No 7 Company

5th Reserve Battalion

Bramshott

Hants. Eng.

6/2/16 x 17

My own darling Wife -

You will see by above that I have left the Hospital & rejoined my regt, just a week ago last Saturday I got a wire telling me to report at once to this place & it took me nearly a day to get here, the old 92nd have changed their name & at the same time have absorbed three other Batts so that we are quite a big outfit, so far, I have not had to do anything, & up till to-day I did not know for sure what company I was in, but now I know that I am fixed in No 7, which is the Casulty Coy & don’t do any drills, only light fatigues round camp. I don’t like it here at all, neither do any of the rest, the huts are not nearly so good as they were at Shorncliffe & then again we are miles from anwhere, the nearest place to this is Aldershot about ten miles away & it is out of bounds, The new battalions which have been absorbed by us are all green hands who have only left Canada a few months ago & things are not nearly so pleasant as they were before, there are quite a few lads here from the 15th that I knew in France & I don’t think any of us will go back there again, my old platoon commander that left Victoria with us, Capt Price is here, he got wounded the same time as me & has just got back from three months leave to Kamloops, he was up to London yesterday & got decorated by the King, with the Military Cross, he was very glad to see me again & says he does not expect to go back to the front for a couple of months yet, his wife is in very poor health & has to look after four small children, so you may guess how bad he felt at having to part with her again to come back here. The weather in this country is awful just now, it is the coldest winter that has been for 35 years, everything is frozen up & there is lots of snow on the ground, of course it is nothing new for us Canadians, but the English people think it is wonderful. I suppose you are having lots of excitement in Vancouver through America coming into the war, I wonder if it will make much difference to Canada, but I don’t suppose it will, if it helps to shorten the war any, it will be all right, but I am afraid it will raise prices up considerably, & I guess they are bad enough now; I am afraid that the new Submarine warfare is going to interfere with the mails, there are rumours already that no more mail is to be expected except at long intervals, but perhaps things wont be so very bad after all. I have just received two letters from you, one of Jany 9th & one of Jany 17th & you may guess how glad I was to hear from you, I am sorry that you should have been so uneasy about me & that you had so much trouble trying to find me, I don’t expect you will get any reply from the C.C.A.C. as it is so long since I left them now, although I am still attached to them & on their strength. I did not think you would like Vancouver very well as I have always heard that it is a very damp place & rains pretty well all year, it is too bad that George & Eileen have been so poorly & I am very sorry indeed about Georges eye, it must have been an awful worry to you, dear, & have cost you a lot of money, there is no doubt that doctors bills are the worst & the hardest to pay, I am glad the children were able to get something nice for Xmas, it is too bad that I was unable to send them anything, I am glad you all remembered me on my birthday, but don’t worry about not sending me anything; as I would much rather that you kept the money at home & spend it on yourselves, for I am sure that there are lots of things that you ought to get. I see you sent me a parcel just before I got this letter, but I have not got it yet, perhaps it will turn up soon, now, don’t send any more, dear, you know I appreciate them all right, but I always think you need the money more yourselves, & don’t think of sending me any money, although I don’t draw very much, I usually manage to eke out somehow. I don’t think I know the Jim Lister you speak of, but I hope you & Mrs Lister pull along all right, I know the rings you speak of, I have had lots of them, but I never thought much of them, I have one ring I bought off a Belgian soldier at Ypres, it is Silver & has the Ypres coat of arms on it, I only paid a Franc (10d) for it & I was offered £5.0.0. for it a short time ago, but I would not part with it as it is the only souvenir I have left & it is the only one of its kind that I have seen. No, I have not seen Dr Morris yet, do you happen to know what unit he came over with? he might be stationed in some other part of England. Like you, I miss the Vernon News very much & I would like to get a hold of one now & again just to see how the old place is getting along, I seem to have lost touch with Vernon altogether. I see that you were expecting me home by this time, but I find that it is very hard to get back to Canada, I don’t know how other fellows manage it, they must have a pull somewhere, it seems to me that they would rather keep a man hanging around here than send him back, as to going back to France I don’t think there is much danger of that, at any rate it would take them a long time to make me fit again, & I don’t think I would be worth the time & trouble. I am very glad indeed, dear, to hear that I am still fresh in the childrens memory & that they enjoyed the letters I sent them, I will write to them soon again, tell them that I received their letters all right & enjoyed them very much.  I wish I was home again, dear, so that we could see about doing something for Georges eye, I certainly will not let them remove it if I can help it, that would be the last thing, I have seen too many eye operations lately, as long as it does’nt cause him any pain & does not interfere with the other eye, I think it would be as well to leave it alone, it is costing a lot of money & no satisfaction for it. I am sure you all miss the snow & the sleighing very much as I don’t think they ever have very much snow in Vancouver, why don’t you go back to Vernon, it seems to agree with you all better than where you are & it seems to me that with what extra money you are paying for the furnace which does not seem to be a very good one, you would be just as well at home & I think the children would be better contented. I think this is about all I can say just now, dear, but I will write again in a few days, I am feeling pretty good just now, only for a touch of rheumatism & a bit of a cold. I hope that by the time this reaches you that you will all be better of your colds & feeling all right again. Kiss George & Eileen for me, dear, & give them a big love, I wish I could get home to do it myself, I would just love to get a hold of you in my arms, sweetheart, I think I would nearly smother you in love & kisses. Keep up your heart, dear, there is a good time coming & all our troubles will soon be over, Write soon & give me all the news & think of me always as your own loving Husband

XXXXXXX Jack XXXXX

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