A four-page letter written in pencil by Sydney Carl Jordan to Edith from France, 9 May 1917.

France
9/5/17

Dearest Edith

Here I am again still the same old hard thing and as usual fit and well. Each day I seem to get bigger and stronger and much lazier. We are having a harder time as regards the Trenches now but that is to be expected with the big pushes on other parts of the line. The Allies are doing well now although the Russian problem is not yet settled. We are out of the trenches now although not far out the Hun can reach us with machine guns, we are living in tents in wood on the side of a small hill. The weather is perfectly glorious now after the terrible winter we have endured, everything is in bud and blossom and the birds sing day and night. All the work we do is about four hours with the shovel at night in the trenches generally arriving home about midnight. We sleep all morning but after lunch we sit under the shade of the trees and read and write. It is quite a treat to be able to lounge about in undress uniform, no boots putties coat etc. as I am today.
A few nights ago the Hun chased us out of our beds three times, with shells my bed mate was wounded in the arm before we had time to get to shelter. He is lucky as it means a month or so holiday.
Yesterday afternoon we marched about four miles for a bath and change of clothes and on the way home we went to the Divisional Theatre. I am enclosing a programme to give you a slight idea of the show, the first half is pictures. The second Pierrots. The pictures were good, but the ‘Kiwis’ were excellent. All the chaps are drawn from the ranks and the orchestra belongs to the 3rd Field Ambulance. I have heard many a worse orchestra in the theatres of NZ and London. I was very sorry to leave before the end but we had to get back in time for fatigue in the trenches. Keep the programme as it will remind me in years to come of the good times I had in France. They are few!
I suppose before this reaches you news will be through about Eric Williams, he was wounded about a week ago for the 3rd time and the last. I think he will probably loose an eye. He was very game and although badly smoked he walked nearly all the way out. I was in the front line when he was hit so could not go to see him. It was a wild morning for us there. Poor Eric will be some swank..