I remain your loving son
Allan
Percy in centre, Allan on right at the rear, standing is possibly Les Townsend.
Percy also wrote to express his displeasure at the conditions in the camp at Port Melbourne:
Port Melbourne
2nd Tuesday
Dear Mum Dad & Jim
I suppose you have been expecting a letter from me, but I did not seem to get time, the look of this dam place takes some getting over. Well Mum we are getting on nicely, I do not like the camp it is an inconvenient place quite different to Bendigo, the cook house is about a mile away. We are not far from Port Melbourne pier the ground has been tip with the rubbish of Melbourne and the sand out of the Yarra. We were on a march through Melbourne yesterday, four battalions were marching, we were going nearly three hours, the streets were packed. We went to Geelong Sunday it was a calm day and we had a good trip, there was a large crowd aboard the boat. I do not care much about Melbourne. There is a guard on here at night some of them started coming in late so they had to put on a guard. There are several transports in now. I wish we were going on them but I don’t think we will be going till next week anyhow. We have a good tent that is the only dam thing good about this place, it was very windy to day and the sand would blind you. Well Mum I hope you are not worrying about us … Well Mum news is scarce so I will draw to a close.
From your loving son
Percy
Port Hell
Tuesday night
Dear Jim
Just a few lines to let you know that we are first rate but it is dam cold here at nights. We paraded for another blanket last night but could not get it. We only have 2 so you will know what its like at Port Melbourne with 2 blankets … Have you had any rain up there are you finished cropping yet. I like the machine gun work I think it very interesting and it will be more interesting when we put 500 rounds a minute into the B- germans. By hell the bullets do go some it makes you laugh to see them lobbing into the bank. Well Jim they have no system of running a camp down here talk about a mess up it is awful at times. Bendigo is worth a 100 of this one in all ways. Well Jim I think we will be going next week all right. They [say] we are sailing on the Loonich [Runic] and she is at Sydney now 2 transports sailed out today and there are four left there now we can see them quite easily from here as we are only ¼ of a mile away. We are going over to them on Saturday. On Sunday we are going to Sharps. Send their address again will you. Well Jim the measles are broke out in the camp also 130 cases of meningitis at Broadmeadows …
Port Melbourne
Wednesday Night
Dear Mother
Just a few lines to let you know that we are all well. We are in guard here to night. It is showery here to night but I don’t think there will be much rain. It has been very cold here all day. Have you had any rain up there yet. I suppose every one is looking out for it. There is a transport leaving here tomorrow morning. It consists of machine gunners and artillery men. We are getting on first rate with guns. It is most interesting work. Well mum I have not heard any more about going next week. I heard in camp to day that you and dad were coming down to see the boat out. The Townsends are coming down I believe. Well Mum news is very scarce but will always drop a line to let you know that we are well …
St Kilda Beach
Sunday 6th
Dear Mum
Well Mum you can see by the top address that we are on St Kilda Beach this morning. We came down here for a hot bath and we struck a YMCA tent for soldiers. So we are here having a cup of coffee and letter writing. The ladies here are very good to us you could not wish to meet nicer people. There is a reading and writing room here too. We came into Melbourne yesterday afternoon and stayed in all night. We went to a picture and show play at the Tivoli it was very poor. Well mum things are still the same at the camp very cold at night the tucker seems to be a little better but still plenty of room for improvement. On Saturday afternoon we had to go through our tests for the machine gun. We are passed. We have to mount the tripod, fix the gun on, load her get the range and fire in 57 seconds to. I can tell you we have to go some. We have to dismount her in about 25 seconds. I like the gun work. After we had all gone through our tests there was a go between all the squads for the championship. A chap from Kerang named Jack Hewitt and I were picked for it and we got 2nd place for mounting her and dismounting her.
Well there is no use you sending anything down to us as they say we will be going next Friday or Sunday of course we are not sure but will let you know for certain at a latter date. I would not live in Melbourne for ₤10 a week I think it is a terror of a place. I have not struck anyone I know yet. We all knock around together. This afternoon Percy and I are going out to Sharps but we will [not] stay long. How are things up at Mologa. Things must be very dry up there. I suppose you are looking for rain. Well Mum this is all the news today but will write to morrow. So I will now close hoping you are all well as it leaves us at present.
