October 20, 1918 to Mother. [purplish italic type]

He gets a “birthday check for which many thanks” and promises to “try to find time to have some photos taken to send to you showing there has been no change in your red headed son in the year he has been away.”

Monty makes the usual claims about being “horribly busy” especially since his leave. “…saw my Colonel with regard to more help. There was a particular Lieut. I wanted but he was sick at the time so he sent up a Major to help me out temporarily.”

Everybody here, and I suppose also at home, is tickled to death over the way the war is going and I really believe we are likely to see the end before Xmas. Was at lunch as usual yesterday with my old friend M. Pellerin and we had quite a discussion of the whole thing at the table. One of the guests was an old French Colonel who is aide to President Poincaré and he was the most pessimistic of the lot as to the duration, giving it as his opinion that it would go on to the early spring. Today the Place de la Concorde is “en fete” and there are big doings in celebration of the liberation of Lille and other French territory which has been freed lately…. Passed through the Place de la Concorde yesterday afternoon and it was full with German cannon, planes and other captured material.

Since the cessation of the Gotha raids and Big Bertha and with the end of summer everybody has flocked back to Paris and it is more crowded now than at any time since last winter. As a part of this the French people are beginning again to receive American officers and they are even talking about commencing to dance again. Friday night I was at a private musicale after which we danced a while and the hostess was the first one to start dancing, explaining that now one could think of dancing again. You know it has been strictly “defendu” among the French since the beginning of the war.

Apartment life is smooth except for turnover in personnel. There is now “only one other officer and myself left out of the original ten…. Our good cook is still with us and whenever we have a vacancy there is no trouble at all filling it at once. One major who left us last month to take station in a small town down in the middle of France wrote back that he thought of us fervently at dinner time each night for he wasn’t eating near so well there and the aforesaid Major was very fond of his food.”

“Received card notifying me of your having subscribed to the [Saturday Evening] Post for me…. Have you been getting the Stars & Stripes regularly?”

 

Transcribed letter:

Hq. District of Paris,

A.P.O. 702, A.E.F.

Oct. 20, 1918.

Dear Mother:-

Received your two letters of Sept. 13 and 26 yesterday together with birthday check for which many thanks. Think with it shall try to find time to have some photos taken to send to you showing there has been no change in your redheaded son in the year he has been away.

Have been horribly busy this week as usual since my return from leave. Am just beginning to get caught up again with my work after that eight days absence but don’t regret taking the leave at all. Went down to Hq. S.O.S. Last week and saw my Colonel with regard to more help. There was a particular Lieut. I wanted but he was sick at the time so he sent up a major to help me out temporarily.

Everybody here, and I suppose also at home, is tickled to death over the way the war is going and I really believe we are likely to see the end before Xmas. Was at lunch as usual yesterday with my old friend M. Pellerin and we had quite a discussion of the whole thing at the table. One of the guests was an old French Colonel who is aide to President Poincaré and he was the most pessimistic of the lot as to the duration, giving it as his opinion that it would go on to the early spring. Today the Place de la Concorde is “en fete” and there are big doings in celebration of the liberation of Lille and other French territory which has been freed lately but it’s a horrible day with a steady misting rain which is putting more or less of a realistic damper on the proceedings. Passed through the Place de la Concorde yesterday afternoon and it was full with German cannon, planes and other captured material.

Since the cessation of the Gotha raids and Big Bertha and with the end of summer everybody has flocked back to Paris and it is more crowded now than at any time since last winter. As a part of this the French people are beginning again to receive American officers and they are even talking about commencing to dance again. Friday night I was at a private musicale after which we danced a while and the hostess was the first one to start dancing, explaining that now one could think of dancing again. You know it has been strictly “defendu” among the French since the beginning of the war.

Our apartment life continues to run along pretty well though we have had quite a few changes in the bunch sine we went into it last May, there being now only one other officer and myself left out of the original ten, all the others having left for one pace or another. Our good cook is still with us and whenever we have a vacancy there is no trouble at all filling it at once. One major who left us last month to take station in a small town down in the middle of France wrote back that he thought of us fervently at dinner time each night for he wasn’t eating near so well there and the aforesaid Major was very fond of his food.

Was quite interested to hear of Herbert’s marriage. Guess this was the girl whom he introduced to me to once in Greenville last year just before I went to camp. Glad to hear Lil enjoyed her trip.

Received card notifying me of your having subscribed to the [Saturday Evening] Post for me so guess I will begin to get them pretty soon. Have you been getting the Stars & Stripes regularly? I subscribed for it to be sent direct to you about two months ago and hope it’s been reaching you all right.

Love to all,

Carl

Thomas C. Montgomery [signed]

2nd Lt. Inf. U.S.R.