All posts by Elizabeth Hibbett Webb

My aim is to publish, in date order, the letters my father, Private Bertie Hibbett, wrote home to Walsall, almost twice a week, from 1914 – 1918. His self-styled ‘humble scribblings’ give a vivid picture of what it was like to be a Private in Kitchener’s Army but, with their original drawings, sketches and photographs, they provide an important collection of primary source material for social historians in this centenary year of the outbreak of the Great War. As a child I was more aware of the 1st World War than of the 2nd, through which I grew up. My father was Vicar of St Vedast’s Church, Tathwell, Lincolnshire and I was never allowed to forget that my birthday was also St Vedast’s Day, for this was an ever present reminder to him of his dawn sentry duty on Easter Day 1915, at Neuville St. Vaast, Messines. * Like my grandfather, Arthur Hibbett, Chief Inspector of Schools for the Borough of Walsall, my career has been in education; mainly in higher and further education, where I taught courses in historical and literary interpretation & methodology. I have a BA Hons.degree in Theology and History from the University of Nottingham and a Master’s degree in Hermeneutics from the University of Bristol. My first teaching post was at Luton High School, then I became Lecturer & Senior Lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies at the College of St Matthias, Fishponds, teaching the University of Bristol, B.Ed. degree. After my marriage, in 1971, to David Kester Webb (painter, photographer and teacher), I became the first Open University Tutor Counsellor and Associate Lecturer in North Devon, from 1974 until 2000. During that time I also taught Religious Studies ‘A’ level at North Devon College. Kester and I published our book, The Hidden Edge of Exmoor,in 2011 (www.thematic-trails.org). This is the story of our life-time’s climbing exploration of the Exmoor Coast at Sea-level; literally hands on geology. We have two offspring: Rebekah (Consultant in International Development: Gender/HIV/Aids) and Martin Vedast, (Project Manager in Ceramics for Disabled Adults). * NB The name Vedast or Vaast means Foster in English. St Vedast was a 4th C. saint, patron of numerous churches in N. Europe, chiefly of Arras Cathedral. Apart from St Vedast Tathwell, the only other church in the Uk with this patronage is St Vedast, Foster Lane London.

1st JAN.1916: NEW YEAR’S DAY: ‘ & SORROW & SIGHING SHALL FLEE AWAY’.

January 14, 2016 Elizabeth Hibbett Webb Leave a comment

Pte BERTIE HIBBETT, Merville Casualty Clearing Station: LETTER to MOTHER, Marie, Neal Hibbett, 95 Foden Rd Walsall. (1)

‘They shall obtain joy & gladness & sorrow & sighing shall flee away’. Isaiah Chap 35. (2).

New Year’s Day 1916. The Circumcision. (3)

I wonder if Sydney let the New Year In for you? If what he told me in his letter of Dec 23 was true he ought to be with you now, & I hope you are all as happy as ’ole (sic). I think such a time would be a convenient opportunity for Harold & Miss Bore & Harold’s ‘Best Man’ to have the ‘spree’ (4).

I can’t squeeze anymore to tell you, but I will conclude :– ‘Mrs Hibbett, do you take any pre-cau-shuns’ (said by someone in St George’s Parish). (5).

‘Patients are directed NOT to have their parcels & letters addressed to this Hospital’. I am anxious about any more parcels getting lost & letters too. So dear Mum I have been trying to keep you very busy reading my letters until I get somewhere, when you will be able to write to me.

I am better now & expect to be moved to my Battalion in a day or so. I can’t say whether the Batt. has moved yet (6).

Best love to all.

Bertie.

PS I have read for today the 35 Chap. of Isaiah (2). I wonder if by chance you have heard or read those comforting words lately or even today. And I wonder who keeps up the ‘Breakfast time Readings’.

I am just going to send a short letter with my Greetings to Mrs Jones*. M. A. is she?

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1/5th SOUTH STAFFORDS WAR DIARY.

MARSEILLES (Santi Camp)

1st Jan: 1916. Battalion Training.

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(1) This Letter was in the same envelope as that of New Year’s Eve.

Dead Sea Scoll 300px-Great_Isaiah_Scroll — **Dead Sea Scroll: oldest copy of Book of Isaiah in existence. Discovered 1947. Of great interest to Biblical scholarship.**

(2) Isaiah 35.10. 8th Cent B.C. Prophet Isaiah (740 -700 BC) considered in academic scholarship to be author of Isaiah 1-39. Part of saying also found in Isaiah 51.11 (work of Deutero-Isaiah 6th Cent B.C. Prophet in captivity in Babylon author of Isaiah 40-55.

Circumcision. 280px-Menologion_of_Basil_047 — **Circumcision of Christ: Byzantine miniature in Menologian of Emperor Basil II. (c. AD 979-984).**

(3) The Circumcision of Christ. Luke 2. 21. Celebrates the Naming of Jesus and Circumcision – ‘ after eight days’, according to Jewish tradition .

(4) Harold’s wedding to Hilda Bore (delayed until 1917). (5) Family joke? re fussy parishioner in St George’s Parish, Walsall.

(5) 1/5th South Staffords Battalion’s expected move to Eastern Front.

NEXT POST: Sunday 10th Jan: Letter to Pte Bertie from Sydney Hibbett.

NB. None of Pte Bertie Hibbett’s Letters Home from 2nd Jan 1916 – 6th February have survived. See current Welcome Page: December – January 1916 Letters & Monthly Summaries Page.

31ST DEC. 1915: NEW YEAR’S EVE. ‘WHEN COMES THE PROMISED TIME WHEN WAR SHALL BE NO MORE?’

January 13, 2016 Elizabeth Hibbett Webb Leave a comment

Pte BERTIE HIBBETT, Merville Casualty Clearing Station: Letter to Mother, Marie Neal HIBBETT, 95 Foden Rd, Walsall.

(in same envelope as Letter of New Year’s Day)

Dec 31st 1915

‘Thy Kingdom come O God Thy rule, O Christ begin, Break with thine iron rod The tyrannies of sin. When comes the promised time that War shall be no more’. (1)

My Very Dear Mother,

Merville monasteryIMG_2808 — **Merville Monastery Chapel roof? cf http://www.lizclutterbuck.com**

In the little Chapel we held another evening service, the last in the old year, & thus were the hymns we sung, including the one 217 A & M (2) which have very appropriate verses & brought happy memories of Fern Leigh Bible Class (3), when Ida and I happened once to arrive LATE & had to wait outside ‘that’ door to hear all the verses through.

Yes. ‘Where is thy reign of peace and purity and love? When shall all hatred cease, As in the realms above’. (1).

‘Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven’, many people & I think especially soldiers & soldier’s mothers, will pray slower with more meaning & deeper sense, Our Lord’s Prayer this New Year’s Eve. ‘Thy Kingdom come’.

