Читать книгу The Times Great War Letters: Correspondence during the First World War - James Owen - Страница 14

ALIEN ENEMIES

19 September 1914

SIR,—MAY I CONGRATULATE the police on having arrested and secured conviction for Mr. Rufus Royal?

The arrest of this man in the Central Hall of the House of Commons shows how easily aliens of a thoroughly mischievous type may be in our midst unknown to these around them.

I have known this man for months as the secretary of some labour organization. He often spoke to me in the lobby and corresponded with me, and only 10 days ago a big stationery firm rang me up stating that he had given my name as a reference, I need hardly say without the slightest authority; but the point is that all this time, so perfect was his English and his appearance, that I never had the slightest suspicion that he was an alien. My correspondence has shown for weeks past the well-grounded suspicion that there are a number of these dangerous people in our midst, particularly all round our coasts, and this arrest and conviction shows, I think clearly, the need for increased vigilance on the part of our police, and perhaps, stricter conditions in regard to aliens in our midst.

Yours, &c.,

W. JOYNSON-HICKS

Popular authors had stoked fears of spies even before the war; there were said to be 60,000 Germans and Austrians living in Britain when the war started.

HINTS TO RECRUITS

22 September 1914

SIR,—AS ONE WHO volunteered and went through part of the South African War as a Tommy, I hope the following tips may prove useful. They may be obvious or controversial, but I give them for what they are worth, and because I know that to some at least they will prove useful.

First of all I strongly recommend all now enlisting to possess themselves of a good strong pair of leather gloves—such as the old omnibus drivers used to wear. The nights will soon be getting cold, windy, and frosty, and I know that when in South Africa I would have given anything when on sentry-go for a pair of such, for the barrel of one’s rifle was ofttimes icy, and one’s hands got too cold to hold it properly. Many now becoming soldiers, too, are not used to manual labour. Put a company of these to dig a “one hour’s shelter trench”—i.e., to work hard for one hour with pick and spade, and then count the blistered hands. The spade, we all know now, is almost as important as the rifle, and gloves will help here. Further, in the rough and tumble of war hands will get cut and torn, and sometimes fester. Gloves then again useful. And finally, with much crawling to do over possibly gorse and thorn, strong gloves certainly save the hands, and so make for efficiency. But, to save myself from an obvious reply, kid is certainly not the leather such gloves should now be made of. Another point. Campaigning, a fork is a luxury, but what you do want is a spoon, a good strong clasp-knife, and a tin-opener. I was in Switzerland last week, and when there bought one of the knives that every Swiss soldier is supplied with. It is extremely practical, and contains a good strong blade, a tin-opener, a screw-driver, and a piercer or marline-spike, all strong and well made and not too heavy. A very useful gift, too, is a well-made pair of folding pocket scissors.

In South Africa those of us were lucky who had the chance of buying a strong, fairly large enamelled iron mug, which we hung on to the strap of our water-bottle by the handle. It was handy as an extra article of mess equipment, for filling one’s bottle when streams were too shallow, and also for getting in a hurry a dollop of anything that was going—even a drink from a stream or a lucky pull from a water-cart. The regulation mess tin—and what a practical and handy article this is—cannot be got at without taking off one’s kit, and besides, in our case, used often to contain our day’s ration of meat.

Bootlaces, bachelor’s buttons, safety pins, a large hook and eye or two, and a few split copper rivets may, of course, obviously be useful, and a good tip is to sew two brace buttons side by side in place of one on the trousers, and to start off with only the very best braces.

The loss of a button or the breaking of a brace may temporarily put a man quite out of action. For papers, wrap them in a large square of green oiled silk. This “kind of” gets stuck together in the pocket, and my papers, after many months in the field, were quite legible and not much the worse at the end from the damp coming from both within and without. One sentence more. Chocolate is good—very, very good—but to many one thing is better. Good hot, strong peppermint drops; not bull’s-eyes—they are too sticky—but the hard white sort. They are grateful and comforting if you like when one’s hungry and cold. But some may prefer chocolate—so let’s send both.

Yours faithfully,

RIGBY WASON, late O.R.Sgt., Inns of Court O.T.C.