France July 23rd 18 Dear old Wilfred, At last I have received a letter from you, which I heartily appreciate. Well old boy I can assure you, that it is real fine to receive a letter from you. Now funny face I have written to you several times, & I expect they have gone astray. Say kid, you are like me when you make promises, you seldom fulfil them at the stated time. Thanks ever so much for your kind congratulations, & of course I am proud myself in being the first one to bring a decoration to the family. Father is tickled over it as well, as he said in a letter to me, & proud to think that I have a son who has shown so much bravery etc. I tired of that kind of stuff, it is an every day occurance with me, so did not expect anything. As luck would have it, an officer saw me do what I did & that is how I was recommended. I've done more than that, but luck was against me & nobody saw me do what I did. You said in your letter, that you wish the me luck in getting the highest distinction. Well old boy, I would like to, if I don't it won't be through the lack of guts, as the boys in my section tell me that I will meet my Waterloo one of these times. But there, what can a fellow wish for more than to die fighting for his loved ones. They say it is better to be a living coward than a dead hero, to h___ with that stuff. I did not come 3000 miles just for a tea party. Its just as you say, some fellows go through anything &everything, while others get it the first day, well all I can say is this, it is just a fellows luck. I myself don't think that I will meet my death out here, it will be on the farm by getting kicked by a mule or something. Yes, thank God, our poor old Mother is at rest, & if she had to be alive, I know she would have worried quite a lot over us. I've found it out Will since I left home, much to my sorrow, that a boys best friend is his mother, have you not found it so. I'm going on for 27 years, but I can tell you this much, that mother's guidance would come in pretty handy at times. I think poor old Father is standing the strain remarkably well, of course has aged quite a lot. When I was at home I made him laugh until he cried, I believe he felt at 10 years younger for it. We talked over by gones etc, especially when Jess was with us. She grabbed hold of me one night, & said to me Oh you dear let me kiss you, well I nearly had a fit, I had a notion to tell her to cut out the sloppy stuff. I blessed alright. Of course I would not mind if it had been my lassie, but a married woman. Oh mummer. Well old boy I am extremely sorry for you in your misfortune and I sincerely hope you will soon be better. It would be better if you could come to France as you would have a much better chance of getting the fever out of your system. I myself do not know what it is to be sick although I had a touch of rheumatism, for which the MO gave me a number nine. Those number nines are like a bullet, they will cure anything. It sure would be nice for us to be at home & have a reunion, we would have quite a lot to talk about. Well nevermind this war is pretty near at the finish, & I hope we will be able to see each other before I go back to Canada. Perhaps you will be making your home there after the war, I hope so anyway. Well old boy congratulations on your promotions, & I sincerely hope that you will rise further you. My ambition is to become a Sergt, then get my commission, that is if the war lasts. Well kid I hope you find the girl to your liking, as for not being keen on her, well you can't be keen on any girl, out in such a dam place as you are. Well old stick in the mud, you are an unlucky devil to be in the way of a mule's foot. It must be pretty painful, as I have been kicked by bronco's out west, whilst breaking them in. It is bad about Croford Clarke, why in h___ don't they change you fellows out there, so as to let you fellows recuperate a bit. Please remember me to Basil, & tell him I am fine, & that I saw Mr Chilvers when on leave & we talked over old times. I wrote to Archer 2 months ago, & have not received a letter from him. I also heard from Aggie the other day, I was surprised as it was about 5 months since I heard from her. It makes a fellow sick to hear her talk about her little Cherub (real mushy stuff). There is real good news from our front now & will continue to be. We have not heard much from your front. What are you doing over there anyway, is there a war on over there. Well Will old boy I guess this is all I can think of just now, it was some job to write this, but thought a letter would cheer you up. Take care of yourself & keep cheerful is the earnest wish of Your loving Bro Wesley Ps Excuse writing as in a hurry. Also paper as it is scarce.