Y. M. C. A.
H.M.FORCES ON ACTIVE SERVICE
Reply to me B Company 196 Bat. the Regt.
Stationed at Seaford, Sussex
Jan 14 1917
Dear Mother.
Well I cant leave off writing any longer if I want to get this away in tomorrows mail. I looked for a letter from home today but none came in spite of the fact that there was a real heavy Canadian mail. I got one from Lena though & likely there will be some from home in the Army P.O. & I will get them in a day or so. I have geen getting my mail real regularly for this country & that help a lot. You should see the rush for mail when it comes for news from home goes good if it is 3 weeks old when we get it. I have heard from the whole family in the last two weeks. Poor Wilfred is having some time with his leg as I suppose you will have heard from Lena. Though it may be like us. We hear more about our own & other Battn doings from letters & Canadian papers than we do from any other source.
I was called out this morning for a special examination on my eye but there were so many that the specialist could only handle a small portion of us. I was sent back again & expect to go up sometime this week. I suppose he will give us glasses to wear which I don't figure I will like at all. I may get a monacle which will sure get me a commission right away don't you know.
I guess the peace talk has blown up pretty badly for a while at least. Still peacefull old Wilson is hanging on & if he weren't playing the Bat game like the King of Greece the Germans would quit pretty quick. However I think they will have to pretty soon for there will be an eruption in Austria one of these days that will make your hair stand on end. If that don't come soon there will be a monster drive on all fronts that will finish the whole thing about midsummer. Lloyd George has got the confidence of not only the British nation behind him but also the other allied nations & he is a real live man, a wonderful thing for this country. He has made great progress already & there is double the enthusiasm all over that there was a few months ago. This big loan is his first success, The booze will be his second & the Germans third. That Booze is some proposition over here hardly any restrictions whatever. The shops are open all hours Sundays included. It is a disgrace to a civilized nation & if the war kills it the country will soon pay for the war debt.
I was over to look up Dr. Brace a few minutes ago but he had gone down town so I did not see him but am going to look him up later on. I saw Jim Scott & a few others I knew in the bunch. They have sent two drafts over to France & I guess we would have to if we had not been quarantined. It is an ill wind that blows nae body guid eh! It will be more comfy over there in a couple of months time. If I stay with the O.T.C. or rather if it stays with me I should get there about then. Just in time for the big doings. One thing about this O.T.C. business even if we don't get anything else out of it it will be a great help to us on active service for our lecturers have mostly been through the mill & they give us a great many pointers as to what to expect & how to receive it & protect ourselves.
The weather is colder this last few days than I have seen it yet. Of course it is nothing like you have but it is damp & more disagreeable. The spring will set in here soon though & I would like to be here to see it. It sure must be swell for there are hedges all over the place. All the roads are lined with them & the lawns are fixed up something dandy. Still with it all I can't get to like the place. The people are so terribly dead & alive sort. It takes at least four in a shop here that one would handle eazily is Canada. I actually waited one hour & fifteen minutes for a plate of ham & eggs down town the other night. There were three waitresses & only nine of those little small restaraunt tables in the place. I decided that in future Army rations would suffice any way it had to for I have been quarantined ever since.
I got your parcel of candy and pudding a few days ago. Believe me it went good & therefore fast for thirty hungry ptes soon clean up a parcel. We have cake or something nearly every day of late for if one does not get a parcel another does & we all share up. It puts a finish on the regular meal & we will be sorry when the xmas parcels stop coming.
Well mither I believe I will quit & write to Beck or Lena for if I don't catch up today I will have my hands full all the week with notes & letters. I sent Lena a Birthday card & timed it jake it got into Woodnorth at 7 a.m. Dec 11th & as the 10th was Sunday & no mail I think I did very well. what you think. I'll bet it did not go by the southland or it would have been a xmas card. Well here is where I quit. Keep up the good work in the letter line.
Your Loving Son
Rae