Our Chaplain has preached , or rather given us little band of men who go to service each evening, some very simple yet inspiring addresses. Last night he spoke some beautiful words about heaven being on earth. ‘A new Heaven & a new Earth – and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes’. (4)

I send you a card which is one of many promised for us at Christmas (5) but they have arrived as late as this, yet I think them good enough & appropriate enough to send away now. I send too, one for Ida & one for your ‘bed chamber’. We all followed the prayers said by the Chaplain for our dear ones at Home & said Amen. Yes there is a great deal in an ‘Amen’. So let it be O Lord (6).

NB Letter was continued & signed on New Year’s Day, 1st Jan. 1916.

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1/5th SOUTH STAFORDS WAR DIARY.

Dec 31st. Company & Battalion Training (for Eastern Front).

December 1915 CASUALTIES:- Killed 1. Wounded nil. Signed: R.R. RAYMER Lt Col. Cmdg 1/5th South Staffordshire Regt.

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(1) Thy Kingdom Come: Hymn. 1867. Words: Lewis Hensley. 1824-1905. Anglican priest & hymn writer. Tune: St Cecilia. Leighton G. Hayne 1836-1883. Anglican priest & organ builder.

(2) A & M. Hymns Ancient & Modern. Product of Victorian Oxford Movement. Approved by Church of England in 1861. Several editions. Editor William Henry Monk, 1823 -1889. (Organist & choirmaster, composer of hymns & anthems).

(3) Fern Leigh Bible Class, held by Kathleen M. Brookes, Sunday School Superintendent, St Paul’s Walsall. (4) Revelation 21.1.

(5) Christmas cards provided by Army charity for troops to send Home? (6) Amen: a strong affirmation/ agreement: ‘Truly’ ‘So be it’: Aramaic/ Semitic dialect/ 1st cent. language spoken by Jesus / left untranslated in Greek, Latin & English translations of the Bible.

NEXT POST: 1st Jan. 1916: New Year’s Day.

30TH DEC.1915: ‘TELL SYDNEY NOT TO SAY ANYTHING THAT WOULD CAUSE MUM TO BE WORRIED, ANXIOUS, PERTURBED, SICK AT HEART OR THE LIKE’.

January 10, 2016 Elizabeth Hibbett Webb Leave a comment

Pte BERTIE HIBBETT, Merville Casualty Clearing Station: LETTER to BASIL HIBBETT, 95 Foden Rd Walsall. (Censor J.E. Fitzgerald* )

Dec 30/ 15

My Dear Basil,

So you will be having jolly old Sydney seeing you all again shortly – so I gathered from a ‘big surprise’ letter from the old boy the other night. How jolly if he lets the New Year in eh?

Letter censored by Army Chaplain J.E. Fitzgerald — **Letter censored & signed by Army Chaplain, J.E. Fitzgerald*.**

You see I can’t wait till New Year’s Eve. I must write now & fancy it will be none too early to let you have this important epistle, for very likely the ‘yeller boy’ (1) is with you now.

Ha ha! I can see him cracking a joke with you & Ida in the firelight, much to Mum’s especial joy. I was extremely delighted on hearing he would be Home before the end of the month & I am only too anxious that his leave will not be cancelled or postponed.

Now Dodger this, what I am going to tell you, must not reach the eye (drawing of eye) see, compris & must not reach the ear (drawing of ear), do you hear? of Mum, or any other, but Sydney.

Well then, don’t forget to re-member, to tell Sydney not to forget, but remember, not to say, by word of mouth or in any form whatsoever, that will cause Mum to be worried, anxious, perturbed, sick at heart or the like, of any before here mentioned, & tell Sydney not to say anything, with reference to my self that would cause Mum to be worried, anxious, perturbed, sick at heart, or the like of any before here mentioned. Compris.

Although I’ve joked somewhat about the matter, you will I trust see the imp-portance of it. Yes, ‘twould be rather impish of dear old Sydney if he did say anything not to my liking. But of course I trust Sydney, but just put it to you, for he, being only human, might in his much conversation with you all round the dining table or fireside, relating perhaps the Charge of 13th October (2) & other incidents, get ‘War fever’ and trot out a word or two which would work wonders, & leave a lasting impression upon Mum & Dad & you all perhaps.

Sydney might be much put out by this letter, as if I could not trust him, but just console him that it is only a double security in case of an exciting moment of forgetfulness.

‘Just break the news to Mother’ (3) that I look upon the present family affairs as Providential & I shall see you all in good time. Also tell Ida (I wrote her on the night I got Sydney’s letter, Ida’s Birthday), that I dreamt of you all again last night. I dreamt that instead of going on parade on foot we went on horseback & you, Basil, rode behind me. I felt I could ride capitally & could feel the sores on my legs as I trotted on the hoss. Then the scene changed & I was walking with Mother along a street, partly country & partly town. Mother kept changing into Mrs Evans* & then into Molly Evans*. I also dreamt of Harold & Father & Sydney too.

Another himportant matter, which you can let the others know by all means, is that Patients are directed NOT to have their parcels & letters addressed to this place. I have been somewhat anxious that Mum in her motherly way would be sending me not only letters but parcels, which would again get mislaid.

I shall, at least I do hope I shall, be out of Hospital before the New Year. When I get settled I will let you know my address whether it is the Batt. or no.

Now don’t forget please.

I am your jolly old bhoy,

Bertie.

PS Sydney ran a great risk but his letter was a pleasant & delightful surprise, as it seems such a long time since I heard from Home. When you do write to me just refer to the dates & nature of letters so that I can tell if they have all reached Home.

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1/5th SOUTH STAFFORDS WAR DIARY.

Dec 27th Arrived Marseilles (Santi Camp)

29th -30th Company & Battalion Training (for Eastern Front).

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Pte Bertie was waiting to hear whether he must re-join his Battalion in Marseille, on its way to the Eastern Front or not. His main wish was to protect his Mother from the horrors of War her sons were experiencing.

(1) ‘Yeller boy‘ ref. to Sydney’s jaundice. (2) Charge of 13th Oct. Battle of Loos-Hohenzollern Redoubt. (3) ‘Just break the news to Mother’ ref. to gramophone song. Letter: 24th Dec. 1915.

NEXT POST: 31st Dec. 1915. New Year’s Eve.

28TH DEC.1915: CHRISTMAS TRUCE: ‘I MUST HAVE NO HATRED OR BITTERNESS’.

January 9, 2016 Elizabeth Hibbett Webb Leave a comment

Pte BERTIE HIBBETT, Merville Casualty Clearing Station: LETTER to IDA HIBBETT, 95 Foden Rd, Walsall. (Censor 934 J.C. Fitzgerald) (1).

The Innocents’ Day (2) Dec 28/ 15

‘I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone’. Miss E. Cavell. (3)

.Champion Ida Hibbett VAD Nurse. — **IDA HIBBETT.**

My Dear Sister Ida,

Dreams. Yes I’m on dreams again. I hope you don’t think it is a sentimental, sloppy beginning to my letter to you on your birthday, but do dreams come true to a certain extent? I think so.

