From: France
Wed., 19 June 1918

Dearest Mother -

I sent a post card last week so owe you a nice long letter this week, but as usual there is not very much to say. As you can tell by the post card, I received the parcel you sent early in May and everything in it was of course in excellent shape. At the waggon lines where we are now and where I have been for some time, there are four of us together in a comfortable little "bivy" - just a nice number to divide a parcel among. We all thought the sugar so very good indeed. I wish you would thank those who sent it for me and also thank Aunt Bertha for the socks which came in handy indeed as I needed a pair and put them on next day. The Canadian mail has been coming in better lately and the other fellows with me have been receiving parcels too, most of which, by the way, have contained maple sugar, so we have been faring very well indeed. I also received, some time ago, your letter of May 6 and one from Gladys of May 6. Then, when I received the parcel, there was also another letter from Gladys of May 12 and yours of the same date. The Sunday School Times for March which you sent have also arrived. On the 17th, I received another letter from Gladys written from Ottawa May 23. Yesterday, I got your letter of May 19 and Aunt Lettie's of May 26 as well as 3 bundles of Queen's Journals from Florence Willson. Aunt Lettie, I believe is going to send me a parcel right away.

My papers for that commission have gone thru as quickly as I could have expected and I really do believe that we are both alright so far. You can understand that the best thing that could happen would be for both of us to get thru and to get away at the same time. I believe I would almost rather have both of us fail than for one to fail and the other go thru alone. So far our papers have been kept together and we have been given the same ratings. I told you about seeing the two generals. The first one was the general commanding this division's field artillery. We had to come down from the guns to see him - got saddle horses the next day and had a nice ride to where he had his headquarters. He said little to us and recommended us both. About a week later, we were in a different place & were at the waggon lines when we got word we had to see the G.O.C. (general officer commanding) the whole division, so we got horses and another fellow with us as horse holder as before, and had our interview with him. He was very good. He looked all over our papers and then signed them without saying a word then he wheeled around in his chair and gave me a lot of fatherly advice, finally getting up, shaking hands with me & wishing me good luck. Casey says he did the same with him.

Then, we had quite a wait until on the 13th, we had to see a R.A.F. officer. We only had a short distance to go, but had quite a wait as there were a great many there. This was the most formidable interview of all. There were two of them there and they would usually ask all sorts of general questions. I suppose to see if the applicant had a good general education or not. They gave some little problems in decimals, fractions, triangles & so on, & ask why they wanted to go into the air force, what sports they played and so on. He didn't give me any problems at all as I supposed he saw at once that my educational qualifications were good. It will be due to that I guess if I have passed him, because, you see, I have no knowledge of motors at all - that is not necessary but is good to have, and other little things he asked me. I told him I knew very little , such as mapreading, morse code & Lewis machine gun, but those are all things one has to learn on the course anyway. He put a couple of letters after the notes he took, and the same too, Casey says he put after his name - so we either both failed or were both accepted. We rather think tho, that it will be OK as the interview seemed satisfactory and after some names we noticed he had "no" which does not need any interpretation.

It is about a week now since we saw him. In two or three days now, our papers should be returned to the battery office and we will then know whether they were accepted or not and when we will leave for England. It will likely be about ten days after the papers come here.

Do you know, I enjoyed those Queen's Journals about as much as anything - they bring back so vividly old times & places. I am enclosing a clipping I have taken from the Journal of Jan. 29/18 which you will find interesting. I was glancing thru the papers when I came across it. You see, it is entitled "Things I have seen" and has evidently been written by someone at the front for that paper. Imagine my astonishment when as I read them, I found that I was very familiar with the first place he mentioned & also knew the second quite well. He has probably seen them within the past year. The first one I saw last July & August & again several times last Feb. & Mar. I have read the sign & been all around the town. The second was right near where we had our waggon lines once. I was at the guns at the time, but when I came down in Dec. to go to Paris, I passed it and was told about it. There were no other graves around it at all and it seemed so strange to see it there. The third one, I do not know, but have seen statues and crucifixes very similar. "O Pip", by the way, is O.P., pip being the signallers way of pronouncing the letter "P". O.P. stands for Observation Post which is a place near the front line commanding a view of "Fritz's" lines so that officers of artillery can direct the fire of the guns.

There are many tall crosses by cross roads here in France with the statue of the Saviour nailed to them and the inscription "I.M.R.J." over them. Besides these, one sometimes sees a small brick building by the roadside with a sort of open front thru which, on a platform, is resting some tiny statue with wreaths & things around it. It may be the burial place of some family or other & an inscription similar to one in article is always on it "Notre Dame de ________ priez pour nous." (pray for us). It looks like a petition to some saint.

Well mother dear, I am well & feeling fine. I suppose you & Gladys will soon be thru teaching again for summer hjolidays. It is getting dark now. Love to all.
Yours sincerely,
Gordon