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<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ">WOOD END, SCARBOROUGH</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ">16th December 1914.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ">MY
DEAREST OSBERT,</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: "> As I fear a line sent to Chelsea
Barracks may not reach you before you leave tomorrow, I write to you, care of
your regiment, B.E.F. [in Flanders] so that you may find a letter from me
waiting for you when you arrive in the trenches. But I had wanted if possible to
give you a word of advice before you left. Though you will not, of course, have
to encounter anywhere abroad the same weight of gunfire that your mother and I
had to face here - it has been my contention for many years that there were no
guns in the world to compare for weight and range with the great German naval
guns, and that our own do not come anywhere near them - yet my experience may be
useful to you. Directly you hear the first shell, retire, as I did, to the
Undercroft, and remain there quietly until all firing has ceased. Even then, a
bombardment, especially as one grows older, is a strain upon the nervous system
- but the best remedy for that, as always, is to keep warm and have plenty of
plain, nourishing food at frequent but regular intervals. And, of course, plenty
of rest. I find a nap in the afternoon most helpful, if not unduly prolonged,
and I advise you to try it whenever possible.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ">-
Ever your loving father, GEORGE R. SITWELL.</SPAN></P></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>