Letter · Aug 1916 · Flanders Fields, Belgium
A shell hole to sleep in
Harry Norton was killed in action on 15 September 1916, at Flanders. His family were not informed of his death for 5-6 weeks, and continued to write to him. Their letters were returned marked with 'deceased'. Harry wrote to his wife everyday - his letters are very descriptive and personal.
Extracts from this letter
"We have arrived at the very heart of war, and are on a very much talked about battlefield. It is wonderful and awful."
"Shell holes every few yards, & some of them have water in them. Very slimy. Others are fairly clean, and we wash in them."
"Last night Du and I slept in a shell hole. We just scraped it flat and smooth on the bottom, and put our Oil sheets down, & our overcoats on. We were about 3 ft below the surface of the ground, & there was room for four others. We slept pretty warm squeezed up tight."
