Letter · 16 Oct 1915 · Gallipoli, Ottoman Empire
One never knows when one is going to get biffed
GS Richardson was a high-ranking military official who led a number of units (NZ and British) and was promoted through the war. For his bio, see: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3r16/richardson-george-spafford
Extracts from this letter
"This reminds me of my wife & family whom I have scarcely seen for over a year & are now tasting the horrors of the Zipp [sic] visits to London - I often wonder if I shall ever see them again altho [sic] I feel confident of doing so but one never knows when one is going to get 'biffed' with a bit of metal as there is plenty of it flying about"
"I have had hundreds of narrow squeaks but every other fellow has ... I was talking to an officer the other day & he was killed alongside me ... Both my horses have been shot - A bullet came through my canvas bath the other morning just as I was going to get into it - shrapnel and shell are constantly bursting over one & the bullets fall around you ... I could give many instances of marvellous escapes."
"Life here is not going to be pleasant ... We are not comfortable in villages as in France when we come out of the Trenches but have to live in holes in the ground with no covering & never knowing when a shell is going to drop in your 'dug out' as every one is under fire from the Beach to the firing line - we can't get on because the Enemy trenches & troops are too numerous & we have insufficient men."
