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To
Mother and Father
From
James
Letter

Dear Folks:

Well I am glad to here everyone is okay down there. I am in best of health and spirits although I am on D.W. this week. I am fire picquet though so I don't have to do any work after duty hours.

I have my second Anson almost complete. It takes a long time as half the parts are missing. There are six completed as far as possible and only one is ready to fly. It is nice to have lots of time though because one can do so much better work on them.

We are getting along swell. I finally got where I can have it done the way I want it and I sure take advantage of it. Most of the guys have done very little work on the Ansons and they used to do it different from what we were used to, so now I have my gang back on the right track again. Everybody thinks we are doing a better job this time so I guess we are doing okay. There are three of us in charge of gangs and we were all on erection in Trenton.

I suppose Bill will soon be getting posted out. I hope he gets shipped out to Vancouver Island. The work is very particular there as the salt water is hard on aluminium and the slightest scratch has to be painted immediately or sprayed with anti-corrosion material. There is talk of a repair depot starting up in London and that some of us are going there but it may be just a rumour. They are bringing in a lot of men and all the married men are living out and now a bunch of single men are going to be put out in billets so we may get moved shortly.

Everyone here practically are L.A.C.s or higher now with a few just arrived from St. Thomas and Galt the A.C.s. We got payed this week. They paid me $33.00 and I usually get about fifteen. I think they forgot to take off your fifteen this time. However they'll catch up to me pretty soon. They are paving our roads and the tarmac around here. Boy will it be nice when they finish.

They have been stopping us from wearing oxfords out here but we have always managed to get out with them on although a lot of the guys have been stopped. There is a new A.P.M. out here and he is a bit rough but it will all wear off. We dodge the S.P.'s down town and haven't got caught yet.

I have never looked up any of those people yet. John Landeryow has been in Manitoba campaigning and has just come back according to the paper The Calgary Herald doesn't think much of him that is certain. They have a few cuts at him every little while.

I guess it is time I quit as this is the end of the paper that I got in McLeod. I'll be seein' ya sometime.

Love JBBD