Groombridge, Kent, England
March 30/18

My dear Grandmother:
Am spending a period of fourteen days on leave from France, mostly right here. This little village is one of the quaintest spots in old England. I have spent a previous leave of 6 days here, that was two years ago. I am with the mother and father of a Coy friend of mine in the [?] France. They are being good to me, treat me like they would one of their own, and that is saying a great deal. I think a great deal of Mr. and Mrs. Bish. Mrs. Bish is, I do not hesitate to say, one of the finest women I have ever met, and that is saying a great deal too. But apart from the home I am in this village is very interesting to me. I will try to tell you some of it.

Easter Sunday Morning

My Dear Grandmother:
I am taking up my letter to you again this morning. Had to leave off for a while last evening owing to visitors dropping in to see me. I will be going to church very shortly an such a quaint little church it is too, and this morning it will be very beautiful as it is all decorated with suitable flowers for Easter. It is a quaint little church all lit up with candles. No other lights are used. There are over [?] hundred candles when they are all lit up, and it takes the old gentleman who lights them a long time to do it. This little church, which is some hundreds of years old, was built as a thanksgiving for the safe return from Spain of one of the English princes, Prince Charles. I do not know which Prince Charles but I do know that he afterwards became King Charles. He, while a Prince, journeyed to Spain for a bride and on his safe return, from across the seas a [?] of this little place built this church and presented it to the parish. Here, also, standing in the grounds adjacent to the church we have a large moated house known as Groomsbridge Place. In a dungeon of this house the Duke of Orleans was kept a prisoner for twenty years, after being tortured by one Harold [?]alley, I believe the name is, at the Battle of Agincourt. That dungeon is still there, and I have seen it. The man who built the church lived in this old house. And so, all about this little village I find historical associations of great interest to me, and apart from that it is very quiet and restful. Just the place for a soldier from France to have a real good rest. My wife has been here and will be able to describe it to you more fully. Ask her about it next time you see her.

I sincerely trust you have not suffered too greatly from the rigors of the past winter, my dear Grandmother. Indeed you have had a severe winter. The winter in France was very moderate this year and luckily I was not in the firing line long this winter.

I will be glad to see all my little cousins some day. Some of them must indeed be quite young men and young women now. Please remember me to all of them.

I have been pleased more than I can tell you, dear Grandmother, to receive letters from you. And also I heartily thank you for the presents of socks, etc. It surely must be very difficult for you to knit now, isn't it. Does Uncle [?] keep well again now? He was not at all well for a long time, I believe. And how are my other uncles an aunts? Remember me to all when you write please. Some day soon I will be going home, and I must try to see you before Kitty and I go back to our little home in the West.

Kitty is a brave little woman do you not think, dear Grandmother. Most truly the ones we leave behind have the greatest burden to bear in times like these. May God bless her, and keep her for me. I am sure I will see you all again some day, not far away. Goodbye Grandmother. God be with you all.

Your Grandson Bert