28 October 1916 Holeyn Hall Wylam-on-Tyne

Dear folks:-

Well, I've put in a week at the Convalescent Home now and am getting along nicely. Have just come in from a walk down to the village 1 1/2 miles away. It makes me pretty tired to walk that far but I've not noticed my side get sore this time so I guess it is going to come along alright.

I got Mother's letter from Calgary and Father's from home on Oct. 1. I guess there was some flying around at our house for a few days getting everyone ready to get away. It was nice that you had company all the way. I'll bet you were loaded fit for a winter's campaign, and tried to carry it all.

Had a letter from E.R. (Etta Redburn) Oct. 5. She mentioned Father receiving the first cable from Bill. I thought that there was a quicker service than that with the official casualty list. I was hit on Sept. 28 and it had not appeared by Oct. 5.

Had a letter from some of my chums in the ambulance corps since coming here. They had quite a smash after I left. Two horse ambulances got smashed up. The horses were killed and also 1 man. The crews were all wounded. It is lucky that they were not full of wounded when they were hit for they can hold as many as 12-14 sitting cases each.

Bill is still at Lark Hill and it is beginning to look as if we are going to make our "leaves" coincide. Had a letter from him yesterday. He was in charge of the gun detachment that made a record. From the time of unlimbering the gun till reporting ready to fire & firing, it was only 35 seconds. I have sent a letter to my C.O. in France to see if he can recommend me for a Commission in the R. F. A. I'm not sure whether he will do it or not because as soon as I finish my leave, I'll be struck off the strength of the 5th Fd. Amb.(automatically). I'll see what he'll do and if he won't do it perhaps the C.O. of the base depot will.

There is not much to write about here. We get up at 7 am and all we have to do is eat our meals and lounge around till 8:30 pm when it is bedtime. The weather has not been very nice but when it is fine we all generally go out for a stroll. There are lots of books and magazines here so I spend most of my time indoors reading or writing letters.

That part of my old letter, Pa, that had to do with my assignment pay: That $15 is an amount equal to a month's assignment, which is kept out of the remaining $18 of the month when the first assignment was paid. That is for April 1915, $15 was paid to Orville, and $15 was kept to my credit at the pay office; I could draw the other $3 the next month ie I could draw the $18. they still keep the $15 of April 1915. I'll draw that "apres la guerre". (after the war, Pa)

I reported my throat here on two occasions and they only give me a gargle. The head Sister told me to report it to the throat specialist at 1st Northern General Hospital when I report back there for my uniform and pass. (I wear hospital blue now).

There is a concert here tonight. I think they put on something like that every Sat. night. We had some fine singers here last week.

Well, I think this is about all the news just now, so I'll ring off.

Lovingly,

Harold

2 May 1916 France

Dear Mother, Father and the Rest:
This is Tuesday afternoon and I have a few minutes to write before supper time so will get a letter started anyway. There was a Canadian mail today but none from home. It will likely be along tomorrow. Got one from Mae however. I am doing night duty in one of the tent wards so that is how I can write during the afternoon. I can generally get a few winks sleep at night and do not need to sleep all day. I have a bad attack of spring fever I think, for I am just so lazy that I haven’t enough energy to do anything.

The weather here is simply great and has been just like Canadian May weather for over one week. The fields are getting green and the roads are all dried up. It sure is a treat after so much mud and rain and we can stand lots of this kind.

Have had a pretty easy time since coming here and have been to a band concert nearly every evening and one night a concert party from England that is touring the front giving concerts came to the YMCA marquee and gave us a dandy concert. I believe I sent the programme to Ettie. They had a violinist who was great and played a selection of the best pieces. I have been very fortunate in being able to go to so many concerts lately. I try to go every chance I get. 

Had to stop there and now I am on duty and have a full ward but nobody very sick, mostly sprained knees and ankles and some mild cases of trench fever. I had one very sick fellow last night and had another man to help me out as it was necessary to sit up with him all night, so we took 2 hour shifts. His temperature was 105 degrees and we had to keep cold cloths to his head etc. He put in a bad night but by 7 this morning we had his temperature down to 103 degrees. He was sent on today to a hospital further back.

Did I tell you I had seen Clare Brink? Saw him the other day as he was passing the hospital and went over to his quarters with him and had a chat. He is looking fine.

