14th May 1915
4th January 1917
1st January 1918
8th March 1918
14th November 1918

14th May 1915, from Reg F. Knight (Royal Engineers),Field Post Office (France) to his brother, Mr Charles Graham Knight, No 19 Lord St, Wolverhampton. Staffs. England
 

14/5/15

My Dear Brother,
A few lines to try and tell you what it is like out hear. I am giving no state secrets away, only telling bare facts, so I think I can sighn my name on the back, I did intend to write to you a few days ago, but there was an awful din going on we were staying in a cellar in the day and working in the trenches or in front of the trenches at night. It was impossible to sleep on account of the noise and the shells kept stricking the house and pieces of it kept falling, so I thought I would leave it till we got back, for we go back for a day or two, but work just as hard when we get back, but we get two or three nights in, so we don’t mind. As you will see there has been some very heavy fighting round this way for the last two weeks, you say Brother you were confused to hear of me being in the front line of trenches, why. I have been at it since the end of August, and without a rest we out here are wondering if ever they will relieve us, and wonder “Will they ever come” It takes us all our time to keep together. You will understand that when I tell you we keep being moved to the places where the fighting is going on, at the present time I have got a splitting headache, owing to the use of the Gass used against us, but that is nothing, there was a big movement in this place a few days ago, and we went to the trenches in daylight; we saw the Germans coming in to attack but no one knocked us off work. I was Orderlie to one of our officers that day; and during the day we went across a piece of open ground, and they turned a machine gun on us but thank God I had the presence of mind to lay flat down, or I should not be telling you this, after they had found their position they started shelling, and it was hell with the lid off what with gasping for Breath and expectin to be blown to pieces, to say nothing of being unable to see. we have lost a lot of men this last few weeks, and about twenty horses, rather a sad thing happened the other night we were out doing barbed wire in front of the trenches, they had been warned that we were out there, we had almost finished when two of our men were shot right through the head by our own people, but things like that are not talked of in the papers.

 I was in the ‘City’ the other day I expect you know the one I mean, and it was one mass of ruins, and two or three streets were on fire in fact it has been burning for eight days, and the sights were horrible, dead horses in the streets and the stench was vile, wounded horse wandering about leaving a trail of blood in their wake, and ..?? horses ??… in fact it was a city of the dead, one part of horses in one place and the other in another. I caught one the other night while out on a message and the poor thing was frightened to death, I gave it a feed and tried to get it along with me out of shell fire; but it was too frightened to move and I though I should have to give him up as the shells were coming a bit close but he came around and one of the Officers was good enough to bring him back to our dug outs, when I got back to our cellar they were collecting the wounded, there was about a hundred of these on stretchers, RAMC had brought them out and put them on the road, and the poor Devils were groaning and shivering with the cold, while the RAMC were crouching in the houses, our cook made some tea we giving him our rations to do so, so that the wounded could have a drink to warm them, and before God in Heaven, the RAMC were drinking the tea and leaving the wounded with out any, the same night a shell burst in the next door to ours and a scotchman had his foot blown off, all the medical chaps made a scoot for it. And the sight it was to see that poor chap try to run, with a footless leg, almost turned me over, but I managed to stop his rush, and between us we did our best. It is only this last month that I have seen a private of the RAMC within half a mile of the firing line, the same night as this scotchman was wounded, the medicals left two dead men by the roadside they were there two days, till we buried them. The other day I was with the Officer and the sight I saw would make you cry there were men lying in the road like cattle, they had been killed two or three days before, some of them in their full kit I saw one poor chap belonging to the same Company as Greg, he had been on carrying ammunition, we asked him what he was doing and he told us his mates had been killed in the afternoon, and there he was in the evening still watching them and sure enough we found his mates all in a heap by a ditch.

 Dear Brother I hope I have not wearied you but I hope you will understand, for I believe those at home think we are having a fine time, what with yarns of Coffee Shops just behind the fighting lines and the yarns we get baths, and have reading tents is all damn lies, all we have is filth and misery. Will tell you more if you want to know. One favour if you can. and it is a disk about as big as a penny: like this – 
          with this on it 

 21704  R.F.Knight 
 C. of E. 
  Royal Engineers 
 

For I have lost my one and cannot get another one. I hope you can manage it.

love to all at Home
  xxx Brother Reg
 

hope you will manage to sort it out, mind the pages are mixed. love to all Reg xxx

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4th January 1917, from Reg Knight to (?) his Sister
 

4.1.17

My Dearest Sister

Once again I am sending you a few lines to tell you that I have received and to thank you for the nice parcell you so kindly sent to me, you are indeed a Gem, (hope Charlie won’t mind) pleased to say everything arrived in good condition and was very welcome, even the soaps from Cecil, thanks also for the Shirts, if I was to thank you for all the nice things you sent, I should keep on for quite a long time. Perhaps you will understand me when I say that I was more than pleased, but really dear, I did not expect it for I know that you at home are having hard times. Mind and thank Charlie for I know he had a hand in it.

Well we have started 1918. getting on are we not? And I still live in hopes of this year seeing the last of this war, you at home I know wish the same. By the way what sort of a time did you have at xmas? A good one I hope., how I wish that I could have been there with you. Never mind, there is always hopes. While we still keep above ground, What sort of weather are you having in Blighty? Its fine out hear, but better there or so we think. And how is Charlie getting on?

I sent you a F.C. yesterday as soon as I got your gift for I know you would be ancious till you heard that I got it, my word it was packed well. It reached here in a better condition than a lot that were in boxes.

