Dated:

Letter from Pte. Roy Scott

Bramshott Camp, Jan 1, 1916
Dear Mother and all:
Well, we have at last started into the New Year and I hope it will be one of good luck to us all.
This will be a New Year's day that I'll never forget. Last night a lot of the boys got a little liquor in them and were in for rather a rough time causing two or three fights. We all stayed up to see the Old Year out and the New in, and when twelve o'clock came we all got together and joined hands singing all the favorite songs. Everybody shook hands with everybody else and wished them the best of good luck for the coming year. We also went around to the different huts and wished them the same. It was a touching and inspiring scene.
We had no celebration in camp to-day like we had on Xmas. We always have a half holiday on Saturday anyway. Dug and I went for a little walk to put in the time.
We are having an awful lot of rain lately and there is quite a lot of sickness in camp. There are several huts quarantined for spinal Meningitis, which is one of the most quick and fatal diseases known. If a patient does pull through, which is very rare, he will be out of his mind. One of our boys that came down from Haileybury with us has been taken to Aldershott Isolation Hospital and we heard to-day that there is very little hope for him. His name is Gallagher, from Hilliardton, and is only a young married man. We all sincerely hope he will pull through for he is a fine young fellow and is liked so well. We are doing our best to prevent the disease from spreading by gargling our throats night and morning with a solution. We had our huts disinfected.
I had a letter from Grandmother Scott the other day and she said Grandfather was very sick, the worst she has seen him, had the doctor several times and he said he would let her know when there was no hope for him. But I hardly think he is that bad. I expect to go up to see them next week end.
We were inspected by General Steele the other day, who is a Canadian.
I hope we will all be shaking hands with one another by this time next year. I heard a young fellow say the other day that he hoped we would all meet under another sky or in the sky above by this time next year and I hope so too.
Jan. 2.
Received your most welcome letters this week and was glad to hear you received my letters. Frank came in just as I was reading them so I gave them to him to read. He had one from home as well. Poor Dug hasn't had a letter from home yet. Am glad I told you to write to my old address or it would have been a long time to wait for a letter.
I haven't received the Speakers yet, hope to get the ones with all the Xmas concerts in.
We here rumors that we are to leave here sometime this month as this camp is condemned and no more troops are coming here. We heard to-day that poor Gallagher was dead. We will miss him very much.
We are going to the ranges tomorrow morning, have to be up at 4.30. Expect to be there all week.
Be sure and send me the Speakers they are just like a letter and then the other boys like to read them.
What I would like you to send me is, when you are any place and see some nice home knitted sox get them for me and be sure and wrap them up well. I was up to the post office sorting department and could see the men in there eating Xmas cake and such like which were poorly done up and consequently fell to pieces. You can't blame them for eating it as they haven't time to sort out each fellows currants and raisins and wrap them up again.
Jan. 4.
Am just adding a few lines to-night to tell you I had a letter from Grandma Scott to tell me Grandpa died on Sunday night about 1.20 a.m. I thought she would be too upset to write so I am doing it for her. He is to be buried on Thursday. I expect to go up to-morrow. Will write again when I come back. Am so glad that I got up to see them before he died.
Gallagher is to be buried to-morrow as well.
Received your letters yesterday and another to-day.
Were out to the ranges yesterday and to-day. Have to walk six miles every morning. Were out there before daylight this morning. It was raining when we left and rained continually all day. We were soaked of course and no place to go for shelter, even had to lay in the mud to shoot. Expect to have ten days of this but hope it won't rain all the time.
Hope you are having fine weather so you can get out.
Will write again when I come back from the funeral.
Your loving son and bro.
Roy
Pte. Roy Scott,
D Co. 58^th Battalion
Bramshott Camp.