France
Jan 7/17

Dear Mother Father and Irene

Received yours of the Dec 7^th was very welcome glad Mary and children are well hope they can keep that big roomd house warm I have a letter here for them but have not sent it because of some of the writing they can just think who it comes from I have been out on route marches and have gone through a few villages they make a fellow long for home more than ever about keeping a diary I have wrote most all of my account I thought W Gillen would be home by now glad young Caton is home we all will think about being home soon I have not much to write am not well today ache all over glad Mary got away for a few days you and Nell have been very good how is it Potatoes are so dear was’nt the late ones any good.

I can get three fried eggs a piece of bread and cup of coffee for thirty cents one franc [and?] half hope Mary has the P.O orders I sent about the 1^st Dec it took fifty eight franc to make that much we got a big Xmas pay of fifty franc that time I wanted it so that Mary would draw ten dollar bill but I lacked a few cents four cents we got fifteen franc last night I will get my sox washed and towel do not know what else shirts would have to be while you wait hope the people do not let things come to this again I do not know but I tell you in all the letters when I get your letters and boxes Why do you not say what parcels are sent I got one from you and two from Freds you could tell by the way the letters come when the boxes would get here little home made sweets go great over here did Mary bother with any undercloths I hope not the cooking over here is funny oil for pie crust which makes it look different and hard to digest their coffee is very strong and no milk I am writing in a house so bought two cups penny each it is damp cold day to day mud on the field at church almost froz us we are taken into the bombers now a bunch of [censored] men we will start marching for the [censored] a lot of things can take place [remainder of page torn off]

befor two weeks go by, Feb will about see the end I have been saying I hope this month I think lots of work I could have been doing at home, the thing is what will I do, some good buisness of some kind different from peddling there could be a sweet liquid made out of melons to sweeten tea coffee and cocoa and so on they use citron over here sugar must be dear over [thiers?] yet wooden soles for shop shoes and farm shoes or a patient for a helmet hat for summer just a simple shape like a wash bason it might be a new style for a little while, terrable dreary and dismall out just now and no place to go glad to get a place to write inside a room with a fire, they have a lot of little donkeys over here very small and carts are very large not many four wheeled rigs the English paper boy has a dog on a cart and another dog pulling on the side well bye bye for this time

W.R.G.

[Editor’s note: Dot code used by Gullen to secretly indicate his location. Characters that were marked in the letter with dots underneath them have been indicated in the transcription with an underline. Written together (with space inserted) they spell out “vimmy ridge”.]