We were awakened the other night about 1 am by the gas alarm and had to get up and dress but were not called out. The gas alarm is a screeching siren and can be heard for miles. It sounds It sounds something like a steamboat whistle and when it sounds in the middle of the night it has such a weird spooky sound that you expect something dreadful is going to happen. We have had two alerts this last week but in neither case did they amount to much as our artillery stopped all the infantry advances and with our gas helmets, we are not troubled with gas even if it should come in this far.

There has been no word yet about a transfer and I’m beginning to think that Gen. Logies’ order has been squashed, the bringing men back from the front. I understand that the Bruce Battalion (160th) is up to strength now. They did the trick in short time alright. Where are they going to train?

I have not had any word from Bill since a day or so after he landed so do not know what he is doing.
What is the opinion of the people over there about the rebellion in Dublin? They were soon squelched however but I guess a lot of damage was done to property etc.

There has not been a great deal of fighting on our front in the last 2 weeks but previous to that, there was some pretty stiff scrapping as I suppose you would see by the paper a/ccs. Some of the Battalions lost so heavily in officers that several privates were promoted to Lieuts. on the field. It looked odd to see a couple of stars stuck up on an ordinary service tunic.

So you have gotten rid of the cow. That was a pretty good price to land for her wasn’t it? It will mean a lot of work cut out and you won’t be tied down so much now. You will all have more time to knit etc. ha!ha! Teeswater is surely going some pace when there are so many festivals and concerts. The new hall is being put to good use.

I must stop now and get my patients tucked up for the night. I’ll write again when I get your letter. Hope this finds everyone in best of health.
Lovingly,
Harold Skilling

8 December 1915 Somewhere in France

Dear Mother,

This is Wednesday morning and I am trying to get a small bit written at this while I can. It is a splendid morning and is a great one for walking. I had an easy time easy night last night and had intended going up to the next village to see Billy Redburn. However the S.M. put that idea on the blink by announcing a muster parade for inspection of gas helmets and of course everyone must be on that parade. Since there is no use going to bed and no time to go to see Billy I'll just try and get this written.

I hope you get the few little souvenirs I sent for Christmas. They are not very much but the choice of stuff here is very limited and it is hard to get stuff through the mails. I sent to Toronto and told Orville and the girls to get something for you and father for me. I hope it gets there by Christmas too. It no doubt will if it is not delayed too long by the extra rush. The parcel you sent on November 5 got here on Monday December 6, just a month from the time it was posted. The cake in the bottom of the box was in fine shape and is a dandy cake. Several of the fellows who sleep close to where I do, had a piece and ever since they are hovering around at meal time like flies around a tin of jam. The cookies were pretty dry but good just the same. I guess it is not very practicable to send eatables such as cookies and doughnuts so far, at least when it takes a month to get here. The maple syrup and nut candy and nuts were all fine and dandy. I have been about the luckiest fellow with parcels the last week or 10 days and have sure been living high. I had a great big parcel from "the Bathurst Patriotic Club" and it had nearly everything in it that you could imagine. There was not much to eat (except chocolate bars)  but in a big pair of socks they had crammed two leather bound pocket diaries, a toothbrush, shaving powder, two pencils, envelopes and one bar of Ivory soap, a housewife with scissors in it, a towel. Each article was contributed by a different person and nearly all had a small Christmas tag on it. It was a good parcel for a soldier and I can tell you I appreciated it too. I had another one from Ettie the next day and it was peach. Two pair of socks one pair from Laura Haynes. They are dandy and both pair fit like a glove.  They are the first ones that Ettie ever knitted too, a pair of wristlets and a couple of handkerchiefs. Say by the way, I have about enough of them. I also got your ? There were three or four in the Bathurst parcel and also a can of insect powder and a comb. ha! ha! Mighty handy stuff too for most of us are getting like a cage of monkeys now.

There was a lot of eats in Ettie's parcel too. Peanut butter, candy, etc. etc. and of course it was good. Aunt Aggie had one land along too and it was full of figs dates candy and nuts. I had a letter from Mae and she says there is another one from Toronto on the way and that Mrs. Rumble also was sending one. They are not to hand yet but will no doubt soon be here. Some of the fellows do not get very much and when it comes pouring in to me, it hardly seems as square deal. I try and divey up as best I can and they all seem to appreciate it.

