Lt. H.S. Burnard
C.A.O.

Sunday 9 July 44

Lt. H.S. Burnard
2 CBR Gp.
C.A.O.

Dear Folks-

Riec'd your letter of June 25 last night and was quiet surprised to hear you had no word from me up to that time. Maybe you will have several come at once. Also had a letter from the Jedburgh school teacher giving me the low down on things generally. Sure glad to hear Myra was doing well. Clive wrote and said that they were expecting so was a little anxious to know how things turned out.

Things here are much the same quiet noisey at night because or out artillery guns but comparitively quiet during the day time. Took a draft of men up near the front this morning and saw where they had been fighting a few days ago. The livestock sure take a beating and there is rather high odor because of the dead ones. I don't know where the civilians go but they are carrying on quite normally and treating the war as more or less a necessary nuisance. There bread comes in sticks something like bolgoney and very young kid has a roll to trade fore a chocolate bar. It was funny our guns were putting up a heavy barrage in a little town and I took the wrong road with my two truck loads of men and wound up with them firing a few feet over our heads. I got out to direct traffic and turn the trucks around and here was a young kid about 6 or 7 with a great roll of this bread trying to swap it for a bar. I wasn't feeling any safe but felt a little foolish when this kid was taking everything so calm. The medical corps sure works wonders and the number of causalties certainly is no indication of the number killed. I havn't heard of many being killed. Maybe you remember George Thomas the officer from Regina (not George Walker) that I came overseas with he landed here on D day and was killed the first night. Apparently his outfit got shelled with rockets and the men scattered he went out to bring them back and was machine gunned. Has a little son and daughter at Medicine Hat but his folks are very well off so they will be well taken care of.

Hope this finds you in the very best of health as it leaves me will write again if I'm not busy.

Yours Truly
Harvey B