I remain your loving Bro
Geordie
Nov 17, 1915
Yeitoun Camp
Dear Charlie
… Well I have been here a fortnight today. It hasn’t been so hot this week. I haven’t felt so good in the stomach this last two days, I think it is the tucker, too many maggots in it, a lot of us paraded today before the Heads for more and better tucker. Three of us went into Helopilis last night to see Gritton in hospital. I got quite a surprise to see such a fine town after seeing Cairo. Such fine big buildings you wont see one low building and it is a very clean place. You wouldn’t believe what a fine place it is. The buildings in Melbourne are not a patch on them of course it is a new town. But you wouldn’t think so by the size of it. We saw a big church my word it is a lovely building. Nearly all the French people are in Helopilis. You don’t see any of the slum. The fifth reinforcements of my battalion are going to the front next week, they only came here a week before us, it is hard to say where they will send us. They have sent 120,000 Australians and New Zealands to the front up to now and there must be a good many in camp here, the cities are just swarming with them of a night. A lot from New Zealand came in this week, the Maiors are the boys that can drill. We had a march last night and finished up with an attack. We are getting all kinds of drill here and plenty of extended order drill making short quick rushes and flopping down on the sand and digging ourselves under cover it is every bit as bad as real hard work, we are always covered in dust when we come in. This is all the news this time.
I remain your loving Bro
Geordie
21.11.15
Dear Mother
Just a few lines to let you know I am sending a little box with some silks in, they are registered so you ought to get them safely nearly all the boys send some home, they are supposed to be the best silks you can get, there is a cushion cover, a table centre to put a flower pot on, a scarf, handkerchief and a lace. It has got a little cooler here now, the nights are fairly cold, I am still in the tents but half of our company have been shifted into the huts, it is warmer of a night in the tents. We did not go out to drill one morning it was too dusty but an officer back from the front gave us a lecture instead, he says they get a lot better tucker at the front than what they get here. I have been into Heliopilis it is a very nice place, much different to Cairo, there are some wonderful buildings, the Palace Hospital is a tremendous big place and is something lively inside, three of us went there to see a chap who has been operated on, he was crook coming over on the boat and the doctor told him he would either have to be operated on here or be sent back to Australia, he is getting on alright, a lot of my company has been sent to the hospital they reckon it is like home in there. The town is full of troops of an evening and it is just the same in Cairo. There is trouble along the Suez again, the turks are coming up to have another go there were 3 lots of light horsemen left here last night to go there. I don’t know whether Bert Gibson would be among them I haven’t seen him yet …
[continued on photo]
… This photo is three of my mates & myself. You have seen two of these in Bendigo. The one standing up in the centre is the chap … There were 10 of them picked out of the ranks for M.P. but they need not stop at it. We go to the Butts for shooting this week, we have to stop there for 3 or 4 days. There have been a lot of New Zealanders come into the camp this last week. It tried to rain here this morning but all we got was a mist, there is a slight mist every night. This mail leaves Egypt on the 24th so I suppose you will get it by xmas. Well I have no more news this time. Hoping all are well as I am at present.
I remain your loving son
George
Just a few days later, George sent the same photo home to Allan:
George on left, George Downie standing centre, the other men are unknown.
One of George’s letters, written typically in pencil.
Tuesday 23 No 1915
Dear Allan
Just a few lines to let you know that I got your letter this morning. These photos are some of my mates and myself; the one standing up in the centre has gone into hospital this morning with the mumps. I hope to god I don’t get them they say they are kept in the isolation hospital for about a month. I am sick of drill, five months of it is too much wont be sorry when I get to the front. Greece seems to be going to go against us, We might have to fight at the Suez yet. Well Al I cant write anymore have to go on a night attack. Will write again next mail. I remain Your loving Bro
Geordie
I haven’t met any one that I know yet.
