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. [sic]

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