July 20, 1942

Dear Mother:

I spent my last 48 in camp which was just as well as the Calgary Stampede was washed out by rain on the Saturday. A number of us gave up the Saturday morning in exchange for Monday afternoon to take part in the ceremony of loading the remains of four airmen in the train. There was an absolute deluge of rain just before the train pulled out and we, all in our summer uniforms, were soaked to the skin.

The accident causing their deaths was a bad one but the only fatal or even serious accident since I’ve been here. It happened when two Cessna’s flying in formation bumped into each other.

I. T. S. at Edmonton may close down eventually but it is not likely to within the next four months. A new class of 160 odd just started there. Incidentally a large proportion of that class is made up of chaps who went through Manning Depot after us. That is why our morale is very low and we haven’t a good word for the R. C. A. F.

On Monday afternoon I went flying for an hour. We flew over a new station near Vulcan but once again did nothing but straight flying all the time.

After supper I tried another mode of transportation—riding. I think the horses had been brought in from the Waterton Lakes resort and had long since lost most of their pep like the majority of the Flying W nags.

The next evening we had a sort of a track meet. They had the latest thing in aluminum poles for the pole vault so I tried it.  Tied for third place, my mark being a foot below my one time starting height. No spikes or measured pace were the chief contributors to this disgrace.

I don’t know much about the mail service but I think it should go out every day. In some occasions I may not mail it the day its written as it is some distance from our hut but this is not the rule. Mail is supposed to go over town about 9 pm. but I know nothing about the northbound train hours.

With love from
Tony.

I enclose a record of the names of the chaps in the flight photo.

[Note: Transcription provided by collection donor.]