From: Hastings
Sat. 24 Aug. 1918

Dearest Mother -

No mail seems to have been forwarded from France now for quite a while, but on the 22nd I was agreeably surprised to get a letter, one from you written on Aug. 5 to my first address here at Hastings. It was forwarded to this Wing and I got it right away. I was so glad to get it as it is nearly a month since I got those other letters from you and most of them were old. I shall probably not receive at all, those letters you wrote between July 1 and Aug. 5. It would have been better I think, had you continued writing to the battery until you got my new address.

They are usually very good about forwarding mail like that. Unless the Army P.O. sends them to France, they shall hardly find me. You see, I haven't been at one address for more than three weeks at any time since I left the battery. I am afraid my mail is bound to be irregular and slow getting to me, as I shall continually be moved from one place to another as the course advances.

I shall probably be here for another month or six weeks, and then I may have to go to Reading or Oxford. Your best plan will be to write to each address as you get it. Casey has friends who live in Devonshire and, I believe, he has most of his mail sent to them for them to forward, which is a better plan. He had a letter the other day from a friend in the battery who said they were very busy but could not tell where they were, of course. They appear to have had no casualties, tho, two or three have gone down the line sick.

I smiled at Arthur's letter. He seems to think that I am flying in aeroplanes now. We see fewer here than in France and have nothing to do with them yet nor will we have for quite a while. I hope you have received OK the letter you missed, i.e. the one I wrote from the Eagle Hut on July 18th. It wasn't very important I don't think tho, I believe, it was in that one that I said quite a bit about the Air Board I had to pass. I am glad too that you received those Killarney views and like them so well.

You speak of the new Meth. minister. I did not know Stanley Curtis, tho I remember Gladys speaking of him. I knew a Leslie Curtis tho who was in the same classes I was in. He is probably the other son - older than Stanley. I did not know Leslie was at the Front.

That is great news about Harold. Until he learns something about it, I suppose he will be working hard for very little, but in the banking business, there are excellent jobs higher up for a good man. One thing about a bank, they have easy hours. It is next best to school teaching as far as that goes. That is one thing that bothers me sometimes - my gross ignorance of business or banking of any sort. When I wanted to write to you about that money, I had to ask Casey (he used to be a stenographer and knows quite a bit about it) about the best means of getting it over here so that I could get it when I came to England. If he gets to know something about it, Harold should try and get into the Bank of Commerce - they are such good people to do business with.

In the letter I received, you said nothing about Gladys, tho I suppose you mentioned her in the ones I missed. Will she be going back to Gananoque in Sept. or somewhere else, or perhaps she is going to get married? That is the usual fate of young school mistresses. Did Marion pass her Entrance? It would be some satisfaction to you if she did well, especially after the extra work you spent on her.

I had a tooth treated last Wed. and shall have to go back next week to get it filled. The weather here has been exceptionally warm and bright. I am learning something interesting and useful in our topography lectures and getting almost too much exercise in the parades and drills besides.

Love to all.
Yours sincerely,
Gordon