I never felt better in my life.
We have no word of the 3/38 landing yet but they ought to be here soon
All the boys are well
I got Lily Sharps socks they were very nice …
While, after eight months of training, Allan was convinced that he was ready for the Western Front, Monash was keen to ensure that the men of his division were well prepared for what was to come. The teasing by men of the older divisions concerning the length of time the 3rd Division had spent in camp was common in inter-division rivalry. But talk of being ‘cold footed’ would not rest easy with Allan and his mates who were anxious to reach the front.
On his return from trench training, Allan penned a lengthy letter to his mother:
Saturday 21-10-16
My Dear Mum
Well Mother dear I received your most welcome letter. I got eleven letters altogether. I got 2 mails at once the end of August letters and September letters. I also got your photo mum. You don’t know how delighted I was to get it. I was often wondering how long it would be before I got one. I was glad to hear that you are well. Now Mum in my last letter I told you that we were going to the camp trenches on the Tuesday till Friday. Yes we went and I will tell you about it. We left the camp on the Tuesday morning. It was raining but not near so bad as usual. Well we marched out about 5 miles to a terrible big cockies place where they billeted us. We had dinner then fixed up our bunks for the night. All the boys slept in the sheds but our officer got us up in a loft. By jove we were comfortable. He slept with us too. Well Mum by the time we done this it was tea. We had a real good tea had a smoke and went to bed. We got up at six in the morning had breakfast and done practically nothing for the day. Well on this night Wednesday we were supposed to get up at 2 oclock and go on a stunt to the trenches. Well everyone of us even the officer slept in and never heard the others going off. We woke up about 6 and then he said we better make a good job of it and sleep on till 7.30. There was not one of us that was sorry we missed it. Well after breakfast we done gun drill for the whole day. Well at 8 oclock on the night (Thursday) we had to move off to the trenches and put the night in there. By jove talk about cold it was a brute. At 11 oclock we had to make a charge, oh it was lovely I don’t think. We got back at 12.30 and laid down in our dugout but we could not sleep as it [was] a freezer. About 600 yds from the trenches was a wood where the cooks were camped and I could see some beautiful fires there. I watched for a long time to see if I could see any officer about and could not see any and so at 2.30 I sneaked out of the trenches with one of the boys down to [the] fire. I stopped at the first fire there was only about 6 at it. The cooks gave us some hot coffee and it was a treat. We saw a chap sitting on a box and who should it be but the officer. He seemed to feel the cold worse than anyone. He reckoned it was a b-. He had been sitting there for 2 hours and then wasn’t warm. He didn’t abuse the Kaiser a bit. We were not long there before Percy and the rest of the boys came. He seen them coming and said here comes the whole b- section. He said if there coming I had better go back and hold the trenches while they were getting warm and off he went but was not there long before he was back again. Some of the boys went back again but a lot of us stopped till day break. We came out of the trenches at 12 oclock on Friday and marched back to camp. We had a real picnic to what we had last time. Today (Saturday) I have been doing my washing. We had to return our old stuff and get new stuff in its place. I have got 4 of those shirts new underpants and socks and singlets. I have a lot of socks now. I am using the new flannel shirts as flannels, they are better than the one you bought as they have sleeves in them. Well dear Mum I am busy writing letters again this afternoon but Percy and Will Street have gone down to Amesbury. Peter Owens is in the hospital. He is going under an operation. He has got tonsilitis. All the other boys are well. Mum I have never been the slightest bit crook since being here. In fact I never felt better. But mum it is terrible cold and it is only autumn here yet. Well Mum Charlie is not here yet but ought not be long now. I was glad you got my cable. You ought to be getting my letters wholesale now. Mum we have been here 10 weeks now and I have never missed in writing to you one week. So Mum I hope you get the letters alright and also the parcel. Mum I hope you like the brooch alright. Mum I was terrible sorry to hear about Ray Leed and Will Hare.3 It is bad luck …
