7A East Ward
Lord Derby War Hospital
Warrington
May 12/17

Dear Miss Lola,

Many thanks for your letter of April 1^st which I have just received. It is the first letter I have had from Canada since leaving the battalion two months ago so you can guess how pleased I am to get it. Those who are responsible have been very slow in forwarding my mail but I expect to get the balance soon now. I have made exceptionally good progress towards recovery and am allowed to sit by the fire for an hour or two each day now so that I can answer your letter in comfort. I am also on a light fish diet which I find a great improvement on milk only.

I am glad that you had such splendid opportunities for wishing Percy “Good Bye”. I suppose that he is now safe in England. If you will be so kind as to send me his address I may have the pleasure of seeing him. Most of the Canadian Training Camps and Convalescent Camps in England are situated in the South and on leaving here I may be sent to the same Camp or quite close.

Your brother will have left his “Little Grey Home in the West” long before you get this letter. I hope he was able to get an exceptionally long leave to go and see you all and that he remains in Canada long enough to get a few more.

The River seems to have been behaving in a quite sporting manner. Not having had friends in St Lambert very long I have not paid much attention to reports of the movement of ice other winters. I had no idea that glacier stunts like that were pulled off.

I am sorry that you were unable to stay to the end of the Tree’s performance. I can quite sympathise as I had to leave His Majesty’s before the end of one of Wagner’s Operas one night - one of the Siegfried series – I forgot which. It is very exasperating. They should either begin the performance half an hour earlier, shorten the intervals or run late trains to the suburbs – A 1 am train from Montreal to Lachine and St. Lambert would be a very acceptable inovation.

The food problem is getting very serious here. We have to eat war bread now and very palatable and unsatisfying it is. It seems a terrible crime that so much good food should still be wasted in making beer when there is such a shortage. The plea is that the munition workers need it but for the life of me I cannot see if poor Tommy in the trenches can go without why they cannot.  

Potatoes are often unprocurable now at any price unless you happen to be a soldier in hospital. I get some daily. Father comes to see me every Tuesday and spends the afternoon and evening with me. He says they managed to get some last Sunday and they were the first they had had for nearly a week. Owing to the scarcity of sugar – iced cakes are prohibited. Puff pastry has also gone. I suspect candy and chocolates of all kinds will go next. – worse luck!

You may remember me speaking of the Hutchison boys – I went to see Mrs Hutchison when home on leave before going to France. Innes and Murray, the two eldest both attained the rank of Capt and both were killed in France. Murray, the younger, also won the M.C for bravery. The third son Harold, who was a Corpl when I was home, has recently received his Commission. He is only 19 years old. The brother of my old school and college friend Freddie Roberts, who was killed in action early in the war, is missing and believed killed. He is a Lieut but when last seen was commanding the battalion. He is the third son too; the second son Harry is still in France. He is also a lieut. Lieut FS. Milliken who was at school and college with me died of wounds a few days ago. He was at the DB Co but left at the outbreak of the war and enlisted in England. He was a real good man and it is all very sad. I had a very nice letter from my old Mathematics master Johnny Owen yesterday. He says he has a photo-group over the mantel-piece in his study and as he writes he sees me on the extreme left next to Lodge and his son Jack on the extreme right with Milliken on his right and poor Freddy Roberts standing behind. Johnny Owen will be 65 before the end of the year and will be superannuated. He taught Father at the school before me and was always my favourite.

I have grown very fond of reading again whilst in hospital and have also done a little studying. I have recently bought a book on “The Theory of Errors and Least Squares” by Weld and I find it vastly entertaining.

I hope you manage to get plenty of tennis this summer. It is a pity there is not a club at St Lambert.

I wish the war would be over in time for me to get back to Canada for the Winter but I am afraid there is little chance of it.

With kindest regards and best wishes to all
Yours very sincerely
Arthur Turner