Roberta Writes – “The Soldier and the Radium Girl Part 1: The Bloom of Youth, Chapter 1: Enlist in haste, repent at leisure (cont. 17 & 18)” by Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Thank you, Nolcha Fox, for publishing parts 17 & 18 of this book. The end of chapter 1 is in sight.

Jake Tanner

Letter from Private Jake Tanner to his fiancé, Kate Henderson 8 January 1918

My dearest Kate

Happy New Year, I hope it will be a good one for us both.

I received your Christmas package and am grateful to you for its thoughtful contents. The food here is still dull and repetitive and there isn’t enough of it, so we are always hungry. The extras you’ve sent will help, but not a day passes that I don’t wish I was back home eating good home cooking. 

Continue reading here: https://chewersmasticadores.wordpress.com/2026/02/06/the-soldier-and-the-radium-girl-part-1-the-bloom-of-youth-chapter-1-enlist-in-haste-repent-at-leisure-cont-17-by-roberta-eaton-cheadle/

Jake Tanner

30 January 1918

Tensions were high among the men. Everyone was desperate to know when their move to the front would happen.

Rumors abounded that the enemy was in a bad way. The newspapers continued to carry stories about the strikes that plagued Austria-Hungary since the 3^rd of January. Apparently, workers were demanding an end to the war.

The latest headlines screamed that the German workers also embarked on a mass strike. There was no food in the German cities, and the people wanted an end to the war.

Continue reading here: https://chewersmasticadores.wordpress.com/2026/02/13/the-soldier-and-the-radium-girl-part-1-the-bloom-of-youth-chapter-1-enlist-in-haste-repent-at-leisure-cont-18-by-roberta-eaton-cheadle/