24 York St.
Bamer St
London. W.
1st Aug. '16.
Dear Mr. Mackenzie,
Thank you so much for your very kind letter. I was stunned at first but now I realize that Fran was splendid & that is really all that matters - he was the best Bomber in the Dept. He was hit in the head by a sniper & killed instantly, he did not suffer - he was just getting his commission in the R.F.[?] of the Imperial Army - "he is not dead at all, dead tho' the house of him seems," just gone to work in another sphere - He was a good boy, & never gave me a momments' anxiety - & so I have a beautiful memory of him - & I have had dozens of letters, all speaking in the highest terms of him. His earliest training lay in your hands, & I must thank you, for the large part you played in the formation of his character, for character is really all that matters - all we take over with us at the last. It will be very nice to have a memorial, an example to all those in years to come of the great principle - "Those you lose their lives shall find them" Fran was just starting his fourth & last year in the Yarrow Shops at Victoria B.C. he was a very fine mechanic.
Again thanking you & Mrs Mackenzie for your very kind thought of me in my great grief & with kindest regards,
Very Sincerely,
Marguerite Kinloch