Sunday 8.30 P.M.

1st C.M.R.
Canadians B.E.F.
Somewhere in France
June 3rd

My Dear Betty:

A perfect evening, in beautiful surroundings as far as the country is concerned - not a bit like Sunday however, we have done about 9 miles to day & it was very hot, & are now within sound of the guns & to morrow after another 8 or 9 miles we shall be right at the front lines, where I hope to find a letter or two from you awaiting me, it is now a month sence I had one. One could hardly imagine even yet, that a few miles away the long talked of & much read of war is raging, but the continual stream of motor lorries - transport & ambulances as well as countless dispatch riders flying along backwards & forwards on motor cycles keep one in a state of anticipation then there is the continual hum of the arioplanes overhead, & one can see our observation balloons along the front line. I am getting well used again to the hardships of war though I shall never get reconciled to them, & am always thinking of my snug little cottage in the West, & the dear ones awaiting & thinking of me there. I do not anticipate however suffering the actual hardships & privations that we had to endure in the S.A. campaign. We get enough to eat, & then can buy things, so are are not suffering any - you would have been interested to see us in our first french billets in the village we left this morning - a loft upstairs the family or families lived downstairs - the loft was about 8 ft by 12 ft - a pile of rags & old junk in the center of the floor - & we could see the moonlight thru the tiled roof, there were 12 of us sleeping there, we only had our great-coats & ground sheets & were rather chilly this morning, I bought some eggs & got one of the women to boil them & make me some tea - you would be amused to hear me at my efforts to talk french to the madame etc-etc, am picking up a little I can rustle bread & butter & eggs etc, will be able to sling out the parle-vous when I return = We were glad to get to our billet this afternoon, it was a hot day for marching though we'll be cool enough before morning - we are in not bad quarters a frame hut - with poultry wire stretched on wooden frames for beds - we have no blankets & I shall have visions of my bed at 853, & my little bed mate (Billy) Well, "Bonne nuit mon cherie" God bless & keep you all - hugs & kisses for all the family.

Betty xxxxxxx Shirley xxxxxxx Billy xxxxxxxxx

Here are a few "Forget-me-nots" & Buttercups & Daisies I plucked just the night before I left Le Harve. Yours lovingly Daddy