50
THE YPRES TIMES
Happy the man who had a prearranged code. Then it was long odds against
the Censor. Wiggins, for example, used to send innocent-looking letters to
his father addressed variously John K. Wiggins, or John P. Wiggins, or John W
Wiggins, according to whether we were in square K., P., or W. on a squared
and lettered map, of which both Wiggins and his father possessed copies. To give
the location more closely, the envelope was regarded as being the particular square
in question, and an unobtrusive pin-prick indicated the exact spot.
Hawkins, another man with an arranged code, used to send a simple letter
like this to his girl
My Dear Polly,
You will probably be wondering how we are getting on. Perhaps you think
we are having a rough time. Really we are in comfortable billets. Every night
I think of you when I turn in. So long.
George.
By a strange coincidence, you see, the first letters of the successive sentences
happen to spell out the word Ypres. The form of address, My Dear Polly,"
was the signal that we were at a new place. 'At other times he would start
Polly Darling," or words to that effect. The plan worked well. All the same
I think it fortunate for Hawkins that we were in Ypres and not in Zonnebeke. A
letter to a young lady starting off with Zebras or Zymotic Diseases would be
calculated to rouse the suspicions of far less efficient Censors than our own.
Those of us who had no ready-made plan had to improvise one. And here
was the difficulty. Make the hint too transparent, and it would fail to get past
the Censor; make it too obscure, and it would fail to convey any message
when it did get through. This was the trouble about the popular acrostic plan.
To write, Tour parcel received enclosing socks would no doubt satisfy the
Censor if the tell-tale letters were not underlined, but would almost certainly be
missed at home, when every parcel contained socks as a matter of course, so that
some of us had a complete bed of them to lie upon.
On the other hand a more striking sentence such as Yorkshire pudding
resuscitates empty soldiers would be asking for trouble. Then again some of
the lads were not particularly gifted in this form of literary exercise, so that many
of them compared notes, and when a whole series of letters went through containing
the same theme with minor variations, no wide-awake Censor could very well miss
them. Thus, Youthful padre rebukes elderly sinners," followed by Young
padre recites eloquent sermons," followed by Young padre recounts entertaining
stories," proved too much for him to stand. We were told quietly but firmly
that this sort of thing must cease.
My own plan was to use the Field Service Postcard, which contained printed
stereotyped messages, and you were only allowed to cross out those items which
did not apply. You could not write anything except the name and address to which
it was being sent. I calculated that the address side would not be scrutinized very
closely and sent a card to Mr. Y. P. Rees at my home address, where its significance
was at once grasped. Later when we moved to Pop," another card to Mr. P. O.
Perring was equally successful.
My friend Barker was particularly unfortunate in his many attempts. Each
time he beat the Censor, and each time Mrs. Barker failed to realize the import
of the message.
His first plan was to call her attention to a certain line of a certain column
of a certain page of a certain issue of the Daily Mail. He said she would find
