21 May 23rd /45 Okanagan Mission
My dear Tony
We were so glad to get a letter [RAS450504b] from you on Monday and got out the atlas to try and figure out where you were. Does St. Louis mean anything to you? I should think the yellow tinge will soon wear off when you get back to a decent climate if you dont [sic] have to stay in those parts too long. I hope the tennis balls turned out all right and that you have had a chance to use them. Mary [Stubbs] says she wrote you this morning that there was no fresh news of Peter [Mallam] and then Daddy got a letter this afternoon written May 17th (quick work!) He got out of hospital on May 2nd and was with a holding unit but itching to get back to the regiment. We heard from Dick [Stubbs] yesterday, he wrote from “a little deeper in Germany” and said they were sharing a palatial ski lodge with an American unit. His officer was on leave in England so he was the boss and worked as an [illegible] officer with every sort of gadget left behind by the Germans. He said he felt like a vice-president—on the pictures! I wonder what he will do now? We hear Fred Taylor, who is [illegible] is going to the Pacific. His mother is awfully disgusted about it, he has been over 3½ years and she was expecting him back in time to go back to the U.B.C. in the fall. He now writes that he will be home soon for 30 days leave on his way to the Pacific, says they are so short-handed in his job that he cant [sic] get his discharge now but I suppose he must really want to go as they are only taking volunteers.
The Hugh Dunlops sold their place yesterday, lock stock and barrel, and are moving out almost at once! They mean to build down the lake. A man from Westbank, Hewlett, has bought the place. The Hales have sold out to some people from Vancouver and have to move by July 1st and the Balls [?] have bought old Mrs Baldwin’s house, so you can see there are a lot of changes going on. The Burdekins [?] are building down the lake, beyond the Mallams. Mrs B. comes to the Red Cross sewing meetings now, a nice cheery person. We have at last got our sewing day changed to Wednesday. We always wanted to so that Mary could do things with Anne on a Thursday and now we have been backed up by Mrs Tailyor [?] who has joined the tennis club. We have heard on the radio that our gas ration is to be increased starting tomorrow. A good thing too as we seem to have been gadding about rather lately. Mary did nearly 30 miles on Sunday! The new committee is doing a bit of work round the Community Hall levelling off a playground and fencing it in. There was a bull-dozer working there this afternoon making a frightful din, and we had to park ever so far away and carry our sewing machines. Last week we went to see “Arsenic and Old Lace”. I expect the play must have been a lot better than the picture. We got the German atrocity pictures on the news-reel. They certainly were terrible, but I think its [sic] a good thing that people should see them. After that no one can feel sorry for the poor dear Germans anymore. When one just reads about it one cant [sic] believe its [sic] really true.
Best love from Mother.