March 31 1977(17)

Dear Jim
I guess I will need to get busy & get this away by this mail for I got no less than three from you last week. I was about a month without a line from anyone & then well I got 23 last week so they came pretty well in a heap. I had one from Mither two from Jess & three from Emmie. I sure was glad to see them start to come in for I was getting a bit uneasy for fear mine were not getting through & that you might have got word that I had gone to France & nothing more.

There is very little news to relate except that it is still raining. We had a quite a heavy snowfall last night & this morning it was raining & we had to go out for a sham battle. Just imagine the state we were in crawling through muddy trenches so as not be be seen with four inches of melting snow on the ground & rain falling from overhead. We were covered with mud from head to toe & soaked to the hyde as well. I was almost thanking my lucky stars I was not in France where it is more real they say.

That scare of last Sat. & Sun. is over now & things move on as per usual. Every one at schools on pass in quarantine & everywhere else was called up & armed, ready to move at a moments notice we were not even allowed to undress to go to bed. We know not what the cause was but it was all over the British Isles. Bonnar Law dennied the rumor of a raid on the east coast but I heard this morning from an officer that the Germans really tried to land troops but failed with the loss of several transports & 80000 troops so they say. Of course the navy is reporting nothing now whatever so as to keep the German Gvt. at a loss for information I know of one sub at least that they got & there was no report whatever in the papers. It was at New Haven about 2 miles from Seaford. I saw the boat on the sand myself & I know lots of fellows who were right beside it.

They are very tight on the grub question now but I think it is just a precautionary move so as to horde it up in case the worst might happen. Soldiers can buy no eats before 4-30 now & last night's paper says they are going to prevent them buying eats at all except when on leave, when they will have to show their pass in order to get it. Lord help the soldier if he has to live on army rations, thats all I can say.

We have got our P.T. instructor persuaded that football is the best P.T. they can give us for we feel more like working at that & we sure do. Otherwise they can barely get a move out of us. The football kind of breaks the monotony of the drill.

There is a great lecturer here tonight. He lectured last night on volcano's & is lecturing on the British Empire tonight so I guess I'll have to hear him. The lecture is over & it was great. He told us they grow wheat in Canada. (what you know about that.) but it really was great & he says he is going to lecture all over Canada after the war so if you get a chance to hear Mr Herbert Garrison don't miss it.

Say every letter I get keeps rubbing it is about going to France. It wasn't my fault I didn't get there so I don't see why everyone keep kidding me about it. by hoping I like France etc. Mother even said she was holding a parcel till she gets my Adress from France. I may get the parcel for Xmas next fall. You asked for an account of fighting in France. I hope I get a chance to give it before long however.

Well Jim its bedtime so goodnight. There goes the lights out call so goodnight.

Yours as ever.

Rae.