#2                                                                                    Somewhere in France

 

Dear Mabel:

 

            We arrived here after a 36 hour ride on the train and a hike of about nine mile[s].  We are billeted in a small town.  We are sleeping in old barns.  The look as if they were about a hundred years old.

 

            This is certainly beautiful country and everything is kept nice and neat.  I was always under the impression that France was a crowded country but there is an awful lot of open country and pretty near all of it is cultivated.  You talk about prices being high in the U.S. but you ought to be here and pay 90¢ for a can of peaches.

 

            At the last camp we were at, we bought fresh strawberries and they were the largest and sweetest I ever ate in my life.  I paid 20¢ for a whole hat full.

 

            I am feeling fine and will do my best to stay that way.  Where we are now we can hear the roar of the cannon.

 

            How did the people of Chicago spend decoration day.  We were riding on train pretty near all day.

 

            I do not know what to write about because we have to be very careful what we write.

 

            I have not received any mail since we left New York.  When you address my mail be sure to write American E.F. because there is another army over [here] with the same initials.

 

            We had fine weather since we arrived, it has not rained a bit.  It is rather damp at night on account of the heavy dew.

 

            I did not make any allotment because if I want to buy anything extra it cost so much that I may need the money.

 

            I hope you are all keeping well.  I suppose you have your garden planted by this time.  Wherever you go here you see gardens and everything seems to be growing fine.

 

Well this is all I can think of now.

 

                                                            Love to all

                                                                        Theo

 

P.S. This letter #2.  Please some newspaper

just the part with the news in it.

 

 

Note:  This letter was probably written from Eaucourt near Amiens.  The regiment traveled from Brest in freight cars called ‘40 and 8’s’ – they could carry forty men or eight horses.  They detrained at Oisement and marched to their training area at Eaucourt.  The division is now on the British front and will be receiving further training under British and Australian officers.  (From The History of the Thirty-Third Division, A.E.F. Frederic L. Huidekoper, Springfield Il; IL State Hist. Lib. 1921, Vol III)

 

There was a question posted about censorship.  During hostilities it is common practice to impose censorship on outgoing correspondence.  Soldiers could not reveal their locations or other information that might be helpful to the enemy.  Apparently Theo was very careful abut this because none of the letters showed any information deleted by the censors.

 

TLT