France,
Nov. 30, 1916

Dearest Mother:

Sent you a letter Sunday and must drop a line today I am on duty on the battery telephone but it is foggy. The O.P. Officer cannot do anything and so I am not very busy and then taking advantage to write letters. I received your letters of Oct. 30 and Nov. 8 a few days ago also one from Clemmie and one for Mrs. Green. Also received a vest that Clemmie sent me. The mail service seems to have become somewhat disorganized lately, undo no doubt to the Christmas rush, and letters do not come as regularly as they should and parcels are always much longer on the way then they have been previously. We are expecting a parcel mail tonight and I am hoping that some of mine will come along. The sweater and gloves should be here and I am waiting anxiously to sample those apples. They will certainly be a treat.

In Mrs. Green's letter she spoke of sending our Christmas parcel in which she sent a Chamois vest, pair of socks and eats and said the girls were also sending a parcel. My friends have certainly been good to me since coming out here I don't know how to thank them enough.

Well we are in the jumble of mixed up orders about a move. The first order was to be ready to go back to a little town a few miles behind the line for a month's rest on the morning of Saturday Nov. 25. But the morning of the 25th came and no order to go. Then about the middle of the forenoon an order came in saying that we were to leave at 1130 on the 3rd. So far so good. The next evening that order was cancelled and order came in to be ready to move at a moments notice to another front, taking guns and all stores. That in turn was cancelled and the next one said that there was the new battery coming in to relieve us and to leave our guns and stores behind. The advance party of the new
battery has just got here, also an order saying we are to take our guns and will probably go tomorrow. So we are standing by with kits packed waiting for the word to go. There may be a few more changes and orders but I think in two or three days at the least we'll see us out of here and on our way to a quiet front. Don't think there is much more news I can write this afternoon.

I suppose by the time this reaches you it will be Christmas. In one sense I know it will be a blank one and yet I want it to be a happy one. There is no reason why it should not be so. Christmas is the anniversary of the birth of Him who gave His life to his fellow men, and if we have the real Christmas spirit we should be happy in the giving of ourselves to the interests of humanity. Personally I'm happy and content and though Christmas will be a strange and novel day for us it shall be a happy one for me. I would like to have been able to send you some little remembrance for Christmas but that is impossible and I can only wish you all a very happy Christmas and New Year, and hope that, God willing, Christmas 1917 may see us altogether again to eat our Christmas dinner.

Was glad to get the letter with the kind invitation and if I ever get to Scotland on leave, as I hope to be soon I shall call. Don certainly had an interesting experience with Fritz and was very fortunate to get off the way he did.

Now I must say good night. Love to all and a large share for yourself from your loving soldier son,

Harold