November 6 1915

Dear May

I have just received your letter, and being as I have plenty of time I am going to write you a good letter. Of course, when I send a letter to any one of you, I really mean it for all of you. I thought perhaps when I send a letter or P.C. to any one of you, that the others might think that I had forgotten them. Of course, I have not time to write to each one of you, so I must write to one, and make it do for the lot. Referring to Aunt's last letter about arriving home safely, Aunt said that she hoped that I did not get very wet. It did not rain at all in London that day or the next. We have it very wet since though. In that same letter Aunt said that Will wrote a letter, and as Aunt could not find it she would leave it until the next letter. Will's letter was with Aunt's letter all right. I expect that Will shoved his letter in the envelope, and forgot all about it. The stamp was on all right, and the handkerchiefs were all right. Thanks very much for sending the handkerchiefs quickly because I lost the one which I took with me. A gentleman in our room has since given me 2 nice white handkerchiefs, because he is going to have khaki handkerchiefs. I shall get 3 khaki handker-chiefs sometime, so that will make 7. I shall send 5 home at a time and keep 2. We now have in our company Lord Butler's son who is going to have a commission, a Lord?s son, a Belgian Millionaire, worth £15,000,000, the Earl of Crewe's son, and 6 well known gentleman?s valets. So you see May we have quite a lot of gentry in our company. In Will's letter, Will asked me to get him some cigarette photos, but as most of the fellows smoke Woodbines, I shall not be able to get him any photos at all, He also asked me how many Germans I shot on my route march. Tell him that we did not see a German of any description during the whole march. And he asked me what kind of drill it was that was going to make me 6 ft before Christmas. Tell him that if we keep on having the good plain food, the stiff drills, and the fresh air we are having now, I shall not be far short of 6 ft. When I come home at Christ-mas I shall bring him something back better than cigarette photos.
And of course I shall bring George and all of you something back as well. If you are going to send me some chocolate next week, May, I shall be very glad, and I thank you very much for it, al-though it has not yet come. If it did not come I should know the reason why, I know you can ill afford it. I am going to get in a better position than I am before another 3 months, and I am going to try to be a lance-corporal before Christmas. Last Friday we were short of section commanders, so the commander asked me to command one section. I had to drill them, and the commander said I was very good. He said I was getting on quick. So you see I am getting on all right, and stand a good chance of rising from the ranks. Have you had any separation money yet? If you have not, you must tell me in the next letter, and I will inquire into the matter. How is Alice at Wood Green getting on now, I hope she is as well as she can be. I hope that Mrs Cox did not mind me not going in to see her. Of course, I suppose she understood that I did not have time. Mrs Cox will have to come up and see me at Christmas when I come.

I am sorry to say that I shall not be able to go to Mrs Cope now because I shall not be able to have another pass until Christ-mas. When I come home at Christmas I shall get home just as quick as I did this time, although I shall be further away. When I come home at Christmas I shall have at least 6 days leave, and shall jolly well make up for not coming home now. Do not be surprised if I am about 6 ft high, as Will says. If I am Dad will have to cut a bit out of the front door, so that I can get in. We always have to wear our belts now. A battalion of the Sportsmans, and a brigade of R.F.A. went to the Dardanelles from here 3 days ago. It was fine to see about a mile of guns moving along. We are going to Andover to join the 19th batt. of K.R.R. Two K.R.R. men were accidently killed by bayonet fighting at Aldershot the other day, both of them lunged together. There are 10 Scotch regiments, 3 Irish, and 6 English regiments are stationed around Aldershot. All of them have been stopped fighting with the naked blades now, and have to use their scabbards. Our fellows have an idea that we are going in billets at Andover. They say it is not a very lively place, although it is a pretty part, but we shall have to make the best of it. The 17th K.R.R. stationed at Whitley, near Aldershot, say that the nearest house to them is 3 miles away, so we shall be better off than they are any rate. Tell Dad I am going to follow up fitting and turning, study with my books when I get a case, buy a military book of some kind every week, and become a Major-General someday. When once I start going, that is after I've been made a Lance-Corporal, I shall rise like the early morning dew. You need have no fear about my looking after myself and behaving myself May, because I only go out about 3 nights a week, and then usually by myself. I either walk round the town or go to the Y.M.C.A. at Romford, where there are all kinds of games and concerts. When I stop in camp I either go in our own Y.M.C.A. and read books or war news, or sew buttons on, or have a chat with another decent fellow out of our room on military affairs. So you see I behave myself alright. I have one jolly good wash, wash my hair every day, and clean my teeth every day, and bathing parade once per week. We have to sleep on one straw mattress, pillow, three blankets, and waterproof sheet. They keep you warm, but if you wake up about 1.00 a.m. you feel slightly cold. If we go in billets at Andover I expect our beds will be better than they are now. I hope that you are all as healthy as I am. Tell Aunt that I am wearing my pants now, and they are quite comfortable now. Tell Dad that the sergeants have got me spotted for knowing my drills, signals, and semaphore, and are quite friendly with me. Next time you write will you tell me Reg's address, so that I can send him a bit of St Julien, and ask him how he is getting on. You can tell Mrs Cope that I shall send a photo if I have a chance to have any taken. Aunt was lucky to get those 2 handkerchiefs and letter through for a penny because I should have thought there was above 1 ounce there. Was the new act in force then?

Do you think that I shall be able to send 5 handkerchiefs and a letter home for a penny? If not I shall have to send two only. One handkerchief will last one week all right. I do not know exactly what it is, but just lately I have felt quite good, that is to say religious. In fact 3 others, of a Sportmans' Company, and I felt so good last night, Sunday, that we were converted at a "Salvation Army Headquarters". It is a bigger thing than being confirmed. You have your sins forgiven; and promise God not to swear, steal, lie, deceive, misconduct yourself, and to obey the 10 commandments. I have felt quite spiritual and changed since Sunday, and I do not trouble what anybody says, it is better to live as God desires you to, than to live anyhow. There are some soldiers who have an opinion that this war will be the end of the world, but whether it is or whether it is not, I have made a start for the good. I hope you do not think I am balmy, but I have told you this because I knew you would be pleased to hear it. Well I think I had better go on and talk about something else now, now I have told you all about my change. I shall write to you just as often as I do now when we move to Andover, so you will have plenty of news. I shall not be able to write much more now, because we have to attend a Chapel service tonight and another one on Wednesday. Tell Dad and Aunt to drop me a line as soon as possible. Give my love to Dad, the boys and Aunt.

From your loving Brother Albert.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

P.S. I will write you a P.C. on Wednesday. If this letter is over-weight you will have to tell me.