Letters from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his family and a condolence letter, June 1916 - c. September 1918

Letters relating to the First World War service of Lieutenant Charles Edwin Gatliff, 13th Field Artillery Brigade, 26 June 1916 - c. September 1918.

This file contains letters written by Gatliff to family members during the period 5 January to 25 December 1917. He describes the devastation of towns and villages, with the Light Horse controlling exodus traffic along the roads. He documents a trip from Marseilles to Paris taken six months earlier, noting the picturesque countryside, wildflowers, Roman ruins, crops and vineyards. He refers to the cold weather, the sameness of the work and "the blanky returns" to furnish each day. He also reports news on brothers Hal [Vivian Harold Gatliff] and Frank [Frank Edward Gatliff] including the latter's death in Belgium on 6 August 1917.

Gatliff descriptively writes about changes to the landscape, noting forests reduced to a mass of shattered trunks, and green hills and valleys a sea of mud marked with shell holes and networks of trenches. Letters penned during December describe heavy frost "looking like a huge Xmas card", precarious conditions for horse riding, dealing with a cook's cart whose mules kept falling down, and his disappointment at not joining brother Hal in London for Christmas, instead, noting his own Christmas activities including service in a schoolroom and subsequent dinner.

The file also includes a letter originally composed by Gatliff on 26 June 1916 that was rewritten and prefaced on 9 March 1917, a key to numbers he inscribed on letters from August to December 1917, and an extended extract from a condolence letter he composed concerning the death of 3058 Bombardier William David Hilder in January 1917.

This file contains:

Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 1 January 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to [his family], France, 3 January 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 5 January 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 7-10 January 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 12 January 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 18 January 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 22 January 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 2 February 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 10 February 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 14 February 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 17 February 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 20 February 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 26 February 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 27 February 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 2 March 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 5 March 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 7 March 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 9 March 1917 [composed 26 June 1916 and rewritten and prefaced 9 March 1917];
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 11 March 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 13 March 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 17 March 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 22 March 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 26 March 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 30 March 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 4 April 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 15 April 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 20 April 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 25 May 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 27 May 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to [siblings] Ern and Florrie, France, 31 May 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 3 June 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, France, 8 June 1917;
Extract of a letter from Charles Edward Gatliff to Miss Davis, France, 16 June 1917 [note attached];
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, No. 3 [London] General Hospital, Wandsworth, London, 21 June 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, No. 3 General Hospital, Wandsworth, London, 23 June 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, London, 26 June 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, Premier Hotel, Russell Square, London, 2 July 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, London, 6 July 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, No. 1 Command Depot, Perham Down, 10 July 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, No. 1 Command Depot, Perham Down, 14 July 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, No. 1 Command Depot, Perham Down, 15 July 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, No. 2 Command Depot, Monte Video Camp, Weymouth, 24 July 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, No. 2 Command Depot, Monte Video Camp, Weymouth, 29 July 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, Camp No. 20, Larkhill, Salisbury Plain, 6 August 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, Larkhill, Salisbury Plain, 26 August 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Boulogne], France, 31 August 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Rouelles], France, 6 September 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Belgium], 9 September 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Saint-Momelin], France, 13 September 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Saint-Momelin], France, 16 September 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Saint-Momelin], France, 19 September 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Saint-Momelin], France, 23 September 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Saint-Momelin], Flanders, 27 September 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [near Ypres], Belgium, 30 September 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [near Ypres], Belgium, 2 October 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [near Ypres], Belgium, 3 October 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Nonne Bosschen], Belgium, 6 October 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Chateau Segard], Belgium, 19 October 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Chateau Segard], Belgium, 21 October 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Chateau Segard], Belgium, 22 October 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Chateau Segard], Belgium, 24 October 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Chateau Segard], Belgium, 26 October 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Chateau Segard], Belgium, 29 October 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Chateau Segard], Belgium, 1 November 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Chateau Segard], Belgium, 1 November 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Broodseinde], Belgium, 3 November 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Chateau Segard], Belgium, 5 November 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Chateau Segard], Belgium, 7 November 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Chateau Segard], Belgium, 11 November 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Le Creche], Belgium, 15 November 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, Belgium, 16 November 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, Belgium, 18 November 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, Belgium, 23 November 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Messines], Belgium, 25 November 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Messines], Belgium, 27 November 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Rossignol], Belgium, 30 November 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, Belgium, 1 December 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Kemmel], Belgium, 3 December 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Rossignol], Belgium, 9 December 1917;
Letter from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his father and mother, [Estrée], France, 25 December 1917; and
Photostat key to numbers on letters by Charles Edwin Gatliff from August to December 1917, C.E.G. [Charles Edwin Gatliff], London, [c. September 1918].