Saturday 3, Feb 1945

Dearest Kitten:

Thanks for the lovely Valentines. They made me feel as though I were a single man with a lovely young lady trying to impress me with the fact that she thinks that I am pretty swell.

Hm-m is one sweet smelling. Brings out the wolf in me. - Sunday 4 Feb. 1945

Sgt. Pound insists that I give you his love. He just came in for a pass and is slightly inebriated. Suffering from a hangover I guess.

He came in just as I got started. He must have had a large evening last night.

So did I. One of the men in the Company was supposed to get married yesterday and the men in his platoon threw a party. They invited me down so I had to stop in for a few minutes last night.

Yesterday was a very busy day for me. Sgt. Donohoe left for O.C.S. without Sgt. Ryan and I had to say goodbye to him.

Funny how things turn out. Wednesday night Sgt. Donohoe, Ryan, & myself went into town for a last good time together. We went to a hotel that serves drinks with their meals. After dinner we went down to the lounge and had a double brandy and coffee. We were just shooting the breeze and enjoying ourselves when Sgt. Ryan wanted to hunt up something more to drink. Donohoe & myself did not care for anything more to drink but we wanted to stay together. Just to humour Ryan we started off and landed at a restaurant where Ryan knew that he could get something to drink. Sgt. Ryan got a bottle and decided that he wanted to get tangled up with some fast Sheila. He was sober when he left us as Sgt. Donohoe & myself were not interested in looking for women.

When he did not rejoin us at the restaurant we took off looking for him but could not find him. It was getting late so we had to come back into camp. Just as I was climbing into bed my mess Sgt. grabs me and tells me that Sgt. Ryan had gotten into trouble.

On reaching the orderly room everything was quieted down. It seems that Sgt. Ryan had gotten drunk and gotten into a fight after returning to camp. He came into the orderly room and threw our typewriter at the guy he was fighting with. The typewriter is in a slightly damaged condition. It took about four men to quiet him down and finally he passed out. He could not remember a thing the following morning as he was out on his feet while it was happening. Whatever it was that he had to drink after he left us must have been pretty powerful as he was O.K. when he left us.

The C.O. had to bust him, keep him from going to O.C.S. and transferred him to B Co. Too bad but he has been warned about his drinking a number of times. The lesson that he is going through now may do the trick I hope, as he is a very good soldier and would make a good officer.

Now for letters 180-1 & 2. Sorry but there is no Sheila taking your place. No one ever could.

Mother’s letters came with three of yours. She sounded rather happy about everything, but senses that there is something wrong between you and your family because they do not come up very often.

The tie that I was wearing was not black, it was dark brown. They are issue over here and look a lot better. The dark brown tie breaks the monotony of khaki.

I wear a short haircut all the time over here. Beside being cooler it is easier to take care of. I will admit that my hair is receding at the temples though.

Yes I received Mother’s letter with the money order. I was almost certain that I had mentioned it in a couple of previous letters.

Today I will write my thank you notes. I admit that I have been lax but there does not seem to be enough hours in each day to take care of everything that I have to do.

The expression is, I blew my top, leaving out the off.

Have you had the wall fixed yet? The one that Bobby fixed.

No you did not tell me about Alice Tardiff. I hope that she will always be happy with her husband.

Mother told me that you were getting to be quite a seamstress. The skirt that you made looks very nice.

Don’t know about the  hand bags or gloves as I never looked at them. Just keep your slip on, and I will see what can be done for you.

(I could use some shaving soap. The kind that is put up in a wooden jar please.)

Hey, what’s going on over there? Is there a production line on babies? Everyone seems to be having one. Just give me the chance and we may join the rest.

Sorry about the belt. I tried it on my Aussie wife and it fit O.K. What am I saying! I had to go by guess and I am afraid that I guessed wrong.

A boomerang is a weapon used by the Australian aboriginals. An expert can split a man’s skull or cut his head off. The ones that I sent are miniature size. The long piece of wood is the charm.

Oh yes I wanted to tell you about last night. Sgt. McMurray & myself went into town & saw Fallen Sparrow & the Scarlet Claw. After that we had a stead dinner and dropped in to the party. Two glasses of beer and we came back to camp.

Did I ever tell you that I loved you? Well I do. It is something that I can not deny. I love you. That short sentence speaks volumes when it is meant.

Give my regards to everyone & kiss the babies for me. I love you Sweetheart.

Your Loving Devoted & Faithful Husband,

Bob