#475465
Pte. C.D. Richardson PPCLI
B.E.F. France.
Dec. 31, 1916.

Dear Mother: -

It is just 2 o'clock now and I shall get a few lines written before our big annual dinner comes off. We have just come out of the trenches after a long siege of them and today we are going to celebrate with a big spread. Of course we will not have turkey or chicken but we have roast pork which is the greatest luxury in the meat line available out here.

We are back in billets which are the usual huts but they are quite comfortable when we can scare up enough fuel to keep the brazier going.

While in the last time I was surprised by receiving a big parcel from Uncle Richard Austin containing chocolate, raisins, dates, nuts and other such things. It had been sent early in November, so he will think I am a long time in acknowledging it. I cannot imagine where all those parcels that you and Ethel sent have gone for they have not shown up yet. They will probably come after the rush of Christmas mail is over.

Christmas day was much the same as any other except that on our front Fritz and we were less noisy than usual and a little exchange of greeting of the season took place.

I should like to have been in Canada for the day but I hope I shall be there next year. On Christmas day I had a parcel from Leicester and on my birthday another one came along, so you see I am pretty well looked after.

7PM

I had to leave this shortly after I started as I am hut orderly today and there are always odd jobs to be done.

Well, the dinner was a howling success. Would you like to see the menu? It ran something like this:

Roast Pork & apple sauce
Potatoes and cabbage
Plum Pudding
Apples, oranges, raisins nuts, dates, figs
Shortcakes, Mince pies, Beer, Wine, cigarettes

The latter course will shock you, of course, but I do not use any of them. Occasionally I indulge in the luxury of a pipe to counteract the effect of trench monotony, but that is the only dissipation I have indulged in.

There is a concert given by the P.P.C.L.I. concert party tonight at 10 o'clock and I think I shall take it in. The intention is to have it run into the New Year. We have a very fine concert party and the band of the R.C.R's which accompanies it, is one of the best.

Tell Cora I received the cheque for $30 all O.K. and I am sending it at once to the Bank of Montreal in London where I have an account. I think it is best to have a little surplus in case of an emergency. I must repeat what I have said before though, that it is not safe to send money without registering the letter. It was very fortunate that this one reached me for it was dated Nov 12, and had been to three different places before it finally found me.

Well I think this is enough for today especially when this has to be censored so I shall close.

With love to all
Affectionately, your son,
Douglas.

P.S. I wish you would send me a good heavy pair of working gloves such as we use on the farm. I cannot get such things either here or in England that are as good as those we use in Canada.