Beschreibung:

72 letters and notes, 5 Field Service postcards and two telegrams. Letters from training camp: [Forton Barracks] Jan. 10; Feb. 4; Feb. 11; Mar. 10; Mar. 16; April 7; April 13; "Sunday"; May 27; May 17 (return from Ireland); June 8; [Belton Park Camp, Grantham] June 15; June 20; June 29; July 1; July 7; July 20; July 17; "Friday"; 2 August; 7 August {"Pictorial Letter Camp of Grantham, small pamphlet with 8pp of photos of the region; letter is written on inside of covers}; 11 August; 14 August; 18 August; [Clipstone, Notts.] "Monday" {with 3 2 x 2.75 in. photos of trenches at training camp}; 25 August; Sept. 3; Sept. 4 {"On one of H.M. Transports, at anchor near a certain port where I was stationed for some months."}, 1916. Letters written during service in Ireland during the "Easter Uprising": April 27; April 28; May 1; May 5, May 9; May 14, 1916. Does not give much information because of censorship rules. He does indicate that "...we are using "moral" suasion not "active" against the enemy at present, it is quite possible we may return home shortly, or again, we may stay here as a preventive of trouble for some months." Letters from the field: Sept. 7; ["In my Dug-out / The Trenches / France"] Sept. 17; [France] Sept. 19-20; Sept 24; Sept. 28; Oct. 1; Oct. 4; Oct. 5; Oct. 9-14; Oct. 14; Oct. 16; Oct. 19; Oct. 24; Oct. 28; Oct. 29; Nov. 3; Nov. 5; Nov. 10 (2 - one to parents, one to Aunt Mary); Nov. 12, 1916 (short note). Field Service postcards: Oct. 12; Oct. 17; Oct. 19; Oct. 31; Nov. 4, 1916. Two telegrams, one from the Admiralty, informing the Chapman's of the death of their son, and one from Buckingham Palace from the King and Queen offering condolences. Plus 18 letters from friends of both Alfred and his parents offering condolences. Many of these are from other congregations and the Baptist Ministry, since Mr. Chapman was a minister. Sept. 17: "You will see from the heading that I am having a spell in the trenches. This is only a preliminary stunt & we come back to billets on Sunday just for one night & then come up here again for 15 days. Life on this part of the line is fairly quiet & passably comfortable. There is a continual artillery strafe all day long, & occasional M.G. & rifle fire. I have a central dug-out from which I can keep in touch with my various gun teams. ... "Our servants manage to rig up a field oven & do some marvellous cooking for us. Providing bacon & eggs is quite a regular breakfast. It is a fact the men are fed splendidly & are in excellent spirits. Of course, they grumble; every British soldier does, its part of his job, but down at heart, has a grand character, ready to do anything for you..." Sept. 24: "Last Thursday we were out for some four hours or so on our horses, reconnoitering the neighbourhood. On Friday I attended an inspection at a large open space, by a very high General who presented medals to some of the Gallipoli heroes, among them three of our noble regiment. After the inspection I witnessed an exhibition of the German "liquid fire." It is certainly pretty deadly, but only has a range of 25 yards, & can only last one minute, so that on endless supply of jets is necessary to be very effective. We don't find the enemy using them now very frequently." Oct. 9: "The bosch is sending over some healthy ones now, firing at our aeroplanes. Often a dozen are up at once, & go right over to the German lines, but one very rarely sees a Taube venture over our way. It is surprising how soon you get to know the sound of the various stiff sent over. Each has a different whistling as it goes through the air. Personally I think minnies are the worst, apart of course, from H.E. You can't hear them coming until they're nearly on you...." "There are all sorts of familiar names given to trenches. One can wander along Marble Arch, Holborn Hall, sorts of other friendly spots." Oct. 24: "In France it is always raining or about to rain, chiefly the former. The roads are absolutely chock full of traffic &