Unwanted: Great War Letters from the Field

433 Pages·2001·7.214 MB·English

by  John McKendrick Hughes

The Unwanted
Great War Letters from the Field

john m kendrick hughes
c
The Unwanted
Great War Letters from the Field
Edited by JOHN R. HUGHES
The University of Alberta Press
Published by All rights reserved.
The University of Alberta Press
Ring House 2 No part of this publication may be
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E1 produced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any forms or by any means,
Copyright Original Manuscript © 1956 electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
John McKendrick Hughes recording, or otherwise, without the prior
Copyright Edited Manuscript © 2005 written consent of the copyright owner or
John R. Hughes a licence from The Canadian Copyright
Copyright Introduction © 2005 Licensing Agency (Access Copyright).
Craig Gibson For an Access Copyright license, visit
www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free:
Printed and bound in Canada by 1–800–893–5777.
Houghton Boston Printers, Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan. The University of Alberta Press is committed
First edition, first printing, 2005 to protecting our natural environment. As
part of our efforts, this book is printed on
ISBN 0–88864–436–1 stock produced by New Leaf Paper: it
contains 100% post-consumer recycled
fibres and is acid- and chlorine-free.
library and archives canada
cataloguing in publication data The University of Alberta Press gratefully
acknowledges the support received for its
Hughes, John McKendrick, 1882–1967. publishing program from The Canada
The unwanted : Great War letters from Council for the Arts. The University of
the field / John McKendrick Hughes ; Alberta Press also gratefully acknowledges
edited by John R. Hughes. the financial support of the Government
of Canada through the Book Publishing
Includes bibliographical references Industry Development Program (BPDIP)
and index. and from the Alberta Foundation for the
ISBN 0–88864–436–1 Arts for our publishing activities.
1. Hughes, John McKendrick, Scratchboard Illustrations of wheat, a
1882–1967. 2. Hughes, John McKendrick, potato, a cow and an onion used
1882–1967—Correspondence. 3. World War, throughout the book are by Michael
1914–1918—Food supply. 4. World War, Halbert and are used by permission of
1914–1918—Personal narratives, Canadian. the artist.
5. Great Britain. Army—Biography.
I. Hughes, John R. (John Richard), 1949–
II. Title.
D640.H87 2005 940.4'8171
C2005–902338–4
To my grandfather John McKendrick Hughes,
for writing the letters and then the manuscript.
To my grandmother,Sara Maria Purdy Hughes,
for keeping the letters safe for many,many years.
To my father,John Paul Hughes,for supporting
and encouraging me through the long,complex
process of publication.

Contents
xi Author’s Notes 43 On Active Service
xiii Editor’s Notes 47 Area Commandant
xv Acknowledgements 51 Agricultural Officer,
xvii The Great War and John 9th Corps
McKendrick Hughes’s 57 The Quiet Life of a Farmer
Western Front Experience 64 Excerpts From Many
by Craig Gibson Letters
69 We Go to the 2nd Army
1 Prologue 72 Passchendaele—We Must
3 Gardens Have the Canadians
7 The California 75 AO for the 4th Army
11 England’s Grass 82 Plows, Harrows, and Paris
16 The Unwanted 86 Stuck in a Snowdrift
20 How Canada’s Army 90 The Earl of Folkestone
Was Made 95 We Vote
31 France 97 Items From Here
34 England and There
39 Staff Lieutenant, 103 On the Roads of Flanders
Second Class and Nord
112 A Ton of Garden Seed 205 On the Road to the Rhine
115 Pigs 210 The Rhine
119 Before the Storm 212 Opera
123 The Storm 215 Christmas 1918
128 The Portuguese Ran Away 217 The Guards’ Colours
and Saved the British Army 219 The Prince of Wales
132 Refugees 222 The Armistice Commission
140 The Guards Come Up 225 Army Cows on the Rhine
143 A Rather Delicate Job 227 We Decide Not to
145 Farming in the Front Line Requisition the
149 Parcels from Home Cologne Cathedral
151 Yankees and Other 229 Hotel Manager
Neighbours 231 Touring the Rhine
153 In a Monastery Garden 235 Going Home
156 The Harvest of ‘18 237 Russia and the Foreign
159 In the Dark of the Moon Office
164 We Give the Heir to a 240 The Happiest Girl
Dukedom Permission in the World
to Marry 244 Our Last Camp Overseas
166 Binders in Shell Holes and Home
170 To London for Binder 246 We, the Unwanted,
Twine Go Home
174 A Dead Fritz in a Shell Hole
177 Only a Ford Could Do It 249 Appendices
181 Romance 251 Appendix I—Review of the
183 Hughes’s Dragoons Agricultural Work
187 Plumer’s Cows 259 Appendix II—Letter to
The Secretary, War Office from
189 The English Press
Travers Clark, MG for Field
191 I Am a Socialist
Marshal Haig
193 The Navy Comes for a Visit
263 Appendix III—Excerpt from a
195 German Army Farms
Letter to Lieutenant Saubot
199 The War Is Over from Lt-Col Reynaud, DS
202 Turkeys for Christmas
265 Appendix IV—John 325 Abbreviations
McKendrick Hughes—A 327 Notes
Biography 377 Selected Bibliography
307 Appendix V—Two Letters 383 Index
to Sara