BX January 31, 1919
A Christmas Spent Among Huns – Roy Ludlow, 19th Batt., Tells of Splendid Fare on Year End Holiday
A Brant County soldier boy, Roy Ludlow, of the 19th Battalion, and who participated in the last fighting days of the Great War, writes many interesting letters home now from Germany, in one of which he tells how he spent his Christmas and New Year’s there.
Dear Mother,
My mail has been coming fine lately and I have been getting a lot of nice letters from my dear friends at home. One day I received 19 and two boxes. I received sic Christmas boxes.
I suppose you had a fine time on Christmas and New Year’s Day. We had a very good time too. On New Year’s Day we all went down to the Y.M.C.A. building to have our dinner. It certainly took a large building to seat us all. The tables were set very nice and we had lovely music while eating. Who do you think they had waiting on the tables? We had about 25 German waiters and they wore long coats for the occasion. They brought up soup, bread, mashed potatoes, carrots, corn and turkey. Then came the plum pudding, pie, oranges, apples and English walnuts. The colonel said he would have a good dinner on New Year’s and we certainly did. Then they took our pictures at the tables. I would like to have one to take home to show you all. Wouldn’t it be nice? After that we had a picture show for a little while, which was very good.
On Christmas Day we went to a schoolhouse and had a nice dinner of roast pork, bread, mashed potatoes, cabbage, carrots and plum pudding. I do not think I will ever forget my Christmas dinner in Germany.
They tell us we will be home in April. Won’t that be grand although it is a long while to wait, but we have seen many great sights, which I would not like to have missed.
You should have been here this morning and seen them baking bread. A man came in and mixed a batch up in a trough. He took off his shoes and socks, washed his feel and then jumped in on the bread and tramped it for about half an hour. I could not help but laugh. Wouldn’t you like some of it?
The German people have been having some meals today. They had their breakfast at 7, dinner at 10.30, another at 2, and I do not know how many more before they go to bed. They have brown sour bread like molasses, tea butter, no cakes or pies, no fruit that I have seen yet, except some jam that they had last night.
I have some nice things that I bought here to take home.