Letters From the Front

Dated:

Belgium, June 17.

Dear Dad and Mother--

I have received two or three letters from you lately but we have been kept so busy the past two or three weeks that I have not been able to do any writing at all.

By the time this reaches you our last action up here will be stale news.  However, I am pleased to say that I have come out of it so far without a scratch and am feeling fine. 

We did not lose any of our trenches, although the lost trenches were not far from us, it was part of our battalion that stopped the Germans from getting any further through the lines.  We were then relieved for a few days.  We attacked the Germans and retook the trenches again.  Only a few of our men were allowed to take part in it and I am pleased to say I was one of them.  I had charge of a party of men under an officer who had to consolidate the position, and I can assure you that we were very fast workers for we were under shell fire all the time.  We got our job done and only had three casualties, and I can't understand how we got off so easy for shrapnel was dropping around us like rain.  We took a number of prisoners, and they were quite pleased to be captured.  One of our men was escorting a prisoner to the rear and he got buried by a shell, the German immediately dug him out and handed him his rifle back again.

We had rotten weather for making the attack as it rained steady for about four days, consequently the trenches were in pretty bad shape.  Some of the trenches and roads were almost impassable.  We were sure an awful looking mess when we got back to camp and we were just about all in.

I am pleased to hear they have been showing those pictures of Canadians abroad in Red Deer and I am wondering if you recognized anyone of them.  Part of our company was in the one taken in the trenches.  I knew Corp. Whyte quite well, he was a scout in our battalion, he got wounded one morning just as he was coming into the trenches; he had been out between the lines most of the night.

I have not had my leave yet, as all leave has been stopped for quite a time.  It has started up again, and now I expect to go in a week or two.  I will let you know as  soon as I get to England.

Your loving son,

COLIN