[Beds & Herts Saturday Telegraph: December 15th, 1917]

We have received a most interesting letter from Pte W. Lansdowne, who before the war resided in this district and who is now serving with the Royal Army Medical Corps in Italy. He describes his experiences in, and his impressions of that land, and the work of his vivid pen, interpreting the feelings of an artistic soul, makes pleasant reading.

He left France, he tells us, on November 12th for a five-day journey which will long live in his memory. Having never been to the south of France, the land of grapes and vines, it was one of the finest piece of education one could wish for. He had seen grapes grown in hothouses in England, but in Italy he could see acres of vines growing like the proverbial potato of England.

"Have in your mind," he says, "about two or three acres of land, with young trees planted at 20-yard intervals and ten yards apart, running as wild as the blackberries which grow on the hedgerows of England, and you can form some idea of what it looks like."

Buying oranges from the shops or Luton or Dunstable, he tells us, is quite different to eating them from the tree in the land in which they grow.

The scenery through which he passed on the journey, too, was splendid. A span of sea was to be seen on one side of the train, and on the other vast stretches of mountain. After passing through a tunnel and a small wayside station, they would open out once more into the warm sunshine, and, glancing back out of the truck in which they travelled (Class 4, the writer ironically supposes this method of travelling to be), they could see in the distance mountains stretching up to the clouds, and on their slopes small villages with others nestling in the valleys.

The houses of these sleepy little mountain villages were built of a white composition, and when the sun sparkled on them the scene formed what Pte Lansdowne calls "a little Paradise" which he would never forget. They looked so quiet and peaceful, with streams rippling through them, that it made him wonder what what was this land into which he had come.

"I have been through the Peaks of Derbyshire, " he continues, "and also through the Chiltern Hills, but they would look like molehills by the side of these vast mountains."

Oftimes on the top of the heights could be seen a fine old castle towering above these places like a god or an Almighty Being. In some cases a peak would be crowned by an old ruined castle, with ivy clinging to its beaten, crumbling walls.

Fired with an artist's inspiration, the writer regrets his inability to represent these scenes on canvas, but consoles himself: "But I have framed them in my memory till some future date, when I may be able to write more fully upon these things. England, my home, has its Garden of Eden, but Italy has gardens of Paradise.

Pte Lansdowne continues: "Another quaint sight is the method of farming, and the transport by means of oxen. It seemed rather strange at first to see the use of such beasts after the customs of home. The soil is rather rich and must yield plentifully. The ox does its work equally as well as te horse and I suppose the ox is much cheaper than the horse.

"The people of Italy have given the British troops one of the greatest receptions anyone could wish for. I shall never forget the reception accorded us when we passed through Cannes. People lined the bridges under which we passed and threw flowers and fruit to us, and the cheering was great.

"The language makes us seem a little out of place, for it is a job to make them understand. although we generally manage it after parleying for a little time, and a smile winds up the interaction. I must say I like the people but they need watching, for we were told on our journey that we should have to keep an eye on our belongings, as we were going to the land of the Forty Thieves. I have proved that for making a cheap bargain or taking anything by chance, you cannot beat an Italian, but we shall have to teach them to keep their own counsel, and then it won't happen too often. But they are a people with whom you can make friends, and they are always eager to help in any way they can.

"If any people of Luton and district have the means to visit the land of Italy, I should advise them to do so by all means. I can tell you it will be a fine piece of education and well worth while."

He finished his letter with: "And now time draws on to another Christmas under war conditions, so by the time you get this you will be thinking of your bit of turkey (not bully beef). I wish all in Luton and Dunstable a Merry Christmas and a bright New Year, and by the time another year draws to a close may all be united at home with those left behind, and may peace reign once more."

[Possibly written by Pte William Lansdowne, 89749, R.A.M.C., who lived at 24 Union Street, Dunstable].