Dear Mother,

You will see by the above that I am in London and staying at the above club. It is a dandy place right alongside Hyde Park and is run for soldiers only. Fred, Hank Anderson, Gordon Little, John Penny, Mitchell and your son James are all stopping here. Bed and breakfast only cost 32 cents and it was easily worth three times that. They only charge to cover the expense of running as the building was donated to the club by a private party.

There surely is a great mixture of soldiers here, Australians South Africans, Canadians, etc. Some have very picturesque costumes but I like the Canadian uniform the best.

I was down to Buckingham Palace this morning to see the new guard mount. Gee, they sure were a fine body of men and they certainly knew their business. They were dressed in the service uniform of khaki. The band that escorted them was all dressed in black with great high busbies on their heads. They surely looked fine. This afternoon I am going down to the flying school. I will let you know about it next letter.

I seen a statue of Achilles this morning in Hyde Park that was erected to the memory of Wellington. It was coal black, cast out of cannon captured by his army at Waterloo, etc. It was dandy.

I am enclosing a pamphlet which the club issues to all the boys staying here. I think it will show more clearly than anything that I could say that the club is run in the interests of soldiers than for any private individuals.

Love to all and kisses galore

Your loving son,

Jim