T. T. S., St. Thomas, Ontario.

October 12, 1943

Dear Mom,

My last Victory Bond should be paid up, and arrive at the house soon. Tell Dad that he can use it to get a loan for whatever he needs to do at the house. Glad to hear that the hot water is in. It must be quite a help.

I've heard about the bad weather you've been having, but here it's been warm. This is the right time of the year to see the beautiful trees in this area.

We visited Port Stanley last Sunday. It's on a hill, and in a valley, with wonderful scenery. It's a summer resort, but now, most of the houses are empty. There were six of us visiting the town, and as we passed one house, an elderly lady gave us a basket of grapes. So we had quite a feed. Then furthur on we came upon an apple tree with lots of windfalls on the ground, so we had a feed of those as well.

We had a look at Lake Erie, and next Sunday I expect to see Lake Ontario. For the rest of the afternoon we just roamed around, looking at the various sights. Last thursday I went roller skating in London, and it was the best floor that I'd been on so far. The evening before we left Lachine, I skated in a rink in Montreal, on a floor just like glass, a total change from the very rough floor in Lachine. Here in London the floor was great, and the arena had a decorated ceiling and an Electric Hammond Organ for the music.

The Navy is well represented here, but the Air Force is also appreciated (witness the "grape incident"). People here are more reserved than in Montreal. Before I left Montreal I had visited the Art Gallery, expecting to see a lot of paintings, but the majority of the exhibits were antiques, such as old hand-made lace from France, furniture and wood carvings from England, as well as some brasswork, ironware and glassware. Every bit of ot was terrific.

While I was looking around, an elderly lady standing beside me began to talk about some of the carvings and glassware, and for most of the afternoon we were together. She said she realized how young fellows felt away from home, so she spoke to as many Airmen as she could, whenever she got the chance. Quite nice of her.

During my first visit to London, I went to the Y. M. C. A , and was invited to the Y. W. C. A for lunch. I had a pretty good time. There were Airmen, Soldiers, C.W.A.C's, W.A.A.C,'s and Wrens present for a sort of "Get together evening" for men and women of the Services.

This is a very classy place. We even dress in full blues for dinner in the evening At the noon lunch, music and news are piped into the dining halls from the radio station here at T. T. S.

So long for now, Love, Lewis.