Harrogate Herald - 25th December 1918

Cecil J Beck, son of Mr and Mrs Harry Beck, Valley Mount, Harrogate, who was formerly employed by Messrs Procter Bros., Oxford Street, and later hotel porter at the Stray Hotel, who joined the 1st West Yorks, at the early part of the war, in a letter to Mr George Procter, of the above-named firm, says : "It's all over and we are victorious. Isn't it great to be an Englishman! Once again we have fought and won - won by fighting fair and square, not as our enemy tried to do by all the fiendish methods and tricks he could think of. On the night we heard the glorious news I was in bed (?) and, strange to say, I did not feel at all excited. A feeling came over me which is hard to describe - one of real true contentment, and I overslept myself the next morning, a thing I have never done since I joined the Army. The censor has been kind for once, and we are allowed to give the name of the place we are stationed at. It is called Masinores. It is an awful spot, absolutely void of interest, not a whole house standing. What a place to come home to! How those poor French people have suffered! It's too awful to think about. Along with four chums I am living in an old Boche-made stable. It stands in its own mud, but really it is not too bad. We have made beds from trees and wire

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