We are not getting very much to do just now and we have only been having an occasional wounded man where a while ago we were getting from 5 to 15 a night. It is a pretty good record for the 4th Brigade considering that they hold the trenches  (which hardly deserve the name ) that have seen some of the heaviest fighting of the war and where the Princess Pats made some of their famous charges.

You were asking in your last letter if I was getting fat. Say you would hardly know me. I cannot button my tunic when I have on a sweater and it is two sizes larger than the one I had last fall when I joined. If I wasn't getting fat I should worry because I am not doing enough work to take anything off me and with the parcels I get.

It is such a dandy clear day that the air is chuck-full of airplanes and au pom-poms and anti-air guns are busy. They very seldom seem to hit anything but I suppose they keep the airplanes from taking too many liberties etc.

Well this is Friday morning and if I get this away by noon it will likely leave England on the Saturday midnight mail and probably get home before New Year's.

I got a big Canadian mail yesterday and there will likely be more along today
but it is coming very irregularly now and will no doubt be worse as it gets near Christmas.

I think I have received everything that has been sent to me and I always try to acknowledge it. I guess I'll have to drop a "whiz-bang" (a field postcard) whenever I receive anything just when I get it and then you will know as soon as possible. In Mae's letter she seemed to think that possibly some things had gone astray. I do not think I have lost anything yet. Don't worry about me writing too many letters. I only write two or three a week. I try to write one home at least once a week and that will do for everyone. I might sometimes drop a letter to Ettie (and) to some of the others when I have time. By the way I'll enclose a letter I received from Mrs. Skillings of Scarborough. I got it sometime ago but have not answered it yet.

Oh yes the boxes I get are fine but do not weigh them down with fruitcake please. There will be lots of that and Christmas pudding etc. floating around here by Christmas  -that is if it can float-  and the hospital will likely be full of fellows with gout etc. they will all be calling it "trench feet" though. We get all the clothes we can possibly use or carry so any extra you have, send it to the Red Cross first and the fellows in the trenches will get it. If you have a good hot bath you might send it across. I haven't had a good one for nearly a month so possibly you will see how the insect powder comes in handy eh! I haven't had to use any yet but I have a "little 'itch in my arrangements".

Well I must ring off now and get this posted and then turn in.

Yours lovingly,
Harold

4 November 1915 Somewhere in Belgium

Dear Mother,

Received your welcome letter of Oct 17 yesterday and also Norma’s and Maude’s enclosed. I had one from Bill and another from Mae and Maude on Sunday.

So Bill has gotten into the 81st. It is only a newly organized Batt. I understand, so it will not likely be sending over drafts for sometime. He will no doubt be relieved from carrying a pack in the band, but I don’t know whether I would rather blow a horn or carry a pack. I know I would a hariged (?) sight rather carry the infantry kit than that of the Fd. Amb. In the infantry the pack is placed on your shoulders where it does not bother your movements but we carry most of our stuff bandolier fashion and it presses on the chest and passes under one arm.

Well we have been doing very little this last 2 weeks and we are getting pretty soft. It has been very wet and so we have not been able to get out very often. I was up to a village about 3 miles away yesterday and when I got back I was pretty tired. I am getting awfully fat as all I have had to do was help keep the hut clean and after that there was not much to do but eat. We get all we can eat but there aren’t many frills. Mostly bread, stew, tea and bacon in the morning and jam at night. And to crown it all, we have been getting a tin (1 1/2 lbs.) of butter between 10 men nearly 3 times a week. We have a stove now that we picked up as we passed through “Wipers” (Ypres) and so we can make toast. We are living like princes and if it was not so wet and muddy we would be “jake” (ok).

We are being issued with waterproof capes (long ones that fasten closely around the neck and come down to the boot tops). They have a slit for the arms and so we can be dry and warm now. I expect an issue of new boots soon so we are alright now as far as the wet and cold goes.

Oh no, we are not in as dangerous quarters as the infantry . Of course when the infantry are in the reserve or line trenches is the only time they are in any real danger and when they are in the billets, they are further back than we are. In the trenches there is not much chance of getting hurt if you are careful and do not go sticking your head up over the parapet. There is more danger from civilian snipers than the German snipers. There are a few unscrupulous Belgians who snipe at British soldiers every chance they get. A young lad 16 years old was caught red handed and was shot after a court martial.

