WW1 - Gyan Singh's letter to his brother in Punjab

Gyan Singh (Sikh) wrote (52) to his brother in Punjab in Gurmukhi on 15th April from Indian Army Depot Milford – on – Sea.

“The German is very strong. His planes sail the clouds and drop shells from the sky: his mines dig up the earth and his hidden craft strike below the sea. Bombs and blinding acid are thrown from his trenches which are only 100 to 50 yards from ours. He has countless machine guns which kill the whole firing line when in attack. When he attacks we kill his men. The dead lie in heaps. England is full of wounded. No man can return to the Punjab whole. Only the broken – limbed can go back. The regiments that came first are finished – here and there a man remains. Reinforcements have twice and three times brought them up to strength but straightaways they were used up. The German is very strong."

Reference:
Omissi, David, Indian voices of the Great War. Soldier’s letters, 1914-18, London, 1999.
PS - The transcripts of the original letters are kept in the India Office Library at the British Library, London.