France
Mar 7th - 1917

Dear Father.

Very many thanks for your excellent parcel which arrived night before last. You had written something on the cover of the marmalade jar, but I couldnt make it out as it was wet with the sugar. It arrived in perfect condition and was very nice. I also have a letter of yours to answer. It arrived a couple of days ago. Will you drop a line to Mother and Doris? I will write myself in a couple of days but it is rather inconvenient to write for a day or two, as our quarters, though fairly comfortable are very crowded. Arthur Lewis is here now, and he and [?] Pryde and I went out for a walk last night and had quite a talk about Port Alberni.

You were asking about the Royal Bank parcel. It was sent by the staff through their London Office. I think all their clerks on service over here got one. It was a regular packing case, and there was biscuits cocoa tea milk sugar cake tinned meats, socks, handkerchiefs a balaclava hat, gloves, etc etc.

The gold stripes arrived safely. I am sorry that I never thanked you. I was almost sure I had done so.

I was very surprised to hear about Holinwood enlisting again. Henry Davey's arm must be quite better again or he wouldn't be coming.

Yes I have seen some of the tanks. They are sure some "rigs" alright. We all used to call them the "Just [?]" but somehow our name didnt last.

I never got my telescope or automatic but I know the fellows number and I am going to write to him in England and see if I can get them. I will ask him to mail them to you, and you can send them over to me if I want them. I received your clipping about the "Ross Rifle "Heavy artillery" we used to call them. The joke about them here is that "Sam Hughes" once said "My boys sleep on their rifles to stop the Imperials stealing them." We used to "ditch" our Rosses any time we could pick a Lee Enfield up, but as it said in that newspaper clipping, we have all had the LE's for a long time, and they are some improvement. Mine is a 1916 and is very accurate. When I was at the school I made four hits out of five at 200 yards on a target representing a mans head. It was only exposed four seconds, and we were looking out of a trench, and when it appeared we had to put up the rifle, aim and fire before it disappeared, and four out of five was pretty good dont you think so?

You are wrong about the date I arrived in England. It was April the 9th Sissy's birthday. I will drop you a line or a field [?] in a day or so. So long for the present

Your Affectionate Son
George