Letter to Mother from Somewhere in France
Somewhere in France
7-8-17[sic]
Dear Mother:–
I have spent most of the P.M. in lying around and reading and sleeping. it is muddy. it rained several hours thru the night and A.M. Pete Campbell we left at Witley in quarantine joined use this A.M. he took the same coarse as I did on the m.gun at the other camp he is in my co’y. he looked like a wash and a good sleep would do him good but he felt fine and stood around and talked just like he would in the street at home.
There was a Fritz plain come over at noon yesterday but I only watched it for a minuit and then I came in and ate my dinner and forgot all about it, Our shells were bursting in plenty numbers around it but I did not wait to see results.
I am on inlying fire piquet for 24 hours up till 6 P.M. there is nothing to do but stay in camp all the time
we did not receive our mail this week that we expected to have forwarded from Witley but I got two letters and a parcel any way the parcel of candy and cookies from annies was fine we enjoyed it great. there is an awfull quantity of packages comes in each week to a co’y of men.
bye bye as ever your loving son Laurie
Sunday 8th 6 P.M.
I wrote other two pages sitting up in my chicken wire bunk and it being the third bunk up it has no surplus of light so I naturaly do not improve in my writing when there I am now in Y.M.C.A. hut.
We have a new Chaplain he first spoak to day and I tell you my first impresions of the man are that he is manly thru and thru now when a man is that you can guess what kind of Gospel talk we got, and welcome to make freinds with him during the coming days, he has spent 22 years in canada in Man. Sask. Alberta, B.C. and the Klondike, so you may know that he will find favor among use. he has been a R.N.W.M.P. in the earlier days
Our batt has a good name there is no batt I would go to in prefrence if I had a choice and they have done good fighting all along for about 11 mo.’s Our officers are fine men I like them fine. There is a sergt. in our co’y by my name also another pte. I have not met him yet.
Some of the boys think we are getting to much drill they have such a habit of kicking that if the batt. made them get up at 5.30 for breakfast and had nothing to do all day, they would want to sleep untill noon instead.
Well bye bye Mother dear as ever your loving son Laurie
P.S. If there is any thing I don’t tell you just mention it you know I have no idea how my letters read at all. L.