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LETTERS
OF
Lieut.-Colonel GEORGE BRENTON LAURIE
For Private Circulation
LETTERS
OF
Lt.-Col. GEORGE BRENTON LAURIE
(Commanding 1st Battn. Royal Irish Rifles)
Dated NOVEMBER 4th, 1914-MARCH 11th, 1915
Edited by FLORENCE VERE-LAURIE
Printed by
GALE & POLDEN, LTD
Wellington Works, Aldershot
1921
Contents
FOREWORD
SKETCH OF LIEUT.-COLONEL LAURIE'S CAREER.
LETTERS OF NOVEMBER, 1914.
LETTERS OF DECEMBER, 1914.
"CHRISTMAS IN THE CRIMEA.
LETTERS OF JANUARY, 1915.
LETTERS OF FEBRUARY, 1915.
LETTERS OF MARCH, 1915.
"AFTERWARDS."
TO HALIBURTON, BLANCHE, AND SYDNEY.
My dear Children,
I dedicate this little volume to you in memory of your father, who, asyou know, fell on March 12th, 1915, in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle.These Letters, which were written to me from France during the firstwinter of the World War, do not in any way pretend to literaryattainment; they are just the simple letters of a soldier recording asa diary the daily doings of his regiment at the front.
Often were they penned under great difficulties, and many a time undera rain of fire. The accounts of the awful loss of life and thediscomforts experienced, both by officers and men unused to suchsevere climatic conditions, are sometimes heart-rending, and they makethe reading sad.
Touches, however, of his natural cheerfulness relieve the greyness ofthe situation, and at times one can almost hear the lightheartednessof a schoolboy speaking.
Your father cared for his regiment as a father cares for his child,and was beloved by it. He obtained his commission in 1885 at 18 yearsof age, and was, curiously enough