WWI AEF Letter Feb 1918 14th ENGINEER Regt. in France - GREAT CONTENT !! Indians

Description

World War I soldier's letter, 2 pgs., approx. 4-7/8" x 7-7/8", dated
"France, Feb. 16th, 1918"
, from Capt. (later Major) Robert G. Henderson, 14th Engineer Regiment, to his brother & sister-in-law, Harry and Mabel Henderson, at 27 Washington Square, New York City .
Includes the original envelope, with British "PASSED BY CENSOR" handstamp and with U.S. "OPENED BY CENSOR" label affixed over the right edge of the cover. Return address at top left reads: "R.G. Henderson, Capt. 14th Engrs (Ry), USA". At bottom left is Henderson's self-censor signature, "R.G. Henderson" (as an officer, he could to this).
The 14th Engineer Regiment was recruited in New England, mostly from railroad men, and arrived in France in the fall of 1917. They did important work repairing railroads, building railroads and bridges, often under gun and artillery fire.
Great content
, writing of doing salvaging work in the back areas, and that it is "interesting to see the Chinamen and the various tribes of Indians [British Indian troops] at work", noting that
"Some of the Indians are said to have been head hunters up to a few years ago, but now their chief occupation is picking lice off of each other like a lot of monkeys"
. He writes of the country being "all ugly shell holes & blasted trees", and of the British and American fighting spirit, and "as for the French, they certainly have shown very clearly what they could do at the Marne and at Verdun and a few other places".
Includes:
"Dear Harry & Mabel,
The day before yesterday I took a long trip on inspection over some of our back area lines. you see we also do back area salvaging as well as forward works. What a country it is, all ugly shell holes & blasted trees. This salvaging is quite important work and it gives you quite an insight into the amount of material necessary to conduct a war and also the amount of waste. It is interesting to see the Chinamen and the various tribes of Indians at work. Some of the Indians are said to have been head hunters up to a few years ago, but now their chief occupation is picking lice off of each other like a lot of monkeys.
Last night we had a little dinner to celebrate our first six months in foreign parts. We manage to have a fairly good time out of it. The weather is good - frost tonight, the first for almost a month. The moon shines brightly - (damn it). The papers are full of rumors of what is going to happen this spring and everybody wonders and discusses. I suppose by another month we will know what will be doing. It is good that our army is finally getting into it....
It will be a tug of war this year and I guess plenty of hard fighting, but there's plenty of good fighting spirit n the British Army and in the American too when they finally get going. As for the French, they certainly have shown very clearly what they could do at the Marne and at Verdun and a few other places....
Very Fine.
COMBINED SHIPPING FOR MULTIPLE ITEMS.
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