Letters From the Front

Dated:

France,
March 12th, 1918

My Dear Lily,

I have not received a letter from you since ever so long. I think a great deal of our Canadian mail must be going down with the many boats that are sunk.

I hope you John and the baby are well. Have you decided on a name for the little boy yet?

I am feeling very tired today as we have such long trips to go on. We made two trips yesterday equal to near fourteen miles and this morning at 1:30 a.m. we had to go out with rush despatches. We had to go away ahead of the Brigade Machine Guns. It took up three hours to make the trip.

Our weather is just splendid in fact all January & February have also been very good. From all reports you are having a very cold stormy winter in Canada this year. The grass and flowers are springing up here. It seems a shame to have to fight in weather like this.

We have a fairly good dug out here. It holds four of us and was built by Fritz and occupied by him until the fortunates of war handed it over to us. Our furniture is rather scanty consisting of four bunks, a table, a bench, a chair and a stove. There is a German cemetery only about an hundred yards away from here. Some of the graves are well kept.

You see many relics of Fritz around here. On the side of the road is a big German staff car, but now badly broken up, further down the road is a large beer barrel wagon also out of commission.

We pass through a number of badly smashed up towns. One of our Canadian soldiers has written a poem describing it. I will quote one or two of his lines.

“Those scarred and tumbling walls once were a church yet might have been an inn, For all the signs of reverence they show, Save that in the encircling shady yard, Heaped with scattered stones, the uprooted graves and broken crosses speak of holier days: -
Standing stricken, the weary shrapnelled houses seem skeletons, grim and ghastly shapes
Beckoning with scraggly fingers to the sky in silent plea for justice” etc.

He gives a vivid description of  the village in 1914 before the war and of it now.

 I had a letter from Fraser the other day. He is keeping none too well. The poor boy would require a good long rest. James is very lucky getting back to Canada. You may have seen him before now as he left for Canada on Feb. 23rd. I wish him good luck.

We are going out on a trip in a few minutes so must come to a close.  Our mail has just come in. No letters for me this time.

I will close now. Much love to you all.

Your loving brother,
John

Gunner J.L. Rose
304591
Headquarters
9th Brigade
C.F.A. France