Letter from Fr. Charles McMenemy

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Andy McMenemy

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Headquarters
12th A.A.Brigade
A.A.S.F.
B.E.F
November 16th 1939

Dear Aileen and Ernie

This, with reasonable luck, ought to reach you within four or five days, so I will wish you, Aileen, all good wishes for your birthday, and many happy returns of the day. I'm afraid I'm rather late in writing, but there has not been very much opportunity. First there was the long journey to get here, and now I find my day pretty well filled up. But I'd better start from the beginning. There was some delay in leaving England owing to getting our transport away before getting on board ourselves. Then when we arrived in France there was a long road journey, broken constantly for further instructions. Finally we reached our destination and we are now "somewhere". Just where I'm afraid I can't tell you for obvious reasons. All I can say is that things are very quiet. There has been practically nothing in the way of excitement.

We had a most wonderful journey through France. Scenery varied considerably, but everywhere we saw the really wonderful colouring of autumn. I don't know whether it is my imagination or not but everything seems much later here. It is still a joy to see the countryside. The weather has been very strange. At first it was horribly cold, then it started raining, and then there came a very warm period with lots of sunshine. Now, unfortunately, it has turned very cold again with continuous rain. There is also plenty of mud of a peculiarly sticky nature. Than goodness I bought some gum boots before leaving England.

My main job is a most peculiar one. I have men scattered all over the countryside. Three here, ten there, thirty in another place. As a result I am out every morning until the evening visiting them, arranging for them to get to mass - there we are fortunate for we use the French churches - and dealing with all the little problems that come into a chaplain's day. My "parish" is about a hundred miles long and eighty miles wide. The result is - I now drive a car. I began to learn about three weeks ago, and already I have covered great distances under my own steam! There have been no accidents yet, though occasionally I stop on the way up hills and going round corners!

There are other jobs which have fallen to my lot. I am doing the censoring of letter here at Headquarters and I am also looking after the Officer's Mess. I don't think I shall really develop into a first class housekeeper. Each morning is a horror. I arrange meals - and foods - in French is an absolute nightmare. My French at its best is sketchy. When technical terms creep in it's just hopeless! Still it's not bad fun.

Last week we succeeded in getting a wireless set, so now we listen in to England. This brings a little touch of home into our lives, and altogether we are not at all badly off. The only discomfort is the lack of news about things and people we know. There is an appalling delay in the arrival of letters from home. I had one from Fr. Altree which took just on three weeks to arrive, and one from Mother which took just over a week. Do write when you get this. I shall try to write regularly now that the "settling-in" stage has passed.

We are only a small part here. There is the Brigadier, an awfully decent fellow, the Brigade Major and the Staff Captain, both good fellows. These two and I are beginning to be called the Three Musketeers. There are two other officers also billeted with us - both sound lads.
Our billet is very comfortable. A large private house which has central heating and constant hot water, one does not appreciate that fully until one has sampled the mud of France. I got stuck in it the other day, and when I went in search of help - the first three Frenchmen I met were Poles - all my good French sentences so carefully prepared were quite wasted! To-day I quite frankly gave up. I set off this morning meaning to do a big round, but only managed two places. Then the rain got so thick and the roads so bad that I came back while I could.

This is a most scrappy letter, I'm afraid, but it really is awfully difficult to write coherently. I can't tell you where we are, or in what part of the country or anything or anything at all interesting. It is a perfect waste of splendid material! So I have just have to put down anything that comes into my head - after censoring it mentally first!

There have been one or two strange meetings. On my way through France I met Fr. Savage who lives next door to me in London and who was at school with me. I also met a man whom I last saw in Inverness three years ago, a young Airman to whom I taught Catechism ten years ago, and a lad who left St Edmund's in 1937. As time goes on I suppose I shall meet more.

I'm not going to ask you to send anything out to me. We get 50 cigarettes every week, and in any case they are very plentiful and very cheap. As for the other comforts of life - well I seem to have provided myself with them before starting. Literature is rather a problem, but we share what novels we have and there isn't a lot of time yet for reading.

Now I am really stuck for something to write about. I won't ask you any questions about London. You will probably give me all the news when you write.

Good-bye for the time being. My love to you both.

Your affectionate brother
Teddie

C.E.McMenemy

Last Modified: 11/09/2004 20:57