The Red Cross is not much protection and the ambulances go around with big bags hung over the red crosses painted on the sides of the car. The fellows who are issued with Red Cross arm bands soaked them in strong tea for awhile so they would not show so much because when they are new they show up too well and offer a good target for the snipers. However we have had no casualties yet and only one man slightly sick.

Say there are a terrible lot of words scratched out in this letter but it is very dark in the hut as we have no windows and I can hardly see what I am writing.

Everyone is asking me what they should send me. Even Uncle Will (William Skilling) and Aunt Aggie (Agnes Skilling Orford) have been very anxious to send me some things, but if everyone was to start sending me a lot of stuff, I would be overloaded. I’ll tell you something – not to bother sending what we can get here. Medicine like aspirin, court plaster etc. chocolate. As a matter of fact the small shops in the villages are much like those of the English villages except that things are very dear and we cannot buy very much before we are broke as 1 franc a day(20 cents) is all we draw in 2 pays a month amounting to 30 francs a month. Small bars of chocolate cost from 2 d. to 6 d. apples from 1 1/2 d. to 2 1/2 d. each other things very much in proportion.

No Norma, we do not have much of a chance to “parlez-vous” where we are now. The Belgians just here speak Flemish which is very much like Dutch. They say “nien” and “yaw” and go clacking around in their wooden shoes. I got a small pair the other day and am sending them home along with a painting I picked up at “Wipers”. We get fooled sometimes when we are trying to display our knowledge of French and get a perfectly good English reply from the woman in the shop. They all tell us that they learned English since the soldiers came last fall.

If you can get a good map with a small scale of Flanders and Belgium, you will be able to follow the places where we go from time to time as we are at liberty to tell our friends where we were a month from the date of writing. A month ago today we were running a Dressing Station at Dranoutre. In a letter to Ettie a while ago I outlined a few of the places we had been and she will no doubt let you know what they are.

Did I tell you that the King and Prince of Wales along with King Albert and Field Marshal French (Foch) had been to review the 2nd Ambulance Division a while ago. We only sent 4 men and a Staff Sergeant and all the other units sent the same proportion of their strength.

Congratulations Norma for becoming President of the ? out of such a large class. I guess the new (Teeswater) Town Hall will be quite an improvement. Does it seat any more? Where did they hold the Fall Show Concert?

I suppose you send these letters around to the rest. I will not have so much time to write after we take over the hospital as I have had this last week and I’ll address all my letters home and then they can be seen on from there.

I am enclosing a few picture cards of some of the places we have been at. I sent a few last week and will put the rest of them in this letter.

Well I think between this and the letters I sent to Orville and Bill you will have all the news of the week so I’ll ring off for this time. I am feeling fine and hope everyone else at home is just the same.

Your loving son,
Harold

27 October 1915 Somewhere in Belgium

Dear People in Toronto,

I have an hour or two this evening that I will be able to devote to writing letters etc. I wrote home on Sunday but it was not much of a letter and it was so cold in our hut that I could not sit still and besides I had no table to write on so I just had to stop and went for a walk to a village further up the road that had received its quota of shells and was in a rather dilapidated condition.

On Sunday night it started to rain and been keeping it up ever since on and off, except yesterday which was a fine day till late at night. It is very muddy and everything gets damp but if it is possible to become accustomed to wet weather, we may as well do so , for we have not much good weather ahead of us till the spring , except occasional days of no rain.

I expect we will soon be issued with the famous sheepskin coats of the 1st Division, and also waterproof cloaks with new boots soon. We haven’t had any new boots since the 24th of May when we got our big overseas ammunition boots. That was the day we moved our camp from Sandling to Otterpool and everyone who wore the stiff beggars had sore feet.

I have been receiving all your letters, so I got Maude’s last Thursday and Mae’s on the Sat. preceding. Orville’s came quite a while ago but I have not heard from Bill for quite a long time. I guess he has been pretty busy with his books and getting his affairs all wound up before enlisting. What has he joined? He will no doubt be writing me all about it soon however I don’t think I would enlist in the Medical Corps if I were he. I wish I could get a transfer but I guess it is too late now. The Artillery is the best Corps. to join I think or the cyclists are good too. The infantry get all the dirty work and the most hard work. It has the most fighting to do. But in this war the infantry just finish up what the guns start and then the ambulance steps in and has to carry most of them back – those who have that much luck.

