COU-35

Dear Mr Elliott,

It seems a long time since I wrote you and yet there is so very little to tell you. My stay in England was very brief, for no sooner had I got to work than I was recalled. When I got back here there was of course plenty to do & I have been doing it as well as I could ever since. About a month or six weeks ago I had the misfortune to get into a very bad lachrymatory shell attack & I have in consequence almost lost the sight of my left eye. However, our hospitals seem capable of taking in any kind of case & I was very quickly treated, cured & fitted out with glasses. Unfortunately the injury to my left eye is permanent; still it does not materially interfere with my work.

Just this last week an order has been issued making me, along with some other gas advisers, officers of the General Staff so we are being treated with much greater respect now by people who were formerly rather contemptuous.

An officer has just been in to tell me that some of our regiments "went over the top" last night, that is made an attack on the German trenches, and pierced to their third line trench before having to retire before superior numbers. Our fellows brought back a number of prisoners, 30 of whom have just marched (cheering like mad at being captured!) through the village.

We are all eagerly discussing the big naval battle & congratulating ourselves on being soldiers & not sailors for the time being. Is it victory or defeat, or simply stalemate? We get very angry at times here waiting patiently (or impatiently) for the time to come when the word to "go" is given & we all go "over the top". I did not have much of an opinion of the Division twelve months ago but when one has seen them little by little change into real soldiers one cannot with-hold the praise they are justly submitted to. One thing which I believe will be very noticeable after the war will be the more broad minded attitude of the men who have been out here. Already our rabid protestants are beginning to find that the Catholic French population are not quite the monsters they suspected them to be.

By the way, have you had any further word of Simpson? Shellshock is such a vague term & is used for so many meanings that it may be serious or a matter of no account. I hope he is well again & back at work with his company. Did he get sent home?

I see from the newspapers that the usual inane topics are occupying most attention & the majority of people at home spend as much time in complaining about the price of watches as they do in pushing on to the really serious work. Another winter campaign appears to be certain from this point of view & that will mean more & yet more men. I have no doubt these will be forthcoming, but think of the difference between the millions who work over here in constant danger for a day & those other millions who watch an automatic machine in a model factory & draw the pay of a colonel. Who grumbles most? Personally I am all for heavy taxation if it could be made to fall on those who are benefitting so much from the war, but unfortunately the burden of taxation always falls on the professional man who is without a friend outside of his own class. Discipline & control has done wonders to our soldiers & has assisted in levelling barriers so I hope that when we all return to our normal existence those old feuds will be forgotten & we can deal honestly & effectively with the lawyers who misgovern us. I would like you to hear some of the things said in conversations among the men. Really one gets to know men very well in the army, & all the good that this war has not done has not been limited to the men. We who command have learned too & the well to do young men who are going to rule the country in later years are learning a lesson which ought to make us a nation to be reckoned with again.

I hope everyone at home is well. How does Terence¹⁰³ like soldiering? I shall be very glad to hear how the staff are too. Don't you feel proud that so many have gone voluntarily into uniform? McCausland was I believe in the attacking force last night but his regiment were not quite as successful as the Irish Fusiliers who appear to have carried off the palm.

Please remember me to Mrs Elliott & to my old colleagues. With kind regards to yourself & all good wishes.

Sincerely Yours,

T. Coulson

I do not know yet whether I shall be moved as a result of being made a staff officer so until further notice my address will remain the same.