77681 Cpl J McNeill

4 Platoon 1 Company

15th Battalion   C.E.F.

France

XXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXX

28th November 1915

My own darling Wife

This is just a line to let you know that I am well & still alive & kicking. I received a letter & paper dated 4th Nov two nights ago, also a magazine, I see you have sent me the Top Notch magazine instead of the Popular, or perhaps they gave it to you in mistake as the cover is pretty much the same, well, I think I would rather have the Popular, there is more reading in it & it is a better paper all round, besides I was reading the continued stories & I would like to get them all through, I have not got any more parcels yet, but perhaps I will get one this time when I go out to billets which will be in a few days, I hope I get the one with the Sabadilla in it, dear knows, I need the stuff. We have been having pretty good weather this last week up till last night, it was frosty all the time & the ground was just getting good & hard, but last night it changed over & rained like the dickens & everything is now as muddy as ever, but to day the sun is shining & it feels just like a day in spring, but it is too good to last. I am happy to say that we have got our pants & underwear now, my word, but they do make a difference to a fellow, I feel a hundred per cent better & I dont care if I never see another kilt as long as I live, I expect we will have to wear kilts when we go on pass, but believe me, I will change into pants as soon as I get to the other side, if I have to knock someone down & take them off him. I see by your letter that you are still worrying about me & about me sleeping by myself in the dug out, but there is no need to be anxious dear, I am still taking good care of myself & I am feeling a whole lot better than I have done for some time past, as to sleeping by myself, I would much rather do it when I get the chance, for then I get a better chance to sleep once in a while, while if there are several in one dug out, there is always someone going in & out & wakening a fellow up, which is not very nice if one is very tired, besides everyone brings in some mud with him & makes a mess of everything, there are five of us in this dug out & you ought to see the mess we are in after last night, it was so slippery that some of them fell flat in the mud & one fellow fell into an old trench that was full of water & had quite a time getting out, the result is that we are all covered with mud now & no chance of getting cleaned up till we go to billets.  So the Red Cross through Mrs Dodds want to send us all something out here, of course, they think they are doing an awful lot & no doubt feel very proud of their work & very sanctimonious about it, but if they cant send anything better than they have already done, I for one would rather they kept their stuff, socks & woolen gloves are all right, but we dont want any cholera belts, they are only lice breeders, if they would only send us a bunch of cigarettes now & again & some good lozenges for colds & coughs they would be greatly appreciated, but I suppose they would think they were playing into the hands of the devil if they did that; it is a wonder to me that these patriotic societies dont take a tumble to themselves & send us out what we really need, such as smokes, socks, gloves, mouth organs & tin whistles & playing cards & lots of candies, the boys think more of these things than cholera belts & bandages & other fancy stuff, if I have thrown one belt away I have thrown about fifty, you can tell Mrs Dodds what I say if you like, dear, perhaps it will do some good, at any rate you can tell her that I appreciate her kindness very much, I know she means well, for I know how kind hearted she is. So all the troops have left Vernon now, I am sure it must be very dull without them, I am surprised at the city entertaining the 54th considering the state of their finances, but it was ever thus, no matter how much money they owed, they always liked to have a big blow out & make big fellows of themselves, look at the money they spent on the BC Horse, they were giving them farewell dinners & dances months before they left the town, if they had kept the money & spent it on the relief of some of the poor people at home it would have done a whole lot more good. I see by the paper that the 11th CMRs are all going, so I guess Edwards will have to stay with it now, perhaps he will be over here yet, I suppose both he & Janet will feel pretty sore because he has to go away. I am just as glad that Hawthorne did’nt put anything in the papers about me, I dont want to be talked about, besides I should be ashamed to see such tommy rot over my name as I have seen in some of the papers, which purport to be letters from soldiers at the front, I dont believe soldiers wrote the half of them, take Happy Tonges’ letter for instance, I showed it to some of the boys here & they said the man must be crazy, & I dont think they were far wrong, at any rate, sweetheart, I would much rather write to you alone, for then I dont have to tell a whole lot of lies & fairy tales to make a hero out of myself & I know that you will appreciate my letters all the more because I write nothing but the truth to you. I am enclosing a cutting I took out of the news, perhaps you did not see it, but I thought I would send it to you so you could see if it tallies with what you get, you know I want you to get all thats coming to you, dear, there is no reason why others should get it & you should’nt. I am still looking forward to getting on pass, but there are no signs yet, some out of this company are going next Friday, so it should’nt be long before I get mine, I do hope I will get those addresses before I go, as I would like to see your brothers family & all the rest of your people, I do wish you could be with me, would’nt we have a gay old time, dear, we would make old Glasgow sit up & take notice, as it is, I am afraid I will be pretty lonely, but I am going to take things very quietly as I need a good rest & I want to get set up again, so as to stand the rest of the winter, I am certainly looking forward to that soft bed & a few real good meals, I would have liked to take a run over to Belfast but my money would’nt run to it, so I am going to be content & spend the whole nine days in Glasgow. How are you & the children keeping dear, I hope you are all right, have you lots of warm clothes & blankets for the winter, if not, I hope you will get them before it gets any colder, & what about Georges tonsils, have you done anything about them, dear, you know how anxious I am, I wish the poor little chap was rid of them, it breaks my heart just to think that any of you should suffer & me not there to help, but I know you will be careful, dear, I see you are sending me a box for Xmas, well I do hope I will get it all right, love, you dont know how I look forward to and appreciate anything from you, it seems to bring me closer to you & I linger over every toothful because I know that your dear hands have had it before me, yes dear love I am afraid this is going to be a dark Xmas for you & me, but let us look forward to next one, when you & I will be together again, at any rate dear we have each others love & I value that at more than anything else, so long as I know that you love me & cherish me in your heart I am happy, I suppose Xmas will be over when you get this, I hope you all had a good time, dear, & that you are happy. Kiss George & Eileen for me dear & give them a big love from their daddy, & now, dear Heart, I must close, I send you all the love in my heart & lots of kisses for your own dear self, God bless you & take care of you my darling wife

Is the earnest wish of your loving Husband - Jack