France

July 15/18

Dear Cath:

It’s been a regular old scorcher today and the brigade has just been inspected by the minister of militia. Gee! I thought I would melt out there in the field but as you see I managed to pull through all right. Am back in the same billet I wrote you from a couple of weeks or so ago on the bank of the creek and I haven’t yet decided whether I will go in for a splash or not. The water seems awfully inviting. However for the present I’ll get on with my writing & think about the swim afterwards.

Rec’d your last letter written in Toronto yesterday (at least it was supposed to have been the last you would write there), and of course I was glad to hear from you again. But to judge from what Maud says in her letter of the 22^nd June I’m not at all sure whether you have left the city yet or no. She tells me “Cath was supposed to have come home last night but she hasn’t called us upon the phone or anything so we don’t know whether she’s home or not?

Was quite surprised to get a letter from Joe Sheldon the other day. He is now at Military camp on the strength of a reserve battalion there. There was very little news in the note – he was having a joke time etc. and the conscripts were being drilled to beat the dickens. But, he is very anxious to have me stop one of the Fritzie bullets so I can get over there with him. You see my reserve unit is at the same camp. Of course the suggestion is a mighty good one in a way but there is one drawback – Fritz might not put the said bullet in the proper place to send me back to Blighty. So I think I’ll keep on hugging the bottom of the trench as usual. Joe seems to have become quite friendly since the war broke out. For a long time previous to that he wouldn’t even say “hello” when we passed each other on the street. Why? – for the simple reason that I walked home with Hilda from the rink one night when Joe didn’t happen to be on the job. Pretty series, eh what?

I had another nice letter from Mrs. Leslie not long ago. She also sent me a couple of weekly papers. She was at Neston when the letter was written. Mrs. Clarke has hopes that her husband may be exchanged before long now, and I certainly hope she is not disappointed. She heard from two men interned in Holland who had formerly been with Capt. Clarke in Germany and they stated that he was in good health. But I expect this is old news to you people by this time. 

Have you heard anything of Jim McLaren lately. I have not seen or heard from him for a long time.

Well I had practically nothing to say when I started this scrawl + I have een(even?) less the neo(news?) I’ll say bye bye. We’ve had quite a lot of rain during the past week + I guess it hasn’t all fallen yet. Regards to all at home. Am feeling great.

Les