By
Christmas 1914, most of the Hamilton men who had so enthusiastically
volunteered to fight in the European war in August had yet to complete
training.
After a stint at Valcartier, Quebec,
the boys from Hamilton were at Salisbury in England receiving last minute
instructions before being deployed.
On December 22, 1914, the Hamilton
Herald published the following letter which had been received by William
Nugent, a well known motorman with the Hamilton Street Railway.
The letter had been written by his
friend and former co-worker Sergeant J. Kelly who was at the Salisbury training
area. :
“ Dear old Bill,
“I am well and fit. It does nothing
here but rain. Web all the war is coming to a quick end. Lord Kitchener says it
will last three years, but none of us see how it can.
“I for one am sick of this queer
country. The weather has taken the heart out of us and the fit out of our
clothes.
“There is a rumor that we are to go to
Egypt, but I guess there is no such luck. It is snowing here today for a
change. We get everything here but sunshine.
“Well, Bill, I wish they would send us
to the front, and let us do our little bit, but I don’t think we will get there
before next May or June. If they keep us on this plain much longer, we shall
all go dippy.
“We get so much stew that we have to
swim out of our tents or drown.
“I am thankful for those good old
Heralds that you sent me. The boys get wise to them, and there is a great rush
for them and all the news.
“I should like to get home just for
Christmas, and then come back again. If this war lasts for three more years, it
will be a long time before I am pulling street car bell cords in Hamilton
again.
“I don’t care much if the Germans
shoot me, so long as they do not take me prisoner, for they are treating their
prisoners unmercifully. But they will get all that’s coming to them before it is
over, and God help them if I get a whack at them.
“Wishing you all a merry Christmas, I
remain.
“Sergeant J. Kelly.”1
1 “ ‘Good
Old Herald’ : Sergt. Kelly Says Boys at Salisbury Are Eager for it.”
Hamilton Herald. December 22, 1914
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