The following day Allan wrote to Albert. He had received word that his youngest brother had enlisted and was quick to berate him for not heeding his advice not to sign up:
Sunday 22-10-16
Dear Old Albert
Well I received 2 of your most welcome letters. I was pleased to hear that all are well and we are the same. I was out in the trenches when I got all the letters, quite a lot of them. Well Albert you are having a great year over there, and we are having a beautiful cold one here. Oh it is a brute and it is only autumn yet. What it will be like in the middle of winter I don’t know. I never felt anything like it in my life. Well I don’t think we will be here for the winter, as we have heard a lot of rumours to France, I hope it is so, as I think it is time we went. I had a letter from Jack Price yesterday. He is in France but not in the firing line. He said he had a couple of letters from you. I have been getting all yours and papers. By jove they were welcome. I was reading about the first hare shoot in the Bendigo paper. Where G.J. got top score. I would like a hare shoot now. You must have had a fine time the second time you were out. Well Albert I heard that you went and enlisted again. What did I tell you before I left. Albert you were foolish you know. There is enough of us in here now. Charlie ought to be [here] soon that [is] if he sailed when you said the 7th. I got [a letter] from him and one from your sister. Charlie told me about the hearty reception he got when he got home what a beaut he must have got. We got issued with new underclothing gloves etc on Saturday … When you write tell me what sort of a time you had [at] the picnic and the Pyramid show. I voted for conscription here the other day not many here voted for it but I think it is the best thing I know of. By hell it would hit G.J. up wont it. He wont like leaving the girls. I believe he is going strong. Well he is welcome to them. It is a wonder they are not out hare shooting for themselves this year… The war is going well now but our boys are still getting knocked about. I was sorry to hear about Ray Leed getting killed … You know Gus Ryan well he has [been] sick ever since being over here and was sick all the way over. He went under an operation here but is still crook, I think they will send him back again. Well Albert they tell [us] they are going to give us another 4 days leave. I hope they do it will be very welcome I have [not] started my course of dot dash yet as we were out at the trenches, you will see what sort of a time we had at the trenches by mum’s letter. Well Albert I think I have told you all the news so I will close hoping you are all still well.
Goodbye Albert
I remain
Your Loving Brother
Allan
It was alright Jack McKay getting stuck you done alright out of it. I supposed he enjoyed it. Albert thanks for sending me the wallet it will be very acceptable. I have not received it yet, but I got the rag. I was sorry to hear that you have a bad cold. Well Albert I never felt better in my life. I have put on some weight since being here. I am glad you got my cable. Well Albert old boy I think I have told you all the news.
So Goodbye
Have a look at the letters that I sent Mum
Please excuse scribble and blot I dropped my pen Albert
The next day, Percy wrote to his parents:
Lark Hill
23 Oct
Dear Mum & Dad
Well Mum, I received your photo, I think it is very good, you look a bit worried. We were out at the trenches when it came, we had a good trip out there this time, we were billeted for two days at a barn, they had a big sale there, while we were there, it was very amusing to see them selling. We slept in a hay loft, it was nice and warm, we were supposed to have a night attack but we never heard the alarm, so we missed the joke, I was not so
rry. We put a day and a night in the trenches, it was very cold. Well mum conscription seems like as if it is going to come in, it will make a stir among the cold feet. It is very amusing here the people think we are conscripts, because we wear the badge in the front of our hats, all the brigade have to wear there hats that way.4 We are getting revolvers instead of rifles, all the machine gun section will get them. We are going through a twelve days course, we go through everything, that we have learnt; drill we had just after we came in camp we are doing. We are expecting our few days leave after the twelve days course. It was very sad about Ray Leeds, they will feel it very much. Bob Leeds came over with us, but he is not here now, he must have gone to France, he was not in our battalion. Well Mum, that was a great letter of Charlie Fyffe’s, it must have took him some time to write it, I think I have told you all the news so I will close.
