e from the
two Alexanders. I am quite rich, I have nearly L30 in the bank, and I
am intending to be absolutely extravagant and buy a gramophone, and
even then I shall have a nice balance. I don't spend nearly all my
pay, and I am sure I don't earn my pay, because already I have
introduced economic reforms in Germany by cutting down the personnel
of their Army, and so saving them expense.

I wish I had seen Norman Smith in St. Omer. At present in billets we
are doing little: we draw our rations and eat them, go for our letters
and read them, get new clothes and wear them, take rations up to the
dump for those in the trenches, and then go to bed. To-morrow is a
red-letter day. We are going to have a bath. I am getting quite good
at having a bath in a tin hand-basin, but to-morrow I shall soak in a
great vat, which was once used for washing clothes. You will be glad
to hear that we have had no single case in the brigade yet of a man
sharing his clothes with anything else of the type in the dog's diary:
"Bad attack of eczema, caught one."

The rats in the trenches are delightful animals, about as large as an
overgrown horse, but you get quite friendly towards them in a little
while; after all, I suppose they are fighting for their country like
some of us. I expect the papers in ratland are like ours: "In the
western hole there is nothing to report, the situation was normal, in
Rotten Row Alley gnawing was heard, and it is thought that the enemy
are sapping towards us." Then they have articles about the bad
conditions of their trenches, and write home to say that the human
vermin simply swarm there, and are swollen to a huge size and have all
become furry.

Much love to all,

From your loving Son,
ALEC.

P.S.--We had an official message sent by the French line brigade to
say that the French had won back all ground lost at Verdun and taken
thousands of prisoners.

A/101 TRENCH MORTAR BATTERY,
101ST BRIGADE, B.E.F.
Monday.

My darling Mother,--

I have not written for the last day or two; that is, my writing has
not been continuous as it usually is, because in billets we do little,
and have little we can do. All the guns are in the trenches, so we
have nothing to amu