Witley Camp
April 21 1918

Dear Mother:

I received a card from you on the 18th and on the same date received a 2 bunchyes of papers which I was sure glad to get.

It is raining here as usual today which is not very nice seeing that we are in tents. They put us in tents last Wednesday.

There was a bunch of conscript infantry from N.S came over a few days ago. Do you know if anyone from home was included.

I dont do hardly anything these wet nights except read. I've read an awful lot of books lately since there is a Y.M library a few days ago I started "The Heart of Mid-Lothian" since its scenes are layed in a part of Edinburgh that I saw while I was there. I'm recognized a lot of places mentioned in the story as places I saw.

I've an awful lot of stuff that I want to send home sometime soon if I ever get a chance. I have a dandy little telegraph buzzer which is valued at over £1 but seeing as the owner was going on draft he sold it for 1/6. And I've got some books too.

I heard from Herman yesterday and he expects to g come across soon but I don't much expect him for some time yet.

Do you know I think I'll get a lot of fun, after I get back, out of my knowledge of signalling. If I were to rig up my winches again I could read as fast as they could send to me. Do you know that going at the rate of 22 words a minute (i.e 110 letters a minute) I only had about 15 letters wrong of 175. That was the first time I ever tried it that fast. I knew that I could read correctly at 12 to 16 words per min but I was surprised to get 22 that well.

I've been in the army nearly a year haven't I. I will be on the 25 of May.

I have quite a lot of extra things here that I have bought for little or nothing and that I cannot take to France and cannot send home because they were originally government issue and at the same time I dont want to lose them. What would you suggest .

It just struck me on looking at my letter account that I hadn't written you since I received that little book of connudrums. So Thank you, Mother, ever so much for sending it to me.

I don't think there is much use in sending things over here that cannot be eaten or soon used up because I have no place to put them. If you know how much stuff I have now in comparison to how much I should have you would wonder where I got it all.

Well I had better close now.

Loving
Ludlow