A letter has been received by a friend from Private A. Griffiths, 9th R. W. F., from the Edinburgh War Hospital, West Lothian, Scotland, in which he hopes his friend and family are enjoying the best of health as for himself he says : —
“I feel pretty bad, I can tell you. I was wounded in three places with a bomb; one piece went right through the left cheek of my face into the jaw, and I have been unable to open my mouth ever since.
I don’t suppose that I shall be able to until the doctors will take it out; and it is causing me some pain, I can assure you. I have also got three pieces in my left arm and one piece in the right leg, so you can see what a narrow escape I have had.
We were in a place called the ‘Glory Hole,’ and it was a glory, too. It is on the firing line between Festubert and Neuve Chapelle, on the left of La Bassee. There was only 25 yards between our lines and the Germans. It was a hot place. We used nothing but bombs, hand grenades, and rifle grenades; it was like being in hell there.
The Germans used to shout at us, ‘Hello, Kitchener’s, how are you getting on? and we used to shout back at them, ‘What did you do with the French women?’
They didn’t like that and then they would send some bombs over for hours without a stop.
Well, dear friend, I thank you very much for the cigarettes you sent me. I have been unable to smoke for a good while, but now I am glad to say that I can manage to smoke a bit.
Please remember me to all my friends at Caerbryn.
