Letters to Miss Jeanne Reid
17 Stanley Ave, Chatham, Ontario, Canada
Pte. Leslie Burke 189330
18th Canadians
C/O 4th Canadian General Hospital, Ward E6
Basingstoke, Surrey
No date
07 March 1918 (postmark)
Dear Miss Reid,
Just a few lines. It may interest you to know I am getting better from a long illness of 12 weeks. I have been in different hospitals. I had a letter from Mrs. Burke with your address today. I wish you good luck and happiness. I am improving a bit and expect I shall be all right now when I get out of here. I caught Trench Fever* in France. I am sorry to say that many of our old boys have gone. Ones we all loved. I shall hope, if God is willing, to return to Mrs. Burke. I hope you will often think of me. It is not always a white cot and nurses. I have helped to bury some of our lads. Poor Boys. Well I can’t tell you more. I shall hope the future will be brighter for us all. I must close now.
Ever your friend.
I have just read a wonderful book by H.G. Wells, “Mr. Britling Sees It Through” and “Options” by O. Henry, either of which would do credit to the shelves of the library if they are not already there. They are good reading, instructive and above all fine samples of thought and of the knowledge of people.
Well, I must really go to bed.
Bon soir mon ami.
Leslie Burke
*Trench Fever was first identified in France in mid 1915 by the physicians of the British Expeditionary Force. It presented in the soldiers, with an unusual acute febrile illness accompanied by headache, dizziness, backache and a peculiar pain and stiffness in the legs, particularly the shins. After much research, it was determined that Trench Fever was transmitted by body lice. No cure was found.
Reference: University of Kansas Medical Center
Journal Royal Society of Medicine (JRSM), November 2006
