Ronald Craigie letters - 1916

A collection of 263 letters and postcards written by Ronald Craigie to his mother and his father, the Rev. Charles Craigie, rector of Weston Under Penyard, Herefordshire, between Jul 1915 and Nov 1917 are held in the Herefordshire Archives collection. 

Ronald served as a Lieutenant then Captain with D Company, 6th Battalion King’s Shropshire Light Infantry in Belgium and France from July 1915 – November 1917, when he appears to have been wounded.

During this period, he participated in a series of major engagements including the battles of Loos (Sept 1915), Mount Sorrel (Jun 1916), Guillemont (Sept 1916), Transloy Ridges (Oct 1916) and Menin Road Ridge (Sept 1917). 

The letters provide a vivid picture of life on the front line and the conditions endure by the troops. References to combat are moderated in an effort to avoid alarm at home but the more minor privations are described in full. The importance of home comforts, such as cakes, is a recurrent theme.

These examples are reproduced with thanks to Herefordshire Archive Service.

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