Correspondence from Keith McKeddie Doig to Lewis Maffra Grant, 1917, Part 6

3
part of the line and I guess Mrs
Dreverman's brother Jim is nearby for
he is in the same Division though in
a different Brigade. But of course there
is no Brigade that can beat ours
and we are real proud of its name
and the good work it does. As he
says, a man is unlucky if he is hit,
but then dear I've seen a very large
number of unlucky men. And know full
well what their ultimate fate may be.
However, I have given ^up thinking over
those things and I must not write
them so I'll stop right here.
It's strange dear what opinions still
prevail out there about La Guèrre. The
idea of three months here, & three months
in England is most entrancing to
me but believe ^me it's never done. and I
have not heard of it occurring. I
have been here nearly five months now 

4
and have not had a day's leave yet
and not likely to for some time.
Once you're doing field work it's the
hardest thing in the world to get away
even if you wanted to. But I'm
not breaking my heart. And
furthermore I'm just as well as I
can be. Old Fritz makes me jump
a bit at times but still here I
am "right as a bank".
It's a bit colder to day than it
has been for some little time and
in fact there was a little snow today
but not very much. This letter
is taking a long while to write
for one of our company commanders
who has been up to the line today
is recounting his experiences. He went
up when it was foggy & then started
to come back & the fog lifted &
Fritz spotted him. He's a real
lad of a chap and intersperses
his remarks with a few purely
Australian adjectives which to myself
and the padre who are listening
 

(5)
xxx add a piquancy w to the
narrative. And now I'm stopping
again, for the guns have started
like the very devil and I'm off
up to see what is doing.
Later. Guns, machine guns & flares
like the very devil (as I said above)
and now all is quiet again. I
suppose we will hear to-morrow
what was on.
Cheeroh dear and keep smiling.
No much news as you can
see, still I hope it interests you
a little. Lots & lots of love from
your own curly headed
Keith
 

O.A.S
Miss Louie Grant
C/o Victorian Fertilisers' Assoctn
59 William Street
Melbourne
Australia
[*KM^cKDoig*]

Back of envelope - see original