p.

3

Ben, & Salaman. I was going to put the port into
the mess as well, but Chamalzki, who helped me
to undo the parcel, persuaded me not to!

Tuesday Jan 5th - My sweetest darling. I am afraid that
this must be a short letter. As you see I have
not touched it since last Tuesday, which is a
completed record for me. But the intervening
time has ben absolute hell. The main reason is
that on 31 Dec, one of my Jewish Sgts committed
suicide by shooting himself with his own rifle.
This has had a most depressing affect on the whole
Coy & everybody & has made me very busy both with
all the official business & nursing & watching
the Coy. And to make matters a thousand times
worse, the weather has reached untold depths of utter
foulness & misery. The rain has come down in such
a way that I would not have believed possible,
& the cold has been ghastly. There has been snow in
Jerusalem, which is said to be a miracle
which happens once in 20 years. With feet like
lumps of ice, & literally chilled to the marrow,
today my stove broke down - I have found it
just impossible to sit down to write or even
to read.

Today - thank the Lord - the rain has stopped &
it is a little warmer. But I must write
my bread & butter letter. The Hopkins for