Tel-El-Kebir
Wednesday Jan  26th
1916

Dear Norman
                           Your most welcome letter came to hand this week. Congratulate you on passing into the fifth class. I am glad you appreciated the handkerchief so much and I hope the one or two coins I sent you gives as much pleasure. I have some old cartridge shells that I picked up on the battlefield of Tel-El-Kebir, and will send you along

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one or two when I find something in which to pack them. I also found one that had never been fired but will keep that for Alice and also some cast shells too. One of the Officers in our Coy was in the battle which took place in 1882 and one day when we were out there scurmishing he told us all about it. How they attacked the Egyptian from the canal and how the battle was commenced

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by one of the soldiers accidentally firing off his rifle one night. They drove the enemy from trench to trench until they reached Cairo where they captured the Citadelle (a big fortress in Cairo) and then garrisoned the town. Since then it has been under British control. I am glad you father is as keen as ever on soldiering and becoming a good shot. I was sorry to hear about

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the man that got shot. An accident occurred over here one day. One man accidentally fired his rifle and killed two other soldiers. You can't be too careful with fire arms. I think this is all for the present.
Goodbye from yours, Arnold.
Oh I nearly forgot to state the time of writing as you wished me to do. Well it is now 22 ³/₄ minutes past 6 o'clock so I guess it's about 2 o'clock on Thursday morning over there.