[transcription and footnotes have been provided by the collection donor]

Vedrin, Belgium
Feby 15/1919

Dear Father & Mother:-

Thanks very much for two letters. One written by Father dated Jany 13 and the other from Mother dated Jan 22nd.

We are still in this miserable little place^[292] near Namur and there is no rumour about moving yet. I am getting right down sick of this Country. Believe me when I once set foot in Canada it will take an awful lot to chase me away^[293]. Glad to hear Mother went to Pendleberrys for a rest. Hope she is feeling better.

Did not see Harry P. If you had told me before that he was in Bonn I could have looked out for him. Where is Theodore L^[294]? Suppose Walter^[295] is home by now. Expect it will be about six weeks before we are even in England. We will only get five days leave in England.

- remainder of letter is missing and was not signed -

Footnotes
^[292] In his first letter from Namur on 27 January 1919 he comments that it is "a very pretty place" and now two weeks later it is now a "miserable little place". One can only speculate as to what has changed his thoughts. The weather is undoubtedly cold and wet and the troops are now anxious to be repatriated back to Canada via England. Shipping delays plague the movement of troops. In addition, over 15 soldiers have been evacuated to England as "sick". This evacuation could be linked to Spanish Influenza that was hitting many units.
^[293] After his return to Canada and Saskatchewan, Richard Mercer never traveled off the continent and made perhaps only 3 or 4 trips to the United States during the remainder of his life. He was content to remain in Theodore, get married to the new school teacher from Wynyard, Saskatchewan, and raise a family of two boys and two girls. His taught Sunday School for 41 years, participated in the creation of the first district credit union and formation of the first "Union" hospital for the Theodore district. He also served as local Postmaster for over 47 years.
^[294] This is Theodore Larson from Theodore, Saskatchewan.
^[295] 'Walter" is reference to Pte. Walter Wylie who was wounded during the Last One Hundred Days of the war. Walter later became a medical doctor and practiced medicine in Ontario. The location is his present-day descendents will require further research. It is not known what level of contact Pte. Wylie maintained with Pte. Mercer back in Saskatchewan.