I have had such a happy surprise tonight, which not only caused me to write to you after all today (I was thinking of waiting till New Year’s Eve for my vocabulary was exhausted) but it ‘broke my dream’ of one night last week. I was washing up in the kitchen of the Ward – ‘Hibbett’ – I scooted to the caller, thinking he wanted either to dress my foot or order me for something – ’What Regiment are you in?’ I told him, forthwith a chap by him handed me a letter – from England – from Sydney. I have never expected a letter or anything while I have been here & I was indeed bemoaning my disadvantage in this way only this afternoon, thinking when I should hear from Mum again & if Mum had been writing in vain to me while I am here. Of course I read the letter with deep interest & looked out to see if he had seen you all yet.

Now to explain matters on the subject of dreams, (I must ‘perforce’ enclose Sydney’s letter, otherwise I should not send you all of it, if not at all, for there is something in – which is personal). I can remember that ‘particular’ part of the dream quite plainly now. You, Ida, were very cross with me for some reason & I ran away & after some time the dream changed & a nurse came to me & said something to the effect that Sydney was much better, or such news that I was overjoyed & all of you (Mum I could see) were also delighted. The scene in the dream then became faint & I cannot tell you anymore for fear I encroach upon untruths or a ‘make-up story’.

Now just compare my dream with Sydney’s letter. I did not tumble across it, that my dream was ‘broken’ until after, when my thoughts were about his letter & Sydney himself. 1st he said – ‘A few of us went for another walk – round the country lanes’. In my dream I was in the country & I ran up to a pump when a nurse & some other people (came), I believe Mother & Basil were among them, but the nurse with glasses & smiling face was most prominent for she was the bearer of the good news. Before I go any further I must say that the weather in my dream was sunny & bright green fields fresh.

Notice next that Sydney sais ‘I am almost entirely recovered’. Perhaps the nurse in my dream said those very words, they were certainly to that effect, for Mum & Ida & all of you were so glad & I was in ecstasy. ‘A nurse always goes with us & any sergeant with the party’ – I saw a party in my dream & a nurse, but I did not see Sydney. Sydney seemed to be somewhere else in my dream. I felt, just as I feel now, with regard to where Sydney was in my dream – out of it.

The climax or the points that broke my dream was Sydney mentioning ‘I am almost entirely recovered’ & ‘a nurse goes with us’ and ‘a party’.

Have you ever read that striking article in the London Magazine about the Transmission of the Mind (4)? Am I superstitious, I hope you don’t think I am, but I believe, to a certain extent, through thinking about other people, especially those dear to you (we speak of one dear & near to another) one’s thoughts carry themselves into their dreams. It is all to do with the mind. And then again I say I don’t believe in superstition and I often ignore all such tomfoolery & go slap bang into a supposed superstition – say if it is walking under a ladder or crossing knives – I absolutely ignore it, & when I do that, I find nothing whatever happens afterwards, as would be foretold by a superstitious believer.

I say, if I don’t believe in superstition, the case must be one in which Providence was with me.

I believe in Angels, & I much admired what Mum has said in her letters to me referring to angels. I believe that an angel was with me whenever I dreamt of you all at Home. Now believing in angels is not superstitious. ‘I believe in the Communion of Saints’ (5) we say, well then, those relatives & friends we loved while on earth, are they not communicating with us? – & trying to keep us happy & acting as God’s Messengers?

Although Sydney ran a great risk of having his letter mislaid, it has wrought a happy result & broke my spell of melancholia , which I had slightly this afternoon, owing to the reaction – it is so quiet here sometimes & strangers about. I looked at your photo of you sitting on a camp chair with a book on your lap outside the Study window & tried to think of all your good advice.

I trust you have had a Happy Birthday. I went to Holy Communion this morning & a lot of RAMC patients were there considering. We went to pray for the wounded that came in on Monday evening. I asked one of the casualties what sort of time he had on Christmas day in the trenches & he said ‘we had nothing, but we went over the top to shake hands with the enemy’ – a fact confirmed by the Chaplain when he came round with the cigs that night. The British were the first to go over & the 1st to resume fighting. The enemy also came over to play their band. Do you blame our side? I don’t, so far as shaking hands goes, for what does the Collect for St Stephen’s Day say? (6).

Well I dare say you will get this letter early enough to wish you all again a Very Happy New Year. I shall see you all in God’s good time.

I sincerely hope Sydney will have his 7 -10 days sick leave. Hurrah & I hope he will have another good time, and let every day, as it comes & goes, be blessed, & then Hurrah he might be in England for such length of time as to have leave & see you again & again.

Am I superstitious? Really, you don’t say so, – never mind.

I am always your loving brother,

Bertie.

PS Patients are directed NOT to have their parcels & letters addressed to them at this Hospital, so I advise you not to take the risk Sydney did. Wait till I get back to the Batt.

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1/5th SOUTH STAFFORDS WAR DIARY.

MARSEILLES (SANTI CAMP).

28th Dec. Company & Battalion Training continued (in preparation for Eastern Front).

TOTAL CASUALTIES for DECEMBER 1915: KILLED: 1; WOUNDED: nil.

Signed: R.R. RAYMER Lt Col. Cmdg 1/5th South Staffordshire Regt.

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This Letter is interesting in the evidence it gives of a Christmas Truce in 1915 (as well as Christmas 1914) when the enemy came over to ‘shake hands’ and ‘to play their band’.

In the loneliness of Christmas 1915, Pte Bertie Hibbett’s belief in Providence, the presence of angels, protection of saints and answers to prayers, and the comfort he receives from dreams and coincidences, is clearly becoming stronger. It was a search for meaning in the face of death that he appears to have shared with many soldiers in WW1.

(1) Censor: J.C.Fitzgerald*. Army Chaplain. Pte Bertie met him again when training for the Anglican Ministry at Lichfield Theological College, 1918+. (2) The Innocents’ Day: commemoration of Massacre of Male Infants by Herod the Great. Mtt. 2.16. cf Letter 24th Dec. 1915.

£2 Coinimages — **WW1 Centenary £2 Coin**.

(3) Edith Cavell : British nurse during First World War/ saved lives of soldiers from both sides/ arrested for helping 200 allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium/ court-martialled, found guilty of treason and sentenced to death/shot by firing squad, 12th Oct. 1915. Worldwide condemnation and extensive press coverage. Notes from Edith Cavell Trust website. See also Page: Christmas Truce 1915.

E Cavell bbcimages — **Edith Cavell: Raymond Lind. Norwich Castle Museum.**

Full Quotation reads: “I have no fear nor shrinking. I have seen death so often that it is not strange or fearful to me. This I would say, standing as I do in view of God and eternity I realise that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone.”

Cavell Monument. Brussels. — **Cavell Monument with angel. Brussels.**

(4) ‘Transmission of the Mind’. Not easy (without sight of article) to understand what my father meant. In Zen Buddhism the term refers to a ‘flash of insight’/intuitive rather than rational. Here however he seems to be talking more about telepathy and transference of thought from one person to another through dreams. cf Note on The London Magazine. Letter 26th Aug. 1915.

