Boulogne Dec 15 Dearest Father. What a terrible adventure was the fire in the Village Hall! and what an unnececesary addition to all Mother's labours. It must have been no small matter to transport 20 convalescents to the house and lodge them there. I felt I must send a word of sympathy but I shall not write much tonight for I have been in the office from 9 AM till 8 PM with short intervals for lunch and tea. We had a heavy day. Mr Howell dined with us last night. He had just been up to the front on some job and had been in the trenches and seen the Sikhs throwing hand grenades into a German trench not 30 yards away. There are rumours that the attack for which we have been waiting the last few days has begun but you will read of it in the papers before this reaches you. Mr Mattison left the books in the hotel and disappeared like a bandersnatch. I went to the Hotel de Paris today to dig him out (it's the Red X headquarters) but found he had gone off with his ambulance and would be back in a day or two. So I left a letter of thanks and asked him to come and see me when he returned.
Would you please ask Annie at the County Association office to send me the latest arrangements about Soldiers and Sailors wives - allowances, what is given to widows and orphans if the man is killed and what to the man if he is disabled. The orders have been so many that I haven't kept them in my head and we want them for reference. Your affectionate daughter Gertrude

What a gallant business in the Dardanelles [Canakkale Bogazi]!