Dear General Stopford

My son Jim is desirous of getting a temporary commission in the Army. Since September he has been in the Public Schools Battalion of the Middlesex Regt so has done a certain amount of training. I wonder if you could help him in any way. I believe the War Office are badly in need of Officers.

Unfortunately this draft isn’t dated. After this time, it’s impossible to know why the General might have helped Jim get a commission. Maybe he was a family friend. Jim was settled in the wine trade in Oporto in Portugal, and it must have been disruptive to his employers or business partners having him up and off to the War like that.