c/o Sergeants Mess.                                                                

5th Reserve Bn.                                                           

West Sandling.                                                                        

Kent.                                                               

23/9/17

My own Darling Wife.

It was with great joy & relief that I received a letter from you to day, dated Aug 17th & I need hardly say how glad I am to know that you are all well & enjoying yourselves, your letter was sent on to me from Seaford, the parcel & papers have not arrived yet but I guess they will get here in due course; I am glad to see that Alice Mann is staying with you, she will be good company for you & will help you a little I suppose to look after the children, it was too bad that it was so cold for your picnic at Foul Bay & I hope that you had better luck at the Gorge & that both the children win prizes this time. I would like to see that photo of you in the kilt, I guess you looked all right, by the way, where did you get the kilt, have you got some Kilties staying with you too, you ought to send me one of the photos & don’t forget to send me some of the photos that Alice Mann took, I would like to see them, I did not know that Willie Mann was in the Navy, he must be having quite a hard time of it & I can quite believe that he is anxious to get home again, a soldiers life is bad enough, but I think a sailors is much worse. I am glad you have started another pair of socks for me, dear, the last pair were fine & I am wearing them now, there are no holes in them yet; I think you are perfectly right to send the children to school, they are old enough now & they should be able to learn quickly, besides, it will give you more time to yourself, they must be quite a size now, how I wish I could see them again, I suppose I would hardly know them if I met them on the street, it is good to know that they are both well & so lively, I see that George is just as fond of fruit as ever, or he wouldnt be getting up so early in the mornings to look for it, fruit is so very dear here that very few people can afford to buy it, I see the boys here paying 2d for 3 small green apples, not much bigger than a crab apple & 6d a bag for plums, about a dozen plums to a bag. As you say, Vernon must have been very dull all summer without the troops, the store keepers & Hotels must have missed them a lot. I am surprised to hear that B.C. is going dry, I thought the Soldiers vote had beat the prohibitionists, at least that is what the papers said here, I think it is a crying shame that all these bills should be passed while the principal voters are away, when the war is over & the boys get back again you will find there will be a big change in the government of the country, the returned soldiers will have a voice in affairs & will see to it that they get what they want. I think I told you in my last letter that I was taking a map reading course, well it finished on Friday & we had our examination, I am glad to say that I passed out succesfully & got a “distinguished” certificate, which was much better than I expected, in fact, the course was so complicated that I did not expect to pass at all, so you see, I am not such a dub as I thought I was, dear, this Batt expects to go out on a three days route march this week & I suppose I will have to go along, I don’t think I will be able to stick it, but I will do the best I can. I think this is all I have to say now, dear, I am looking forward to getting that parcel of good things, the sugar will be a great treat, so will the Rye & cigarettes, I hope they come along soon. Now dear love, write to me soon again & give me all the news, you know how much I love to hear from you, & to hear how you are getting on, you know perfectly well that I don’t think you silly when you are enjoying yourself, I am only too glad to know that you are able to do so. Kiss my darlings George & Eileen for me dear & give them a big love from Daddy, and with all my love & lots of kisses to you my dear old Sweetheart

I remain as ever Your own loving Husband

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Jack.

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