WWI July 1918 Letter from Major of 14th ENGINEER Regt. in France GREAT CONTENT

Description

World War I soldier's letter, 2 pgs., approx. 5-1/4" x 7-1/8", dated
"France, July 30h, 1918"
, from Major Robert G. Henderson, 14th Engineer Regiment (Ry), to his sister-in-law, "Mabel", married to his brother, Harry P. Henderson.
Includes the original envelope, addressed to Mrs. H.P. Henderson, at Burlington, Mass., with July 31 dated "ARMY P.O. 4" straightline postmark, purple British PASSED BY CENSOR handstamp, with "Officer's Mail" written at top right, and Major Henderson's self-censor signature at bottom left.
The 14th Engineer Regiment was recruited in New England, mostly from railroad men, and arrived in France in the fall of 1917. They did important work repairing railroads, building railroads and bridges, often under gun and artillery fire.
The writer of this letter, Robert G. Henderson, was born in Salem, Mass. in 1889; Graduated from Harvard University in 1910, and in 1911, he went to work for the Boston & Albany Railroad in the Office of the Superintendent.
Great content
, writing that he is glad his Regiment is leaving the place they have been at, but is sad  at having to leave the "Fannies" - British women nurses and ambulance drivers of the independent all-female "First Aid Nursing Yeomanry", or FANY.  He writes that they are "good sports doing their bit", and that they had a farewell party with them, given by 2 Australian Fannies, and because of a mix-up over dinner arrangements, he ended up bringing 3 Fannies to the hotel for dinner, "to the great scandal of English Officers". He also writes that at their next location, they will be living in billets instead of tents, which they have been living in since March 22nd.
Includes:
"Dear Mabel,
...We're awfully glad to be getting out of this place, but I feel quite blue about leaving the Fannies. We had a farewell party last night, incidentally, given by them. They are certainly good sports doing their bit; there are two Australian girls that are especially nice. I can hear you chuckling over this. The farewell party, by the way, was rather amusing. The two Aussies had asked another officer and me to dinner at the hotel and then had sent a telephone message to me to bring another man (the medical Major). The message got twisted so that I got it that he was going to join us in town. Then the man that originally was going with me fell out. So I landed in the hotel with three Fannies in tow, to the great scandal of English Officers. I sent an S.O.S. to the Major who was sport enough to come all right, but he said he thought I was drunk and needed assistance. Everything ended all right, we had an A-1 dinner, set around the Fannies' mess till about 11 pm and parted with tears, almost. It's a bloody awful war.
I believe we are going to live in billets, which will be a change from tents (we've lived under canvas since March 22nd). And it's something new, and that's all a soldier wants...."
Very Fine.
COMBINED SHIPPING FOR MULTIPLE ITEMS.
[V]