In that engagement Mae referred to being reported in church as being won by the British and French was on while we had charge of the dressing station in Belgium, and was a considerable distance south of us. We could hear the bombardment for 2 or 3 days and when the guns ceased their incessant roar, there was hardly anything left to oppose our infantry. Not until they had penetrated a long distance into the German lines and as you will have seen by the casualty lists, they apparently met with some opposition back there.

The 28th (Northwest) Battalion has been most heavily hit of any 2nd Division so far. They have had the name of being the hoodoo ? Batt. of the 2nd Div. all along and have certainly lived (or died) up to it since coming over here. They had 490 some killed in a section of trench that was blown up by a mine. The other units have been comparatively lucky.

Orville was asking in one of his letters if the report he had from Geo. Christensen about the discontent among the Canadian munitions workers (was true). As far as I can make out from the papers here they are not being used as well or getting as much pay as they were led to believe they would receive. I saw a case of one of them taking his case into court, but judgement was not given. It appeared from the report in the report in the paper that the future action of a lot of the Can. munitions workers depended on the result of that case.

That was a pretty rotten trick of Dennis’. How are you making out with him now? Is business affected in Toronto this fall? Eggs here are 60 f (?) a doz. or 2 1/2 f (?) each. they have been that price all summer and do not seem to vary at all.

There was an inspection by Kings Albert of Belgium and George V accompanied by French Field Marshal (Foch?) and hosts of staff officers of all tanks today at a small village about 3 miles from here. Of course it would not be very practicable to have all the troops of the 2nd Div. out at one time so just 10 (?) men from each 50 (?). We sent 4 men and a staff Sargeant from our unit.

We had a trip last night to a dead city. I will not be able to give you a complete description of our trip but it was an experience I will not forget very soon. We had been sending parties up for 2 or 3 nights back for the purpose of getting bricks and fire wood. etc. and I was lucky enough to get going up last night.

The moon was just rising as we entered the ruins. All the way along the road the fields on either sides were full of big shell holes a sort of prelude to the sort of thing we were to see later on. Every building of any size that we encountered showed some signs of being shelled at some time or other. As our waggons got near the entrance of the place, we were held up by a guard for a moment and then we passed on through into the most terrible evidence of what has been going on here since last fall.

Wherever we went through the whole city (he is talking about Ypres/Leper), there was not a house left that had not been ruined so much that it was just a heap of bricks. Some have 2 or 3 walls standing but a roof is a rare thing to see. I had seen a lot of photographs and picture cards of the ruins. They all looked pretty bad but I was of the opinion that they were taken from some of the worst parts of the city. These kind of pictures can be photographed in any part of the city. The big square in the centre of the city is strewn with bricks and debris from the surrounding buildings and the road itself is torn up in several places by the big shells falling there and bursting. The famous ‘cloth hall’ which I suppose you know of and where it is, has been wrecked completely and a Jack Johnston hole big enough to bury a couple of big motor cars is right outside the main entrance. The big convent college, several large hotels, cathedrals and a great big railway station have all been shelled time after time and even yet they occasionally drop a “coal box” down just to let us know they have a few to spare, I guess. We have a few batteries concealed there and probably they are the targets.

I had to stop last night as my candle was getting low and I had to put my blankets down yet. This is now Thursday afternoon and I want to get this finished before the mail leaves. I only have a minute or two to start in too.

There was a German aeroplane brought down near here on Tuesday. I saw the whole fight from the time it came into view, till the bally thing lighted near our trenches. It was attacked by an Allied machine and headed back toward the trenches again but when the Br. machine came close the anti-air guns were afraid of hitting it so they ceased fire but in a few minutes the Taube started back again and as they make better time than the Biplanes, he was getting away from our airman so he turned back and let our guns at him again. And didn’t they make him dodge. He began to descend in a very short time and was not long in coming down.

Well I got some more letters today. One from Orville and Rose, mother and Ettie. I am sorry Orville that Dennis is giving you such a hard rub.He won’t last long probably, if he gets a line of bum stuff. Doesn’t he ever get any trouble about the change of the wrapper on the butter etc.?

It is dandy snap of yourself and the youngsters. They sure are healthy looking and I can see a big difference in their size. have the other one too. You were asking about games etc. We don’t get much chance to play ball of any kind and now the rainy weather started we don’t get a chance to do anything in the sport(s) line. There is no window in our huts and only 2 small candles allowed a day so when it is wet and cold we have to keep all the places closed and burn candles. They cost a penny each to buy them and we can’t afford that very often on 1 franc a day. However I think we are going to get a lantern now but the difficulty is getting oil.

