Letter No 3
since 1/8/17
NZ Convalescent Hospital
Hornchurch 13/8/17
Dear Mother
I have got all letters up to No 8, except 4 & 7. I suppose by the time you get this, Gorrie will know what kind of luck he has. I expect Norman and Neil will be here soon, unless they stayed in Sydney for a month as you suggested. I came here from Walton last Tuesday. It is not quite so flash here, as it is at Walton but it is very comfortable all the same. We have nothing to do for the first week or two and we can go to any of the towns round here within four miles, and to London on Sat and Sun. I went on Sat to London to see the opera, and had another look at St Pauls, and yesterday, we had a look at what used to be called Pettycoat Lane. This is a sort of open market. There are several streets all lined with large stalls, selling all sorts of articles. They are nearly all Russian jews and there is plenty entertainment, but not many bargains. In the afternoon we went to Hyde Park , where there are many cranks, all lecturing at once, and a famous band playing. The seats near the band are free to all men in hospital uniform. There is also a long lake called the Serpentine where you can hire boats for 1/- an hour. We came back as far as Barking on the bus and was just in time to see the finish of an air raid on Southend, where about 40 were killed and 80 injured.
Tell Gorrie that George Stephenson, Bob Mess and a man named Eldridge, or some name like that, are here, all wounded, but all getting on all right. G Stephenson told me that Gordon Brain is at Codford and that he is all right as far as he knows. Codford is a rest camp in Wiltshire, the last place we go to before Sling.
Vic