Witley Camp, 31/12/16

Dear Jenn:

This is a Sunday night so I am going to try and write a few letters. I think that I wrote to Byde last Sunday. I haven't had any word from home, or in fact from Canada at all for over a week now. I think the last that I got was the Friday before Xmas.

I had a letter from Andrew last night he and Gordon got a seven day pass, and meet Herb in London, so they are all taking a trip up to Scotland. He said that Herb was looking real well and that the trench life seemed to agree with him. They were certainly very fortunate to get a pass at the time they did. It is raining here to-night/ as per usual. It rains at least every third day if not oftener, it is settling down a little when we first came over it rained every day. The weather was quite cold here for a couple of weeks but it has been real mild now for the last few days. There hasn't been any snow yet only just a couple of little flurries, barely enough to whiten the groound, and it only lasted a day or so.

Three cheers for the 156th, they arise from the dead on New Year's day. They are the first battalion to be broken up and then reunited again. The Col. of this battalion is pretty sore over it. He has hut inspection every Sunday morning, and this morning every hut that had the 156th men in he called them/ down for a fact, where the huts were fixed up just as good as they usually are, and every other Sunday he had a little bit of praise for them, although he never had much love for the 156th fellows, but I guess he had as much as we had for him. He goes around about three-quarters shot, the most of the time, and he was the same way to-day. Maybe we didn't cheer him when he went out of our hut to-day.

Did Garnet get the money, that I assigned over to him yet? He should have the December payment by this time.

Well there isn't very much to write about just now. I will drop you a line again, as soon as I find out where the 156th is going to put up.

Sincerely Jim

P.S. Address to the 156th