1916 Letter 20
[1916]
Dearest Mother –
Just a line to let you know I am back on duty again, and feeling fine. Got off several letters by hand last week – hope you get them all.
I have some Turkish "towels" for you too, which I shall send the first opportunity. There are some exquisite things in Albanian Turkish and Roumanian work to be bought here but the prices are staggering.
The latest war news to-night says all the strand of Piccadilly has been destroyed by a Zep raid – 27 in all. Isn’t that simply awful? I think England is a mighty unhealthy place to live in just now.
Our little excitement of a few nights ago was a mere nothing to that.
About 2 am. I wakened with a start and heard Col. Williams saying conversationally – "There’s a Zeppelin over the camp".
And there followed such a commotion – Myra couldn’t find any clothes whatsoever to go a fleeing in nor could we find a match or a flash. After what seemed like a week but which was really only a couple of minutes we set out for the dugout – to see Mr. Zeppelin very plainly show up by the search lights and some distance away.
We have had so many false alarms that we had grown careless and had forgotten to leave our clothes handy.
A big naval gun "somewhere" in the hills was sending high explosive shells over head and in our ignorance we thought it was shrapnel and entered the dug out gladly – and of course missed the whole show.
The Zep flew over the harbour – looking, they say, for a transport and was soon surrounded by a ring of fire, and was doomed. There is great controversy as to the actual fires of the shots that brought it down – the navy and anti aircraft people both claim the honour.
Any way it made for the marshes at the mouth of the [border], and a monitor at that side of the bay put 3 shots into it that really ended the matter.
There were loud explosions from the bomb the crew cast overboard to save themselves and then the whole thing went up with 3 terrible reports as the gas ignited.
It fell into the marsh and any of the crew remaining alive were captured next morning.
We went into Salonica next day and were lucky enough to see the remains through the big naval telescopes on the White Tower. It lay like a huge buoy carcass against the horizon – a most pathetic sight.
It really is a great feather in the caps of the Allies for it is the only one on this front and had only been down this way once before.
I am awfully glad I’ve seen
[letter incomplete]