Tuesday, July 18, 1916
"On Board" Empress of Britain - 9 a.m.

Dear mother & father:-

Here I am on board "A" deck wrapped up in my great-coat so will write you a few lines before our life-belt drill.

We were kept in the train at Halifax till about 3 o'clock last Saturday afternoon. Then we were brought down to the harbor and after waiting around there for 2 or 3 hours boarded this boat. There were 2 or 3 cruisers in harbor and also the Sapland which is carrying troops. We have a light cruiser the "Draky" about a mile ahead of us and half-way between her and us is the Sapland. Guess I better omit this [?] and they seem to be taking every precaution. Our boat is a fine large one but of course considerably bereft of its ornaments since it is turned into a transport. The only matter with it is that there are too many troops on it. Besides ourself + the 93rd of Peterboro is 105th, 106th, Dragoons, RCHA and Ambulance Corps - about 4000 in all. Besides these there is the crew of the Cruiser "New Castle" returning on leave to England after 3 years sailing in the Pacific. I have had many interesting talks with some of the sailors - It was the boat to chase the "Dresden" round the Straits of Mayellun.

The less I say about our quarters the better - We have the worst in the ship and that is saying much. We are down in "T" forward and the name for the steerage away below the water line. At first it was awful but we are getting accustomed to it now. Sat. night we threw our hammocks and slept there but believe me, one night was enough of it. Every inch of space seemed to be taken and when one man would rock he would start the whole row going. We were so crowded that they now allow us to sleep on deck and that is where I spend my evenings now. We put 3 or 4 blankets, great-coat, sweater etc. over us and it is fine. This morning, of course, we were awakened about 4:30, as the sailors scrub our decks every morning.

Yesterday I was on mess fatigue and I bet you would have thought it a great joke to see me. There are a dozen or so eating at our table and Alf Gilroy, Adams C "Hammy Adams' brother and a [?] and myself had all the eats to get, dishes to wash, flours to clean and table to scrub for the 3 meals. Poor Alf Gilroy did make me laugh - it seemed that about every 5 mts. He had to go up on deck to "get a breath of fresh air." Of course are meals are not the best but I guess they are good enough. The worst part of the mess fatigue is getting the meals. We have to wait in a long line of about 400 for near an hour. They dish the hash out of an old barrel with something about as big as a steam-shovel.

I have not been sea-sick at all but like Alf Gilroy when I asked him if he was sick he said "no I'm only feeling queer." Bill Sutterby has fed the fishes 3 or 4 times and many of the fellows including Hillman have not had a continuous smile on their faces. The weather has been great and I spend nearly all my time on deck. A major chaplain came along last night when I was going to sleep and asked for Pearson. It is Conon Davidson and he wished to be remembered to you. He conducted a nice service on Sunday with us. The Peterboro fellow's name in our battery is "Neal".

Well I see they are lining up for life-belt drill which we have every morning 10-11 so I must close for a while. We have to wear or carry our life-belts with us all the time.

So much for now
Vaughan.

Friday July 21/16
2:45 p.m.

Have just finished cleaning up after our mid-day meal and am staying down here in the steerage as some of the other fellows are, to write a little. We had to wait in line this morning for 50 mts to get our "grub" member how I used to hate to go down to the cellar to get the butter. Believe me, if I could get a good square meal 5 miles away, you wouldn't find me hesitating long. I speak like a veteran I guess, but I sure have seen lots since leaving Toronto. We are on our 6th day now and should arrive in a couple of days. The weather has been fine and I have not missed a meal yet. Hillman has not been feeling well at all but I guess tis only sea-sickness. There are lots of things I could tell you about the precautions they are taking against [?] but we are not allowed to refer to them.

Eddie De Core of Chatham who played on our rugby team and was teaching school near Peterboro is a private in the signal section of the 93rd. Wally Armstrong + Vincent Eastwood are also officers in it.

I will be awfully glad when we get in sight of land for you see plenty of the ocean when crossing, especially when you are in such cramped conditions as we are - We get small bulletins of the war every day now but it does not tell much. One day we got the baseball scores too. This morning we passed a big sailing boat and it certainly was great to merely see a sail.

While I am now writing some bread + butter (margarine) + dried apple sauce are staring me in the face - oh yes I was forgetting some salt + pepper. Alf Gilroy is doing his best to recall the different conditions at home and has mentioned to me how nice it would be to go over to Huntz's in Toronto and have a Hot Fudge Sundae. Well there is little news to tell so I will close for to-day + write in a day or so.

Monday 10:30 a.m.

There has been lots happen since I wrote before but I am forbidden at present to tell many things which would be very interesting to you.
Yesterday we ran into a very bad fog and have also been in one most of this morning. Lately the journey has been getting very monotonous but it is quite different now. About 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon a little speck was noticed far distant on the horizon. Soon another and then a 3rd came into view. Before you could realize it the three destroyers were encircling us with almost miraculous speed. But our censorship seems to be strict and I guess I will not mention more about them. We feel much safer now and everybody is carrying around a smile it seems. When we woke up at our usual time of 4:45 this morning high cliffs could be seen in the distance. It was the northern coast of Ireland. Everything is great now after over 8 days spent without sight of land and we are speeding along at a dandy clip, I suppose you know the reason why. The scenery is wonderful and at the present time everybody is admiring it. We passed Rathin Is. this morning and Mallyen a short while ago. I had a very distinct view of the castle on the extreme northern end of the former island.

We are due to arrive this afternoon sometime but will likely be held in dock overnight. I am feeling great and have not missed a meal during the whole trip altho' I have bought a few eatables at the canteen. Hillman seems a new boy since seeing land. As we can not post any mail till 4 days (or send a cable) after landing I will stop now and write later.

P.S. Had a dandy service yesterday on deck conducted by Jason Davidson. Very unique with all of us wearing life-belts.