The thrilling experiences which have been undergone by our gallant soldiers in South Africa, especially the Northamptons, have supplied the material for numberless interesting letters to the friends at home, and these interesting missives continue to arrive. On Sunday last Mr. and Mrs. Eli King, of Pemberton-street, Rushden, received a letter from their son, Private E. King, No. 5652, 2nd Northamptonshire Regiment:-
Modder River
Dec. 8th 1899.
Dear Mother and Father and Sisters and Brother,
I write these few lines to you hoping to find you well as it leaves me the same. The first fight that I went into was at Belmont and the bullets fell like hailstones. The next one was at Graspan and we had it a bit rough there too. Then we started to march the next morning at 2 o’clock, and we had not got above two miles before they started to fire at us again, and we were at it all day. It lasted 13 hours and a half, and we had no food from 2 o’clock in the morning till 8 o’clock at night. I think we are going to stop at this place to keep the supply depot. This place is Modder River. I wrote a letter at Orange River and I have received no answer yet. If you happen to write don’t forget to send a paper. If you send one, send Lloyd’s. Since we have been at Modder River, we have had plenty of food. We had a lot that was captured from the Boers, but it’s no joke to be fighting with lumps of lead flying round you. The worst thing I saw was when we were going towards the mountain. There was a chap aside of me was going along chatting to me when all of a sudden there was a bullet hit him straight in the eye and came out at the back of his shoulder, and the dead look horrible to see. But I don’t think we do any more fighting, not our Regiment, because I think we stop at Modder River. I think this is all this time from your loving son –
Ernest.
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