First World War - Three Autograph letters signed from Pte. G...

Estimate

£30 - £40

First World War - Three Autograph letters signed from Pte. George Shelly, SS/6207 Army Service Corps and 307594 Labour Corps, to his sister Charlotte Wilson, France June 17th, July 12th and July 16th 1916. Six pages, 5 x 8" up to 7 1/2" x 9 1/2", with two field/active service envelopes. Excerpts include: 17th June 1916, France: Shelly describes the intensity of artillery fire and reflects on recent events: “I am glad to say that I could not be better myself, but for how long it will last I cannot say, as there is a terrible lot of artillery shooting going on around here just at present, and I suppose as time goes on we will have more than will be pleasant, and one has a big chance of getting hit if he does not get out of the road quick enough. The Naval Battle in the North Sea is the one thing I have been waiting for ever since this war started, and I am very sorry the enemy did not wait long for all our fleet to get a good go at them, so as to finish them for good. And I am very sorry to hear that Lord Kitchener has passed away, as he was a good man and a good man in the right place.” 12th July 1916: Shelly reassures his sister and requests supplies to alleviate colds among the men: “I am sorry if you have been worrying; you must not do that, for it won’t make things better. I expect the mail has been a little late sometimes, as that has been of less importance than the other alternate. Dear, there has been no change here, but we may be shifting from here soon. But I will try and write as often as I can, if it is only a field card I send you. Bill came round tonight, and we want you to get 5 shillings worth of Bates Compressed Pine tablets and send them over to see if we can’t shake off these colds, as one can’t get anything here to do them any good.” 16th July 1916: Shelly shares his thoughts on leave and the monotony of waiting: “Well dear, things are much about the same here. I suppose we will have to wait until the war is over before there is any more leave. Bill was lucky, as he was the last one to get it. This looking forward to it is alright for a while, but it soon gets stale; it’s like expecting a good winner and only getting stale bread and bully beef. One would sooner have the reality than the promise, but I suppose we must just put up with it.”