Somewhere in England
June 6th 1940

Dear Mom,

I suppose by now you have received my letter with the hurried postscript saying we were going we know not where. Well we went, stayed there a week and came back again. The place was Kettering, a large manufacturing town in the midlands. During the time we were there we were billeted with the townspeople and we were treated marvelously. Kettering was quite the most beautiful and cleanest city I have yet seen in England, the people were all so happy and prosperous but above all hospitable: it is quite impossible to praise them too highly. While I was there I went through two shoe factories, for Kettering is the centre of the shoe manufacturing district of England. In one factory they cut out the shoe parts from the hides and then assembled and finished the shoes in the other. When I went through the latter factory I started right at the beginning and followed one pair of shoes right through all the different processes. It only took about two hours and all the while the foreman was describing everything so I could understand exactly what was taking place. At the end of my tour, I bought the pair of shoes at one third the sale price so I was very proud of my day's work.

By the strangest coincidence the foreman's brother joined up and fought all through the last war in the same battalion you were in Dad - the 188th. His name was Hanger. Do you remember him?

While we were in the city we camped for three days in the ground of some Duke or other. There was a herd of deer in the park and we were all enchanted by the tameness. They would come right up and eat out of our hands. Their sure was a lot of venison running around on the hoof and I can tell you my mouth watered once or twice.

We were inspected by the King and Queen today. It was quite a thrill to see them both again. The last time I saw them was in Vancouver.

I guess that is all for now. Don't be surprised when you see where the next letter is form.

Love as Always

Jim