ENGLAND AND THE WAR

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLV, Issue XLVIII, 22 December 1914, Page 5

ENGLAND AND THE WAR

EXTRACTS-FROM LETTERS.

-'■; The" following are extracts from a letter recently received by a Nelson resident from, relatives residing in: Surrey : "The:war-has upset : .every thing. . ~ My niece"at?Walton.is; sending,her only son, "my brother S—.his third son.; They both sailed lastweek. ■?■ Everything..was . kept so* secret "We never knew - where -,they were. The meii themselves did not know : from one. hour I to another when they -were-going" to- be moved,, op^vherev.They ■ inspected-bv the King'.;< . ... were allowed,three days to come home ,-hefore leaving'-England. They were not told what;day. they were, tb-saib'.We managed to 'find'that .out,."but then-were; not .sure how "they'would go from.; Canterbury to Southampton. • A— ;he.ard they would go' through Guildford. She went to that station at 11: a.m., and, .remained,, there until 5 -p.m. During: that time 29 troop trains, passed through.:. She was rewarded ; at last by s*ing :her nephew on one of the trains. > . All. railway lines and. bridges are very- strictly guarded, After 10 p.m. no one is allowed to walk or ride over the bridges without being challenged as to their business or destination. On refusal to stop, the guard will shoot. Nearly all.the young men oyer 19 have joined the-anny. . . • We have a great many Belgians here. The way tho Germans haye treated, them is horrible. . . Some of - the children have had their tongues' cut out, some their eyes picked out, and others have a hand cut off . It really seems as though tho devil is let loose. ...My next door neighbour has sent three sons to tho war. I knew them all from boyhood. It made mo feel very sad when they came to say good-bye,"