Yeitoun Camp
Sunday November 21st 1915
Dear Charlie
Just a few more lines before I close this letter up. An officer from the front belonging to my battalion gave us a lecture on the war in the Dardanelles, it was very interesting. He spoke on how to use the bombs and hand and rifle grenades, he says the trenches we have to go in are only 50yds away from the turks at the most and some are only 20, the turks used to throw bombs and the australians used to throw them back again, he warned us not to try that now because the turks don’t throw them now till just before they explode and we have to throw a blanket or a coat over them. Each side are sapping [tunnelling] all the time he says you can hear the turks digging sometimes, the Australians are advancing under ground by digging tunnels and then make a trench and dig the top off it, he says there is a hell of a lot of hard work to do it sounds very healthy what he says about the fighting but I don’t care how soon I get there, and I don’t think it will be very long either, we are going to the butts tomorrow and they never stop much longer than a week after that, they take a note of each ones shooting to pick out the best that’s for sniping, in the quick firing we have to get 10 shots in half a minute, we have to load up and all in that time. One of the snipers in the 21st Batt. at the dardanelles has got 142 turks altogether and is still going strong they take enough tucker to last them for 3 days and go out and snipe they don’t be shooting all the time, sometimes they have to wait a long time for a shot, this officer said that this sniper whom is halfcast from Victoria is a wonderful good shot, he has been awarded the D.C.M. and made a sergeant. The lice are very bad at the front, they only have one lot of clothes the others are left at Alexandra, they go down for a swim sometimes but are always fired on by a big gun which they cant find but they think it is on a train and comes up and down every day. Most of the returned chaps seem to think they will never take the dardanelles now they reckon they would have had a good chance at the start if they had more men there. The officer was telling us that the tucker is better at the front than it is here but there is a terrible lot of sickness. There is trouble at the Suez again the turks are coming up to have another go, there were three lots of light horse left here last night to go there. Things seem very serious in the Balkans and the Greeks are inclined to go with Germany, they reckon if they do there will be an outbreak here because there are a lot of Greeks and Turks in Egypt. This officer that was giving us the lecture says there are spies here because when he left Alexandra for the front there were a lot of head officers on board and they were torpedoed and the boat went down and a lot of officers and men were drowned. There were about six boats altogether and the submarines let all the others pass, he reckoned they knew which boat the heads were on.
I remain your loving brother
Geordie
The mail leaves Egypt for Australia on the 24th the mails leave about once a fortnight but they leave the camp once a week. I have sent a parcel with some silks in, I hope they get it it is registered so it ought to be safe, nearly all the boys send something home. I was into Heliopilis yesterday. I don’t think Downey will be going to the front, he has taken on a job of M.P. I think he is afraid he wont be able to stand it, he has got terrible thin since he left Australia, and being young makes the difference, this officer said that a lot of young men get nervous and get a jumping feeling …
Tuesday 23rd Nov 1915
D
ear Mother, Father & Brothers,
Just a few lines to let you know that I got your letter and Allans today and was pleased to get a letter as it seems such a long time since I got one. The mails leave Egypt for Australia tomorrow but they have left the camp yesterday so I am writing this one and chance it may get away alright, and am giving it to a chap to post in Cairo tonight they close tomorrow morning. I would go in and post it myself but we have to drill tonight we don’t do any drill this afternoon but we have tea at half past 4 o’clock and go out at 5.30 and our company and a couple of others have to attack another lot of troops, we are supposed to attack with the bayonet and not fire a shot, the other side fire with blank cartridges it will last about three hours, we get these one night every week, I like it alright because we get all the afternoon off and get a chance to write some letters. Am very sorry to hear that Blossom is dead, you will be short of horses to do the harvesting. I think all the best Australian horses are over here, they look bonzer, I seen some working the artillery this morning by jove they do work well. You never said whether you are getting my pay or those photos, dad has the receipt for them, I have plenty of money on me. Tell Chrissie Alford that I never got her letter but I might chance to get it over here as a lot of the boys got letters today that were addressed to Broadmeadows. I hope you get the little box of silks safely, they do some wonderful good work with the silks and all by hand, the shops in Heliopilis are just full of fancy work. Be sure and let me know what reinforcements Amos [Haw] and Ray [Leed] are in and also Charlie Cockcrofts [Cockroft] and if you can find out I might chance to meet them at the front. I would like to meet my cousin there. I intended to get the addresses of all my relations in England before I came away. Downey, the chap from N.S.W. has gone into hospital today, he has the mumps there has been such a lot of my company get them, I hope I don’t get them not that they are painful in any way but