The Munro Letters 1914 - 1917 : Letters Home from the Front - World War I
Date of Letter:
1917/09/09
Summary:
Arthur Melville "Porky" Munro writes to his mother, and tells her about his arrival in France. He details the stops made along the way, and gives detail about the times and methods of travel. He also talks about training for gas attacks.
Transcription:
France
Sept. 9th, 1917

My Dear Mother,
Here I am in France at last. On Thursday night we left Seaford Camp, at about 9 o'clock. We got up to London at about 12:30 and slept in a Salvation Army hostel until about 4 o'clock.
We went back to Victoria Station after that and left at 6:30 for (has been erased).
There wasn't a stop between London and (has been erased) at about 9 o'clock and had a meal at the rest camp there. It was eleven o'clock when we got on the boat and left at 12 o'clock.

(PAGE 2)
Two other boat loads of troops and three destroyers crossed the Channel with us. We had a good time coming across and landed at about 3:30 (Friday). We had a big hill about 2 miles long to climb before we got to the rest camp at the top where we stayed all night. I had a good sleep, as you can easily imagine. On Saturday morning we got up at 4:30 and were ready to march off by 7 o'clock, but didn't start until nearly 8. We marched all morning and had a rest of 2 ½ hrs at a rest camp along the road. They

(PAGE 3)
gave us a good meal, in fact the best we had had for some time.
At 2 o'clock we started to march again, and hadn't been going very long when we saw a train with some German passengers on. They sure were a surly looking bunch, and didn't seem to be enjoying themselves very much. At 4:15 we landed at the M.Y. Pool and got into tents right away. I had another good sleep, and got up at 5:30 this morning (Sunday). We got a gas mask and a steel helmet this morning as well as a medical inspection.

(PAGE 4)
I don't know when I will be going up the line but expect to be here for a couple of weeks. Write to the same address as before until I can tell you what unit I am with.

Love to all,
Your loving son
Melville.
Object ID:
2017.22.130
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Munro Letters: 1917 Sept 9: Melville Munro to Jessie Munro.Munro Letters: 1917 Sept 9: Melville Munro to Jessie Munro.
Munro Letters: 1917 Sept 9: Melville Munro to Jessie Munro.Munro Letters: 1917 Sept 9: Melville Munro to Jessie Munro.
Munro Letters: 1917 Sept 9: Melville Munro to Jessie Munro.Munro Letters: 1917 Sept 9: Melville Munro to Jessie Munro.
Munro Letters: 1917 Sept 9: Melville Munro to Jessie Munro.Munro Letters: 1917 Sept 9: Melville Munro to Jessie Munro.