Pte E Hearle No 10916
4th Battn 13th Batt C Coy
Pte E Hearle No 10916
C Coy 4th Batt, 1st Brigade
1st Canadian Court Salisbury

Dear Mother.

I am writing this in a big [?] tent at Salisbury Plains [printing too light to read] The rows of nuns tent no one bound nearly a real at D camp and then now as up to the darts new the Tiger the largest Battle ship in the world now ready for active service. We dislocated a 4.30 & [?] miles to the station with our full suit on, and even old soldiers were completely played out as the equipment cuts our armpits and we had not been on dry land for a month. The people have [???} at the station some ladies went round & gave every soldier a packet of cigeretts & matches [?] apples and sandwiches & even offered shillings as they thought we might be out of English money although the rain poured all the way quite a bunch of [????] at & a [???] & gave cigarettes away my stick you [?] came in might useful as the pretty girls were might been after them. WE got out at a little station called Lovington at 12 o'clock & formed to much aways [unable to read next line] birthdays in a [?] long to come our making. It was still pretty & dark at the Dance as there were [?] of [??] the mood & it was hare to keep in sometime though the stick & mud but cigrettes helped out some & "Zippeny" kept the fellows togheter. WE moved on & on& got more and often about 3 boxes of rapid [?] in being [?] sudden with rain some of the men dead [?] begin to fall out with [?] in the [?] of their [?] but most of them starts it out well & there was little generally; though & they were two tired to sing due [??] cmaps & at about 4.30 stopped & were shown out lives in Burtant Camp we found theat our blankets & kits had not arrived & the ground was wet like a sponge, but a lot of the fellows dropped right down & started snoring right away. Our office was made for us in half an hour & it felt real good but a pair of warm socks & blankets would like felt better. Here it is nearly one oclock on Friday & have not been to sleep yet & won't until I get a change of dry clothes. I'm glad I had a bottle of asprin in my pocket I feel saved & git & ready for another 15 miles for that is what as far as we came, though I'ld have no [?] as a little breakfast or dinner sometime today. [??] done nothing much but eat & sleep on the "[?]" & a little storming will do no one any harm.

We hope to get a few days leave soon & I'll beat it back to Plymouth & see [???] Day I was mad. A whole week on land at Plymouth & they wouldn't give me leave to go inside to see the falls at [?].Though I came very near it one day as some of the fellows had managed to get 4 hours leave& on had committed some little misdemeanour & been put in the guard home so his space was [??] my self & another fell with relative in Plymouth had to toss in for the pass & he [???] well I'm to for the present [?] , & if old kitchen puts no though is the very his started well be had [?] in a few weeks.

Eric,

Will send some photos as soon as I can get them developed
Eric