CANADIAN Y.M.C.A.
Ampthill

Dec 20th 1917

My dear Cousin

I received you last letter today and your first one a couple of weeks ago. Believe me I was glad to hear from you. I remember Cecilia writing to you but I am better acquainted with you now. It is nice to hear from good old Canada, but I find it hard to get much writing done and Folks have been real good to me as I have several letters to answer, I appreciate them and will answer them all, but perhaps slow. I am trying to write by the light of a candle and lying on the Floor, so I hope you will let one off with a few lines. This is a hard rough Life and one has a lot of unpleasant things to endure. I think most people realize that. It will be a good day when this business is over and if I return and free to stop at Montreal I would be pleased to make you a visit. I will live in hopes. I have had letters from Nellie and Gertrude and answered. It is too bad Gertrude has had a lot of trouble, but such is Life. We still have things to be thankful for and if we stop to count our many Blessings, we are often helped over the hard places. It is too bad to lose your potatoes. I have been in the same boat a couple of times, There must have more rain in Canada during the Fall than here. Evelyn said Oct was wet at home. Nov was nice and warm, at least a lot of it. Here we have not had heavy rains but quite a bit of foggy drissily weather. This last week it is frozen up, the weather fine quite cold as the atmosphere is so damp. As far as I hear crops have been quite good. Farms are a lot smaller than in Canada, and seem to be quite well looked after. I hope your boy will not have to enlist but it looks as many more will be required to overthrow the Kaiser. He does not seem to have much love for the Canadian Soldier. He has said it took many Boats to bring them over, a row boat will take them back, perhaps. I am in the Foristry care yet but I hear we are to have a Medical examination and likely many of us will be transferred to the Infantry, our places here will be taken by some of those who have been wounded, but still able to work some, at least that should be a good plan. I was classed #2 before I took sick but B2 was the last I could do since. It seems to take quite awhile to get back, this is a poor place for that also. This year is fast slipping away now and soon we will be starting on a new one. I had a letter today from Evelyn and one from Mrs. Shephardson. They have settled in St. Charles Illinois. Sandra will miss them. Evelyn is getting along very well. The little boy staying with her, his brother has been killed in action. He was a nice boy, 19 yrs old, has made us a visit a few times. Quite a number from around home have been killed and injured. I had a three day pass about 2 weeks ago - the first Holiday in England spent the time in London trying to see all I could, the time was too short to stop long in a place but I believe I made good use of it - went through Parliament Buildings, Westminster Abbey, British Museum, London Tower, attended a Service in St. Paul's and spent the rest of the time rambling around so it was not much of a holiday either in a way for it is tiresome rambling around a big City. I hope I can tell you more about some of the things I saw after awhile. The weather here is doing good now for winter, ground is frozen quite hard no snow yet to speak of. I am getting along very well. I have received a few Boxes from kind Friends so will not be in any great need for some time. I expect to spend Xmas as any other day. It is to be a Holiday for the Camp but hardly for me as I go to work at 4 in the afternoon till 6 a m have charge of the engine in mill while the regular man is on pass this week. It would be OK if I was on for the day work. The work is not hard I don't care for the hrs. Well it is time for me to ring off so with best wishes and a Happy New Year I will say Goodbye.

Sincerely Yours

844550 Ernest Henry
126 C F C
Ampthill, P. O.
Bedford
England