WW II Letters To My Mother: January 19, 1941

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IN FLANDERS FIELDS ANDY & DI _MP4

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sourced by Barbara McPherson

In Canada and the UK the poppies are blooming on lapels.  The red poppy has become the symbol of remembrance of the sacrifices that people made to defend our democracies.  November 11 is set aside to acknowledge and thank the many who have given up their lives for us.  Remembrance Day is also a day to reflect on the sacrifices that those who came home made as well.  The lives of the enlisted and those they left at home were forever changed.

Over the next few days, I am going to share with you some of the letters my father wrote to my mother during the time he was enlisted in the Canadian army.  Try to imagine my mother as a 17 year old girl and my father as a 25 year old farm boy, both from the tiny northern Alberta settlement of High Prairie.  Ordinary people swept up in global conflicts.

January 19 1941, Grand Prairie, Alberta

My Darling Jean,

I'm very sorry Honey that you did not get a letter from me on Saturday.  The East Bound train leaves before the other one gets here, so that is the reason.

Nevertheless Darling I'm always thinking of you so if you don't get a letter every mail, at least my thoughts will be with you. It seems like it's more than ten days since I saw you Honey and I'm afraid the days to come until I see you will be longer still.

Thank you for the picture Babe. I'm very glad you sent me one.  I keep it next to my heart all the time.

The army routine is hard to explain in a letter so I will just outline it for you.  We get up at about six and we have to make our beds and fold the blankets, a certain way.  We go for a short march before breakfast.  We just have a certain time in which to eat our meals.  We march out to the parade ground and go through different drills with our rifles.  We practice different positions to shoot from as standing, kneeling, lying down.  We go through PT every day some new difficult exercises.  We also have a lecture on gas about every day.  There are certain officers which we have to salute wherever we meet them.  We have to be in by ten every night unless we have a pass.  We can only get two passes a week and with those we can stay out until twelve.  We march through GP on Sunday morning on our way to church.  We were supplied with two suits of underwear, three pair of socks, two shirts, a sweater a tunic, hat and boots, anklets, canvas shoes and overshoes, also fatigue clothes, a lighter jacket and pants which we wear if we are on fatigue duty such as cleaning up the huts, working in the kitchen or taking care of the fires.  We are always called out by a buglar.

I came pretty close to being a Lance corporal.  They had a hard time to pick one from our platoon.  There are five platoons here and two L/cp's were picked from each.  Jimmy Randell was one picked from his platoon. Each platoon consists of about fifty soldiers.

I haven't found out yet when I'll be coming home but I'll let you know in time for you to pack.

Albert and I went to a couple of shows "The Girls of The Road" and "The Grapes of Wrath". They were both very good but quite sad.  There's a concert here tomorrow night and it will likely be broadcast.  We intended to sing "Whispering Hope" but don't know if it will make it or not.

Cliff is in the hospital with an abscess.  He'll be laid up for two months.

Bye bye for now my Beloved Darling and write me as soon as you can.

Lovingly yours only, Johnnie