France
10th August, 1916
Dear Mother,
I am still sailing along well. Have seen a little more of France. The people are harvesting now in many places. There are some reapers and binders about but they do a lot with scythe. Many of the crops are self-sown but they will reap very well. There is much wheat that looks like Federation only it grows much higher. Some plows are horse worked, threshers about as big as a winnower. Women and old men are doing the work – and the youngsters.
All the timber about has been planted in rows. Fruit trees are growing along the road in some places. It has been pretty warm lately, a muggy heat that is pretty distressing to work in, but it’s cool at night – too cool to sleep without blankets and we have none. One great coat is on our bed plus the clothes we have on and a waterproof sheet.
When we can we get straw and make a bed. It’s plentiful – so are sheds, barns and stables etc. There are few horses about. They are probably in use for war purposes.
Rabbits are kept in cages and bred like fowls. We see a few hares running around. We shot a few and cooked them. They are good for a change. I have seen some of our chaps get quail and partridge.
I met G. Low recently. He has been wounded in the eyes. G. Irons, Lockhart was killed by a shell, hit in the head on the 27th of July. Poor boy’s body was buried decently by his chums Frank Crane, (our old mail was injured in the same action, but not badly. (Poziers ??)
I saw W. Davies, Lockhart. He is OK.
We got into a big push for a while and succeeded well, but lost some of our chums. 10 signallers got wounded and sent away, none killed.
We are back spelling for awhile now and probably won’t get into action for awhile.
Love to all, Stid