There comes the mail man so will have to ring off. Write often.
Lovingly,
Harold

16 October 1915 Somewhere in Flanders

Somewhere in Flanders ( near Mont Noir, France)

Dear Mother,

This is Sat. morning and I have a few minutes to myself so I’ll try and get a line or two written home. It seems a long time since I have written a letter home but it can’t be more than a week and a half.

Harold Skilling
c. 1915

Well I got your letter on Monday I believe and sent a card home acknowledging it for I have been so busy that there has been no time to write a letter.

We are in a French chateau conducting an officers’ rest station. It is a sort of hospital for officers who are suffering from nerve trouble or shock. Most of them are pretty fussy and require a lot of attention and even our own officers who live here are making a picnic out of it.

It is a 4 storey building and is situated on a high hill so that it is a splendid outlook over the country around it. I am going to try and get some cards with a picture of the place on it and will send one or two.

A funny thing occurred last week when our section came over here to relieve the section of the 4th Field Ambulance who were here. When I was going through the house I ran up against Billy Redburn. His section was on duty here before us. I hope that we will be able to get out of here next week for I am not struck on the job. We have to take our turn at it no doubt though.

I got most of the papers from home but the one with my letter in, I got from Billy R. I had no idea I had written two columns, but if you are ever going to put any other of my letters in the paper, I’ll have to take more time in writing them so that I can correct them etc. The letter I sent home about my trip to London was a good deal different from the one appearing in the paper.

I am glad that Maude was feeling better when she went back and I hope she gets real ok again before long. I got Mae’s letter the other day and was very glad to hear from her. She is getting along splendidly with the “mill”. (?)  I guess when you all have read my letters you wish that I could use one too. Well I have been compelled to write in so many different positions etc. that I can’t write half as well as when I left home.
Tell Mae to ask Geo. if he knows a Dr. Burgess. He comes from Owen Sound and is one of our Captains. Someone was saying the other day that he only graduated a short time ago. “Red” Irvine’s name is Harold Irvine and comes from Sarnia.

Has Bill enlisted yet and what has he joined?I suppose he will be writing me soon and telling me all about it.

Things are very quiet just now but the big scrap that Mae referred to in her letter occurred just on our right. I do not think any Canadians were there. The noise of the bombardment could be heard plainly however and it was simply terrific. The booms of the guns sounded like distant thunder, and they kept up their roaring incessantly for hours at a time. For five days since coming here there has been heavy bombardments going on in that same district and if the nights are clear, the star shells and flashes of the guns can be seen distinctly.

An officer of the 20th Battalion came in here the other night and he is in my ward. Capt. Hedges is his name from Toronto. He told me that where his Battalion is now was held by the Princess Pats and where a lot of the fighting has been done. He says that the stench is something awful and when they are building up trenches that need repair or new ones, that often they come upon bodies buried there. The place is simply alive with rats and mice. This officer is just suffering from shattered nerves and says it is a recurrence of an attack he  had before.

We are having a comparatively easy time here but I have long hours. I have been put in charge of a ward to see that things are looked after and cannot get out hardly at all. When the fellows get back home, the fellows say they will be first class chambermaids and bellhops. Ha ha!

I had to hand in my Kodak so don’t send any films. I was going to send it home but the Col. is keeping them for us in case the order is cancelled so we can have them when we are going home.

Sometime now if you can, will you send a box of doughnuts or biscuits. Don’t send any soft stuff like tarts etc. for they get some rough handling and only send stuff that will keep as it takes about 3 weeks for parcels to come through. Tell Mae not to send any medicine or drugs as I can get all those things here as we carry a goodly supply and also we get chocolate or at least can buy it. Our rations consist mainly of bread, bully beef stew and cheese with jam, on occasion a tin of butter (so called) but we never get butter and cheese on the same day. If you send any sox be sure that they are good and thick especially in the heel, and only 1 or 2 pair at a time.

Well I had better ring off and I’ll try not to keep you waiting for so long for another letter.

Am feeling ok as the picture of myself that I sent to Ettie (Redburn) will show even if I do look mad. Hope everyone is ok.

Your loving son,
Harold