Dear Mrs. Bowes,

This week we heard that Jim and Fred had, it is officially announced, died of wounds and you may be sure we all join with you and the rest of the family in your bereavement. While it is very hard on you, it is also [hard] on us Boissevain boys to lose our chums. Yet there is a sense of pride that they gave up their lives for a righteous cause. I only wish we had been with the boys but our chance is coming I hope very soon and there will be some debts to pay off when we get over.

We are training very hard now and it is too bad the boys who went in the first draft did not get some of the training that we are getting here. This camp is under the Imperial command and so we are kept down pretty strict and the sooner they send us over the better. However I like it here and the camp is very clean with plenty of amusements. The surrounding country is very beautiful and we’ve seen some pretty sights. All of us like the ranks and hard training. It feels like being somebody and in the band we were never as happy as we are now. Our pack still has a band but there are not many of the old ones left so their work is not very pleasant to listen to.

How is Elliott and his wife and baby, also Evelyn? Please remember me to them all and I hope the time is not far distant when if God so sees fit we will see you all again.

This war is certainly being the means of changing us boys considerably and we will appreciate home if we ever get another chance.

Well Mrs. Bowes, I must close for this time. If there is anything any of us can do for you, let me know.

Yours sincerely,

Pte. L.W. Burns