Letter Details
Letter
B. E.F.
1/iii 18
My Dear Goldsbrough,
As you will see I am back again in France among the noise & the mud & the smells. After my course finished at Aldershot & I was on my way to Ireland I was suddenly recalled here to do some special intelligence work & since I came back have spent most of my time hustling round the country. Finally I have come to a standstill not very far from where the Division came to when we first came out. The school has moved down here & we have settled in a very good little town which is quite remarkable for its cleanliness & the decency of the people. We have got quite good billets & I should imagine that when we have got settled down we shall be very happy.
I was more than a little disappointed that we did not get to Ireland because my wife had quite made up her mind that it was time she saw her future home. Of course I was keenly looking forward to meeting everyone again. However, by this time I have become quite reconciled to these disappointments especially when one finds later that there is no need for them. When I got back here I found that the work was not at all urgent & the people who asked me to go did not know that I was in England. It is the army all over!!!
We got as far as Preston when I got the telegram recalling me so Madeleine & I went on to Blackpool to some friends there & her ladyship has decided that she will remain there with them in a splendid little flat which the wife of my friend has there. So apparently it is to Blackpool that I must go when leave comes round again.
Now how are you getting on? It seems the deuce of a time since I got a letter from you but a fairly long letter from Moore130 gave me a good deal of recent "official" information. Still I shall be very glad to hear how you all are if you have a few minutes leisure. I hope that everyone at home is well & flourishing. How are Geoffrey & Eric131 ? I hope that they are keeping well, as well as your wife & Miss Smyth132 .
Tomorrow I hope to visit the scene of our most famous battle but it depends upon whether I can borrow a car, mine is in the shop undergoing an overhauling.
Now I must finish to catch the rail. Please give my kind regards to everyone on the staff & at home. With all good wishes for yourself & kindest regards.
Sincerely Yours,
T Coulson
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Footnotes
130- COU-043-003, Albert Moore. Branch Librarian of Donegall Road Library from his appointment in 1908 until 1930. He later went on to become Chief Librarian from 1936-1948. 131- COU-043-003, Goldsbrough's sons. 132- COU-043-003, Possibly Anna Margaret Smyth, Goldsbrough's sister-in-law. Smyth is recorded on the 1911 census as living with Goldsbrough and his family.