Letter - 7 June 1916 - swimming and boxing

This letter is very faded as there was something the matter with the ink. Athol receives more parcels with chocolate, a tin of food, light shirts and two bundles of socks for the men. The weather is hot but they managed to organise a sports weekend with boxing and swimming.

Sollum

7.6.16

Dear Mother,

Many thanks for your No.47 (4.4.16). Also for two bundles of socks for the men and a tin of food and parcel of clothes for myself. The light shirts are A1.

I sent you two snaps taken here, one of the Company and me and one of a part of the camp, about a week ago. [See Blog Post 3 June 2016].

I came in off the desert last Thursday after doing about 100 miles and seeing nothing. The biggest part of the Company is off to a place about 30 miles SE to stop for a fortnight or 3 weeks. I'm stopping here to look after the camp luckily as there will be nothing doing down there and it will be very hot and no chance of a swim.

I have been censoring for nearly two hours and so I'm a bit fed up with letters.

You don't want to worry about ... as this child is perfectly happy and doesn't want to be a general. I'm getting a lot of useful and varied experience one way and another and hope to get more soon.

We are having swimming sports on Monday, boxing competitions on Friday and Saturday and ... a competition Sunday so we're going to be pretty busy this weekend.

I don't know what has happened to the ink but hope you will be able to read this.

I got a double lot of chocolate yesterday - thanks very much. I haven't had many letters lately. I expect that some of them still go to the battalion. [The Battalion was in France].

It is pretty warm here nowadays but after another 8 or 9 weeks it ought to begin to cool off a bit. Hope I'm not here that long though.

My love to Puff and Pater,

Yours lovingly

Athol