Sullivan letter diary, 27 October 1915-9 October 1917 / Eugene Sullivan - Page 238
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[Page 238]
Unfortunately the Corporal of our Detail got into trouble last week and is to be tried by Court Martial shortly. A great pal of his named Murray Sinclair is somewhere in France and Fred was most anxious to know his whereabouts so that he might visit him if possible. This led him to dot under certain letters in the letter so that they spelt out "we are in (name of town) where are you." He then enclosed the letter in a Green envelope and signed the statement on the envelope saying that it contained nothing but private and family affairs. The letter was opened by the Base Censor and sent back to our Battalion with the result that Fred is to stand his trial for breach of orders. He is sure to be stripped of his stripes and will probably also be heavily fined. It shows you how strict the military are in some things and yet others which seem twice as bad go practically unpunished.
Some of the french people amuse me very much and yet one can't help pitying them. When we were last billeted in town we were next door to an "egg and chip" house and the two young girls overran our house. They both spoke English fluently and one of them - the younger - was a real character and provided us with great amusement. Whenever at a loss to know your meaning their great phrase is "After the war" or the single word "Perhaps".
The mother speaks very little English but will always come out with a "Perhaps". Some mornings when we would go in for coffee, myself and friend -Jack Warne - would have a contest to see who could get "perrr-haps" out of her the most often. She told us