Courcelette France
Jan.13th. 19

Dear Jessie,

I received your very nice letter on the 8th of this month. It was mailed Oct 32st so you see it took it a long time to find me.

I just got it in time because the day after it came (with eleven others)

we left Aubin St. [?] and moved up here on a working party. This is certainly a shell torn part of France, there is nothing left at all of the Village of Courcelette except a few cellars and they are all turned into dugouts. we lived in a very good one for a few days but got our hut built today and moved in tonight.

I don't expect we will be here very long. keep moving around building huts for another working party that is coming behind.

Well Jessie wasn't it to awful bad about poor Donnie, it was so near the end of the war too. I fully intended to write to you right after I heard about him but as I did not owe you a letter I kept putting it off day after day and as you know I never write until now. It is hard to say when you will receive this letter or perhaps it will never go. I have one in my pocket yet that I wrote home the day we came here. The mail has never gone out yet, but they say it is going tomorrow. here's hoping it does.

It was certainly to bad about Ellen wasn't it. but perhaps as you say she is better off without him.

I have had two letters from Bessie since she was sick and one from Miss Ackison written when B was sick

I have not see [?] since we left Aldershot N.S. Am not sure whether he ever came across or not. I wonder if Alf G. is better by this time. I suppose it was the flu that he had. Did Robert [?] get all right again. I haven't heard about it at all before you wrote.

I guess I have written enough for this time, so will close Hope we will be home before very many months.

Sincerely yours
J. [?]