I would lose my company, he is the third one of my mates that has gone into hospital since we came here. It is hard to say where we will go yet, we might have to go to the Suez yet, it is not far from here, they have sent men from here to dig trenches there and are sending loads of sandbags there everyday. It seems as though Greece are going to be against us after all, I think there will be hell to do here if they do come against us there are a lot of Greeks in Cairo and I think they would get hell too, the people are all much alike and look a soft and childish lot, but the real Egyptian look much different. The arab are big and strong looking people, they wear long dresses just the same as a woman but they are just like big kids. They are building a very big brick place in this camp to show pictures in, there is no amusement in this camp and to go into Cairo now we have to get a pass but we can go to Heliopilis without a pass. The heads reckon the troops were beginning to own Cairo, I don’t blame them either some of the places want burning down, I haven’t been in there for over a fortnight and haven’t got to the pyramids yet I was going there sunday but my mates got put on fatigue work so I wasn’t going by myself. Well I might have to draw this letter to a close it will soon be time to go out to drill again. You all will have a lot of work with the harvest I hope it turns out well. I will bring that piece of heather that my cousin sent to the front with me it might bring good luck. This is all the news this time will write again next mail. It leaves in a fortnight’s time. So goodbye with love to all.
I remain your loving son
George
Tell Al I received his letter, was going to write again to him but have not time.
DECEMBER, MOLOGA
As family and friends at Mologa were busy bringing in the harvest, dealing with the routine of daily life and preparing for Christmas, the situation on the other side of the world was becoming increasingly grim. Lord Kitchener had finally recognised the futility of the Gallipoli campaign and the evacuation plan was now in place. Over 80,000 men, 5000 horses and 200 heavy guns were quietly withdrawn from Gallipoli without alerting the enemy. These men and their equipment were now on their way to Egypt.
In Europe, the Western Front remained deadlocked in the line of trenches that ran through France and Belgium from Ypres to the Swiss border, while in Eastern Europe the German-Austrian offensive had taken Warsaw and the Allied Russian army had been forced to retreat. In southern Europe, despite the landing of Allied troops at the Greek port of Salonika to boost the flagging Serbian forces, the combined strength of Austria and Germany and their new ally, Bulgaria, proved too powerful. By October Serbia had been defeated. Italy joined the Allied forces in May 1915 creating another deadlocked front along border regions with Austria-Hungary. In the Middle East, the threat of a Turkish invasion of Egypt looked increasingly likely.
It was in this menacing climate that the Australian Prime Minister, Billy Hughes, while promising another 50,000 Australian soldiers to the British High Command, launched an aggressive enlistment campaign, completing a war census that listed some 244,000 Australian men as statistically, though not necessarily medically, eligible to enlist. Individual appeals were sent to those identified. Pressure came not only from official sources. The ‘Order of the White Feather’ was established in England in 1914, its purpose to encourage women to send or present a white feather, the traditional symbol of cowardice, to men of eligible age who were not in uniform. It was a practice that quickly spread to other nations, including Australia.
It is unclear whether white feathers ever reached Mologa; however, this small community was rife with conflicts of its own as the following letters written to George from Mologa reveal. The first correspondence is from Aileen Lowrie, Head Teacher at the Mologa East State School between 1913 and 1915. The second letter from Charlie describes tension in the community over the fundraising activities of the Red Cross. Aileen’s public farewell was the event that saw the genesis of the conflict.
SS 1836 [State School]
Mologa E
Dec 15th ‘15
Dear George,
I spent last night with your mother. While there I read your letter which was indeed very interesting George. You were as usual very unselfish when you preferred to write to those at home rather than take the opportunity of that treat which the lady so very kindly provided. But I am sure you would be repaid if you could only see how pleased your dear mother is to receive your letters. The part where you were describing Cairo tickles me and before I go any further I must ask you if you are speaking from experience when you say “Cairo stinks like the devil” – have you ever been close enough to the latter to find out? Well George, Christmas will soon be here. Only two days now until “knock-off” time for me. I will throw up my old hat and jump on it I can assure you. I suppose you would have heard about poor Alan having his collar bone broken on account of falling from the motor-bike. Your father was up on Monday when he was getting on splendidly. You know he is back at McKay’s as overseer. He said that if he had been at the war and popped over a few Germans before such a thing happened there would have been some honor about it but as it is it ain’t no good. A young fellow who had been Kitchen boy at M Kelly’s in Pyramid was drowned in the weir last Saturday afternoon. He was about 18 I am told. Mrs Wm Townsend senior came home again today. She went to Bendigo and underwent another operation and they say she is cured – but that remains to be seen.
