Beschreibung:

15 letters dated between Feb. 23 and March 26, 1916 (Feb. 23, 29, Mar. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26). Letters signed "Jim," and addressed to "Lou." Envelopes addressed to "Miss Keogh" with "JMEaves" in the lower left corner. The first letter appears to be from Jim's sister, Jane/Janet. On it he has made comments and apparently forwarded it on to Lou. In the letter, Janet asks him when he and Louise are getting married. Ancestry.com does locate a James Martin (also spelled Martyn) Eaves in Devon, England, born in 1881 or 1882 (father: James; mother: Elizabeth P. Arter, older sister, Janet and younger sister, Constance). Death appears to be in 1963 in Devon (age 82). Louise Keogh is a bit more difficult to find. The surname is Irish, and Jim makes reference to her ancestry on St. Patrick's Day. We did not even find any marriage records for the couple. Two themes, besides the engagement, that dominate the letters are the fact that leaves have been canceled (he notes that some of the family men have not seen their wives or children for over 9 months) and the novelty of air battles. Feb. 19: "It's been a tremendous aeroplane day. Three came over us about 11.0, and we saw one brought down 3 miles away. Three of our machines were after him. We could hear the machine guns as plainly as if they were in the next field. We saw the German drom then regain control and plane to earth, followed by the English machines. I suppose they finished it out on land, for two German dead were brought through this village tonight to the cemetery, on hand ambulances. Another was brought down at S. Venant, near where we had our last billet. This is pretty good week. ...Lovely sun today, and blue sky if only the aeroplanes hadn't chose it as a battlefield. Nature goes on just the same, though. ...a thrush was singing a perfect evening song amid the stutter of the machine guns and the blaze of the star shells. I never saw a more beautiful display than the star shells which light up the sky for miles - great dazzling comets that soar up to a graceful curve and drop in our trenches, or in the part between the trenches called NO man's Land. It's wonderful, isn't it, and fearful at the same time. We've been out here 225 days and it has been going on, every night, just the same. The big gun thumps away six round every night, just before dark, and we count as we sit at dinner. The seconds 17 and 18 msotly, during which we can hear the whirr of the nightly shell across to some spot, I suppose, that the gunners know of." Mar 8: "An aeroplane - one of our own - came down in the next field to us this afternoon. My Sergeant Major pulled the pilot and observer out of the wreckage. I arrived on the scene to find them gone but the aeroplane was there, sadly crumpled. Fortunately the pilot wasn't killed. He had concussion and his face was badly cut, as the ground and the wreckage of the car skewed. "...I've been a Capt. over a year, thanks to the Irish Field Marshal! ...when the war is over we shall allb e given 124 days full pay and permission to be called Capt. forever (!) and to wear our uniforms whenever we like!" Mar 10: "The unfortunate observer in the aeroplane which fell near our farm has lost the sight of both eyes, poor wretch. I don't know if they were knocked out of his head, or cut by the glass of his goggles. The observer in most machines rides in front of the pilot. In fighting machines usually called "Vickers fighters" there is a clever device by which the pilot or observer can use a machine gun. The other ones are used as scouts and don't carry guns. We've got several of each near us. The other day I told you there was a scrap just over our farm, thousands of feet up, of course. They looked like midges but we only had one fighter out who tackled the four Germans, getting above them apparently, but with no success. ...Really I do wish to goodness something would move. I didn't come out here to look after a lot of horses and harness as if