(?) - Germany
Jan 24th. - 1919

My Dear Father & Mother:

Just a line tonight while I have time, as very likely during the next few days I will not get a chance. We are supposed to be moving on Sunday or Monday to some place outside Brussels. It is the first stage of our journey home, from now on each move means another step towards good old B.C. for the last two or three years I have been wandering a lot but heading Eastwards all the time - so we are not sorry by a long way that we have started or are about to start on our homeward trip - the boys have great arguments these days about demobilisation, the way things are going. We got ahold of a Vancouver World the other day & in it was a speech by the Can. Minister of Militia (Newburn). He said that the Can. liked France & did not want to leave yet & that none of us would leave France till March! - he also said that every Can. in the Army of occupation volunteered for it - why the d___ fool must be mad to talk like that. I forgot to say that he also mentioned that every Can. now in Hospital was longing to get back to his unit in France or Germany - All I can say is & I speak the mind of every Can. soldier that I know - that it is a d___ bare faced lie - it is a darn shame the the you people at home are B.S'd about the doing of their troops - I have never seen a Canadian paper yet since I have been away that was not full of B___ about the Moral of the Troop & ect. The Borden & some of these guys talk you would think we liked the army & wanted to go "touring" with it into Germany while they stay at home & spread the B___ about Canadian Soldiers in Germany - they think so much of us that they sent us bully & biscuits for our Christmas dinner - we paid of our own pudding & ect - turkey & all for Xmas & N.Years & it costs us two thousand seven hundred marks in cold cash - out of our canteen profits - that is how much they think of us after all the bull they shot about the Christmas dinner we were getting - However we will know more about these things when the boys get home.

Well I am going to tell you something now that I don't suppose you will believe, but as sure as I wrote this letter it is right, & that is that I shot a deer yesterday, up here in one of the Kaiser's estate! - The best job is that all our big game hunters who used to do all the talking have be hunting up there ever since we got here & got nothing although the bush is full of them. So the other day I went up & sized things up but did not get a shot - went up again yesterday & got one in about an hr.! - Am having the best of him cooked in the house here the land lady is doing it of course they have their share for the cooking of it - have invited in a couple of the boys - gave half of him away to a chum of mine. I was on stable picquet last night & the wagon guard & I had some swell steaks of off him at 2 A.M. this morning - we cooked them on the fire in the stable & believe me they were great.

Well the next letter you get will be from Belgium likely.

With love from

Bill