"IT IS LOVELY HERE!"
Reading edition
The Earl of Kingston, who is an officer in the Irish Guards, in a letter to his wife at Kildonin Castle, County Roscommon, from France, says:
"We had a bad night last night in the trenches, as we are only 800 yards from the Germans, and both sides are as jumpy as fleas, loosing off at any moment, and the guns are keeping up a terrific fire on us, but doing little damage. We had two killed and two wounded yesterday.
"They have a large gun here that was meant for the siege of Paris. It throws a shell thirty-two inches long and makes a hole big enough to bury eighteen men in. This battle has been on for ten days and we hope for the best.
"We have a farm here that has been taken and retaken, but we have it again at present. It is lovely at night, with hundreds of shells bursting all around, and if it were not for the death they bring they might be fireworks on a large scale.
"I have lost my servant and all my kit. Please send me out some cigarettes, tobacco and matches."