May 12, 1916 Dear Ada & Jim, Just a few lines to let you know I am still on the western front doing my bit. We are in the front line at present for sixteen days. The lines are only forty yards apart. Fritz has been bombarding us with a new kind of a shell this last three days. It looks just like a length of stove pipe coming through the air. He fires them from his support trenches a distance of two hundred yards back of this front line. You can see them plain coming through the air. They are five foot six inches long & about twelve inches in diameter loaded with high explosives. We call them sausages. If you are within twenty yards of one when it explodes it will send you bugs. I was in my dugout the other day & I heard a noise, thinking it was a mouse in my pack. So I moved it but the noise was still going. So I put my ear to the ground & could hear somebody tapping. You should have seen me beat it down the trench after the officer & told him that Fritz was mining under the trench. So he brought the sounding machine with him & sure enough it was Fritz putting a mine under us. About two hours afterwards one of the boys heard them digging about fifty yards up the trench. They claim that Fritz has the whole hill mined so we are going to let our mines off this week before he gets a chance. We work in the mines every day when we are in the front line & I can assure you it is no bon job. Both sides are exploding mines every day around this part of the line, just like an earthquake when they go up. Fritz shouted over to us the other day saying you won't be so happy tomorrow night, of course we are always singing, so we started back at him, shouting where is your navy you German son of ------. Why don't you come out & fight like a man. Do you think you will ever get to Y___ (Ypres), of course that is the name of the big town we hold just behind our lines. He tried for it twice before but the last time it was the old Battalion bro Sid is in that drove him back & he knows it to. Well he never said a word back to us but he put a sign up in the front of his parapet the next day but we couldn't make out what it was, so we started shooting at it. Then we printed a big sign the next day saying we don't take any Germans prisoners. He has never fired a shot at it yet. He don't like the Canadians because we give him a dam site more than he sends them imperial troops, they are to easy with them. Well things are looking fine & think it will finish this year. The boys keep smiling. It sure is marvelous how they keep their spirits up so well with being on the job so long. But I'm sorry to say we lose them every day. The bunch I left Moose Jaw with, there is only twelve of us left but it's no sense looking on the gloomy side of things out here. Gerald's brother got killed the other day. He was in the next Batt to me so I guess Gerald will feel pretty bad about it. But say, what do you know of our Joe joining. They are coming to England this next month & expected to hear about him getting married. I feel sorry for Florrie because she is such a nice girl. I expect to go on pass about the first of July & will see Joe & try & get him a bomb proof job as one of a family is enough at this job. It will soon be a year since I came out here. Well my dears, today is the day. Gee I hope it's a boy. Hoping you are both getting along alright & in good health as it leaves me the same. With best love from your Soldier Bro Sid P.S. Say Jim, I'm giving Fritz hundred rounds rapid fire for the celebration