and so on the whole, we must give them an awful time of it. I have used more ammunition these four days than I have ever used.
They started the first night by shooting rifle grenades over at us and one of the chaps I was billeted with at Coggeshall was wounded while asleep in his dug out. He got hit in the thigh with a piece of the grenade that came through a hole in the dug out. It is not a very serious wound and with a bit of luck it might get him to Blighty. It is very funny but it might have been me as I had that bed two hours before, but changed into another dug out and I was asleep at the time it happened.
The best part of the night they kept sending these over, until the artillery officer came along and he phoned for some shrapnel in their trenches, and I can tell you they stopped sending grenades over at once.
We seem to be very short handed now the nights are so long. We were on for 6 hours last night in one spell, had 1 1/2 hours off and then on for another 2 so you will see we are not getting much sleep.
We had a fine concert the night before we came in, given by a pierrot party of the RAMC. They were great and we all enjoyed it. It was quite a swagger affair, stage with white background and they had full dress, with limelight from motorcar lamps.
Well I think I've given you all the news up to the present, so must close, hoping all are well at home.
Your loving brother Billie.
I've got a wee bit of cold today but it is nothing much.
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