France
May 18,1917

Page 1 is missing

of he's at Crowborough his add. will be
Cadet G.B. Barlow #911380
C.Y.S. Bexhill-on Sea, Sussex
and if at Bramshot it will be Lieu. G.B. Barlow
"D" Coy. 19th Res. B'n.
Bramshot, Hants.

You can use your own judgement which you send but wither will bet him O.K. The Oakes' are from Independence, Kan. Mr. Oakes is either Senator of the State or a member of Congress. Spud worked there for over a year. I guess Edna Faye Oakes is quite a girl. I would write her direct but I don't know her add. Spud will never see France for ages yet for he's about the end, of a long list available for draft so you can tell Mrs. Oakes that all Spud needs on slap in the wrist. Spud's name is Gerald is almost as bad as Clarence so we had to call him something else.

We had a Sports Day today. Tip Riley -- one of my old Section & a darn good scout cleaned up on quite a few events. He's from Calgary. We call him Rip from one night in Seaford. --A bunch of us went to a hotel for dinner and the bill came to almost 2 pounds-- you see there were about twelve of us -- Well Tom payed the bill & when he took his change off the plate he left a measly sixpence for a tip. The poor waited almost fainted. Ever since that we've called him Tip.

This is all for now. Write Mrs.Oakes right away & tell her that I can always let her know where Spud is as I hear from him quite often altho' he's a pretty poor correspondent. She hasn't anything to worry about wither.

So long for tonight. Your Brother Bill

P.S. Send me some cigarettes -- Players preferred -- as they are hard to get over here. A "Life" or "Judge" would come in handy too as reading material is hard to get. A Calgary Eye Opener is worth all kinds of money here. One dated Feb 12 has been making the rounds of the hut for a week.

Love to Everybody

Bill