No 1 Coy.
15th Can Bn. BEF.
France.
1/8/18.

My own dear Wife -

I have been expecting a letter from you every day, but nothing has reached me yet, We have just got back from the front line trenches after two weeks and this is the first opportunity I have had of letting you know that I am all right, We had a pretty rough time of it this trip, old Fritzie has sure got his wind up, and our people are soaking him the limit every chance they get, we have had good weather up till lately but it has now turned out wet which makes it pretty miserable for us as everything is turned into mud, we had one days rain in the trenches and we were up to the knees in water, the result is that the most of us have got colds as we did not take our greatcoats or blankets in with us this trip. This is the last time I will ever go into the trenches again without a great coat anyway, for although the days are warm it always gets chilly at night and there is a very heavy dew, I got such a cold that I felt awful sick and on top of that I got neuralgia, I got so bad that my officer made me go and lie down in my dugout and told me to try and sleep and after a while he brought me a good big shot of whiskey, it certainly made me feel a whole lot better, you know we don’t get an issue of rum now, no matter how bad the weather is, so you may guess I was pretty glad to get the whiskey, we have the old women Temperance people of Canada to thank for cutting off our rum, they would cut out our cigarettes too if they could, it would be a fine thing if they could all be sent out here and had to undergo the same hardships that we do, I wonder if they would fly to Lime Juice for a stimulant, I think not. I have now got a platoon of my own and this last trip in I had full charge and I am glad to say that the officer was well pleased with the way I handled my job, it is quite a responsibility to be in charge of so many men, I am responsible for everything they do, I see to their rations and see that the cooks get their proper supplies of water etc and then I have to see that all the sentries are on their posts and patrols and listening posts to look after, it means a lot of work and at night I have to be around all the time, I get what sleep I can during the day when things are quiet, of course it is at night that things are liable to happen, such as a raid, and the artillery fire is always worse at night shelling the trenches so as to keep us from assembling to attack, you may guess we are always glad when morning comes so that we can see all around us again. I am to be made a full sergeant and am expecting the confirmation in orders any time now, my officer tells me it will come through this trip out which is only for a few days. Well dear one I think this is all the news just now, it is very hard out here to know what to write about, you see, we are kind of cut off from all the rest of the world and we hardly ever see a paper, we cant write about the war, or what we are doing, or where we are, as it is not allowed, so that all we can say is that we are all right or something to that effect. I hope to hear from you soon now, dear, and I hope you will send good news, I trust that you are all keeping well and fit as this leaves me at present, Kiss my darlings for me dear and give them their daddies love and with lots of kisses and all my love to you my own dear wife

I remain as ever and always will be
Your own devoted Husband
Jack

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