Gunner Hale No. 85519
1st Battery R.F.A.
Canadian Reserve Brigade
Ross Barracks
Shorncliffe

8/7/15

My Dearest Alice,

Thank you so much for your nice letter. Dear Alice, I never said I did not like your picture. You look older in it, but your face looks so sweet and nice. I took it home and showed it to Mother and she liked it very much. I am so glad it is Khaki colour. I guess it suits you fine. Say Alice, we have the cutest little cat here in our room. It is sitting on my knee as I am writing this letter. We feed it on milk and other things. It is just full of fun. I wish you could see it now. I am sure you would fall in love with it right away. It is always singing. Dear Alice, you were speaking about me staying here for the duration of the war. Well they are not taking any of the Canadians to work in the shops here. The only jobs that are permanent here are such as orderlies - that is taking messages from one barracks to another. I don't think I would care for that at all. But if they do call for men to work in the shops I will put my name in for it. But for myself, I would prefer to go to the front. I don't know whether it is the British fighting spirit that we hear so much about these days, but I am just longing to do some of the actual fighting. It is quite all right for H. Crawshaw to talk about himself as serving his country by making guns. That may be so, but I guarantee that if Harry though he could make more money at something else, he would not consider the country or the men who offer their lives to serve it, for five minutes. Don't be offended dear at what I say. But Harry is not patriotic in my opinion. His motto is this - I am for myself, to h-with you. As you say Alice, there are some of the fellows here who are not going to the front but everyone who I know are afraid. Gordon wants to come back to the battery again. He is doing his best to get back. I don't know if he will be able to or not. I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed yourself at the rapids. So Hobbs took a tumble at last eh. Glad to hear it. I suppose he will not enlist for active service now. Well maybe he will be just as well off in the finish and perhaps better off. It is quite true dear, that the men who go to fight are soon forgotten. But at the same time dear, if I live afterwards, I shall always have the satisfaction of knowing that I did not stay at home when there was some work for men to do. I am awfully sorry to hear that poor Jim has been damaged. It is too bad, too bad. I do not wonder at him asking to be shot. I think I should feel that way myself rather than be a burden to anybody. I think, my darling, that you are worrying too much about me. You know the artillery don't have half the danger that the infantry have sometimes although when we do get it, it generally comes all at once. Dear Alice, I did not ask you to marry me before I left because I did not think that you like me well enough. I guess Hobbs will be O.K. as a brother-in-law. What do you think about it Alice? Do you like the idea? Well darling Alice, I guess this is about all I have to say now so I will close this letter. I think dear when you wrote yours you must have had a bad fit of the blues. Please don't worry darling. I love you with all my heart and soul and I want to marry you. Remember it is for the freedom of Canada and you that we are fighting. If I go to the front and get killed, just remember me sometimes. But I think I will live to see you again. Well give my kind regards to all and remember me to Hobbs. With fondest love to you,

I remain

Your ever loving
Boy Bob
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