Transcription

8th Queens
B.E.F.
21 11 1915

My Dear Mother,

Many thanks for your & Cecily’s letters, which I hereby acknowledged last night. Why they are billeting men at Carshalton I can’t understand as there is nowhere to move about in the open. However I suppose the Epsom & Sutton people had fought billeting last year so now it is your turn.

I expect your enthusiasm will die down before long, but you appear to have received them royally. What I remember of Reigate, what we most appreciated was being on the ground floor where the orderleys could get in & out without worrying the household & having breakfast on trays in our room while dressing before going on parade & what we objected to was not having a fire in our own room & being expected to live with the household in the evenings, but that depends largely on the household & the billetees & you have probably solved the problem by now whether you want them or not.

Another very cold day but dry & very quiet though they appear to be having a show up the salient on our left somewhere. I don’t think it was much or we should have heard about it.

The place you mention was where we were billeted for 2 days last week before coming in to the trenches. So your billetee may be able to let you know whereabouts I am.

We have just got a new subaltern from the H.A.C. which has become an Officers Training Corps.

Odd ought to have no end of a time at Invergordon though what she knows of Badminton I can’t imagine

However if she buys a book of the rules, she ought to know something by the time she gets there as it takes a longish while to get up as far as that these days.

I am glad the pram is of some use and hope you & C are still whole after driving to Cheam. I thought someone said that there was something broken in the cylinders. If so, has it been repaired or is it one of these little things which don’t matter.

Congratulations to H.V.P. on becoming a Sergeant & donning the yellow garter. I hope it doesn’t mean more work & I am afraid it will be duller than ordinary constabulary duty. Perhaps they will let him do his rounds in the pram. We are going back into France very shortly

I don’t know where exactly but somewhere behind & will stay there as at present arranged for about a month & then I suppose we shall come up in this direction again.

Love to all

Jack