Letter to Mother from Witley
Witley
25-4-17
Dear Mother:–
We have had five ideal spring days that we have all enjoyed to the fullest extent I have been working around in my shirt sleaves in comfort and yesterday I went about eleven miles away with empty rifle boxes and back, it was a dandy trip three teams, we sat in the sun by the big stone wall near a creek, we tied our teams in the trees to eat there oats out of there nose bags and then they had a bundle of hay we carry in a hay net, made for the purpose.
I bot a shillings worth of cookies to eat at noon, they were good, but did only eat 2/3 of my dinner.
This A.M. I halled two loads of sand that was only fun I loaded half the limber the brake man the other half the last load I backed up the limber under the bank and got up on top of the bank and loaded the wagon a good 20 feet below this life is a joak so far but Mother it very soon will change to service of the real kind but surely it is coming to me after 13 months in the army. Do you know that Westgate has quit drinking and smoking and today I said well Wess why did you quit smoking anyway. he said “why I saw you and I just wanted to be like you”. Now an’t that an inosent answer in a way. think of these boys who are so dear to there mothers and fathers who get going wrong and can’t quit because they like to go with the crowd.
We are getting a big field day tomorrow which I will enjoy to the fullest. the scenes are great these days I hope I only see more of them to different camps around.
Our canadian mail will be in tomorrow we think it is two weeks mail realy, The 210th has arrived last week. I wonder when the 225th will come John Patterson is in one of these batt.s
Well good night Mother dear as ever your loving son Laurie, I will write a longer letter soon and send an other regestered package some souvenirs I never got them away yet, did you ever get my kit bad I sent home a long time ago,