Date of Letter:
1917/05/30
Summary:
Melville writes to his mother, Jessie, from his camp in England. Having finished his revolver and gas training courses, he describes details about his machine gun weapons training. He also mentions hearing about several friends from back in Oakville who are also fighting in Europe.
Transcription:
Crowborough May 30/17
Be sure and put on this address and not the 164th address.
Pte. A.M. Munro 663550
No. 3 Co. Y
Canadian Machine Gun Depot.
Crowborough Camp
Sussex, England
My Dear Mother,
Did Edward get that little parcel I sent? There is nothing much to write about so this will be a pretty short letter. We have finished with the revolver and gas courses and started in last Monday with the Vicker's Machine Gun. That is the one we will have to use at the front. It weighs about 32 lbs without the tripod and water. It is water cooled and holds 7 ½ pints of water. When it is tuned up well it fires six hundred rounds a minute and sometimes more, so you can imagine
(PAGE 2)
how much damage it would do. The gun is fed by a belt which holds 250 rounds.
We will be on the M.G. four weeks in all. The third week we do some firing at the ranges and some on the fourth week too. When we finish the four-week course we go on pass for five days. I am going to go to London to look around a bit. When we come back off pass we are put on draft and go on with advanced training until they want more men at the front. We may be waiting for a month or six weeks so we are quite safe for a while. The war is going to be over in 3 or 4 months anyway.
(PAGE 3)
That is what nearly everyone around here thinks. I hope it soon finishes anyway although I would like to turn a Vicker's gun on a mob of Germans for about 2 minutes. A Major was giving a lecture the other day and he said that if there was anyone going in for Machine gun work that had any hesitation about killing his fellow men, he had better get out of it.
If I had known that Charlie Kerr was in W. Sandling I would have gone to see him because I was in E. Sandling, just across a little ravine.
(PAGE 4)
I am feeling fine now and weigh about 15.5lbs; more than I ever weighed before, although we don't get much grub. It really is just enough to keep us going.
Some of the boys got letters from the 164th boys to-day and they are at Whitby camp forming part of the fifth division. That means they will go to the front as a unit. Art Hillmer came over with the 208th Btn. I heard but he hasn't written to any of the boys yet. I got a letter from Brock dated May. 2nd, answered it last week but haven't got an answer yet. I haven't got an answer yet to any letters I have written home but expect them any time. I got the Oakville papers.
Your Loving Son, Melville.
Be sure and put on this address and not the 164th address.
Pte. A.M. Munro 663550
No. 3 Co. Y
Canadian Machine Gun Depot.
Crowborough Camp
Sussex, England
My Dear Mother,
Did Edward get that little parcel I sent? There is nothing much to write about so this will be a pretty short letter. We have finished with the revolver and gas courses and started in last Monday with the Vicker's Machine Gun. That is the one we will have to use at the front. It weighs about 32 lbs without the tripod and water. It is water cooled and holds 7 ½ pints of water. When it is tuned up well it fires six hundred rounds a minute and sometimes more, so you can imagine
(PAGE 2)
how much damage it would do. The gun is fed by a belt which holds 250 rounds.
We will be on the M.G. four weeks in all. The third week we do some firing at the ranges and some on the fourth week too. When we finish the four-week course we go on pass for five days. I am going to go to London to look around a bit. When we come back off pass we are put on draft and go on with advanced training until they want more men at the front. We may be waiting for a month or six weeks so we are quite safe for a while. The war is going to be over in 3 or 4 months anyway.
(PAGE 3)
That is what nearly everyone around here thinks. I hope it soon finishes anyway although I would like to turn a Vicker's gun on a mob of Germans for about 2 minutes. A Major was giving a lecture the other day and he said that if there was anyone going in for Machine gun work that had any hesitation about killing his fellow men, he had better get out of it.
If I had known that Charlie Kerr was in W. Sandling I would have gone to see him because I was in E. Sandling, just across a little ravine.
(PAGE 4)
I am feeling fine now and weigh about 15.5lbs; more than I ever weighed before, although we don't get much grub. It really is just enough to keep us going.
Some of the boys got letters from the 164th boys to-day and they are at Whitby camp forming part of the fifth division. That means they will go to the front as a unit. Art Hillmer came over with the 208th Btn. I heard but he hasn't written to any of the boys yet. I got a letter from Brock dated May. 2nd, answered it last week but haven't got an answer yet. I haven't got an answer yet to any letters I have written home but expect them any time. I got the Oakville papers.
Your Loving Son, Melville.
Object ID:
2017.22.118
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Munro Letters: May 30 1917: Melville Munro to Jessie Munro
Munro Letters: May 30 1917: Melville Munro to Jessie Munro
Munro Letters: May 30 1917: Melville Munro to Jessie Munro
Munro Letters: May 30 1917: Melville Munro to Jessie Munro
Munro Letters: May 30 1917: Melville Munro to Jessie Munro
Munro Letters: May 30 1917: Melville Munro to Jessie Munro
Munro Letters: May 30 1917: Melville Munro to Jessie Munro
Munro Letters: May 30 1917: Melville Munro to Jessie Munro