March 13, 1943
Dear Mom:
Well here it is Saturday night and me staying in at which I am very much surprised. I was in town this afternoon and stayed for dinner then came right back to camp.
I received your letter Thursday with Pat's and Les' enclosed. Many thanks especially for Pat's. Tell her that I am sorry to hear that Jiggs [family dog] still has his cough.
So Bob bought a car, he has been talking about it long enough. I do hope he does not have too much trouble with it as the Essex has alway[s] been a car that there was a lot of trouble con[n]ected with. Although some of them give very little trouble.
Bud is not selling out eh, just painting. You can bet that he is not paying for it, the "Home Oil" is.
You're having trouble with your feet now. Say is there anything else that can go wrong with you? You had better watch your feet as they are your only means of getting around as we have no car, even a crate like Bob's, so watch out.
Glad to hear you did so well on your tea as you were looking forward to [it] for a long time and have had a good many fights about it even before I left. By the way will you say hello to Father Teague for me. You might tell him I miss the Monday night bowling. By the way is Audrey still going bowling Mondays? I would also like to know how we stand in the league?
You might tell Les that I am in the Artillery all right but I am in the Ack Ack and am not likely to go to Shilo for training in that. I understand that there is a new advance school on Van. Island, if so I hope to go there. If I don't go there the only other Ack Ack school that I have hear of is in Halifax and I sure hope that if both of these stories are true that I get close to home for a while anyway.
The weather wasn't too bad until these last few days when it started to get cold again. Yesterday morning it was 10 below with a strong wind blowing to top it off it was snowing which made it miserable outside. The snow was drifting around a couple of feet deep in some places. The wind has been blowing now for about 3 days and I sure wish it would stop as it is no fun outside in this weather.
They are pretty good here as we stay in the lecture huts and in the drill hall as much as possible. We usually get at least one period outside a day though. The period is ¾ of an hour and when it is cold and blowing we are sure glad to get inside again.
We got our rifles this week and I am having no trouble at all. My hand was a little sore the first day that was all. They sure take it easy with the rifle drill to start with but it is just a little stiffer now. We have learnt the Present, Order, Slope, Slope for Inspection and a couple of others (ask Bob what these are if you don't know, he knows).
We had a test on first aid the other day. I didn't have any trouble with that though. We are getting lectures on gas, rifles, rifle aiming and other subjects.
The boys are looking forward to the day when we get on the rifle range. It is only a 30 yd range and we shoot with .22s. The outdoor range is not finished yet but will be before we leave. We will shoot 10 rounds on that range, that is not really enough to get the feel of the stronger rifle though. The .22s we will be firing will be the same weight as the .303s if not a little heavier but that remains to be seen.
Say I never realized how much my feet sweat until I got up here, my boots are soaked through every night from sweat. And let me tell you they sure get cold in a hurry if we have to stand outside long.
Well I have run out of news so give my love to all. Tell Pat thanks very much for her letter.
Love to all
Ted.
