Letter from Edward Thomas to his wife, Helen Thomas. Formerly in envelope postmarked Lydd, Kent, 6 Dec 1916. Describes journey to Lydd with unit / countryside / firing of guns / dining and accommodation / fellow officers and men. Archival reference: 424/1/1/1/1/208
Officers Men
Tin Town
Lydd
Tuesday

Dearest, The journey wasn't much
fun. To begin with we waited 10
minutes for a taxi at Liverpool St.
then had to go by underground. Then I had
to wait 10 minutes for a porter at Charing X
There ws plenty of time as it happened.
Half of P Squad was there when I got to
the S. E. station & 10 of us had a saloon
We were of course very late arriving at
Lydd. But I found Hooper on the
platform & then it came out we were
to be in the same room. Moreover
there was a bed there already which
there was not in the same other tents
so I got a good rest & had time to
do all that was necessary before the
first lecture at 9. It was a frosty
morning & the flat country
with thin low lines of huts &
then a misty low distance - &
& then the old village clustered
around a very tall great stone church
tower & a mass of tall trees - it
was all beautiful & bare & bleak.
I daresay I shall learn to hate such
scenes later on. Big guns are going
off all over & shells whistling
through the air. We are wakened
at 7 by a man quietly cleaning our
buttons & boots. He brings in
hot water at 7.30. We breakfast when
we like between 7.30 & 9 at a long
table - each man has his own pot of
tea. Lectures from 9 to 12.30
2 to 4 & 5 to 6. an exam at the
end of a fortnight & then some say,
several days leave before going wherever
we do go. The lectures are very good.
We have a captain & several
lieutenants in our class. Also
batteries come here to do trial
shoots before going out to France
We may be posted to Batteries
here or at Aldershot.

Dinner is at 7:30 so nothing much
can be done in the evening. In case I have duty on Sunday I shall
try to see Conrad. Perhaps in any
case if he invites me I will spend
Saturday night with him & save the
expense of coming home & the long
late journey back. Don't you think?

The fire has burnt up in the hut
& Mortrim & I have it to ourselves,
He is working after a long & endless
argument I got into about prose &
poetry. We get on well in that way,
but he is so fidgety & worrying
in other ways.
The result of my big bag being so
loosely packed was that the bed frame
work made a hole in the bottom of it.
I shall have to get it mended and
strengthened.
My British warm is a great
blessing in this cold place. We only
just keep warm in the lecture room.
We have had 3 blankets presented
to us free gratis & forever.

I have written to Conrad.
Altogether things are very
comfortable.
Goodbye. Here is Hooper with
his old brown gaiters & new [illegible]
bootlaces. My love to everyone Edy