FIT-20

B.E.F. France
9^th August, 1919

Dear Mr Goldsbrough,

Received your very nice letter with news of all the old staff. We have all been very lucky as so far only poor Warren is a casualty. Mr Coulson has certainly done very well indeed and I will not be surprised to see him gazetted Brigadier General before long. It has not been my very good fortune to run across any of the old boys out here but I may do so before long as we are lying close to the Ulster Division. In my last letter I promised you my impressions of the Easter advance but time has passed so quickly since then that even a brief account of it would be stale reading. We have been receiving the casualties from the big attack of last week so I will give you a short account of this new battle of which only the first phase has passed. Our casualties though fairly heavy have not been so heavy as was expected. Unfortunately the severe wet weather has delayed operations. Our attack was opened up by a terrific bombardment of German positions and then artillery. For days previously old Fritz has been giving our boys [socks] with his big guns. No retaliation was made as this would only cause him to change the position of his artillery. However the morning of the attack our gunners had their own back with interest. Our artillery barrage is described as the greatest in history of modern warfare and it well deserves that explanation, it simply made the earth quake and the hundreds of German wounded testified to its efficiency. The barrage lifted at 4.0 a.m. and the Infantry went over the top and before 9.0. a.m. all the objectives had been captured.

Though the Germans made many counter attacks all the positions gained were held all that day (and for the two succeeding days the rain poured down in torrents so we can imagine the great difficulties our boys had in digging themselves in. The only consolation we had was that the Germans were suffering under the same climatic conditions. Driven out of his comfortable quarters (which were for the most part smashed up) Fritz had to dig himself in again. Several thousand prisoners were taken but this number would have been trebled had our artillery spared them. Though the weather is not favourable for a continuation of the attack Bombing raids are the daily order and so Fritz is being harassed daily, until the big attack is again opened.

The majority of our casualties are "walking cases" (slightly wounded men). Unfortunately, the weather is broken and three parts of the time since the attack opened we have had rain, so you can guess what the battle area is like, where practically, every square yard yields a shell hole full of water. Now sir I must conclude my very brief narrative with the sincere hope that you are enjoying the best of health. For myself I am in tip top condition. I am jolly glad Miss Miller¹⁷⁸ is able to be about once more. She has been one of my chief correspondents and always kept me well informed about Library affairs. Best wishes to yourself and all the staff.
Yours very sincerely,

Joe Fitzsimons

P.S. Glad to hear of McCausland's success.