From Your Loving Son
Albert
George also wrote home to tell his family that he had been reunited with Albert:
England
Feb 13.2.17
Dear Mother, Father & Jim
Just a few lines to say I am on leave and came out here to Lark Hill yesterday to see Albert and stopped here with him last night, it is a terrible long way out here I thought he might be able to get leave to London but don’t seem to have much chance he is going to try for weekend leave and in the meantime I am going to Leicester and then going back to London. It is bonzer in London I would like to put in a couple of months there, we only get 10 days. I met Gordon McKay he is on leave too but has gone back again to France. I came straight out of the trenches on leave from just in front of Bapaume on the Somme we have been about that part of the front for this last 5 months. I think Al & Percy’s division are round in Belgium. I received another parcel from you just before I left France also some more letters dated Dec 15, the crops seem to be going well. I received the Bendigo paper with the photos in they weren’t too bad, I am getting mine taken over here and will send some over. The Military treat us rotten when we come over from France on leave, we have to pay for our own clothes, what do you think of that, the people over here treat us well they cant do enough for us, girls will stop you in the streets and invite you out to their places for tea. I am sending a cable to you. I will be sorry when my leave is over. Will write again when I get back so hoping all are well with best wishes.
I remain
Your loving son & brother
George
George’s notebook, in which he carefully recorded the names and addresses of relatives, friends and comrades, also attests to the hospitality of the girls who stopped George on the streets of London. Whether these were innocent offers of friendship, or less honourable offers from the prostitutes who thronged the streets, is unclear. However George certainly added a number of addresses of the ladies of London to his notebook.
Lark Hill Camp
Amesbury
Feb 15th 17
Dear Jim
Just a few lines to say I am well. Geordie came down from London two days ago. He stopped the night with me and left here at 2 yesterday afternoon. I had the morning off with him. He looks real well, just the same Geordie, not altered a bit … I got a letter from Allan tonight. It’s the first I’ve had from him and it took a month to get here. He was having a spell out of the trenches when he wrote. Well Jim, it is not too bad here just at present. We are having a fairly easy time here now, only this bludy Collins is a fair cow. We have to go out on a night manoeuvre tonight, all through him. He’s the C.O. of B Coy, and he’s always falling us in for some damn thing. He crimed my mate for having a dirty rifle. I think I’ll miss the night manoeuvre as I’ve got some letters to write. We have been here over 6 weeks now and I believe we have to do 12 weeks training before we go to France, so according to that, we will be most likely leaving here at the beginning of April, just in time for the Spring offensive, so you know what that will be like. A few of our chaps got the mumps and nearly all the coy. is isolated. One lad out of this hut got the mumps, but we never got isolated. The snow that fell 10 days ago is just melting now, and the place is as muddy as blazes. This must be a cow of a place when it rains. There hasn’t been a drop of rain since I’ve been here, it snows instead. I am sending home a few photos I got taken a while ago …
Albert had written too soon. According to a letter to his parents dated the same day, he had been isolated soon after. Within days he was hospitalised with mumps.
… Geordie came down from London to see me and went up to Leicester. I was going to apply for leave to go up to London on Saturday to see him, and had a good chance of getting it, when today, one chap out of my hut went to the hospital with mumps, and we are isolated now, and so the leave is cooked. We will be isolated for 3 weeks, and it’s a fair devil, as we have to drill just the same, and yet cant go anywhere. We go for a route march every day instead of the ordinary drill, so its no fun being isolated. I was trench digging this morning, and the sweat ran out of me in spite of the cold …
Park House Hospital
Tuesday Feb 19th 1917
Dear Dad