From your loving son
Percy
As Percy describes, even in the photos that Sarah sent to her sons, he could recognise the signs of her growing concern. Five of her children had now left the security of their home and the safety of Australia. Her anxiety was evident to those who knew her well. Allan wrote to Albert to ensure he would seek to be allocated to the same battalion as his brothers. Having all the brothers together in the one battalion was one means to ease Sarah’s apprehension.
… I have just come back from Amesbury. Les and I went down, oh it is a brute of a town. It is only 1 ½ miles away and since being here I have only been down twice. Well Albert I wish you hadnt passed for the war I think there is enough of us here now. You seem to have a good time in Bendigo. Good luck to you too. Well Albert we are having a 12 day stunt now. They are giving us a general touch up of all the work we have done and then we are going away I believe. And I wont be sorry either. They tell us they are going to give us another 4 days leave too. I hope it is true too. Well Albert if you get through allright you are bound to be sent to England. If you do and Charlie is here, you get with him. Now Albert don’t forget. You will be able to do it too and then in the end we will be all together with the exception of Geordie. Well Charlie isn’t here yet but I hope he gets here before we go away. Albert when you come here you will find London etc the dearest b-place God ever made. You want to beat them down a treat. I never saw a place like it in my life. Beat the b- down. Now Albert don’t forget to get with Charlie. If Charlie is here you apply for a transfer at once. You write to Charlie or see him and get him to work for it too. Well Albert news is b- scarce. All the boys are well. Well Albert by the time you get this letter it will be Christmas. Well Albert I wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year and if you get through allright I hope you have a good trip over. As soon as [you] lob write to me at once … Well Albert old boy I will say goodbye hoping if you get through to see you over here.
I remain
Your Loving Brother
Allan
Writing to his mother, Allan reassured Sarah that he would soon be home to once again enjoy the delightful lunches she routinely brought to the paddocks during harvest time:
… The other night we all went up to a play it was not too bad. It was first one that ever I have been too since our arrival here. Well mum you will be very busy by the time you get this letter. You will be cutting up lunches. That what I used to look forward to when I used to be up to my neck in work out in the fields. As long as the lunch came I was right. We don’t get any lunches here mum but I will have plenty when I go back. In my other letter I was telling you that I used to toast myself some bread in the cook house. Well Mum there was too many on the game at last and we all got stopped. We are getting good tucker here and you get a good appetite too. Mum I am sending you Albert Brooks photo he gave it too [me] yesterday. I suppose Percy sent you his photo. I sent some of mine up to Leceister. Mum I was delighted to get yours. I wrote to you asking you to send me one, so you will see what a pleasant surprise I got. I never got a letter from Geordie this week. I suppose he never had time to write. I have wrote to him to day and I have been posting a few of my letters to him in case he didn’t get any. I also sent him my photo. He gets my letters regular. Mum many thanks for the Christmas tin it will be very nice. We will get it alright mum. Mum there is no need to worry over us. We are alright and having a good time. Really mum I never felt better in my life. This climate agrees with me but all the same mum I would not live here for anything. Mum tell Jim I am sending him over my diary of my trip over. He can read it too. The notes are very brief and they are wrote in lead pencil. I want him to read them to you so you see what sort of trip we had, and what the sea was like each day. I have a little note book in my wallet that will do me, there are a lot of addresses in the diary, but I have got them all copied out … I got a letter from Jack Price this week. He is well and is still training in France. I think it is a good way from the firing line. Well Mum I think our brigade ought to do good work at the front if we only have good leaders, as we are well trained and we have a big artillery and more machine guns than any other brigade that has gone to the front. Well dear mother I think I have told you all the news so I will say goodbye for the present. Hoping all are well. Dear Mum I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year.
I remain
Your Loving Son
Allan S…
A Merry Christmas and a happy new year to you mum
Percy also wrote to his parents and to Jim. He openly expressed his surprise that his parents had signed Albert’s enlistment papers but falls short of rebuking his family. His opinion is clear, however: there were already enough Marlow sons doing their duty and Albert should have stayed at home.
