Transcription
Some Where [redacted]
Aug 24/16. [abbreviated: August 24, 1916]
Dear Mother ~
Received two of your letters today, one from George, and one from Clystal. The mail is delayed some on account of being [crossed out] our battalion being divided, however it is hard to make good connections from Can. [abbreviated: Canada] to Belgium.
I suppose you people when receiving my other letter will be surprised to hear of our fast travelling. The rest of the boys are all well, but we haven’t seen poor Arthur for about two weeks, hoping he is getting along fine. It is certainly interesting to travel over this country, seeing the fine property all in destruction. The Belgians seem a very quiet friendly race of people, there being a few houses containing families back at our camp. Today Earl received some money from home, which was certainly a treat to us, not being paid within almost a month’s time. They have [crossed out: indecipherable] M.G.C’s [abbreviated: Machine Gun Corps] back of the firing line in dug outs, which was our first point of view.
(2)
Here we purchased quite a few eatables along with the writing paper, which has been a great scarcity this last while. It is very hard now to write regularly, not knowing where you are going to be or at what the next day, so you will bear the circumstances in mind.
I suppose you have already heard of the casualities [spelling error: casualties] out of the 73rd. these were out of the other companies who are separated from us. They were coming out of the trenches being green on the job got shelled. A Co. [abbreviated: Alpha Company] is now out with a working party taking supplies up to the trenches and repairing, of course all this is done during night. When you get in to the dugout it is something like a little underground world everything being up to date. We are now getting used to the reports of the big guns, which seemed wild at first.
How are they getting along at the harvest, you had a very good hay crop it must of [spelling error: have] been very heavy, that is a good idea working together with _____ [word cut off]
(3)
By all reports there has been a great many accidents in connection with the hay fields around the country, seemingly it about as safe here as around Richmond. Did I tell you in my other letter about seeing Roy Tubman and Tom Touchette, I hardly know whether I am telling the same thing over again in my letters. The weather lately hasn’t been nearly as warm, by your letters it is very warm in Can. [abbreviated: Canada]. I have a good many other letters to answer, which I find hard to keep even with. Tonight I am not out. so am taking the opportunity of writing under the light of a candle.
With Best Love To All
Sefton.
P.S: The allies seem to have the best of the Germans, but today they got quite a few shells over, not doing much harm. It is thought the war will over about Xmas [abbreviated: Christmas].
Sefton.Transcriber
Teshia LlewellynLanguage
English
