#michaelhouse

My dear Mother

I am still at the school of instruction and will leave here tomorrow to go back to the column. We have had two horses wounded since I left. The other day two of us were walking along a main road neat here and a Bosch aeroplane dropped a bomb about 150 yards behind us.

It is quite interesting to watch shells bursting all about hostile planes and on a fine day, one can see this at any time in one direction or another.

The other day I got a parcel of a pair of socks, a balaclava and some home made biscuits. They were all jolly fine and I am wearing the sox now. I will write and thank her tonight.

We have had a good deal of snow lately and the snow was lying on the ground for ab out 4 days. I didn’t feel very cold and some mornings the temperature was 5 ˚ below zero.

I have suddenly thought of something I meant to tell you before and haven’t done so. The day after I got to the front I wanted to go up to the battery positions to see where to deliver the ammunition so Hoyle and I rode about 1 ½ miles and then went on, on foot. It was a cloudy morning but dry and warm, and as we walked along there wasn’t a sound anywhere, but plenty of shell holes everywhere. Then we came to a village without a soul in it except a man on guard. Every single house was battered by shells and some completely knocked down. Then we came to a shell hole made by a 17 in. on the previous day. The hole was shaped like a funnel and was at least 12 feet deep and 8 yards across the top, like this ▼.

Then we walked down the road which is about 3000 yards from the Huns and in full view, but they don’t shell it during the day except if anything passes along it which is worth shelling. We saw the batteries and then went home again.

I do love to get letters from home. I expect to get a mail when I get back to the column tomorrow.

Your loving son