France, Feb 17/18

My dear Dad:

Have received two letters from you since I returned from leave last Tuesday, One written on the 4th of Jan and the other on the 10th. I am glad to hear that you are feeling fairly fit and are taking care of yourself.

You certainly are getting it pretty cold over there and the cold weather just starting. I hope for your sake it does not get any worse. We are having wonderful weather over here. The nights are pretty cold but the sun soon warms things up and the afternoons are just like May or June at home. We do a couple of hours flying a day, just enough to keep our hand in and spend the rest of the time doing odd jobs around the camp The men are very busy these days with our new machines and we help them out quite a bit. I have spent an hour or two to-day shoveling cinders on the aerodrome and another hour or so building a rifle-range with sand-bags.

Huns over - wait a minute.

Later.

Was writing this in my hut. It is about 7 p.m. and a fine night. Have heard an engine for the last five minutes and he just started to drop his eggs. Dropped about a dozen half a mile or so away, and is gone again, Cheerio!

Damn - here is again & closer -

Continued.

I know this is bolly[?] awful writing but am writing on a very small table and our movements are not synchronized

You speak about selling the car. As far as I know it is as good as new and the tires are good for a good while yet especially the front ones. It has not gone 5000 miles yet and I do not think you could get its value. Now that fern is able to run it I think it would be a good idea to keep it unless you intend not have one at all. If you intend keeping one I think you would lose in a trade and had better keep the one you have. However you know what conditions are in T better than I do. However if you intend keeping one I would keep the one you have by all means for I don't think you could do better and you would be bound to lose in the deal.

I am back at the same aerodrome we were at at first. Moved the day I came back from leave. Things are picking up around here and are getting fairly busy. We are not doing patrols over the line yet but just up and down our side.

You say that you hope and expect the war will be over soon and you think the huns are about all in. I'm sorry that I can't agree with you. I think the hun has got a good kick in him yet.

Fairclough and I are rooming together now and I am back in the same hut I was in at first altho in a different room. Four Canadians one Eng & one S.A. in the hut absolutely the elite of the sqdr.

Major Carter, my flight commander, McClintock (Fern knows his sister) Fairclough & I usually spend an hour or so kicking a football around in the afternoon and I am keeping pretty fit. Got quite thin on leave but am putting it back on pretty fast. You wouldn't know me now. I weighed 147 when I left Toronto and nearly 170 now, I think I will have to transfer to balloons. In the absence of the Human Tank, [?] Blythe, some time ago on leave, I was appointed Deputy Acting Tank.

What am I doing with $70 in the N.F.C. I sent that money over to be spent not buried. I bought £50 move War Loan while on leave. That make £120 I have in all.

I don't suppose you will be able to read any of this but heres hoping.

Love to all

Gord