France 30 May 1916 Dear Sister, I received your ever welcome letter last night, glad to see that you were all well as this leaves me fine the weather out here is a bit unsettled out here just now, but it has been fair most of the time. I will not get the parcel for a few more days yet as they don't bring any parcels up here and we are up for sixteen days and we have a little better than half of the time in now, so I will have to wait a day or so but I suppose it will be all right for a time there is not very much to write about out here one may get used to shell fire in one way we get used to know what is coming but I think it is just the same feeling when one hears them coming and sees them burst, the natural instinct is to get down, and if one uses his common sense he will stay down until it is over but of course I never have been through very much shelling, but enough to know what it is like, there is one thing we learn to do very quickly out here and that is to get down, especially when we hear a M.G.1 opening up in our direction, we don't take time to look for a nice place anywhere at all then look for a place afterwards, well, I will have to stop now as we are going to move tonight again to some other place, when we have got settled down here for a few days then I suppose we will get out to our billets the weather is fine today, if it was not for a few guns going off, one would hardly think there was a war at all but every day is not like this. Do you remember our cousin Tom who joined in Canada, I don't know whether you see him or not, but he was at our place when he was on leave. I had word from Canada that he had been killed out here about a month ago2, that will make two of our cousins3 in a very short time, but I suppose such is the fortune of war well I think that is all this time hope to hear from you soon. I remain Your loving brother Alex