Albert and Jim are up to their eyes in work with the harvesting. They miss you they are quite pleased with the way the crops are yielding. Jim’s vegetable garden looks so nice. We had both potatoes and French beans from it for tea last night and I did enjoy them. The tomato plants are just laden with fruit but they are not quite ripe yet. Billy Williams has a great garden - turned Chinaman altogether. I believe he has been selling tomatoes for some time. I must not forget to tell you about the stir which Mrs Rankin’s maid created just recently, she got this girl from Bendigo about a fortnight ago & I must tell you that she appeared just what she proved to be. Well, to begin … Mrs Rankin went in to change the maid’s bed & in so doing found towels, handkerchiefs, tea-towels, empty soft drink bottles &
quite an assortment of lollies. Then she went to Jack’s money box and found it empty. They accused her but she flatly denied. They then sent for Mr Brown, but during the meantime she escaped towards Mitiamo but was held up at the cattle yards by his worship, she got away in a pair of Mrs Rankin’s shoes too.
Evening
I saw Alan this evening – he came down by train. His shoulder is getting on splendidly & he is as cheeky as ever he was. I am wondering what my new school Nth Blackwood will be like. I’ll get there quite soon enough though I am sure. Well, George, old boy, I think I must really stop or you’ll tire of reading. A Merry Christmas & a Bright & Prosperous New Year is my heartfelt wish for you. I wonder if you will have a meal of “Turkey” or will it be “germans”.
Kindest regards & very best wishes for good luck & God speed.
From your old friend
Aileen V Lowrie
Mologa
Sunday 12th
Dear Geordie,
Just a few lines today I wrote to you last Sunday and I am not doing anything today so I thought a few lines might go alright we are still stripping I have finished Mahoney’s. My share was 584 bags of wheat and 160 bags of oats so I have not done to bad the crop averaged a little over 8 bags wheat and 16 bags of oats. I think we will be finished by Christmas our crop is yielding about the best in the district it is beating them home here. I am sending you the Christmas Number of the Australasion.8 I am not sure whether it is allowed to go or not but I will chance it I cannot get it today myself as it is Sunday but I am getting Albert to get it on Monday and address it to you I hope it will reach you alright I believe Tom Gray has not received a letter from Australia at all he has written to Mr Jones. There was hell to pay in Mologa last night over a send off to Miss Lowrie. G. John is secretary and some of them wanted a red cross sale there also and Mrs Johnnie P. put a notice up at the station about it and never consulted George about it and he called a meeting and then the fun began Jack Delaney told him he was the meanest man in Mologa and that he ought to be tarred and feathered and there was trouble all round and the johns got a knock out so they are going to have a sale of gifts as well as the send off. I believe Miss Lowrie has written two letters to you and Pearl was going to write last week this is the fifth letter I have written we have not got a letter from you for about a fortnight now I suppose by this you are in Egypt what do you think of that place I suppose the sand and flies go some it is very hot here this last few days. I told you in my last letter that Allan got his collar bone broken he has gone back to McKays he is not home today but he is getting on alright again. Have you got any idea when you will be going to the front the war does not seem to be nearing a close at all yet Australia is going to send another 50, 000 yet I do not know where they are going to get them from they will soon have all the men from here. Well I hope you are getting on all right and the rest of the chaps remember me to those I met especially Archie Bailey tell them I wish them good luck. Well I will draw to a close this letter will go on the “Moltan” I hope you get all my letters I write nearly every boat, I will now say goodbye Geordie and Good luck and a happy and good new year a good time and a safe return I am your loving brother.
ANZAC Sons Page 5
