Series 1 Oliver McNaughton

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take to get some ducks, and while hiding in the grass he went asleep. He was awakened suddenly by the whirr of a huge flock of geese all around him. He jumped up excited and began to bang away but never got a bird. Crosby said old doc did not like to hear about it. Crosby is in the 128th (Moose Jaw) which is next to us.

Was talking to Homer Nixon the other night. He is in this camp, with the 4th Ammunition Column. This is a purely Canadian Camp now, and a fairly large one. There are ten or twelve infantry battalions, most of them Western. Several Artillery batteries, Pioneer battalions, and Transport units.

I would go to see Jack on Sunday, but we will be very busy. Jack Baynes, our live corpse is as well as ever. Who started that yarn around Granton anyway?

I hear Sholdies of Ailsa Caig who took sick with Pneumonia just before we left Halifax is dead. We also left Lester Hodgson in Halifax, sick. We also left a spy or two who might have made it interesting for us. I have learned since that we were much closer to submarines than we had any idea of, but English Captains are too clever for them.

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4. The Germans, at the present time seem bent on the destruction of London, but in the last raid a few days ago kept away from that city as every time they get near it they lose a Zeppelin.

Airships are a very common sight here. Gee but the British craft can travel. They can be heard a long way off, and sound just like the cylinder of a corn cutter and silo filler, when it is at your neighbors. That is the best imitation of the sound of them I know of.

The greatest city in the world is sure some place, and one should not attempt to see it in a few days. Most, in fact nearly all my time was spent in the museums, and Historic places. I spent a whole afternoon in the Victoria and Albert Museum and could easily have spent a week in it. Nearly every place has an admission fee, but soldiers & sailors free. However we generally buy guides. We could not get a guide to the above museum as everything has been rearranged, and many things removed since the war broke out. The British museum is closed altogether, The Natural History museum a branch of the British is open, and is certainly interesting. I was more interested in the great collection of minerals and ores than in the animals, I suppose because I studied more geology & [del]

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5. mineralogy than Biology. No matter where I went, I discovered that I have forgotten nearly all I knew.

One of the most interesting places I was in was the United Service's Museum, which is chiefly devoted to weapons and other war equipment throughout the centuries, and of the different peoples. As we go upstairs we pass through the same identical hall that King Charles passed through to the scaffold where he was executed.

There are savages' weapons of all kinds, from all parts of the globe. Models of cannon from all parts of the world from the first time they came in use till the present day, models of ships and battleships from the time of the Early Greeks to the present day. etc. etc. Some articles of interest are, the chair that Napoleon used on the island of St. Helena, The Duke of Wellington's coat and sword, Nelson's telescope, a piece of wood of his flagship, and the log book of the ship in his own writing. Some bombs the Germans dropped in London which failed to explode. Also scores of other articles of similar historic note.

I landed in London on Saturday, near noon and by good chance was near the Parliament

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6. buildings that afternoon. For that is the only day one is allowed into them, and then we only see a portion. The Kings Robing Room was the first I was in and is a gorgeous little place, [del] with is fine painting, featuring some incidents in the life of King Arthur, some fine frieze work, and mosaic work on ceiling. The stately halls are fascinating and adorned by statues, paintings, sculpture and architecture suitable to the rooms that open from them. I was in the House of Commons and House of Lords, and could not help but feel that the walls of these rooms could tell much could they but talk.

The buildings are vast in extent, and much of them stands on historic ground. In fact certain portions of the building have been preserved from Ancient structures. Westminster Hall is historic and Ancient and possesses a most wonderful ceiling. The statues of Oliver Cromwell and Richard Coeur de Lion are before the parliament buildings.

Westminster abbey is just across the street from the Parliament buildings. This historic building standing on historic ground. There was a church here at the time of the Roman Conquest, and this neighborhood had been the site of monsteries until Edward the Confessor began the present abbey although only a small portion of that good monarchs work now exists.

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7. Westminster Abbey is not a Cathedral as it was never under papal control and this Liberty it still enjoys and probably always will. The word Abbey is taken from Abbot meaning father, and its real name is Westminster Abbey Church. At the time of Edward the Confessor this part of London was outside the city, and formed what was known as the city of Westminster taking its name from the monasteries and home of monks who collected here and ministered to the people in the neighborhood and westward. [del]

The original plan of the church was the Latin Cross, with the foot of the cross facing west. The short arms of the cross form what is called the transcepts of the church, and at the head of the cross is the altar. Henry VII added a chapel to the head of the cross, and this along with other repairs and additions throughout the centuries has destroyed the proportion of the building.

The building is Gothic and represents tremendous labour in design, sculpture and stained glass. the masonry although compact and solid shows the wear and tear of years. The chief interest of Westminster Abbey centres in its tombs, chapels and altars. There are scores of tombs and many monuments to notables who are not buried here.

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