Nurse Cavell with multinational student nurses in Brussels. WW1. — **Nurse Cavell centre, with multinational student nurses in Brussels. WW1.**

(5) ‘Communion of Saints: Apostles’ Creed. Evening Prayer. Book of Common Prayer. 1662.

(6) Collect St Stephen’s Day: ‘to love and bless our persecutors‘. Book of Common Prayer 1662. Letter 26th Dec 1915.

NEXT POST: 30th Dec. 1915.

26TH DEC.1915: CHRISTMAS CONCERT ‘KEEP THE HOME FIRES BURNING’.

January 5, 2016 Elizabeth Hibbett Webb Leave a comment

Pte BERTIE HIBBETT, Merville Casualty Clearing Station: LETTER to IDA HIBBETT, 95, Foden Rd Walsall.

‘Yesterday with exultation Joined the world in celebration Of her promised Saviour’s birth’. (1)

Having no calendar I conclude from the above words that today is – – – – – –

St Stephen’s Day, Sunday 26/ 15.

**St Stephen: Carlo Crivelli. Italian 1435-1495.**

‘Being filled with the Holy Ghost, may learn to love & bless our persecutors by the example of Thy first Martyr, Saint Stephen, who prayed for his murderers.’ (2).

My Very Dear Sister,

How grateful I ought to be that I have had such an enjoyable & happy Christmas Day, to think of those who are worse off than I was, I am speaking of those in the trenches. Yes, I believe, at least some of them were quite as happy as we were, and we were as happy as those at Home, for inspite of all the delicacies of the Christmas Menu at Home, you know ye olde proverb goes, as Mum often told me when I was greedy or sullen:- What the eye never sees the Heart never grieves. Compris? And so we were Happy & for many reasons too, one being:-

Oceano divisi Eclesiastia conjuncti (sic) (3). Compris? No – well ask me pater and you will be happy on hearing his interpretation thereof. Results of the above solution of the aforesaid to be sent to me when I am in that station of life to be writable to by persons.

Well the concert was fine and its Homely handmade get up reminded me of you & The Ghost, – that Pickwick Club affair (4). You know how men shape when there’s such a thing as decorations to be done, – why, me dear, they who decorated the Concert Hall made as good an effort as any feminine worker.

– – – We all stood up as the orficers (sic) came in & sat themselves down in the front seats, basket chairs, and the orficers all stood up as the nurses came in at the stage entrance. They looked so Christmassy in their red & grey uniforms. Then the concert began. The stage was admired by the audience & ‘oo oo’ said we as we saw the successful scene – a room with a table on one side with a red cloth & shaded lamp, two basket chairs, a piano & modern water colour prints of the American style of girl hanging on the wall. The Programme was topping & nearly every item encored, & nearly every class of person in the Hospital, except patients gave a turn. A nurse was greatly clapped as she appeared on the stage to sing us a song, a good song too it was, & well sung too. She sang the epilogue and then all of us men joined in the chorus:-

Keep the Home fires burning While our Hearts are yearning. Though the lads are far away They dream of Home. There’s a silver lining Through the dark cloud shining.Turn the dark cloud inside out& show the lining (5).

And then we all clapped & clapped & clapped & stamped & shouted ‘Encore, Encore, Hurray’.

Alas alack I am undone, this is my last sheet of paper. Verily, indeed, whateffer, I have indeed devoured all those sheets of paper that have been sent me. And I hope they have found & warmed up the hearts of those I’ve sent them to.

Well the Programme was varied, just as we liked, comic songs there were, & there were sentimental ones, & there were sketches, original too. The Last one ending in a Tableau was absolutely ripping, topping. Hurrah. It was a grand homely affair. Some show not ’arf – ‘and so the poor man died and she – married the barber!’

You like the pictures do you? I know you do. But the disadvantage of them is there is no frame for them. A present of a picture alone invites the recipient to buy a frame, rather insinuating ain’t it? Well if you like the picture, Mum & I give you the one I sent Mum. I did not know who to send it to. I thought of Mrs Penning, but I must confess, at the time of sending it off I forgot you. The Chaplain of the C. of E. gave me a Souvenir as he called it, a little cross . I cannot find any other gift I can send you. I make it my resolution that if I can possibly send anything in the way of a gift I will do so.

Chi Rho Sign. — **Chi Rho /1st two letters of ‘Christ’ in Greek.**

The cross will serve as a bookmark for your Bible. The Latin inscribed on it means ‘By this sign you will gain the Victory’.(6)

Hoping you have all had a very Blessed & Joyous Christmas Day & you have felt the reward of your good & preserving effort in munitions.

Wishing you a Bright & Prosperous & Peaceful New Year.

Your loving brother, Bertie.

PS NB Tell me if Mum & Dad visited Sydney. Yes they dream of Home & we do more than that – if I am not encroaching upon self- commendation I have dreamt of you all – how queer ain’t it?

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1/5th SOUTH STAFFORDS WAR DIARY

25th/26th Dec. Entrained for Marseilles and arrived on 27th (en route for the Eastern Front).

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Thomas_Cranmer_by_Gerlach_Flicke — **Thomas Cranmer. Gerlach Flicke: 1545-1558. German.**

(1) ‘Yesterday in exultation’ (Heri mundus exultavit): Hymn to St Stephen, first Christian Martyr (stoned c. AD 34). One of The Seven/ Deacons appointed to supervise fair distribution of welfare to the poor/ widows in the Church. cf. Acts 6. Text. Adam of S. Victor (d. AD 1192). Translation, John Mason Neale 1818-1866. (Hymns of the Eastern Church). Music: Walter Cecil Macfarren 1826 -1905.

(2) Collect for St Stephen’s Day. Thomas Cranmer. Book of Common Prayer. 1662. (3) ‘Oceano divisi … ‘. ‘Though the ocean divides us the Church unites us’? cf. Christmas Day 1915 Letter: ‘Though the oceans & lands divide us we think of each other at the Holy Eucharist‘.

(4)The Pickwick Club. Childhood Club for adventures/ literary observations. Formed 1905. Ida Hibbett editor. cf Hibbett Letters: 23rd April 1915; 7th Sept. 1915; 13th Sept. 1915.

(5)’Keep the Home Fires Burning‘/‘Till the Boys come Home’. 1914. Music: Ivor Novello. 1893-1951. Welsh Composer. Text Lena Ford.

220px-Eusebius_of_Caesarea — **Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, Syria.**

(6) ‘By this sign you will gain the victory‘. Latin ‘In hoc signo vinces’. Constantine the Great AD 272-337 (first Christian Emperor) saw the Chi Rho sign in the sky before the Battle of Maxentius, AD 312 and heard these words. In Edict of Nantes AD 313 Constantine proclaimed religious freedom throughout the Roman Empire: ‘With free minds all are to worship their Gods’ . (Source: Eusebius c. AD 260 -340 (Bishop of Caesarea/ Early Christian Father & Historian).

NEXT POST: 28th Dec: 1915. ‘The Innocents’ Day’.

