Letter - Ted Cuffe to his Mother, June 19, 1915

Abstract

A letter from Ted Cuffe to his Mother, 6 June 1915. It reads: "Dear Mother: We are now within 6 hrs. of England. We sure have had a most unpleasant voyage. It was rather rough all the time and awfully rough most of the time. I have had a headache nearly all the time and a week last Sunday I was so sea-sick I could hardly get out of my bunk. However the weather is fine now and I am for the first time in a humor to write. Last night we were ordered to sleep on deck with our life-belts handy and all day we have had to stay below or if we must go on deck we must crawl on our hands and knees. Just now there is a torpedo boat out side signalling us with two others not far off. They are the first naval vessels we have seen as yet. The captain has changed our course this morning. We are now running along the coast of France and will run straight across the channel. They say we land at 8:00pm to-night. The meals here are very fair. The fellows thought we were in for a feast yesterday when we saw chicken for dinner but it was so high we could not eat it. We also have apple, [illegible] and beer parades every day. Every man gets one beer if he gets up in time. That is - one beer, per man, per day. Perhaps. See???? We are travelling steerage and the 42nd Black Watch are travelling 2nd Class. That is because their Colonel is a mucky - muck but as it is he who supplies the beer nobody is grousing very much. We have the detachment of the 12th C.M.R. from Calgary on this ship. They are the finest body of men I ever say. Every man is a cow-boy, a broncho-buster [sic] and a dead shot. They average over 6' in height and about 200 lbs. Will continue this letter when we land. Love Ted"