Louis-Ferdinand CÉLINE. L.A.S. "Destouches", Combres [August 1914], to his parents; 4pages oblong in-4. Unpublished letter to his parents at the beginning of the war. "Dear Parents For some days I have been unable to write to you, as I have not had the time. We haven't seen the enemy yet, since they are barely 14 k. from us and are bivouacking in French territory. We leave at unbelievable hours, from midnight to 1 a.m., to stock up on supplies in remote areas, and we often don't get back until 8 p.m.. Distribution doesn't take place until around 10 o'clock - as soon as we've gone to bed, we're off again. It's quite cold - and what kills us most of all is the indecision and lack of news [...] despite everything, morale is good despite the extreme fatigue and constant nervousness. A few patrols have ventured as far as the border, with some impatient fighting. [...] The region is infested with troops - there are almost 2,000,000 on our line. Yet we have not yet heard a single cannon shot. It's true that when it does start, it will be for a long time and very loudly. All the slopes are lined with trenches, and in the evening the Woèvre plain is flooded with fire from the forts, but this does nothing to lighten the situation, which seems to us to be very murky"...