25TH DEC.1915: CHRISTMAS DAY: ‘A GOODLY FEAST FORSOOTH’

January 4, 2016 Elizabeth Hibbett Webb Leave a comment

Pte BERTIE HIBBETT, Merville Casualty Clearing Station: LETTER HOME following straight on from Christmas Eve Letter. Enclosed in envelope addressed ‘To Mum, My very Dear Mother. All Good Wishes for a HAPPY CHRISTMAS from her very affec. son Bertie.

Christmas Day. 7-30 am approx.

Christians awake! Salute the Happy Morn, Whereon the Saviour of the World was born. Rise to adore the Mystery of Love Which Hosts of Angels chanted from above. (1)

Although we did not have a hymn at Holy Communion, (which I always like on Christmas Morning) the Chapel was prettily decorated with holly & evergreen & was made the best out of it. Candles burning in between the evergreens looked Christmassy. We had a few nurses with us this morning, yes, to see men, men, men, everywhere it was especially reminding of Home to see the other sex & it felt more what it should be at Christmas.

‘A Merry Christmas’ we all greeted one another on waking, ‘And the same to you’ came the reply to everyone I greeted on the way to wash, & to the Chapel. At the door I met a sister & the Chaplain – ‘the same to you’. And why shouldn’t it be Merry? ‘Rejoice again I say Rejoice’ (2). Those who have lost their lives for their country are numbered among the Hosts of Angels which chant above.

I dreamt (dreams are so hard to remember) but I do believe I dreamt of you all, certainly I dreamt of Mother & Ida & Dad & now I come to think on’t Basil too. I could see Ida as plain as a pike staff. And I dreamt of Sydney too & we met a nurse, I believe, who told us he was much better, at which we were all so glad. I have dreamt of you all at one time or another these nights this week how queer – will it be a coincidence? Well I will leave off till after the dinner now. We get cold ham for breakfast.

From breakfast till Church time I read a Christmassy story I came across accidentally & only began to find out as I read along. You must know that this Hospital, so I’ve been told, was once a monastery & it looks like one too – all the more happy to imagine Ye olde Christmasse TYMES with the monks & so I read a Monk’s tale about Kings & Dukes & Princesses. The story also introduced York – ‘then as Winter came on quickly, withdrawing himself to his good old town of York to keep his Christmas, rest his men, etc.’ Then again, ‘he’, referring to the King of England, now the King of Scots. ‘So at last about Xmas time the snow being very deep, the King of Scots sat down behind the wattles of his trenches, saying ‘if we cannot burn them out or cut them out, we will starve them out’ – and so with the G——ns eh!

While I was reading several orcifers (sic) with their orderlies & a whole retinue of NCOs came to decide if our decorations deserved Ist Prize. Then the orderly made us all go to Church.

The service, which I have just come from & set to write you about, was as Christmassy as possible & again I guess we all thought of our Homes, & others, their sweethearts & wives. The sermon was the old story of the Inn & the Shepherds and the Saviour. Though the ocean & lands divide us we think of each other at Holy Eucharist, so the old Latin text goes interpreted.

‘O Come all ye Faithful’ I can hear you singing, the very words we have too (3). And we had the Hymn for absent friends ‘Keep them ’neath Thy care’ (4). I used that little Red Prayer Book in which you put my name & the text, ‘Be thou faithful unto death’ (5). It is much dilapidated now but for all that it brought back memories of Xmasses gone by when I used it. (6)

I will leave off now till after dinner else I shall not have paper to finish.

Christmas Dinner. ‘A goodly feast forsooth’. A sight which reminds me of the words in the story I read this morning:- ‘All was done in noble order, with abundance to eat (& drink), with minstrels in the gallery, dogs under the tables, a fool in a corner and silver trumpets at the buttery door to cry the courses’.

Yes, the officers waited on the men & the Chaplain served us too; as for the courses, the first was beef, haricot beans & spuds, the second was plum pudding with white sauce (I put in some almonds from a dish of fruit just by). Then jellies of all kinds & chocolate blancmange Ida, yes. The room, which was downstairs, held all the patients, numbering 200 in all. We were greeted by the Chaplain who wished us all a Merry Christmas & told us that those who ate too much would be sent to the Base immediately, Yes, get C.B. – not Confined to Barracks but Condemned for the Base.

Let’s see Mum, when was it I had that big BURD for dinner – nine – teen – fif – er- no – nine-teen -THUR-TEEEN. Oh my poor napper. Let’s crack a bon bon, there were those on the table & those paper serviettes in pretty patterns. Also raisins & almonds, walnuts, chocolates, toffee & the Chaplain came round with cigarettes again. So we have had a bit of Christmas & Santa Claus is coming at 4 o’clock.

Oh I’m full, full inside, & the officers have stuffed our pockets with nuts, chocolates & all those things I’ve said. Eight volunteers for washing up. I was one.

Ta Ta till after tea. I am at peace with all the World, so said Dad once, & I hope you have all had a good dinner too. I’m at peace with Ye K——r!

The afternoon passed in a happy, lazy way. I read the story of the little Child leading the King of Beasts, the tiger & all the other animals in Isaiah, Chapter 11, verse 6 . ‘The Wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, & the leopard shall lie down with the kid & the calf & the young lion & the fatling together, & a little Child shall lead them’. How typical of the Hun & the Peacemakers. The K——r, so apparently hated by some people, will find blessing from God. All the nations at war with one another shall live in peace & love one another in God’s good time. And a little Child shall lead the nations. Reminds me of the Victor on a White Horse, leading his Hosts in white, in Revelation (7).

For tea we had jam & bread, but we did not open the tins, some iced cake & gingerbread came in & the iced cake vanished first.

‘Poor old Bertie will not have any of our Christmas gifts!’

Best love, Bertie. X X X X X

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1/5th SOUTH STAFFORDS WAR DIARY.

25th Dec. 1915: Entrained at BERQUETTE STATION for MARSEILLES, and arrived there on the 27th. (en route for Dardanelles Campaign begun 25th April 1915).

My 20 year old father, Pte Bertie Hibbett, is determined to be happy, and to convince his Mother that he is happy, spending Christmas in Hospital, sleeping on a stretcher, denied letters and parcels of Christmas Cheer from Home, separated from his brother & his best pal Vernon Evans, all three now in Hospital.

From Merville he would have heard the sound of guns at the Front. He knows the rest of his pals in 1/5th South Staffords are preparing for the Dardanelles /Gallipoli Campaign and he must soon be joining them. All he has to hold on to is his heightened awareness of the true meaning of Christmas, the fulfillment of Hebrew prophecy – and the Army’s ‘Goodly Feast!’

(1) Christians Awake: Hymn. Text John Byrom 1691-1763. Tune: John Wainwright 1723-1768.

(2) Rejoice again: Philippians 4.4. written by S. Paul in time of persecution, AD 49-51.

(3) O Come all ye faithful/ Adeste Fidelis: John Francis Wade, 1711-1786. Translated from Latin by Frederick Oateley, 1841. (4) Neath thy Care: Isabella S. Stevenson, 1869. ‘Keep our loved ones now far distant, neath Thy care‘; (written when her brother was sent away to S. Africa for his health).

(5) ‘Be thou faithful unto death & I will give thee the crown of life’. Revelation 2.10. (6) Confirmation Prayer Book, a gift from his Mother. Confirmed Sunday 12th March, 1911 (16 yrs old).

(7) Book of Revelation: the only apocalyptic /prophetic document in the New Testament canon (dealing with Christian eschatology i.e. interpretation of the End Time). Written AD 81-96, in the form of a letter to all the churches during Emperor Domitian’s persecution of Christians/ a poetic allegory of the ongoing struggle between good & evil.

NEXT POST: 26th Dec. 1915.

24TH DEC.1915: CHRISTMAS EVE. ‘THERE’S NOT ANOTHER CAN TAKE THE PLACE OF MOTHER’.

January 2, 2016 Elizabeth Hibbett Webb Leave a comment

Pte BERTIE HIBBETT, Merville Casualty Clearing Station, North France: LETTER to Mother, Marie Neal Hibbett, 95, Foden Rd Walsall.

Christmas Eve 1915

Bless you my Mother. Bless you my Father. Bless you my Sister. Bless you my Brother.

My Very Dear Mother & all of you,

I have just come from a very pleasant little service in the Chapel. Our C. of E. Chaplain came round rallying us all to go to the service on the Eve of Christmas & how they all flocked down the stairs & through the Cloisters – & the little Chapel, no larger than the Lady Chapel at St Paul’s (1) was crowded.

We all sang ‘While shepherds watched their flocks by night’ (2). I doubt not that everyone was thinking of their Home, his dear Father & Mother, & if they had any brothers and a sister like me. The Chaplain himself said we shall all be thinking of our relatives & friends, no matter how far away with foreign countries between & the deep & the spacious ocean too, in spite of that our hearts will be as near as if we were with you.

Yes dear Mummy, you & Dad an all of you are as close to me & my heart is as warm towards you as if you were as plain as my comrade on the next stretcher here to me.

Mum, although I have no pleasures of Home with you, I have had a very pleasant afternoon & Eve. We have had a gramophone on this afternoon & one record touched ours hearts so much we had it on again. The records are double sided, as you know, & one record had two songs about ‘Mother’ – ‘When did you write to Mother last?’ & ‘Break the news to Mother’ (3) It was the first one we were so taken by.

imgres — **Coin-activated Gramophone c 1915. <www.liveauctioneers.com>**

We have a table in the centre of the room (which is now crammed with decorations) & a red blanket serves well for a table cloth. Well there I sat at this table with my head between my hands, resting my chin on the palm of my hands & I listened as the words sang ‘Just think of all the things she did for you’ and then the other song – ‘There’s not another Can take the place of Mother. Then say to her how I love her And break the news to Mother’.

Then we had the other records dealing with Christmas, but they did not get an encore like the songs of Mother did.

Yes, we have books to read & I was admiring a picture in The Graphic (4) of ‘An Ideal Christmas’. ‘The return of the First Born from the Field of Battle’. There in the firelight was the eldest son with his two little brothers eagerly listening to his adventures, the Father was on the sofa with his head turned from his paper to his eldest boy, & Mother too, whilst his eldest sister had stopped playing at the piano.

How do you like the picture I sent you on Thursday? I did not know who to send it to, but whenever I see anything beautiful I think of those at Home & think they will appreciate it more than anyone else.

So Mum, I believe I am not wrong in guessing that it will be Ida’s Birthday on the 28th & I believe it is Innocents’ Day then (5). Sorry I cannot find anything so far to send her, but if you wish you can give her that picture, Ida being a lover of pictures, and say that it is a present from Mum & me.

Yes, I shall be thinking of you tomorrow – The Day, the Birthday of Our Lord – early in the morning at 6.45 am at Holy Communion – & very likely Sydney will too. The Chaplain sais there will be dinner for all the patients at 1 pm & Father Christmas will visit the wards at ‘Blind Man’s Holiday’ (6) i.e. 4 pm so we shall have a bit of Christmas out here.

Part the Second.

I shall put up my stocking for fun tonight. The Chaplain comes round with cigarettes every night when we are about to go to sleep.

Goodnight to you dear Mum & all of you, may you have a sound good sleep, St Benedict (7) to keep away the evil goblins and a happy, a very happy awakening on the morning of Christmas Day – heralded by a carol – ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ (8) . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I will leave my letter to finish tomorrow.

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1/5th SOUTH STAFFORDS WAR DIARY.

ISBERQUES: 20th-24th Dec.1915. Platoon & Company Training.

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A poignant picture here of Pte Bertie Hibbett thinking of Christmas at Home in Walsall (note service at 6.45 am!), making decorations and head in hands listening to gramophone songs about ‘Mother’ with other young patients.

(1) The Lady Chapel remains as my father would have remembered it, with its intricate domed-ceiling of inlaid-veneer. The rest of St Paul’s was wonderfully transformed in 1994 -1995; now called The Crossing at St Paul’s (a Christian Centre for Social Justice & Place of Worship) it serves the industrial & commercial centre of Walsall , the Old Butts & the Chuckery. See Hibbett Letter: 26th Aug. 1914 for further details.

(2) While Shepherds watched. Carol Text based on Luke 2.8-14 by Nahum Tate 1652-1715 (Irish Hymnist/Poet Laureate to Queen Anne. Published by Tate & Nicholas Brady in ‘Supplement of New Version of Psalms of David.1696’ . Music Old Winchester. The only Christian hymn authorised to be sung in Anglican Churches. (Before 1700 only Psalms could be sung).

(3)Break the News to Mother. Chorus: Just break the news to Mother, She knows how dear I love her, And tell her not to wait for me For I’m not coming home. Just say there is no other Can take the place of Mother, Then kiss her dear sweet lips for me, And break the news to her. Tragic ballad of boy soldier who died ‘saving the flag‘ in Spanish-American War, when United States intervened in Cuban War of Independence. Treaty of Paris, 1898, marked the collapse of The Spanish Empire & allowed U.S. temporary control of Cuba. (NB Can find no reference to the first song).

(4) The Graphic: British weekly newspaper, published 4th Dec.1869, by William Lucas Thomson (Artist/ wood engraver/social reformer), angered by treatment of artists in The Illustrated London News.

Herod Great.search — **Herod The Great. Died 4.BC**

(5) Holy Innocents Day, 28th Dec. commemorates story of Massacre of the Innocents by Herod the Great (died 4.BC). Story is peculiar to Matthew 2.26, where Jesus is presented as the Jews’ Messiah and fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Not found in Flavius Josephus AD 37 -100 (Romano-Jewish scholar, historian & hagiographer).

6) Blind Man’s Holiday: time between daylight & candlelight (i.e 4.00 pm in December) when a partially sighted person could not be expected to work. cf Webster’s Dictionary.

