Sunday Oct. 6

Dear Folks:

Here we are again. I haven't written for a week because I knew I wasmoving to a senior wing but I didn't know which one until now. We moved here yesterday - just to the East Camp - and are real honest to goodness Cadets now with white bands etc. That part of it gives me the pip but I guess I can stand it.

I cabeled again a week ago for another SOS. I guess you will think I use a bunch of money but we didn't get paid for a month after our leave and I had to borrow money from Spriggie and Mac to get stuff with. The RAF don't take into consideration that a fellow only gets 1.10 a day. I cut out my assigned pay so will be able to get more when they do pay us. It is cut out from Oct. 1st so don't be surprised when it dosen't put in a n appearance. I hope you didn't have to worry much about that last cable. I had it made out for Hythe because that is the nearest M.O. post office with a telegraph office in. I wont bother you again for awhile - at least not until Xmas anyway. We'll be getting uniforms then and will get ten days leave so I'll probably need help then. I won't cable unless I'm absolutely stuck tho.

Haven't had any mail - that is letters since I came over. The last one was dated Aug 4. I'll be getting a bunch some of these days. I've had one parcel form home & two from Marg & Flora since I wrote last. They were just as good here as in France too. They feed us great at this wing tho'. At the other one we had to buy most of our meals so I surely enjoyed the extras.

The Melachrino cig's were a treat for its impossible to get No 9's in this country. I still have a few left - saving them for special occasions.

The work here is better than the other wing. More lectures and less drill. We'll be here for six weeks or two months then we go to the school of Areonautics until about Xmas when we get our uniforms. We won't have anything to do with flying until after that.

My Add here is
"B" Flight No. 2 Squadron
No 1 RAF Cadet Wing
East Sandling Kent

Its just next to West Sandling. Its going to mix the mail up on account of my moving around so much so Spriggie said it would be O.K. to send in by way of his uncles in London. The parcels and what mail I'll get from France will come that way and if I change my add all I have to do is drop them a line & they are good enough to look after if for me. So add my letters that way anyway. You'd better send the parcels direct tho' for thy will be a lot of trouble for them. Don't go to any trouble with parcels either for we feed good - but still some parcels look mighty good. The London add is

c/o F.Pledger
127 Queens Road
Dalton E 8 London

Let Marg have the add. too will you? I'll write them as soon as we get squared around. I'm not having any other mail go that way for I don't want them to think I do a mail order business.

Had a letter from Peener the other day. He is at Aldershott on a musketry course. Burnie is at Bexhill on a gas course and Chief is expecting to come down her to Shorncliffe on a P.T. course. The idea is that every available man is being sent to France for the Canucks have certainly seen action around Cambrai lately. I certainly picked a good time to come here.

Lynn Feurt is hit pretty bad I guess. He is gassed and wounded with shrapnel. The last I heard he was still in France. Too serious to move I guess. I haven't had anything direct tho - just what I read in "Canada" I saw Jaffary's name among the wounded too but no particulars.

Say I've lost Lee's add. Could you get it for me. Have been down to Fokstone a few times. Its quite a burg. All the leave boats from France come there. There are two or three pretty fair theatres there. "The Pleasure Gardens: is one of the best. We are going Wednesday night - on Spriggie. We saw one of our old Section last night in the Y at Folkstone - Archie Sinclair - he is in the photo of the section. He was gassed in the Arras scrap after we left. Haven't heard anything about Swinny yet but I hope he's either O.K. or landed a good Blighty.

Had a look at France the other day. We were down at the beach and it happened to be the extra clear day. The cliffs near Calais showed up real plain. The fist time I knew you could see across the English Channel.

The war news is looking pretty fair these days. Its hard to say how things will go. Well I hope its over by the time you get this. Believe me when the old boat pulls in at Halifax I'll be a pretty happy kid.

This is all for now - I'll write again in a few days.

Love to Everybody

Bill

P.S. Had to take our colors down here so am sending them along. These are the same colors I had in January when I got the photo taken. The red goes over the French blue. The blue was given to the their Division for the Vimy scrap. The blue represents the division. 1st Division is red. 2nd is black and the 4th is green. Then the red represents the 2nd brigade in the div. and the circle represents the 1st B'n in the Brigade. ---
Comprez-vous?
WJM