Witley Camp, July 24/17
Dear Jenn:-
Just a few lines to-day to let you know that I am still alive. I haven't been feeling any too well for the last week or so, until the last couple of days I have been feeling pretty near like myself again. I haven't been sick enough to keep me off duty, but just feel as though I don't care wether I do anything or not. It was my stomach that was bothering me, nearly every one in the camp has been troubled the same way during the last couple of months. It think it is due to the ehat more than anything else, as they can't get any ice here, and it is pretty hard to keep the rations from getting tainted more or less. I think last Tuesday I was about as sick as any day (?), everything that I eat tasted the same. That was the day that Lorna was down to see me, I guess she would think that if I was as stupid every day as I was that one, they wouldn't be much use of me going to France. I had a letter from her yesterday and she said that she had written to Dad since she seen me, so likely she told all the news.
No doubt you have heard before this that Gordon was wounded on July the 6th. I had a/ letter from him a few days ago. He said his wounds werenn't very serious and he didn't expect toget over to England at all. He got a bullet wound in the calf of his right leg and an sharpnel would in his left arm above the elbow. He said both wounds were healing good, and he expected to be out of hospital before long. I haven't heard from Andrew since a couple of weeks after they went to France. Gordon said in his letter that he hadn't seen or heard of him since he was wounded. I seen Ernie Spencer a couple of days ago, for the first time since before he went to the hospital. He was in the hospital for three months and had three operations on his throat, he has a scar on his neck about eight inches long right down the side of his neck.
Last evening there was a concert at the "Y" here, it was such a nice evening and so warm that they fixed up a platform and had it out-doors. Just before time for the concert to start there was an aeroplane came over came and started manouvering about; from the stunts he pulled off he certainly had wonderful control of his machine and lots of nerve. A couple of times he dove down, and made six complete turns of/ the machine "just like a top spinning" before he ascended again. He dove almost straight down, the first time he tried it every one thought he was falling. He had it turning on its side and everyway. It was the best manouvering I have seen in this country yet. Yesterday afternoon there was six of them flew over in a bunch. They were flying in a kind of star shaped formation, and they certainly looked pretty nice hlding their formation so well for travelling at the speed they were. There has been quite a lot in the papers lately of the British starting and playing the Germans at their own game of sending aeroplanes over on their country.
Was it the first of July, that was May's perfect day? I had a letter from her the same day as I got yours and she told me about ........trip that day. They have some great rivers in this country, yesterday they took us out about two miles for a swim and the place was about two feet deep and about twenty feet wide. That's about as wide as any of their rivers are, some of them are dredged out deeper. The Thames river is about as big as the Nation,
Well I guess that is all for this time.
With love to all
Jim
We will be nine months in this country Saturday, although it only seems about half that long
