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Date: February 14th 1917
To
Mother and Father
From
Soldier
Letter

France Feb 14/17

Dear Mother and Dad,
Here we are back in huts again. Yesterday the battalion that Billy Rowthorn was in. He was in a machine gun company now though I saw Alec Morgan his chum, also 3 or 4 more of the originals and a lot of the 94th boys in it. Monday was passed another battalion and saw Vic Coo to Duck Turner (say mother, don't worry if this writing isn't up to much because I'm lying on my back on my bunk.) The 94th boys are scattered among a great many battns over here. Happy Sparks (Aunt Vic well know him.) was in to-day. He is in a Kittie regiment. The 28th is full of familiar faces and it's just like old times to be to-gether. Any of the boys we saw on the march, was only at a glance, because they were going in one direction and we were going in the other direction.

Monday night after we were settled in our billets, I went out with Mason for a stroll. There were a bunch of soldiers coming up the street. I stopped a moment in case there might be someone in the bunch I knew and sure enough there was Fred Bigford was out talking a course and he bothered at me- I was with him all night. We went down to see Len and Jerry Scott. Jerry is in A company. After that we went to a French barber shop and Fred had a shave. While I was waiting to let me read a letter from you. He had received another one from you since that but I guess he has answered both.

Bob Armstrong's bunch was attached to our battalion the two days mark- They put their packs on little carts and pull them- That is a lot easier than we have. The poor infantry have to carry their packs. But I'll tell you one good thing it is doing, We are regular pack mules now. You can load us up with almost any amount, tell us where we are to go, get somebody to lead us, angle we will get there. When we get back we will save expenses on moving days by pulling the wagon ourselves, or if it's not above then miles, we can carry everything. Rev Canon Hedley was around our billets this afternoon. 9 didn't see him, but Len was talking to him.

Yesterday when we got here we had a feed of mashed potatoes and mutton chops. They went pretty good too often the great mount of Mulligan we have been getting.I got six letters Monday night and this morning a parcel from Aunt Ellen. It was a very nice parcel but one item I couldn't eat was a tin of bully beef. Do you remember the parcel Aunt Corrie sent with a tin of bully beef in it?

It is kind of awkward writing or rather sending letters to the U.S from here now because each letter must have a penny stamp on it and they are difficult to get. So any time you get a letter addressed to you and when you open it you find not that its for anyone across the border, you can first send it on, eh?

Thanks
Well I guess this is about all I can think of now, Its not nearly so cold now but with the change of weather the mud returns and one is nearly as bad as the other;
Love to all, Gordon

Original Scans

Original Scans