Ypres, Western Belgium

June 29, 1915

Dear mother,

I’m writing this letter to tell you that I’m still safe and that you
shouldn’t worry too much. Please know that I miss you and the rest of
the family every day. I hope everyone is doing well.

For the past few months, life has changed so much. When we arrived at
the front line, the smell was so bad that some of us died after a short
period of time. The smell came from dead bodies, leftovers, bombs,
mustard gas, and the smell from us because we haven’t showered for
weeks. At first, I couldn’t sleep because of the rats, they would often
disturb us by scampering across out faces in the dark, we tried to get rid
of them, which we did, but not completely. I have seen many men suffer
from high fever because there were eggs hidden in the seams. I saw them
suffer from pain, headaches, vomiting and diarrhea. Mom, life is very
hard here, we struggle to survive every single day, some os us failed to
do so. I couldn’t even the last time I had a good sleep.

Every morning, we would climb up on the fire step to guard against a

dawn raid by the enemy, this daily routine is called the morning
“stand to”. Then, we would have breakfast, and some of us might have
to clean our rifle equipment. After that, we would do other tasks such
as refilling the sandbags, repair the trench, etc. Patrols would often be
sent out into No Man’s Land, others would be tasked with repairing or
adding barbed wire to the front line. Then, at night, when movement
was restricted, we would finally have some free time, which I am using
right now to write this letter.

However, the battle of Ypres was so much worse, compared to life in the
trenches. When we arrived, we were surrounded by the enemy on three
sides. The Germans unleashed lethal chlorine gas on us on April 22.
The first and heaviest cloud of gas hit the Algerians. We watched them
suffocate to death in shock. Then, the second cloud of gas hit us. It
entered our lungs, causing chest pains and a burning sensation in our
throats. We urinated on handkerchiefs and held it to our faces so that
the gas couldn’t get into our lungs. Luckily, I survived, while my fellow
soldiers didn’t. They suffocated and then died, within 10 minutes.
Finally, on May 25, we were relieved since the British troops arrived to
continue the fight. In this battle, losses were significant, there were more
than 6,500 casualties, including more than 2,000 deaths. It was very
painful to watch our people being killed by the chlorine gas. War is
destructive.

Despite everything, I want you to know that even though I hate war, I
am proud to be a Canadian. Don’t worry too much about me, your son
is a good soldier. Please stay safe, I love you and the rest.

Lots of love,

Johnathan.