‘We have had an easy time today,’ wrote Sherriff to his mother, ‘as the men require a rest before moving into the line – I hope we shall not be in for long, but one cannot tell exactly.’

He told her not to worry if she did not hear from him for a day or two, because sometimes there was so much work to do that it was impossible to find the time to write. And anyway, ‘should anything happen to me, dear, you would soon know, as they are very prompt in letting you know.’ Furthermore:

‘If anything should happen to me that I should not come back, I would like you to get a bungalow like Sleepy Hollow, and have it at Selsey – buying it out of the money which I have in my office deposit fund, which is now over £50 I believe. I feel there is no nicer way in which I would like the money to be spent.’

Sleepy Hollow – the Sherriff’s railway carriage bungalow on the seafront at Selsey (by permission of the Surrey History Centre)

On the other hand, he much preferred that they should be able to spend the money together, on the tour of England they had often talked about.

He hoped that her hours of work at the hospital were easier for her now – she had probably got used to them by now, he expected, since she had been there quite a long time – in fact, for about as long as he had been in France (‘and that seems long enough’). He hoped that he might get leave soon – there were only around 8 officers in front of him now, and with luck they would all be sent home quickly.

In the meantime, it was time to put down his pencil, since he had to pack up his things, ready for the short march into the front line.

[Next letter: 16 May]