1st Canadian Trench Mortar

 Batteries -

France. C E F.

22/3/16

My own darling Wife –

At last I have received a letter from you dated Feby 23 also 3 papers & the popular & two parcels, they all came in a bunch, I am afraid I have missed quite a few letters & papers as this is the first I have received for over three weeks, one of the parcels had cigarettes & candies & honey & the other had the cake in it, I was awfully pleased to get them, as I was completely out of cigarettes & they were a God send to me, also the honey, I have a slight cold & my throat is a wee bit sore, so I am taking a spoonful now  & again, I think it eases my cough too; as for the cake, all the sergeants are tickled to death with it, we have ate half of it for tea & will finish it to morrow, there are three Scotchmen amongst us & I think if they were let, they would eat it all themselves. Dear Heart I am awfully sorry to hear that you have been so ill, & the children too, I do hope that you will be able to get something to cure those awful Neuralgic pains they must be terrible, it is a shame that Morris should forget to come to you when you are so ill, it is simply awful to think that you might be all seriously ill & no one know any thing about it, Oh how it makes me wish that I might get home again to look after you, I am afraid you must be worrying too much about me, I wish you would’nt worry, dear, I am all right & I am taking good care of myself, dont be afraid, we will see each other very soon now, I am sure. The beginning of the end is in sight now & I think it is only a question of a month or two at the outside before the Germans are beat off their feet, everything that has happened lately has been in our favour & everything goes to show that they are getting more demoralized every day, once we get them going they are finished; I see that George & Eileen are still troubled with adenoids & I am glad you are going to have them removed, they will be much better after it, of course I know it is going to hurt, but it will be far better to have it done now than when they are older, they wont feel it near so much, but before you take them to the hospital you will have to make sure that you are all right yourself dear, because they will be sure to be fretful for a while after being operated on & I am sure you wont be able to stand the strain the way you are now, I do hope you will be all right soon, because I know that it is going to be an awful strain on you if they take the measles & have to be operated on too, it will be such close confinement for you, cant you get someone to stay with you & help you, dear, it would ease my mind a whole lot to know that you were not alone, so that in case you were sick you would have someone with you to look after you & see that you got proper attendance. I did not see anything in the parcels from McEwan, so I guess he was only talking when he said he would put something in for me, he might have sent a few razor blades anyway. I am very glad to hear that Mr Vallance has promised you a good job for me when I come back, I think he will keep his word too, dont you, dear, it would be nice to know for certain that when I go back I will have a good job to step into, as with the salary I would get & my pension I think we would be able to live pretty comfortable & might in a very short time own a place of our own, there is one thing certain dear & that is that we will never have the hard times again that we used to have. I really do think that fate has some good things in store for us yet & that you & I will have many a happy day together along with our dear children, how I long to see them again & hear their childish prattle, I am missing the best part of them, it seems such a long time since I saw you all last that day in Victoria, I will never forget it nor the heavy heart I carried away with me, Winter is very nearly over now & I am hoping that I will be able to get home before the summer is out, God Grant that it may be so, when I do get home I will never leave it again as long as I live, I have had more than my share of wandering & I dont want any more of it, nor fighting either, this thing has made me old before my time & if it were to last for another year, I dont think I could stand it, I would be a wreck, even although I have got a good job now. I met Andy Campbell yesterday & some of the boys of the old battalion & they were all tickled to death to see me with the crowns on my arms instead of the stripes, there is a little jealousy too, as I would have been a long time in the 15th before I got to be Sgt Major, I am glad I transferred when I did as I am having a much better time now than I have had since I came out here it was pretty rough all last Summer & Winter & it was mighty hard work, & many & many a time have I escaped death, more by a miracle than anything else, therefore I am in a position to appreciate what I have got into now, I have been advised to apply for a commission, but I dont think I would care for it, I dont think I would be any better off in the end & I am satisfied where I am. I had a letter from Kate & one from Etta the other day, Etta is well but Kate is having a lot of trouble, she says her baby is dying, it has got meningitis on the brain & takes fits, one of its eyes has turned, so I guess there is not much hope for it, also she had not heard from George yet & she is very uneasy about him, I hope he is all right, but it is hard to tell & there is no way of finding out.

I see by the News that Boyd has left Vernon along with his family, I would like to know the reason of it all, something must have happened between him & the firm as I thought he had a job for life there, I suppose McEwan is a kind of manager there now, I hope Mr Vallance keeps his word & sends me something good some time, I’ll take all they send me & be glad of it, as it would show that they had not forgotten me, even a Post Card now & again would be acceptable, you know they never acknowledged the cards that I sent them & I feel a bit sore about it, it was not as if they did not know my address, as I put it pretty plainly & at any rate they could have found out from you where I was, you might drop them a hint some time when you are in that I think they might have dropped me a line some time to let me know that they were alive. You say that George & Eileen are complaining that daddy does not write to them, dear heart, I would write to them oftener but I cant always get the cards, & there is no use sending them a letter like this, they would rather have a picture on it, however I will be going to a town near here, perhaps next Sunday & I will get a few cards & send them some now & again, but you can tell them, dear one, that daddy has not forgotten them, that he is always thinking of them & that he is longing with all his heart & soul to see his little darlings again, tell them that daddy loves them & that he is glad to hear that they are praying for him every night & that he hopes to be with them very soon & then he will hear their prayers for them, & he will take them nice walks & play with them & go to the games with them, Tell Eileen that daddy is proud of his little girl & is very glad to hear that she is daddys girl & tell George that I am proud of him too, & that I want him to grow up to be a great big man & to be good & to take good care of his little sister & Mamma till daddy comes home again, & now dear love I think I have finished, Keep & good heart & take good care of yourself for all our sakes, dear, what would I do without you my own darling wife, life would not be worth living, all I live for now is you & my little darlings, all I want is you, I want to love you & love you to the end of my days & I want you to love me too & to teach our children to love me, God bless you, my darling & help you in your troubles & grant that you may soon get better from all those nasty pains & that when I come home I will see my dear old sweetheart again in good health & spirits is the earnest prayer of

Your loving Husband.

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