Hobgoblin1-e1359133616919 — **The Secret History of Hobgoblins. Ari Berk. 2013.**

(7) St Benedict, AD 480- 543. Italian. Patron Saint of Europe. Called ‘The Founder of Western Monasticism’. The Rule of St Benedict was renowned for its ‘spirit of balance & reasonableness’ & adopted by many religious foundations. Can find no specific connection with hobgoblins (mischievous imps, spirits, bogies, evil trolls, traditionally associated with Halloween & Christmas Eve).

220px-William_Hayman_Cummings — **William Hayman Cummings.**

(8) Hark the Herald Angels Sing.1739. Text: Charles Wesley, (brother of John Wesley founder of Methodism) , adapted by George Whitfield. Music: Felix Mendelssohn, 1809-1847, adapted by William Hayman Cummings 1831-1915 (English musician, tenor & organist at Waltham Abbey. Chorister under Mendelssohn’s baton.

NEXT POSTS: 25th, 26th, 28th, 30th, 31st Dec. 1915 will be published as soon as possible.

20TH DEC.1915: A GAS MASK & THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS YET TO COME?

December 20, 2015 Elizabeth Hibbett Webb Leave a comment

Pte BERTIE HIBBETT: DRAWING in a tiny envelope tucked in a Letter written between 19th – 24th Dec. 1915, from Merville Casualty Clearing Station, where he had time & space to draw:

‘To Mum. My very Dear Mother. All Good Wishes for a HAPPY CHRISTMAS from her very affec: son, Bertie.‘

GAS MASK DRAWING: Pte BERTIE HIBBETT Dec.1915. — *GAS MASK DRAWING on very thin see-through paper:* Pte BERTIE HIBBETT. Dec.1915.

Front Page: Drawing of ‘Bertie in his Smoke Helmet’ with little goblin-like figures and the words: ‘They rose suddenly from the earth, wearing smoke helmets over their faces, and looking not like soldiers but like devils.’

Back Page: A Christmas Joke. Yes or No.

A Familiar of the Spanish Inquisition (1). Sinister eye pieces. A Modern Hamlet’s Ghost (2). A Saturated Conglomeration of Chemical Affinity. A Hooded Phantom (3) issuing forth from its Goblin tubal volcanic mouth. A Hissing warm breath.

Vegetable – no. Mineral – no. Animal – no. Phantominical-like Like? (4). Yes (of its like). Bertie in his Smoke Helmet. The Ghost of Christmas yet to come 19 – ? (5).

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Two-German-soldiers-and-their-mule-wearing-gas-masks-in-WWI-1916 — German Soldiers & Mule in their Gas Masks. 1916. Rare Historic Photos website.

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The first use of Poison Gas was on 22nd April 1915, by the Germans at 2nd Battle of Ypres against Canadian & French troops. The British used chlorine gas first at Battle of Loos Hohenzollern Redoubt, 24th September – 15th October, 1915.

First attempts at protection were crude: cotton pads in the mouth, then came The Black Veil Respirator – chemical soaked mouth pads attached to a long cloth hanging over the face. In June 1915 came the Hypo Helmet – a mask made of chemical absorbing fabric to fit over the entire head. The Canister Gas Mask was issued in 1916, with a hose connected to a tin can containing absorbent material. Many soldiers were overcome by gas, released by either side, because the masks were notoriously difficult to fit and warnings often came too late or not at all, when winds changed direction. <www.firstworldwar.com>

‘Rare Historic Photos’ provide the poignant image above of the suffering endured by both men and animals in WW1.<https://rarehistoricphotos.com > See also detailed history of gas warfare in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_mask >

Pte Bertie’s drawing is on fragile see-through paper, which gives an added ghostly effect. His Questions reflect a popular Christmas Guessing Game: ‘Animal, Vegetable or Mineral? His Answers provide references to a variety of allusions to Mediaeval & Gothic terrors, apparitions and ghosts in literature & history.

(1) Spanish Inquisition. 1478 -1834. Often brutal persecution of Jews, Muslims and Protestants as well as of Catholic heretics, in an attempt to establish a Catholic Kingdom in Spain.

(2) Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet‘,1600 -1601. King Hamlet (father of Hamlet) appears as ‘Ghost‘ three times. (3) Hooded Phantom. Most likely ref. to a hooded phantom ‘like a snow hill in the air’ in ‘Moby Dick’ or The Whale by Herman Melville. 1851.

(4) Phantominical: not in Chamber’s Dictionary but in use today in <https://m.flikr.com/photos >. Similar meaning as ‘phantasmagoria‘ /phantasmagorical: ‘fantastic series of illusive images or of real forms’/ optical illusions/ of ‘deceptive appearance/ nightmare/ dream state. cf. Chambers Dictionary. A literary device to heighten drama, used frequently by Charles Dickens.

(5) Ghost of Christmas yet to Come: A Ghost Story for Christmas. Charles Dickens. 1843.

NEXT POST: 24th Dec. 1915. Christmas Eve.

19TH DEC.1915: ‘TAKING THINGS AS A MATTER OF COURSE BUT COULD DO WITH ‘A SNICE SMINCE SPIE.’.

December 19, 2015 Elizabeth Hibbett Webb Leave a comment

Pte BERTIE HIBBETT: LETTER to his Father, Arthur Hibbett, 95 Foden Rd. Walsall. On the back he has written: ‘To Dad. Poor Dad has no Christmas Card.’

Sunday Dec 19/ 15.

My Dear Sir,

By next Sunday I guess you will have read my Christmas letters which I am writing today.

Last Sunday Mother & Basil wrote & were wondering what I was doing. I am today in the Casualty Clearing Station, a Hospital, with sore feet, (suppose I left the comma out – Sydney sais my letters to him are void of full stops, commas & all those things) – but I have the advantage of writing & eating up the pages of a writing pad, one of the dry gifts I told Ida about.

Of course I was only joking, but I could do with a ‘snice smince spie’ now, because its ‘snice, snice, so snice’, especially one from Home. (1)

I s’pose I shall get another slice of jam & bread for tea. I could do with a little plum cake for Sunday’s tea at any rate. But then I am taking things as a ‘matter of course’ as you often advised me to do & I have the consolation that your parcels, if not already, will be appreciated by those in my section. Poor Vernon had no less than half a dozen while he was away until I left the Batt. too.

All three of us are in Hospital now, & it seems that my wish I mentioned in your birthday letter will not be fulfilled.

**WW1 Casualty Clearing Station, Belgium. Note stretchers for beds and Lucky Bags hanging by each soldier. cf Letter: 13th Sept. 1915.< https://easttextile.co.uk/onewebmedia >**

I shall be very likely here for Xmas. I am comfy, we have stretchers to sleep on & books to read & meals found us. I am dressed in blues again (2).

Well I could write till the New Year comes so will get on to other letters to other people.

Perhaps Dad thinks my letters, if he reads them, all of them, to each one, Mum, Ida & Basil – that they are whimsical & all bosh (3), well if so it’s my wish that by the time they have gone through the Hands of the Post & travelled so far they will give some enjoyment to you all, and my good wishes to Dad & all of you will be none the worse.

