No. 1 Coy., No. 5 lines, Hut 31 1st Canadian Casualty Training Batt.
Dear Father,
I have not had a letter from you for some time but I suppose you have been very busy threshing. Well I am leaving for the line again so the family will soon have a representative at the front. I have been warned for a draft for the last week and we expect to leave at any time but we will have a lot of training to do in France before we go near "the line". I had my equipment on today, the first time I've done heavy marching order since I left France and I am sure tired tonight but will soon get used to it again. We were having a lecture on bayonet fighting this morning from a man who had never seen France and never heard a shot fired in anger. He asked the class what the bayonet was used for. Here are some of the answers he got: cutting cheese, chopping wood, toasting fork and killing rats. Imagine a man with a staff job who has never seen any fighting giving a lecture on bayonet fighting to men who have seen all the way from 2 years to 2 weeks in the trenches! However, I see Sam Hughes has resigned and it is about time. I will soon be back in France and in a way I will be glad to get back to it as there is always someone that a fellow knows out there. Basil Wansborough is on the same draft as me; he is going out again to the 18th Canadians. I have not heard from Archie lately but I suppose he is still in hospital. Well I'll have to close now. Remember me to all at home.
Your affectionate son,
Ronald