Trooper Frederick Howe, Bedfordshire Yeomanry

I now write to you a few lines again from somewhere in France, and I hope that they will find you quite well as this letter leaves me in the very best of health and happy. I have been going to write to you two or three times but could not get at it until now. Well during the last eight days I have been digging with many more of my comrades just a short distance behind the firing line, and we were at a very large village that has been wrecked by the Germans when they went through it, but mostly by their shell fire. I will just tell you what the sights were that we saw as we went through the village. The first was that there were no people living in the houses at all, unless it was our Tommies here and there. I suppose it really was because every house had been hit by a shell. Some had great holes in the roof, others in the walls, and many right down to the ground. But what one noticed so much was the white stone building (or rather part of one now) which can be seen some distance off on a clear day. When we first saw it we wondered what it could be as it was so high in the air. On getting into the village, we saw that it was one side of a tower which but a few months ago stood at one end of a splendid church, but is now a heap of bricks and stones. It was shelled by heavily by the German’s big guns and all that is left of it now is one side of the tower and one end wall. I should say by the look of it it was a larger church than our own Parish one. I have been quite close to it and I saw that the shells had blown gravestones out of the ground also. It was an awful sight to see (I must not name the place where all this has happened). While we were digging we had shells from the German guns dropping quite close to the trenches, but no one was hurt act of the Beds Yeomanry while I was there. I came back yesterday to our horses, but we have still got some up there. One afternoon we had to get in the trenches, as they were sending their shells over, and they were dropping rather close to us. The nearest one was 50 yards from the trench. That dropped in a hedge alongside the road. So you see we (the Beds. Yeomanry) have been under shell fire. We are not having much wet weather out here now, today is a lovely, the sun is real hot, and its giving people who have corn to cut a good chance to get it carted. It all looks lovely out here. I suppose our English farmers are getting on with the harvest now at home. All the boys are quite well and wish to be remembered to you. Well now I must come to a close with this letter as its just on stable time. With all my best wishes to you, believe me to remain yours sincerely Fred Howe.