His leave at an end, a disgruntled Sheriff wrote to his mother from the boat. He had arrived at Folkestone with a couple of hours to spare and had left his pack at the parcel office so he could walk around for a bit. He did not feel ‘in the best of spirits’ he told her, but he had bought himself a few things, including a tobacco pouch. He had tried to find a picture she might like, but had no luck, finding they were all of the ‘silly sort’.

Photo of a troopship, taken from Sherriff’s Memories of Active Service, Vol 1, facing page 6. (By permission of the Surrey History Centre, Ref: 2332/3/9/3/2)

He had had a splendid time at home, he told her, but returning to the Front was ‘absolutely wretched’. He did not know where he would be that evening, but he hoped it would be somewhere that he could write nice long letters back to both his mother and Pips. He hoped that she was well, that she would make up her mind to be as happy as possible in her hospital work, and that the time would pass quickly until he was due to see her again.

[Next letters: 5 July]