|
Letters
1914-1918
Between Colin Rowntree and Mary Rowntree nee Begg
Comments
Link
to notes and excerpts from the letters
Home page for
Colin and Mary
The letters have virtually
no information regarding the state of life for either during the
war. Many of them seem to be of little consequence with not much
more than "missing you comments" and Colin telling Mary that she is a
naughty girls for not writing and Mary also grumbling that Colin’s
letters are not often enough.
On 12 June 1915 Colin refers
to his watch being broken and asks Mary to buy him a new cheap one
as it is awful nursing without a watch. He would also like some
electric light batteries.
There is also reference to new
regulations about letter writing and censorship.
On 12 May 1916 There is a
letter from Colin, still with the FAU but he may have been in
England. The last entry in his diary with the FAU is on 22 April
1916 and the first in a diary with the Royal Engineers is 27th
June 1916. The letter is from FAU to Mary at Liphook in Hampshire
referring to not coming to see her until she returns home, so she is
to let him know when that will be and he will try to get to see her
then. He is busy doing two people’s work accounting and paying
bills.
From this it is surmised
that Colin had very little time training for the Royal Engineers and
comparison can be made with the time of about 6 months spent by
Lionel Aglio Dibdin when training for a similar commission in the
R.E. but planning to work in the trenches.
One letter, 3rd Aug 1916,
from Colin soon after he joined the Royal Engineers working on
Graves registration indicates a philosophic acceptance regards to
being killed by a shell while working. It is difficult to judge
whether or not the risks were greater than during his time with the
FAU.
This letter develops into a
maudlin comparison between himself and a once possible rival for
Mary’s affections. He also points out that Mary is not keeping him
up to date with how Michael is growing up. He mentions that his
batman has been with the war since Dec 1914 and was blown up by a
mine and was unconscious for 4 days. All the men on Grave
registration are called Permanent Base Men and are deemed not fit
for action in the trenches because of injury, shell shock or old
age. He says they are a curious crowd. – “Goodbye Princess”
See copy of letter from before the
war – Colin asking Mary to a dance.
See copy of telegram announcing
Colin has Bronchial Pneumonia in Dec 1918 to Fairfax Road.
See copies of various post
cards from the front with the names of the places scratched out.
Incomplete Oct 2013
|
