France

June 2nd 1915

My darling wife.

I wonder why it is that I have not received a letter from you for such a long time, you dont know how uneasy I am, I have not heard from you since before I left England, I do hope there is nothing wrong at home & that you are all well, perhaps the letters are getting miscarried or lost, I dont know which, because I know that you must be writing to me sometimes, I wonder if you get my letters & postcards, I hope you do, for you must be uneasy if you dont hear from me, perhaps some of these days I will get all your letters in a bunch.

I just came out of the trenches again yesterday morning & I can tell you I am glad to get into a billet again for a few days rest, this time we were in the third line of trenches, which are considered among the worst to be in as they got more shells as a rule than the others & the only thing we can do in them is to lie low & keep quiet; it is pretty monotonous, while the shells keep dropping all around & one never knows when a shell is going to light in your part of the trench, at the same time it is marvellous how close they come sometimes without hurting anyone, we have all had narrow escapes, but we are getting used to it now. This last trench we were in was a German one & the stench in it was awful, there were several dead bodies lying around that were too far gone to be handled & others were buried in the wreckage, taking it all round, it was a rotten place to be in, some of the sights we see here are awful & no pen could convey to the mind the horrors of them, they are absolutely unthinkable.

Thank goodness, we have never had the gas put on to us yet, the effects of it are awful & paralyzing, we all carry respirators soaked in chemicals, which are worn over the mouth & nostrils, you can guess that we take great care of these as our lives depend on them, fortunately the gas can only be used when the wind is blowing in the right direction, that it, towards us, otherwise the fumes would drift back on the enemy themselves.

I am still in the best of health, dear, & am feeling splendid only for my anxiety to hear from you, surely I will get a letter soon now, remember me to all my friends, dear one, & kiss my darlings, George & Eileen for me & give them a great big love from their daddy, who loves them & you so much, I do wish this war was over so that I could see you all again, I close now, dear heart, with fondest love to you & the children & dont forget that although I am so far away from you, that I am always thinking of you & loving you.

Your loving husband

Jack

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXX