Ella Cooke - Letter to 'Charlie' from London, England, dated 23 October 1914

Letter where Cooke shares her thoughts about the war and describes the city of London. (8 leaves)

An extract from the text reads as follows:

[Page 1]

"Well, ain’t this war dreadful, so overwhelming & terrifying in every way. Goodness only knows what is to be the end of things. I have read many different opinions lately upon the war question. The Anti-Christ (the Kaiser) is supposed to [be] utterly outbeaten by the end of November. If that is so all the better, one can’t go on killing people until the end of time. For the last few days the news of the war has been really favourable & not much fresh news.

[Page 2]

Lord Kitchener has everything kept very secret & quiet. What did you think of the fall of Antwerpt [Antwerp] & Ostend. Winston Churchill got into a fine old pickle over here about it all. It seems Winston Churchill is a rather excitable man. He rushed together several hundred Navy reserve men & sent them over to Antwerpt [Antwerp]. He also flew over after them when the battle was in full swing. Most of the men it seems couldn’t even handle a rifle & besides you can see it was none of Churchill’s business, and that is really why the places fell. I’ve no doubt they will be regained soon, but just now the great thing is to drive the Germans along the coast."