Hugh S. Calverley - A Man at War...
Deer Peebles...
WWI Scrapbook - Hugh Salvin Calverley
WWI Scrapbook - Hugh Salvin Calverley Details
Letter – Henry Dykes came down

Dear Peebles

Dykes came down from Quebec. He is at Trinity. It was a great big review on Sunday and the Duke of Connaught was taking the salute. It has been pouring cats and dogs for three days now. Dykes and I sat by the side of Sir. Wilfred’s car (Laurier). He was talking in French and looking intently at the troops. He looked something like Gran, only there is more of a beak on him. Brookes was there as no uniforms have been issued to us yet, I and some others were spectators. First came the artillery battery on the battery six guns on … Then came the infantry, mostly in good straight lines of two hundred men or more abroad. Two companies. Someone lost his horse along the line and he came tearing past the saluting post. Scotch kilters had their own bagpipe band. Some had white spats, other had khaki spats. The Halton Rifles were there. The Gravediggers have black uniforms and gaiters and do not like to be called sextons at all. There were two regimental dogs running round, a big white one and a collie. There were some lovely little regimental pups. I photoed some of them. How are the photos coming out? …then the bunch you sent to me. I made a chess board and a set of cardboard chessmen which can be easily thrown away when we move. I got a set of boxing gloves and we have great scraps. They say that they will sweat the guts out of us. In the next week or so we are in for it. Seale is most at home here. He thinks that the bunch in his tent are crude though and don’t know anything! We went and found the Moose Jaw people the other day. They had men shifted and we had an awful job finding them…….no end to this letter



Letter – Just had a hot salt water bath – September, 1914

Just had a hot salt water bath and feel a new man. We are waiting at Pembroke ? and waited outside Quebec for a while. They do not know where we are bound for but guess it Liverpool as a destination.

The gloves I got at Quebec are most successful and are used every day after parade. The firemen were boxing too and some of the sailors. ..had a round with…and they mixed it up well. They were playing crazy games all the time for first few days till the officers got after them. Some of them lost forty or fifty dollars. The craziest nut, one man, grabbed over a hundred dollars of it. Now everybody caught at it gets put in the guard room. One of them got four days. But just after the order had been read out, four of them started with throwing the bones. Captain Morrison is in command of the company and Lieutenant Van der Smissen, son of the Varsity Professor, is second in command. We have been doing Swedish Drill once a day. Troop exercises most heating. They will get some….up for good and get my feet in shape with any luck. I didn’t get leave to look at Quebec while we were in Valcartier. I thought I would wait till I go to England to get my shot. Glover is a public school boy in the O T C before he was here. He is in the signaling corps. They are teaching the companies semaphore.

….Hugh


Photo – Signallers, 3rd Batt.
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