Dear Family

This will be a pretty dull letter because there's not much to write about. Censorship and my own inactivity make sure of that.

I got a most welcome parcel a few days ago which is the first mail I got here. The mail has been absolutely lousy. Ive just got 3 letters from Kay written between between the 1st & 4th of July. Your parcel was most appreciated, as you can imagine. It was the composite one from Nan, including chocolate from Cunninghams, chocolate bars from Nans canteen & life savers from an ex-RMR. McBride (my hole mate) & I melt the chocolate & dip army biscuits in the result. Chocolate biscuits! It also makes good hot chocolate.

Our hole now includes a shower, a stove and a wash basin all scrounged or make out of biscuit tins. A certain amount of dexterity with a pocket knife & some biscuit tins, and you can make almost anything.

I'm still not in any danger of winning any medals at the moment, although I got a severe fright the other day when it rained hard and all the surrounding ground started to drain into our fox hole. This, I think, has now been remedied, the flow being diverted into some one elses fox-hole.

Cigarettes are the problem at the moment, because we can only buy 60 English ones a week. Very cheap at 20 francs for 60. But I still love my Winchesters. Also reading material, second hand magazines such as the New Yorker, Cosmopolitan, Red Book, American, Colliers, can all be sent as a parcel, I believe. I don't mean subscriptions, but a monthly round-up of old magazines would always be appreciated by anyone over here. Letters, too, are even more important here than in England, if thats possible.

Well, my ink seems to be thinning out a bit, so I'll stop.

I hear from a squadron-mate that Hughie Russell is missing. Of course by now he may have turned up again which is a very frequent occurrence.

Kay is well and has apparently written to you recently.

Love to you all Geoff & signed G.W.F. Turpin