Scotland
January 1, 1915

Dear Win,

Your letters to me are at the camp, so I can't answer, in this letter, any questions you may have asked me.

A part of the Canadian Artillery, most of the Medical Corps and the "Princess Pats" are already at the front, and have been in action. We are living in hopes, and expect to leave before the end of the month.

I had written a bit of poetry for your benefit, but at the last moment I got stage fright and thought better of sending it.

I have had a glorious holiday, and I hate to go back to that awful bog on Salisbury Plain. I am almost looking forward to being wounded as there is a soft bed that is fready for me in that contingency.

Colonel Roosevelt sent me a very kind message of good luck, and I have just finished answering it. Really, these presidents, emperors etc are such a nuisance!

My Aunt has a family of Belgian refugees - gentlepeople- staying with her, and I have nearly dislocated my face in my attempts to keep up a continual conversation in French! Down at the Lodge there are several families of Belgians of the lower class, and they talk Flemish and Walloon. Needless to say, my conversations with them are not very spirited.

Saturday, January 2nd

I leave Glasgow tonight for London. I shall spend tomorrow morning there, and get out to the camp at Salisbury by tomorrow night, where the drab, colourless days will pass as monotonously as they did before my furlough.

We have just received news of the sinking of the Formidable. so much happens that is censored before the papers are allowed to publish the information, that I am surprised that we heard of this affair so quickly. The papers here have never said anything about the sinking of some ships, and the Bulwark had been sunk several days before the news was allowed to leak out, and we have lost many more boats than the Naval list gives account of. I think they carry things too far.

Please continue to write your much appreciated letters.

Your Sincere friend,

Gordon H. Grahame.