Search The Archive

Search form

Collection Search
  • Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in oa_core_visibility_data() (line 607 of /app/profiles/viu/modules/contrib/oa_core/includes/oa_core.access.inc).
  • Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type null in oa_core_visibility_data() (line 607 of /app/profiles/viu/modules/contrib/oa_core/includes/oa_core.access.inc).
Date: July 17th 1917
To
Jenn
From
James
Letter

Witley Camp, Jul. 17/17

Dear Jenn:-

Just a few lines to-day, as it is quite awhile since I have written home. I usually try to write once a week, but I dont just remember now when I wrote last, wether it is more than a week or not.

We have just came in after our mornings work, it is about eleven o'clock. It is very hot to-day and no one felt like working very hard. We were to have musketry from nine until ten and then signalling till eleven. We had musketry for 10 minutes and then laid down and slept till ten o'clock. Then we/ we had signalling for about five minutes, and then slept till eleven when we were dismissed. I had a telegram from Lorna last Thursday, she is staying in London until the 23rd. I tried to get a pass to go up to London for a day or two, but just the day before I got her message there was a divisional order came out that no passes were to be granted u der any conditions, so I wrote to her to see if she could come down to Guildford "a town about half way between here and London" next Saturday, as we can go there any time when we are off duty with out a pass, but I haven't heard/ from her yet.

Last night there was a concert in the "Y" here. It was arranged by a wealthy man who lives near here. He has put on a concert almost every Monday night all winter, and he bears all he expense. His concerts are always good, but the one he put on last night was the best of the bunch, he had ten artists and every one of them were good. He always brings a good variety of entertainers, always lots of life to them but not a great deal of smut. Last night he had five soloist, three comedians a violin dancer and the pianist. There was eight fellows and two ladies in the party. The fellows were all soldiers and some of them had been wounded twice. The dancer had certainly been on the stage before, and he/ could step dance and play the violin at the same time to perfection. On Saturday they had sports here in aid of the charity fund. They had a foot-ball game between a bunch of ladies from Portsmouth and the 13th brigade C.T.A. It wasn't any overly interesting game but it was amusing to watch. The fellows had to play with their hand behind their backs all the time, and every time they let it go it was called a foul, the girls could do anything they liked, but the umpire would never call a foul on them. When every any of the fellows would get started with the ball some of the girls would give him a push to make him loose his balance so he would have to let his hands go and then they called it foul.

[rest of letter missing]