3rd Army Artillery School,
B.E.F., France

May14th 1917

Dear Ella:-

Glad to hear you got the music O.K. I sure would like to hear a decent piano again for a change. No musical guys here at all and yelling without a piano is punk.

This morning we took a trip to the Trench Mortar School and believe me I got a surprise. I'd always thought a T.M. was a length of gaspipe which fired a jam tin full of gunpowder about 20 yards. However they've made great strides in this line and now their range is 10 times as great and the projectiles about 15 times as large. They fired a lot while we were there and one of the big ones made a crater about as deep as the height of our house at Aylmer. They had a lot of captured ones there also some of which were taken by the Canadians at Vimy.

It's been raining all day and I've been wet through doing gun drill without any waterproof on. It's not nearly as nice as it seems.

Am sending some French money home for my coin collection. You'll notice each city issues it's own one franc notes.

Well Ella I guess I'll change now and go to bed. With best love to all.

Bev.