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.

 

 

December 4, 1916 On Leave 16 Cathcart Street, Greenock, Scotland

Bill writes a short note to his father and the family from Greenock where he and his brother Harold are staying with the Munro family.