Just a few lines to let you know I am in the hospital with mumps, I came here Saturday evening. Our hut was isolated and 6 of us out of it have got mumps. This hospital is about 8 miles from Lark Hill. It is just the same as being in camp only we have no drill. The huts are the same, 30 in a hut, and we have good beds to sleep in. I have got a lovely swollen jaw, but it isn’t sore and I cant eat like a horse. I feel tip-top, and it’s a holiday to be here, after being isolated. When we were isolated, we had all route marches. Go about 10 mile a day, so its no fun being in isolation. We will be here 3 weeks. The mumps stop in your neck for about 4 days. It is a great relief to be here for a while. It will do me for a holiday for a few weeks. When I left Lark Hill there was only 30 men not isolated out of 270 in our coy and the 5/38, so its pretty bad over there. Anyway most of our chaps are praying to God they all get them. They reckon your very lucky to get mumps and 3 weeks holiday … We have had some rain lately and it makes a hell of a mess on the parade ground. We were drilling the other day in about 4 inches mud. I never saw such a muddy shop in all my life. According to the papers things are getting lively in France, and they seem to think the Big Offensive has started already. The Dardanelles Inquiry is coming out in a day or two and I will send a paper with it in home to you. I suppose it is in the Australian papers about the food allowances here. The people are rousing about only being allowed ¾ lb sugar a person a week. We never see any in camp, but there is always a little in the porridge. We were just given cigarettes and writing paper here, and before we leave here get a pair of socks and soap, besides the usual cigarettes every second day. I got a letter from Ida a few days ago and she says it is very cold up there. I saw in a paper today where G. Mossop was killed in action. His number was 510. I think it must be young George Mossop from Bears Lagoon, he was in the 38th Batt, and that would be about his number. Well Dad, there is some pretty places about here, no doubt it must look great in the summer. There is a lot of villages about here, and everyone has a stream running through it. There are very few hedgerows about here all fences. Well Dad, I think I have told you all so will close hoping all are well, I am
Your loving son
Albert
Contracting mumps with its resultant stay in hospital appears to have made a welcome change from route marches and the mud of the parade ground. Being sick but warm and dry in hospital brought Albert a perverse sense of relief.
FRANCE, FEBRUARY
While Percy and Charlie remained in the trenches of Armentieres, Allan spent three weeks in training for a major raid to be launched from the trenches of Houplines to the north of Armentieres. On 17 February Charlie was admitted to hospital with bronchitis, the same day that Albert, across the English Channel, had been admitted with mumps. Allan wrote:
France
Feb 8th 1917
My Dear Mum & Dad & Jim
Well dear mum I received your most welcome letters also dad’s photo. I was pleased to hear all were well. You must have had a lot of work during harvest but my word it seems to be turning out splendid. It seems funny to hear about people harvesting and it is so cold over here, but one stands it well. Well mum I with a lot more of the boys are out of the trenches at present and are going through a special training. Percy & Charlie as I told you in a previous letter have joined up the battalion and are in the same company as me. They are both in the trenches at present. They will not be in this stunt with me.
Well dear mum we have seen a good deal of active service now and have been in some very nice bombardments. This is the first time Charlie & Percy have been in the trenches I went into them a fortnight before my birthday and I can tell you I have had some joy in that time. Well mum the ground here has been covered with snow for 3 weeks now and stil
l it lays. Every canal is absolutely frozen. We had a great game of football on the ice today. I suppose you won’t believe it. In places the ice is 3 feet thick and I suppose over there they sell it as fast as they make it. I have had a couple of letters from Albert. He is getting on first rate. I have not got a letter from Geordie for a good while now. I haven’t got any letters from the relations for a good while and yet they write every week. Our mail don’t close until the 20th so I am continuing this letter. I am still training mum and we are getting it solid. Well dear mum Charlie & Percy came out of the trenches for a spell and I went over to see them. They were splendid and getting on with the trenches they are in better trenches than we were in. I might tell you that the day we were leaving to go away on this training Mr Odonnel asked me if I would like Percy on this stunt with me and I told him no as I think one of us is quite enough on this stunt and I cannot tell you what it is. Well Mum a young chap by the name of Will Mowat is returning to Australia I was with him the night he was wounded so if you happen to meet him he will be able to tell you where we are. He comes from Macorna. He is very badly wounded.
Well mum I suppose you have finished the harvest by now and I hope you all are away on a good holiday …
I remain
Your Loving Son
Allan S.
Dad drop a line or two when you get time. Thanks for the photo. The mail closes tonight and I only hope you get the letters.
