Canadian Contingents.
Letter from J. M. Elder to W. O.
No. 3, Canadian General Hospital, B.E.F. France.
15. 1. 17.
My dear Sir William,
Many thanks for your congratulatory note, which only reached me here today. I left London as soon as we had signed our report, as we were shorthanded here, and Birkett needed my services. Am deeply indebted to you for your very kind invitation to Oxford, and trust that at some more favorable time, I may have that pleasure. While the work of the Commission was a bit tiresome at times, yet we had a very unanimous Board, and Sir W. Baptie was a perfect "trump" as Chairman. I don't think a better or more judicial man could have been chosen for the position. He managed us all beautifully and had wonderful tact with the witnesses, who were often unwilling to tell the truth about things. C Jones is signing Corps Orders again as D.M.S., so I presume he is back at his old post, but I have really heard nothing about the matter beyond what appeared in the "Times" in the B.M.J. (a good report), since I came back here.
May I wish you and Lady Osler a good new year? and let us trust that it may end this horrible war, which is such a source of personal anxiety to us all.
Ever yours truly,
J. M. Elder.