en all round. It must have been
very pretty before the war, even in its deserted state it is very
nice; forget-me-nots and bits of lake and stream everywhere. I feel as
fit as a fiddle and am as brown as a berry.

And guess what time I was up this morning--6-0 a.m., and it will be
5-0 a.m. to-morrow for a field day. When you are in rest you do just
twice as much work as in the trenches. But the only think I dislike is
moving.

I am waiting very impatiently for our gramophone to arrive, it is so
topping out in the open at night. I am afraid that I have been a long
time writing this letter, but, as you know, we are still in rest, and
I have little news. In addition, we have been kept very busy. To-day
(Sunday) we paraded at 4-15 a.m. (just think of me on parade at 4-15!)
and I wasn't late; we had a field day, lugging heavy guns about in the
heat, and firing dummy rounds. Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed it.
To-night Lake and I went for a bathe in the river. As I think I have
told you the country is very like Cambridge, or rather more like
Norfolk Broads, streams everywhere, wide rivers and small streams
intersecting all the fields, so that, unfortunately, wherever you take
a short cut you have to jump all sorts of ditches, and already three
of us, including myself, have bathed in our clothes. Leading off the
rivers are smaller rivers, and everywhere by the riverside are small
white farms, each owning two or three flat-bottomed boats like large
canoes, shaped like gondolas, and they go everywhere in them, and take
their horses too.

I hope to come home for leave on the 1st of June, but leave may be
cancelled before then. We have an allotment of leave for the Battery,
but I cannot take the first leave myself. Thank you very much for the
pleasant parcel, with pyjamas and papers, received the other day.
Well, good-night, little mother, you can always know that the fewer
letters I write the more harmless time I am having, because I have
less to tell.

Much love to all, from your loving Son,
ALEC.

May 7th.

My darling Mother,--

The dates put at the top of each letter are the dates on which the
letter is commenced, and, as each letter is written bit by bit, it is
usually several days before it is sent off; as a rule I forget to put
the date at the end on which the letter is