France,
October 20, 1916

Dearest Mother:

Have been intending to write for the last two or three days, but have been very busy and never got around to it. However, must send a line today. Sent you a letter I think about 12th of October. Rec'd your letter of Sept. 26th a few nights ago. Received papers this morning containing World Wides and Patriots, also bundle of papers from Clemmie. Your parcel containing towel, syrup and socks came about a week ago. Many thanks for them all. The socks were splendid and the towel will come in very good as towels are so very hard to get here. As it happened, I got a couple of new ones a day or two before your letter came saying you had sent one, so I am pretty well supplied along that line now. The
syrup certainly was a treat and the real cheese on our porridge. I think I told you in my last letter that Mrs. Stewart's cake that Clemmie sent for the boys has come along. I wrote thanking her about a week ago. Also received the cases that Clemmie sent for the boys in the dugout a couple of nights ago. It was certainly kind of her. The night before last and yesterday we had a heavy rain, a foretaste of what we may expect, I suppose. It was not fit to do any work except for a few rounds per hour on registered targets. Today, however, is a perfect day, not a cloud to be seen and cold enough to make you keep a good fire going in your dugout. Last night we had our first touch of frost.

There are four of us in our dugout here - Roy McKay and a Fownes chap form Moncton, both splendid fellows and Eon and I, and think we have the best dugout in the lost. The four of us sleep in the back on one big bunk. The remaining space beside the bunk is taken up with our kitbags and rubber boots. In the front we have the door coming in one side and in the side wall between the door and the corner, we have the fireplace. The front which is dug down two feet below the level of the bunk is 5 x 9. On the side next to door is an open space five feet square for moving around the remainder. It is taken up by a square table 3 x 3, a bench on one side of it and the bunk on the other for a seat. Then again, in the end, between the door and the wall, we have two metal lined cartridge cases set in, one for our eats and the other for writing paper and reading matter. By way of the eats line, every fellow takes a turn at buying supplies and we generally spend our 15 francs each in the period between pays. Any little personal expenses are not counted out as they about even up. We are always broke by pay day, - every two weeks -but always have plenty of stuff to keep us going. In a parcel line we share the eats equally. Fred gets a weekly parcel from home and Roy gets almost one a week too. Eon gets one often and I am very fortunate, thanks to your thoughtfulness. As for preparing the food we take turns at that and the cook for the day has to make the porridge, coffee whatever we have. We often make a kind of hash of bully beef, potatoes, onions and bread crumbs which
goes very good.

I saw a ripping good air fight this morning. Our attention was drawn to it first by the clap-clap-clap of several machine guns which sounded directly overhead where they were. Three Hun planes were engaging three or four of our battle planes. There was some splendid maneuvering for a while. Suddenly one of the Fritz planes started to fall headlong. He had been struck, when part way down he partly recovered his balance and looked as if he were going to land OK but evidently he could not control her, and landing upon her nose she toppled over upon her back. Scarcely had she reached ground than the second one was struck and commenced to fall. He, however, did not lose control of
the ship and made a good landing. Then the third one beat it. Both of the ones that were struck fell in our lines.

I think I must close now and write to Clemmie. Will write again soon. All well and in the best of spirits.

Love to all and a large share for yourself from your loving soldier son, Harold