1 J2/83 (162)
Borden Camp
Hants 15/1/'16. My dear Father, My next letter
will, I hope, give you
definite news of the
date of our departure,
which is rumoured to
be on the 31st of this
month, our destination
being, as far as we
know, Bethaine in France
where the rest of the
16th Division are quartered. 2 There has been much
activity in the Brigade
recently. First of all
the men's teeth were
overhauled, whether in
view of the large quan—
tities of German sausage
we shall capture in
Berlin, or to make
sure of being able to
take a firm grip in
the calves of retreating
foes, is not stated. The men have also been
supplied with new kit;
gas masks are ready
and a few days ago
we drew our service 3
ammunition so that
we are ready to move at
the proverbial moment
notice. I shall not
be sorry to get a move,
for though the days slip
by fast enough it seems
to me to be years since
I left Ireland. Besides
my real, and in a way
consoling, work will only
begin then, though Fr.
Kelly and myself are
not exactly idle with
some 3,000 Catholics to
look after, not including
those in other regiments. A Canadian regiment 4 has recently come into
Camp; they seem to be
beasties, as already they
have murdered two men
and a third was stabbed
yesterday, in fact things
are lively, to put it
mildly, and nearly as
exciting as the actual Front. It may interest you to
know that I was beauti—
fully plugged by six
bullets yesterday — two
through the heart, a couple
in the head and minor
casualties; wounds quite
healed now, thanks. I
was out watching a
sham battle, when
passing a furze bush 5 a hidden sniper suddenly
rose and emptied his
magazine into my
poor unoffending
body, evidently thinking
he had bagged a
general, at least. May
I put on record here
that I felt profoundly
grateful that the
cartridges were blank,
else I should have been
very like a fire—bucket
by this. The last I
saw of the hostile
sniper was a form 6 J2/83(17) flying madly down
the hill, hotly pursued
by a dozen of my
own men , who were near at
hand, some of them
were trying to fix
bayonets as they ran,
but what happened to
the man who shot the
priest history does not
state. I shall write again when
I hear about our move—
ments to let you know
definitely. All well on board — much
love to yourself and everybody
Ever your loving
Willie.