Lark Hill
Oct 29
Dear Mum & Dad
Well Mum, we are just the thing, I have no news, I wrote to you to catch a mail that went a few days ago. We do not know when we are going away. I am ready to go anytime. Jim says in his letter that Albert has enlisted, I never thought you would let him go. It has been raining a lot here this last week, we had lectures while it was raining on gas helmets, and bombs; of course we were inside. Well Mum I have no more news so I will close
From Your Loving Son
Percy
Lark Hill
England
29/10/16
Dear Jim
Well Jim, news is scarce but I will try and tell you some, we are having some wet weather lately, I suppose you are having hot weather over there now, you will be into harvest now, you will miss Albert, he says he has enlisted, I never thought they would let him go, I think there is enough of us gone. You were asking did I get letters from Flo and Paynes I get letters from all of them, it keeps them writing. You talk a lot about that girl in Bendigo but you never say anything about her name. I would just like to watch you. Conscription seems like it is going to come in, it will cause a stir among the cold feet “eh Jim”, I see by the papers they tried to shoot Hughes, it will give him a bit of a fright. We had a lot of lectures this last few days, mostly on bombing and gas helmets, bombing is very interesting Jim, they make a scatter when they burst. The gas helmets are funny when you get them on the first time, they are something like a bag over your head when you see anyone with them on. I am a real church goer since I came over here, we have to go every Sunday, there is no way out of it. We have got new clothes for all our worn out ones, we have a list of what we got to take to France, we have to carry it in our pack, our kit bag does not go to France, I do not think it will be long before we go. Well Jim I had a letter from Flo Wilson she said it was splendid that five of us has enlisted.
Well Jim I think I have told you all the news so I will close
From Your Loving Brother Percy
MOLOGA, OCTOBER
With Albert in camp, Charles, Sarah and Jim were now managing the farm alone with the harvest looming. Albert planned to take some leave to assist in those vital weeks when the wheat was ready and their year’s work had come to fruition.
Bendigo
Monday 1916
Dear Mum
Just a line to say I came into camp this afternoon There were five came in. Billy Taylor and a lad from Pyramid and I and two others. The lad from Pyramid used to work at Bob Newton’s. We got issued with our sleeping rig out, four blankets and a water proof sheet, and a piece of hessian. We had bread and jam and black coffee. It didn’t go too bad. I was up at Rowe’s for dinner yesterday and was up to the hospital yesterday to see the Stone boys. Jack Gibson and I went up to Mahoneys after tea. We had a good time up there. Aunty and Hannah were at Church. We got plenty of music up there. I was asked up there next Sunday afternoon. I got a pass to go home last Sat. I left Gibson’s at 20 to 12 and hurried all the way and got up to the station at 3 minutes to 12 just in time to see the train going off the station. We have got to get examined in the morning before we get our bluies.5There is talk of sending all the men from here to Royal Park on Wednesday so I may have to go there. I don’t know yet what my address is, so address it care of Gibson’s. Well Mum this is all so I will close hoping all are well.
I remain Your Loving Son
Albert
Melb
Wed evening
Dear Mum,
Just a few lines to let you know I shifted down here this morning. We left Bendigo at 9 oclock, had to get up at 5.30. All the men left the camp this morning for Royal Park. Two of my mates got left behind, but I got picked out among 8 others to load all the equipment. So I had to come down here. I got examined again yesterday morning. Bill Taylor got kicked out he couldn’t pass the eyesight test. I got inoculated yesterday morning and my arm is still stiff. I haven’t done any drill yet. We were all yesterday morning getting our kit, and in the afternoon they told the four of us to do what we liked, so I went into Bendigo at four oclock, and was up to Gibsons for tea, and we went to the pictures. We got down here at 1 oclock and loaded up the equipment and we were ages waiting for the lorry to load the next. It is five oclock now so we haven’t done much today.
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