Say Sis, have you heard from Elsie of late. She seems to like London with its …?riches?…, why I don’t know she also thinks that I shall soon be home.

By the way give my kindest regards to Mrs Marshall, does she still pass the eggs over the wall, should just like two now, again I shall live in hopes of seeing some of the good times over again, what a lot of time we shall have to make up.

Must draw to a close sincerely hoping these few  (lines)  find you and all at Home in the pink of condition, also hoping to hear from you again soon.

I Remain with Best 
love to All
Reg
Cecil x
  xxxxx

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1st January1918, from Reg Knight (the Y.M.C.A. with the Egyptian Expeditionary Forces) to his brother, Charles Knight.
 

1-1 18

My Dear Brother,
At last I am sending you a few lines it is quite long since I wrote to you its nearly always to sis that I write.

Your last letter told me that you could not make out my last letter to you, Well don’t trouble about it now, for at the time I wrote it I had the fever and must have been shakey, I have just had quite a lot of letters from Blighty. In some of them they seem to be sure that the war will soon be over, I hope they are correct, it will indeed be a god day when it finishes. Was rather pleased to hear that Cecil is getting on so well, why he will soon be able to write to me. I expect he is quite a big Boy now, Don’t forget totell me all about Blighty when next you write, how things are going on. I saw a Blighty paper a week ago and in the advs they wanted quite a few of my trade. Wish I had been there to take one of them over, it will be quite a treat to get back in the shop and have Sundays off to be able to do just what one wants. And no one to tell you not to do this and not to do that,

Well Brother I am out of hospital now and while I was in I put in to the Commanding Officer of the 21st General Hospital Alex, for a leave stating that I had been out since August 1914, and had served in France, Salonique and Egypt, the application came back to me with a slip saying it was not enough grounds for me to get a leave. But when I was discharged from hospital they admitted that I was not fit enough to go up the line for a time and marked me B1 for three months, that means I shall be hanging from camp to camp till my time is up, don’t you think that they might have let me come home for that time, then I think with a change of air and food I should have been quite fit to come and start again, I tell you this because you might think that I have done something wrong as I don’t come home on leave, and I am sure you will be able to see that it is not my fault. I have not told Elsie as she writes to me saying that she is looking forward to me coming home in the spring. I might but not this spring. Well dear Brother I sincerely hope these lines find you all in the best of health.

I Remain your loving
Brother, R.F.Knight, RE

P.S. Please let me know if you get this letter  Reg

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8th March 1918, from Reg Knight to his ? sister.
 

8.3.18

My Dear Sister.

Once again a few lines hope they find you and all at home in the pink of condition. Pleased to say I am all Right

I had the luck to get a nice long letter from you a few days ago but my dear Girl what a lot you did want to know. Sure you did not think that I had had trouble with my Bank Book The book I meant was my pay book, and Records informed me that my …?… was in debt, and I was wondering if they had been sending another remittance. But all’s well so I won’t trouble you any more, you are indeed good to look after my interests hope some day to be able to repay you for all your kindness

Well Sis I was rather surprised to hear that you were leaving W’hampton to go to Bham., Elsie informs me you are going to A.Green.

It is a lot nicer out that way than in Bham. Hope you soon settle down nice and comfy. Guess you will be tired after moving.

Don’t forget to thank Charlie for the Cigs he so kindly sent; they arrived in Good condition, and were very welcome,

By the way is Charlie having a shop in A Green or carrying on just as usual. 

Hope I shall soon have the luck to see your new home, I might …?… round for a cup of tea one of  these days

I must draw to a close as there is nothing to mention only that we are still having ripping weather. That’s half the battle is it not?

With love to all
At Home
I Remain 
Your loving
Brother
Reginald
xxxxx

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14th November 1918, from Reg F. Knight (in Turkey), to his brother, Charles Graham Knight

Turkey
14.11.18
My Dear Brother
 T last I can send you a few lines and I hope that no one will rub a lot of it out; In the first place I am at (Aleppo) and in the pink of condition; I expect you have heared about our advance out hear? And I believe the square heads in France are almost finished, most of the troops out hear do not seem very pleased about the war finishing, they know that we shall in all probability have to stay hear another six months, and this is not a very nice spot, for we are camped out in a ploughed field and the winter is on us., we have already been washed out of our rag huts; also we are rather bad off for clothing for we had to leave most of our kit including blankets, at (Jaffa). So we are still saying “roll on a long time
 Well Dear Brother I am very pleased that this war is almost over, (tell Sis to shake my clothes out for I shall want them soon)

By the way we got a wireless through last night that there was quite a lively time in London, hope they won’t be too glad and forget the boys out in this God forsaken land, please thank Sis and tell her that I received the Shirts quite safe they came in at the right time for we were only allowed to have one shirt to start with, and I had worn that three weeks and was getting quite a lot of (Friends) you may be sure that I said good bye to them all, five minutes after getting the parcel; also I was very lucky getting a Birthday parcel from Elsie, with a nice arm pair of socks in it, So I am not doing bad, but I cannot help thinking how nice and comfy it would be to be home in Blighty.

Well Charlie I guess you will be pleased to hear from me for I have not sent you a line for quite a long time, and I am indeed pleased to be in a position to write to you, lucky indeed am I to still be in the land of the living. I have never for one moment had any hopes of seeing England and all my friends till I heard that the Turks had finished then came the news of Germany almost at the finish., so now I live in hopes of seeing you all one of these days,
When I do get home I am going to have a months holiday, just a nice quiet one, well draw to a close hoping these few lines find you and all at home in the pink.
Your loving
Brother 
Reg

PS please send letters on for me.