August 22, 1917 Cable to Bill’s Brother Orville Skilling

Bill sends a cable home from England to reassure the family. Tomorrow I will be posting his long letter refered to here which gives details about what has happened to him.
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August 10, 1917 Notification Card Sent to Bill’s Father

Bill has collapsed and been evacuated to Abbeville Hospital.

 

February 24, 1917 Quiet On the Western Front

Bill writes a long letter to his father John Skilling in Teeswater, Ontario from somewhere on the Western Front. He goes into a lot of detail about the pay system, frustrations with sending cables and remarks several times about how quiet it is there. Unknown to Bill, his brother Harold has been shot in the abdomen during the Battle of the Somme. Someone had already written their condolences to him “on the loss of his dear brother” before he learned the truth that Harold was in hospital in England.

 

 

February 13, 1917 Somewhere in Belgium

   

Bill writes to his father from somewhere in Belgium where the General of the Divisional Artillery paid a surprise visit when the Captain was away and Bill was in charge.