Jan 19, 1916 Dear Bro & Sister, Your most welcome letter came to hand which I received the other day. Also the parcel so I received all three OK and I sure enjoyed the good smokes while I was in the front line & I want to thank you very much. Well I want to impress upon your mind that I am the only member of the Hampson family in Flanders & I think that is enough. We were in the reserve trenches Christmas week it rained like the merry D____ every night but that didn't stop us from going on working parties even on Xmas night. Oh it was rotten digging trenches up to our knees in mud & water. We went in the front line on New Years Eve & we sure had some time. At 12 o'clock the fun started. Fritz started singing their national anthem. Then our fellows started calling him all the names they could think of. I was on listening post at the time about thirty yards from the German line and the star shells were dropping all around me & my mate. Then the machine guns opened up. Oh Gee you should have seen Big Sid hugging the ground but he didn't put any big shells over. Well the next night I was on the same post. It was on my second shift about one o'clock in the morning when I seen Fritz patrol party of five coming towards us. I pulled the signal wire for a star shell. Well we got the star shell alright but the darn thing set fire to the grass & we had a regular prairie fire & the worst of it was the darn fire was coming towards me & my mate. So we crawled in a shell hole about fifteen yards away. The patrol party were trying to surround us. I pulled the signal wire for the fellows in the trench to stand to. Then me & my mate started blasting away at them. We threw a couple bombs at them but we only got one of them as they all started running back to their trench. But we couldn't get the wounded one so you can plainly see they don't catch old Sid asleep. Oh it sure is a great life I don't think. Well at present there is two German Aireoplanes over out trenches but they are beating it back as our fellows are shelling them. Say Jim, I have just been talking to Dave Travis. He is in the same Batt as me & we generally have a talk about the times when I used to call him. He wishes to be remembered to you. Well my little dear, dinner is up & it is bully & hard tack today. Hoping the letter finds you in the best of health as it leaves me the same. With best love from Bro Sid P.S. expect to see you some time this year. All's well burr.