James T. MacDonald of Amherst, N.S., recounts when he was in a signals holding unit at Cove, Hants, England, in 1941. The flow of parcels had slowed to a trickle. Everything was in short supply.

“One evening as I sat down in the writing room of one of these service hotels, I discovered the ultimate shortage–no notepaper. It came to mind that we were being supplied in the latrines with the single-fold type of toilet paper that, although a little firm for its intended use, provided an acceptable writing surface. Using it, I wrote a long letter home.

“It was some months later that I received a very welcome parcel from my wife. Among the other goodies was an unusual-shaped package and I opened it first. Inside a note saying: ‘I am sending you a supply of writing paper – keep the letters coming.’ With it was a roll of the softest toilet paper I have ever felt.”