Feb. 19, 1916

Dear Lola,

I received your letter on Tuesday and very glad to hear you are all keeping well. As far as I know all the fellows are well over here. You see Will Booker George Simpson Billy Bull and Frank Cookson have all gone over to France to the 19th Battalion. They left camp on Thursday 3rd but I think they stayed in Southampton a few days because the water was rough and they couldn't see the submarine periscopes very well while the water was so rough so they wouldn't take chances. Will Booker George Simpson and I all went down and saw Fred the night before they left and he is keeping well and he is expecting to go across anytime now. Bob Dexter and Arthur Hornsey are in the bomb throwers to that means that I'm left here myself now as far as the fellows from home are concerned. All my chums that I've had ever since we came to England have been parted too. There were seven of us and we were a pretty jolly crew in fact I was the only solemn one among them so you see it makes it seem all the more lonesome now we are all separated but we should worry. I am able to still meet 2 of them in Folkestone at night by appointment and last night we had our picture's taken together. Thank you very much for the picture. I think it is a very good one and so do the rest of the boys. Jennie wants to make sure she is out of focus next time before she stops to laugh. I wasn't on guard on Christmas day but I was on picket Christmas eve and I was on guard when I got your last letter. The guard past our hut asked them if there was any mail and then we passed it around the guards to the guard room and that saves the waiting man a journey. We got plenty guards these days for our battalion is a long way below strength now for they are all going over in drafts. They have put us back into E company now and made it a draft company and any draft wanted it picked from it. There is a draft going to the lst Battn. tomorrow morning and they say there is a draft to be picked tomorrow so perhaps I'll be lucky enough to get on it. You said you had a very quiet Christmas and from what Mother told me they had a very quiet one too for there was only Ma and Dad and Minnie and Ralph home so I guess it was a quiet one. I wonder if there'll be very many quiet Christmas's the year peace is declared. I see by your letter you don't want me to get meningitis but you can bet I'm not thinking very seriously about getting it yet. We were inoculated against it last Friday and I hear we get another on Saturday so by the time they have finished with us we'll have more dope to kill germs in us than we have blood. I think that Pte Young was pretty lucky to get over meningitis. I don't know what that game of consequences is but it must be a pretty good game and a quiet one too when you can play it while school is on. I guess by now you've had more than one skate by now. If has been pretty cold here this last few nights although it thaws out in the day-time. How is everybody out at Huttonville when you were out there. Did you see mother and does she seem to worry about me being over here. I tell her in every letter not to worry but I'd like to know for sure whether she is or not. I had some small photo's taken and sent them home at Christmas and mother said she thought they were very good but I was told that she thought I looked sad around the eyes and I asked her what made her think that but I haven't received a reply yet. I feel alright but I'd feel better if I knew she wasn't worrying. They are fitting us all out for the front now even giving us our bandages. All we have to get is our emergency rations now and we get them the day before we leave whenever that is. I was down to see Fred again the other night but not in his old quarters. Well I am running short of news now so I'll soon have to close. Whoever took that picture of you wasn't a soldier if so he hasn't been in the business long or else he would have given you 7 days 2nd F.P. for saluting with the wrong hand, however, I'll overlook it this time as it is the first crime on your sheet but don't let it occur again. Remember me to Mrs. Passmore and Mr. Passmore and Jennie, and anybody else that happens to be around that I know. I notice you still call Huttonville your home. Would you rather be there than in the city? I think the country has the city beat every way although the city is alright for a change. Remember me to Mr. & Mrs. Clark next time you see them for I promised to write to them but I have promised to write to so many that I hardly know who I did promise to write to. I was going to write about six letters tonight so I'll have to soon close now or I won't have time to write three. Well Lola I hope by the time you get this that I am in France although we can never tell. I guess you know we are out of quarentine for they let us out after about 3 weeks so that wasn't bad. I wrote to Angus McMurchy and on the bottom I put (Ma chere) to see if he remembered it but he wants to know what it means. Do you remember it. Well I have nothing more to say so I will close now.

Yours Truly
George Tripp

P.S. Some of these days you won't be able to write letters in your spares for you'll get caught and get the strap and then your hands will be too sore to write. I think you must be getting a pretty bad girl for you wouldn't play games when you went to public school not while school was on so you had better reform. Au Revoir (excuse scribble)