‘I think today is our last day here,’ wrote Sherriff to his father, ‘after a very pleasant 10 days of it – the great advantage is to be away from the Battalion and all ceremony – guards etc – which go with it – the men have had more freedom and sports’.
They would all be sorry to move, he wrote, especially since it was pretty obvious that they would be moving into the line again – still, he realised there was no point simply in wishing himself out of it. He cautioned Pips that there might be times when he would find it impossible to write home for perhaps several days – but he would never fail to write when he had the opportunity: ‘You will simply have to wait and should anything recur you are quickly warned officially even of wounds etc., but I trust that I shall always be in such a favourable position as to write regularly.’
The countryside around them was very beautiful, and he had taken several very pleasant evening strolls while there – the landscape reminded him of the South Downs, and the weather had been quite perfect – breezy and sunny. He had had several opportunities to visit the nearby large town [St Omer], but he had preferred the quiet lanes and towns to a busy town – perhaps because of the lovely quiet time he had enjoyed while home on leave: ‘It will be a long time before I forget those beautiful rides around Worcester Park and Oxshott and our quiet walks in the park and river trips’.
He remarked again about the cricket they had enjoyed while at the School: they had their own bats and stumps, and gloves had been provided by W. J. Abel (an ex-Surrey player, whose more famous father – Bobby Abel – had also played for the County). The games had been ‘pleasant and exciting’ and Sherriff was obviously pleased with his scores of 14, 13 and 23.
He closed with the hope that all would go well with their next trip up the line, and that he would be out again in a month or so, and able to enjoy cricket and quiet walks once more. Then he had to go: he had an inspection in a few minutes, and ‘3 o’clock will see us on the road again in the morning.’
[Next letter: 18 July]