Dec 21/16
East Sandling
Kent

Dear Sister Ivy

I am droping you a line or two To thank you for the parcel. I am just waiting to see if there is a letter to follow received the parcel on the 19th and there was not date on it so I am waiting to see by letter when you sent it then I can tell you just how long it was coming. I am expecting you sent this as a hint to write you well I have written you three or four times. I wrote you last week when I came off pass & told you all the news about Eric & all our relations at woodbridge. Now if you haven't got any of my letters then I don't know where their are going to. I dont know why because I have got all the letters from home so far. And they have gotten all my letters at Prospeity according to the last letter I got from Florence she had got to or three letters by the 20th of Nov. Well you should have had two by that time.

I am going to hang on to this letter until tomorrow & see if a letter comes or not. If not I will send it and answer it when it comes so I will have to tell you about my misfortune. Well I got back off pass and found there were several huts quarantined with mumps & measles. Well we got back on the Monday night.

And was warned for draft on Thursday and on Saturday one of the boys in this hut went to the M.O. with two big jaws and they came down & put quarantine on the door. So we were taken off the draft & another bunch were picked out and they have gone. So I am sure of living that much longer. And George says to stay were I am as long as I can. So I never get very mad because I didn't go with the last draft. There has been four different draft gone out of our bunch since we landed.

We will be quarantined until the second of January. So I wont be able to spend xmas as enjoyable as I thought I would.

The girls said in their last letter that they had sent a box for me by the mail on the 6th of Nov well it coming yet.

It has rained all morning and it is the first time the we had been kept off parade.

We are going to have a route march this afternoon. It has stopped raining but is muddy right to the boot tops