With fondest love from

Ber-TARFER.

PS I’m sending Harold’s Letter separate as those I have already written will make the envelope fat enough for the censor.

Again Pte Bertie’s Letter to his Father shows a relationship of both respect & affectionate playfulness. He is doing his best ‘to take things as a matter of course’ but those stretchers for beds could not have been too ‘comfy’.

(1) ‘Snice smince spies – snice, snice so snice’: I can hear my Dad’s voice, as he must have heard his father’s every Christmas.

(2) Army Base, Rouen. No 12 & No 9 General Hospital. August to October 1915, where he was full of joy at the clean bright wards and comfortable beds. (3) Bosh. Slang for nonsense/ empty of meaning. Wide etymology but most likely fr.Turkish.

NEXT POST: 20th Dec. 1915: Gas Mask & The Ghost of Christmas.

19TH DEC.1915: (3) GOD ‘WILL LET YOU SEE ME IN HIS GOOD TIME.’

December 19, 2015 Elizabeth Hibbett Webb Leave a comment

Pte BERTIE HIBBETT: LETTER to Mother, Marie Neal HIBBETT, 95, Foden Rd Walsall.

4th Sunday in Advent. The Coming of Our Lord. Dec 19/ 15

‘Be careful for nothing. Rejoice in the Lord alway; The Lord is at hand.’ (1)

My Very Dear Mother,

I received your very welcome letters dated Dec 11th & 12th (Sat & Sun) on Dec 14th & 15th (Tue & Wed) respectively & indeed did receive them with respect. But on Thursday night your two Christmas parcels had not yet come & on Friday morning I was sent to the Field Ambulance with ‘Pyoremia’ (sic) (2) – don’t be frightened at that word ’tis not half as bad as ‘catarrhal j———- oh! I don’t like to write it even. Tis only sore feet and a few other breakings out.

And so this Sunday finds me at the Casualty Clearing Station, a kind of Hospital (3). Do not be sorry for me, I am sorry for you, but then again the contents of your ripping parcels will be highly appreciated among my chums & especially the other chaps in my section who have rarely had such luxuries as figs, dates & a rich plum cake. I have told the Corporal* (4) over the section to divide the parcels among them; no parcel s have been forwarded to me.

We moved to this C.C.S. this morning. I advise you not to trouble writing to me until I get back to the Battalion again. The doctor said I should take more than a week to get better, but then my address is not certain. I cannot tell you anything more definite.

**Pathephone Record Player.1916. cf Letter 20th August 1915.**

I am very comfy here, there is a gramophone on and we have just had ‘Eternal father strong to save’ (5 ). That reminds me, I wonder how Sydney is now. I pray that he is having a quiet & happy Sunday, – & you too, with Harold at Home, as he was last Sunday.

Your letter of last Sunday was a nice one & I knew as much that you & I would be thinking of Sydney & one another. By the time you get this, & the other of my Christmas letters to you all, it will be very much nearer the season.

From Left Motyer, bertie with hoop, Basil Ida & Sydney who did not like his photo taken. — **Hibbett Family Photo c.1906. In Khaki Case. From Left : Mother, Bertie with hoop, Basil, Ida & Sydney ‘who did not like his photo taken’.**

I have just had a look at you Mum – & all of you in my little Khaki Case. I am sorry I cannot send you a smile like I did last Christmas at Saffron Walden & a Card, so I send you Auntie’s (6) & it will partly be mine to you won’t it? now I have parted with it.

And, as Dodger said he would like to see me I have cut myself out & sent you a smile.

What do you think of my ghost story in his letter?

As luck would have it Vernon, Sydney and I look far from spending Christmas together & the Trio is away from the Batt. too & we are all in Hospital – how funny. Vernon went to the Field Ambulance a week last Sat & left the morning I arrived, only a few hours before, so that I could not wish him the best of luck and a Merry Xmas. I do hope dear Sydney will enjoy some Christmas fare. Have you sent him a parcel? I do hope he gets his, but he will sure to of course.

You had better write to Miss Foster*as well as I don’t want another muddle in correspondence. A. O. Jones* will very likely acknowledge my parcels. He has got a stripe to enable him to get a Commission. Every applicant must have had two months as an N.C.O. to get a Com: I put the matter to my platoon Commander the other day before I left the Batt. but did not see him again to hear his answer.

Yes, as you say, it will be Christ’s Birthday on the 25th & everyone can rejoice in the right way. See Thessalonians 4th Chapt. from verse 13 to end ‘Wherefore comfort ye one another with these words’.

I am writing to Mrs Penning* (7) for Christmas. God bless you dear Mother & He will let you see me in His good time. I do like your conclusions to your letters, but don’t trouble staying up late to write. I pray that you may have happy goodnight sleeps.

May you have a Happy Home all together this Xmas.

Your very affec. son, Bertie.

PSS on sides of pages: Tell me when you can if you plucked the Turkey. I think I shall be able to attend a nice service at Xmas as I shall be in Hospital a week, according to what I heard. Have only been able to attend one service since I came from the Base. (8)

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Pte Bertie Hibbett’s movements are clarified here. On 17th Dec, he was due to march from Rue des Vaches to Isqberque but because of the state of his feet he was sent instead to the Field Ambulance Advanced Dressing Station ADS (where he just missed his pal Vernon who had gone on to Hospital in Bologne with a similar complaint). By 19th Dec. Bertie was at Merville Casualty Clearing Station (the next stage of the Divisional Casualty Evacuation Chain, organised by the RAMC. This Letter is typical of those he sent his Mother, a determined attempt to alley her anxiety for him with comforting words of the Christian Faith & the true meaning of Christmas.

(1)Philippians 4. 4-8. (2) Pyaemia: Blood poisoning (septicaemia) characterised by pus-forming micro organisms (usually Staphylococcus) in the blood /leading to widespread abscesses/ boils (fr Latin puon -pus /haima-blood. A very serious condition in the absence of antibiotics.

(3) Merville C.C.S. Casualty Clearing Station (approx 8 miles West of Estaires. (4) A.O.Jones* recently made Corporal in preparation for Commission? (5) Eternal Father Strong to Save. The Seafarer’s Hymn. William Whiting. 1860.

(6) Auntie Pattie* of York’s Xmas Card. (7) Mrs Alice Penning*: Bertie’s billet Landlady, Gold Street, Saffron Walden, 1914. Lost her son, Arthur Penning, K. in A. August 1915. (6) Base: the Brigades’ ADS Advanced Dressing Station. cf Letter: 14th Dec. 1915.

NEXT POST: 19th Dec. 1915. No 4. Letter to Father. ‘Taking Things as a Matter of Course as You Advised.’

The WW1 Letters and Drawings of Private Bertie Hibbett, 1/5th South Staffordshire Regiment, to his family in Walsall, will be posted again, one hundred years on, from August 1914 to November 1918, by his daughter Elizabeth Hibbett Webb. The first posting will be the Recruitment Postcard sent by Queen Mary's Grammar School Headmaster to the Hibbett family on holiday in Abergele, Wales.