Will Mowat had sailed with Allan and Percy. His time on the Western Front was short; on 8 December 1916, after just 16 days in the line, he suffered a severe gunshot wound to his right leg, also sustaining damage to his lower left leg. He returned to the family farm at Macorna in June 1917.23
Charlie wrote to his family:
France
12th Feb, 1917
Dear Mother Dad Jim,
… I have just come out of the trenches with Percy, He and I went in together Al is away on special training but will be with us in a week or so the trenches were nice and dry and not too cold, we get good food in there and hot bacon and tea for breakfast tea bread and jam and butter for dinner for tea stew and tea and tea again at about 11 o’clock at night so that is not too bad, Hughie Martin was in with us and a lot of the local boys, we are out now on a spell I have a lot of letters to write as I have received a lot, Tom Roberts got a light tap on the head with a piece of shell but he is nearly alright again, it is surprising that the French people take no notice of the guns and it is a shame the way the houses are blown about, we get mail in the trenches I got two letters from you and five from Pearl, Auntie Ettie writes very often also Clee’s girls …
I am your Affect son and brother
Charlie
On the same day Percy also put pen to paper:
Somewhere in France
Feb 12
Dear Mum & Dad
Well Mum, I am writing this in a hurry, we have just come out of the trenches; just before we went in I wrote a letter to you and forgot to post it, I never discovered it till we were in the trenches a while, so that would make a bit of a pause between the letters, I have got a lot of letters from you and Jim and I do my best to answer them but we have not much time. I was isolated for mumps for a while and Charlie came back with me and Allan and kept all the letters that came for me, so I had a pile when I arrived back. Charlie and I are together. Allan at present, with a lot of others are training, so he will not be with us for a while, the longer he is away the better for him, so do not worry at us being split up, we will be together soon. Your parcel was very good Mum, it was very good of you to send it … It was very good when we were in the trenches last time, there was no rain the nights put you in mind of some of the bright Australian nights. Well Mum there is no need to worry, even if you do not get a letter for a little time as it is hard to tell when the mails are going out. I write as often as I can to you and Jim. I have a pile of Jim’s letters to answer now… I remain your loving son
Percy
Charlie, as the eldest brother on the front, now adopted the role of patriarch, writing to his family of monetary matters and the welfare of his brothers:
France
13-2-17
Dear Mother Father and Jim,
Today I received word from the Commonwealth Bank that there was £10 there for me all I have to do is get an order signed by my commanding officer and send to the bank and they will send it over in a registered letter to me, the bank was very prompt in sending the letter, the money will be very useful, of course I do not want it for myself I will divide it amongst the other brothers. I got a letter from Geordie to say that he had got word from the same bank to the affect that there was £5 there for him and he expects leave this month so the money will be handy to him, we generally want a few things when we come out of the trenches and if they don’t happen to be paid it is rather awkward All was short on Sunday, but had a lot coming to him but could not get it so I gave him a sovereign. I will give him his share of the £10 when I get it, Albert wrote and said he did not want the £1 I sent to Paynes for him but he has not been in France yet. I got a bonzer parcel from Pearl today it was just the thing she sent me 5 handkerchiefs and that was just what I wanted also a lot of other useful things including a pocket writing pad it will be handy to write in the trenches also some cake and pudding which we are taking to the trenches with us, she sent a tin of milk and coffee which we are taking we have fires in the trenches and can easily boil some water and make a drink. I wrote to you yesterday I got a lot of letters yesterday and 12 today so I am doing alright, you asked me to tell the truth about All and Percy well they both look well and are quite well also myself, we are all well and hope you are the same. I will ring off for now and say goodbye.
I am your loving son
Charlie
Allan wrote to Jim:
France
18-2-17
Dear Old Jim
… I am splendid I never felt better in my life. We are having some bonnie weather now. I am not in the trenches now, but Charlie & Percy are, and they are getting on well. I am out doing a special training and we get it pretty solid. I cannot tell you what it is for. My boss asked me if I would like Percy on this stunt with me but I told him no as one of us is quite enough to go through it, but I have every confidence in getting through alright. Well Jim you seem to be having a good harvest and I was pleased to hear it. No doubt you must have had a lot of work to do but I suppose it is all over now and that you are away on a holiday. I got a letter from Albert tonight and he is getting on well. He said that they are having some nice weather there too. He said that Geordie had been on leave and that he came down to see him. By jove I would like to see him too. But we are a long way away from him. Well Jim I ought to have some interesting news to tell you in a near date. Well Jim I think I have told you all the news so I will close hoping all are well as it leaves me at present. Goodbye Jim
I remain
Your Loving Brother
Allan
All the boys are well.
