Martin, Gilbert (Corporal, b.1890 - d.?)

Collection relating to the First World War service of 2424 Private Gilbert Martin, 4th Pioneer Battalion, France, 1918. Collection consists of a single letter written by Gilbert to his sister Alice Martin, dated 19 May 1918. Gilbert writes in a dry and fatalistic tone about the death and destruction around him and how the troops 'box on' despite it all. The letter is written on a large single sheet of paper that he salvaged from the office of a village wool mill; 'I should say they must have employed 200 or 300 hands a few weeks ago and now it is a washout'. He says they are all wearing women's jackets and stockings that have been similarly looted or 'salvaged'. The letter describes 'splendid big houses knocked rotten, furniture, pianos, in fact everything destroyed by man in his ambition to kill'. He says he's now as 'mad as a beetle', and asks after friends and girlfriends at home, saying that he's 'quite forgotten the art' of kissing. On the back of the letter is written a short parody of 'Mary had a little lamb'.