October 11, 1914
S.S. Tunisian
Dear Mother and Father:
I received your letters the same day we sailed from Gaspe Hr. but could not reply before sailing. I sent you a card or two while waiting of Rimouski and Gaspe Hr. which I hope you received all right we never knew when we could post any mail so therefore did not have any letters ready.
We broke camp on Sept 25th (Friday) and embarked on the Tunisian and went up behind the citadel and anchored there for a day at night we raised anchor and went down to Rimouski and stayed there a couple of days and after that we moved nearly every night and each time we moved we thought we were on our way but we done this stunt up until the following Thursday (Oct 1st) & then anchored in Gaspe Hr. with about 15 other big ships & 4 warships other transports continued to arrive until Saturday afternoon (Oct 3) when there was 33 big Canadian liners in the harbour. It was rotten the way we had to kill time while waiting some boys could catch jelly fish in a pail over the side of the boat & sometimes we had a chance to bathe in a canvas tank on the deck. At night we had concerts and as for reading material magazines are as scarce as hen's teeth to get.
However it was more interesting once we got started we moved out of the harbour in a single line past 8 gunboats about 1 mile apart with 3 warships leading one on our starboard and one in the rear but the ships are always having a hard time keeping 10 knots. Our boat used to stop about 5 times a day on account of a slow boat ahead of us and the Laurentic a big heavy boat was always following us about 500 yards back and could not stop as quick as us and consequently would pass us with something only about 100 feet to our side. We were all glad when she took another place in the fleet. On Sunday (Oct 4) it was pretty rough all day and a lot of the boys were seasick. It was a great sight all morning to watch the H.M.S. Talbot plunge around in the rough water about half a mile away. At night I was on guard on the rear bridge of the ship and as the moon was up I could see all the ships even though there lights were all out and our ship stopped at least six times that night and it certainly was exciting to see the ships behind steer away from us.
On Monday (Oct 5) a new warship joined us on the horizon and at noon the Newfoundland troops joined us from Cape Race where we were off. Tuesday (Oct 6) a Montreal Highlander fell overboard from the Royal George but was picked up. Calm and warm all day.
Wed. & Thursday. There was a heavy roll on and we had very little sleep at night because off rolling from side to side in our iron beds.
The battleship Essex passed us about a half mile off it is the biggest warship yet seen so far my vaccination has not given me much trouble but some boys have very sore arms.
Friday (Oct 9th). Calm and warm we had a bath under the hose on deck in the afternoon the yellow flag was hoisted and everyone thought we were quarantined & naturally got many [?] but it was only because the starboard engine broke down for two hours. Ships mileage 251 longest yet. The war news was not any too bright today and everyone realizes that we will soon be in it. Rumored that we will not stay in England more than a couple of weeks.
Saturday (Oct 10th). Sports day. In the afternoon a warship raced down on an oil boat but allowed her to continue on her way.
This is Sunday (11th). I am writing this and we had a big chicken dinner it was a surprise because we had been cut down on all previous supplies. The sugar butter & jam are finished and we may only get bread & cheese until we land which ought to be about Wednesday and as yet no one knows which port we are going into. We have a pool as to which port we land at and the time of arrival.
Some of the boys seem to think they will see German warships before we get there and are always on the look out for them in hopes of seeing a naval encounter. Well to refer to your letters I sent cards from camp quite often and will continue to do so from England about every second day there has been a lot of talk of the mail being held up before we left.
I received Mrs. Edwards letter but no gauntlets as yet. I got it just as the mail boat arrived and had barely time to get a scribbled card off to her to thank her I will write from Eng. to her. I get along all right in the raining weather & can do my own washing and have all the underwear I want some of it is nearly as heavy as sweaters and the socks I brought from home are better than the Army supplies. I also have woollen wristlets & muffs and a "housewife"etc am well supplied with everything. I will do as dad says re my salary and [?] to the office. Wed. Oct 14, 7.PM. We are Plymouth Hr. (12 days crossing) and will go ashore in the morning (Oct 15) this place is well fortified just as we were coming in there was about � dozen torpedo boats around us and 4 warships and when we got in behind the breakwater we saw 2 submarines and a bunch more warships the harbour is surrounded by forts and at night is all lighted up by search lights.
The cruiser [?] passed us a little while ago about 50 ft away and the Jack Tars cheered us. "Are we down hearted" and the answer in "no" we have heard this 2 or 3 times already. Well I must pack my things tonight because we may get shore leave at 8 if we are in. It certainly does feel good to be on land after 3 weeks in this rotten boat. We ate nearly everything on the boat and we are getting very little now.
The Colonel says we will not stay long in England and we were given antiseptic bandages to sew in our coats and our prospects for getting a crack at the Germans is bright and I certainly am glad I came with this bunch because when you get with these Jack Tars and British regiments it make you feel great.
Love Harry