Their training completed, the men of the raiding party from the 37th and 38th battalions were well-prepared for the task before them. In an attempt to confuse enemy intelligence, the unit marched out from Erquinghem under cover of darkness on 24 February, returning a few hours later. The following night they once again appeared ready to enter the trenches as they left Erquinghem, but returned soon after, a move again designed to puzzle enemy observers. On the night of 27 February the raiders marched from their billets and were later picked up by lorry for the short journey to Armentieres. Here they quickly entered the communication trenches and moved forward to the front at Houplines. An Allied artillery bombardment at 10.00 pm, followed by relative quiet, was designed to further confuse the enemy. Two hours later, 650 Australian soldiers silently edged their way across no man’s land, their faces blackened to avoid detection in the glare of searchlights, and making every effort to dodge the sporadic machine-gun bullets that whizzed above them. At 12.30 am the Australian ar
tillery bombarded the enemy trenches with deadly accuracy, and the raiders rushed forward. The artillery then formed a box barrage of heavy fire to prevent counter-attacks from all sides. Wire that had not been blown apart in the barrage was cut through or mats thrown across to allow access, while enemy flares burst in the sky above them in the midst of the flashes of shell and the pungent smell of explosives. The men reached their objectives and, within 35 minutes, had decimated almost a kilometre of enemy trench lines. Ammunition and rifles were destroyed, dugouts blown apart, prisoners taken and intelligence gathered.
Eric Fairey, the 38th Battalion historian, estimates that 12 Germans were killed for every Australian. Of the men from the 38th who were involved, 45 men were wounded and 16 killed.24 The action was hailed a complete success. Despite their losses, the men of the 38th were jubilant. Allan wrote home describing his experiences. This was one of the few occasions when he provided detail and described to his family the reality of what he had experienced. While addressed to his parents and Jim, the body of the letter refers only to his mother. Sarah wanted honesty from her boys and, unusually, Allan is more than forthcoming. But his words will have brought his mother little comfort.
Somewhere in France
6-3-17
My Dear Mum Dad & Jim
… Well dear mum in my last letter I told you we were training for a big stunt. Well mum it came off the other night. It was a big raid. There was 800 of us in it. They were not all out of my battalion but some out of the next one lower. Well dear mum I told you that Percy and Charlie were not in it and I am pleased too. Well mum I will try and tell you what it was like but no-one has any idea what we had to go through. It was the biggest raid and bombardment that has ever been on this front. It was just like hell. Well at 12.30 in the night we hopped our parapet and went across to Fritz’s trenches under our own barrage of artillery. Immediately Fritz opened up with his artillery. Well mum my gun team had to get back to his third line and prevent a counter attack. Well mum just before we got to Fritz’s first trench we had to cross a ditch which was full of water. We was up to our waist in it. Anyway we got out [of] that into his first trench. Then we had to get into his second trench. To get there we had to tear ourselves through his barb wire and fight our way. Anyway we got through that and still had to get to his 3rd trench. Well we were falling in shell holes and shells were flying around us and by hell it was good. Just before we got to his 3rd trench we had to go through another ditch full of water up to our waists again. Anyway we got through that and we met some strong opposition. They started to bomb us but we soon put them out of their trouble. But by hell we had a lively time. When we were coming back we had to come under our barrage. But in places in Fritz trenches the muck was that deep that we had to pull one another out. No man could get through it on his own. Well Fritz shelled us all the way back. After we got into our own trench we volunteered to carry out the wounded. Well we were carrying them out Charlie Mills Corp Patterson Spuddy Kerr and 2 more of my mates were on ahead of me about 100 yds, They had a stretcher case too and Fritz put a shell right in amongst [all] of them. They were thrown all over the place. Corporal with 3 other lads were killed and the lad on the stretcher had his leg blown off. When I got up to them I got a terrible shock. Anyway we got them all away to the dressing station as fast as we could. After doing our job and helping with the wounded we crawled into bed at 4.30. They gave us a good drink of rum before going to bed. Frank Dee was wounded in our own trenches just before we hopped. A lot of boys from up our way got hit. You will see their names in the paper. But mum how on earth we came out alive I don’t know. Well mum I am back in the trenches again and having a good time. I am in charge of a Lewis Gun at present but if it is for good I do not know. It gives me a lot of work. Well mum Charlie is in the hospital with [a] cold. I have not had a letter from him since. Had a letter from Geordie and Albert yesterday. They are getting on well. I also got letters from Leicester too. Well Mum you must have had a busy year with the harvest alright. Well dear mum I think I have told you all the news so I will close hoping all are well as it leaves me at present. Percy is with me the other boys are strangers. Well goodbye dear mum.
ANZAC Sons Page 32