Letter to his mother from Felton Pickering Behan while training at Camp Bustard on the Salisbury Plain, England with the3rd Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force.

Signallers, 3rd Company
3rd Battalion
Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force
Toronto Contingent

Bustard Camp, Salisbury Plains Oct 27

Dear Mother:

I wonder if you got my letters posted on board ship. I expect you did but it will take some time to hear from you as I have been getting mail addressed to Valcartier up to now. We are not having it too hard here, the work I mean. The beds – well – the soft side of a board floor isn’t exactly soft. There are floors in our tents and ticks without any straw so I left my eyes skyward and murmur thank heaven I’m not thin. However things will be a whole lot worse in the sweet bye-and-bye so we still enjoy life in spite of rain and chilly days. Thanks to those at home who have not forgotten us, we defy the elements and laugh at the hardships.