France, May 19, 1918

Dear Emma;-

I was just settling down to answer your letter of May 10, which reached me last evening, when the mail arrived bringing me 3 letters from you, those written on May 11, 12 & 13, respectively. The mail was very late getting in yesterday and again to day.

It is a very fine day again and a little cooler than yesterday & the day before, a bit of a breeze has come up this afternoon. The moon is very bright at nights now but somehow we fail to appreciate the beauty of it. In fact we should be just as well pleased to have it cloud up and rain every night while the moon is doing business.

Had a fine dream last night, thought I was back in England on leave and in your company again. One of our officers came home last night with the story that leave had opened up for the army we are now in. However the rumor has not been confirmed to date. When leave does open I shall be the second to go from our unit. Capt Moses is on the list ahead of me. There are 11 officers in our unit, 9 M.O.’s, a dental officer and a L.M. At the present time 2 are away.

I met with quite a disappointment yesterday. Major Elliott, our dental officer, was going off up country for a movie machine with which to put on shows for our patients. He thought that his business might take him to the town where my sister’s unit is located so the Colonel suggested that I should go along also, which I did. It was a beautiful day and we had a fine trip through a most picturesque country. We arrived at No 4 shortly after noon only to find that Margaret had gone off with a party of the sisters for the afternoon. They had gone off to a horse show or something of the kind by special invitation, and the exasperating part of the whole business was that after our return we found that this performance was held at a place within a few miles of our C.R.S.

Had two Canadian letters to day, one from my brother and one from Mrs. Clarke of Calgary. I was very sorry to hear of the Flesher’s trouble. How is the other child that was born about a year ago? From the tone of the letters that I received from Canada I should judge that the people over there are doing a little more worrying over the war situation that has been case heretofore. It is about time that the realization of what a German victory would really mean reached some of them .I see by the papers that a monster delegation of Ontario and Quebec farmers went to Ottawa for the purpose of protesting against the conscription of their own class. They were most emphatically turned down by the government. At times Borden shows a little evidence of possessing a backbone. The United Farmers of Alberta however I was pleased to see passed a resolution in favor of the new conscription regulations and wired the government to that effect.

Was most sorry to hear of Grant’s casualty and can only hope that his wounds are not serious. It is strange that I had not heard of his being hit before for I have been seeing officers from his unit quite frequently. Give him my kind regards when you see him.

Best love to you and to you alone.

Your husband,

Harold W. McGill

France, April 28, 1918

Dearest Emma; –

I had your two letters of April 22 & 23 respectively this afternoon. You will find enclosed the communication you had from Matron in Chief Macdonald. My dear, as I remarked before any sphere of endeavor you may adopt will have my hearty approval. I quite subscribe to the opinion you expressed that everyone should be doing something. Why do you not go over to the Drysdales and break the monotony of things for yourself? You mention something about the likelihood of your going being dependant upon the state of the war news and upon the quality and location of my billet. Why should these factors influence your decision. You cannot render any assistance to our army or to me by making a recluse of yourself. Certainly it makes one feel somewhat depressed when things are going badly, but why add to the gloom?

One day last month we all had to stand to for 48 hours with our teams hitched up ready to move on a moment’s notice. Did we stand around wringing our hands? We did not. We cleaned up and loaded our revolvers and then sat in to a game of bridge to pass away the time. Each of us had a gun strapped to his waist and we must have looked like a bunch rehearsing a scene fro a Wild West show. No it does no good to the cause for anybody to try doing penance. So please go out and enjoy yourself when you get a chance. We shall have our good time together later.

I think I have answered all your questions. Those relating to my location I answered a few days ago. We have not had any notice of a proposed move since then.

I wrote Prof Christie this afternoon and sent forward your message of thanks.

Good night my dear heart and please do not try to make me feel better by being miserable yourself.

Your loving husband
Harold W. McGill