Читать книгу The Times Great War Letters: Correspondence during the First World War - James Owen - Страница 29

FRIGHTENED EWE FLOCKS

28 December 1914

SIR,—AT AN AUDIT dinner held here yesterday the farmers present stated that on the previous Friday night the ewe flocks for a distance of 20 miles round had been scared, had smashed through their pens, and were found scattered about the country. One farmer stated that his ewes had been penned in by iron hurdles strong enough to contain bullocks, but the sheep in their mad rush had broken them down.

The general opinion was that an aeroplane must have passed over the district and frightened the ewes, and I was asked to write to the War Office about it. The evidence of this, however—to the effect that some one in a neighbouring town was reported to have heard an aeroplane that night—is too slender to justify me in troubling the War Office at this moment. Moreover, the same thing happened three years ago, and one of the farmers present recalled a similar occurrence 20 years back, long before aeroplanes were invented.

The matter is of some importance, because an injury to our ewe flocks at this period of the year may prejudicially affect the lambing season. It is possible that the cause may be traced to some atmospheric disturbance, and it is in the hope that some one may be able to suggest the true factor in the case that I have ventured to trouble you with this letter.

Your obedient servant,

HOLCOMBE INGLEBY