Letter from Edward Thomas to his wife, Helen Thomas. [France]. Describes arrival at a new position 7 miles from the frontline/ the surrounding countryside / condition of room / leaving guns behind and not having much to do / condition of shoes / probability of moving out soon / advises Helen Thomas to use the map from Edward Thomas' book on the life of Marlborough to familiarise herself with the British front / the spirits of the men. Archival reference: 424/1/1/1/1/224
Wednesday Feb (sic) 7 (sic) .
Dearest, just after I posted my letter yesterday we had orders instantly to the place where we are now , 7 miles nearer the line . The clear sky this morning is flecked over with little puffs like cotton wool very white , which mark the shrapnel bursts behind an enemy plane .
We have a comfortable little room to spread our beds in.
The men are in barns . 1 came in (illegible) to arrange for their food & lodging. It was a fine ride in the lorry along the hard straight road among snowy hills.
We are on the highest ground in N. France, 172 metres above sea level, or about 600 ft . It is very cold, clear, and bright.
The big village is full of troops, English, Kaffirs, Indians.
As we have left any guns where we were stationed last, we have to wait some time before there will be much to do except route marking. Thanks to my soft trench boots my ankles are allright ( sic), but as the blistered heel is not right I am avoiding all but the necessary walking. We feed partly at a restaurant & partly here in our room which is a picnic of bully beef, biscuits and tinned fruits.
We haven't our mess kit yet so we borrow the things we found here, without the owners consent. However

We shall be going to our position today or tomorrow. Then we shall have to dig and dig and dig. We shall be not far off an ancient cathedral town, I suspect and I can’t say that I am thoroughly pleased with the situation, nor on the other hand am I only fairly pleased, bu between the two.
By the way, in the big map case I think you will find the map I [illegible] for Marlborough and it includes most if not all the English front and you can ty to pick up the possible scene of our work. My birthday should see us vey busy.
The capt is now a major Haton a captain. Haton is really very entertaining. He is the old army pure and simple, naughty and merry and smart.
He talks everything in [illegible] can’t phrases and metaphors