I remain your loving Son
Allan
Percy and Allan’s dislike of the city and their displeasure at being stuck in camp was clearly growing. For country boys used to farm life and the pleasure of their mother’s cooking, life at Port Melbourne was utterly miserable. Time spent learning to use the machine-gun provided their only relief. Percy wrote:
Port Melbourne
Monday
Dear Jim
I received your welcome [letter] today and was extra pleased to hear from you; you forgot to tell me how the girl was, which I suppose you have. In reference to that question you asked whether I see any nice girls such as sometimes you see in Mologa, I do not know who you mean. You were complaining about the dry weather, well I suppose you could do with some rain, as so down here, we got a few showers, the only time we got too much was one night, we were on guard. It is a b_ of a game on guard Jim, two hours walking about. Well Jim we got another blanket tonight, it was through our Officer we got it, I tell you it was a b_ cold some nights, could hardly sleep. I suppose you got a wrinkle or two on Sunday. Albert would be in his element, tell us how things went.
I like the guns all right, we were shooting today, it is interesting by jove she does rattle. We fired ten rounds the first time, and twenty the second time, it does shift them.
We were in Melbourne on Sunday, it was a quiet time, I am about sick of Melbourne. Les and All were in Melbourne today getting teeth out, I think I will try and get off, I have one or two bad teeth. You seem anxious to know whether they send anyone from Mitiamo to Mologa. I would not mind if they sent the Ganger daughter, down here. Well Jim I am writing this in the tent it is a cow of a place laying on the floor …
Port Melbourne
Friday
Dear Mum Dad & Jim
… It has been a cold day down here. I dam near got frozen last night they do not give us enough blankets. Allan Les and Bill have gone into Melbourne, I did not feel to anxious to go I had a few letters to write; there used not to be any guard down here, but some of them started coming in next morning so they put on a guard. There were some troopships go from here the other day. Some of the troops came from Broadmeadows I do not know whether Jack Price was with them or not. We will probably be going to Sharpes Sunday, it will probably be our last Sunday in Melbourne. There is a kid come round every day selling fruit pies, they are very good, the canteen here is run by outsiders it is not near as good as Bendigo. We had to pull our tents up today and take the boards out to let them dry underneath. I suppose you could do with some rain now. They are not near so strict about the tents here as in Bendigo some of them here have bags. Well Mum I think I have told you all the news so I will close
From your loving son
Percy
FRANCE, MAY
While the men of the 38th Battalion looked forward to their departure from Port Melbourne, the troops of the 1st Division remained in trenches in the Fromelles-Fleurbaix area south-west of Armentieres. They were rotated out of the line for a few days’ r
est and then returned to the front. On their left was the 2nd Division and further on were the New Zealanders. In the Somme valley, 100 kilometres to the south where the French and English lines met, the Allies were preparing for a major offensive. To distract enemy attention from the Somme, the Allies began shelling the enemy lines around Armentieres.
On 5 May the Australians were south of the Bridoux salient, an area of the front that had been the target of heavy German shelling since the end of April when a devastating enemy artillery bombardment had opened. As soon as the barrage ceased, German soldiers wielding bombs, daggers and revolvers stormed the Australian line in the first trench raid the 2nd Brigade had experienced. Raids were a tactic used by both the German and Allied armies to infiltrate enemy defences. Specially trained raiding parties were withdrawn, drilled and rehearsed for their role in planned small-scale attacks in which gathering intelligence, demolishing defences, killing enemy soldiers and taking prisoners were the prime objectives. The raids were sent in under cover of artillery fire or alternatively, and more often as the war progressed, in covert actions, often at night, when stealth was the key to the raiders’ success. Australian soldiers built an enviable reputation as proficient and tenacious raiders.9
As the German artillery strafed the Bridoux salient, the Australian troops stoically endured the heaviest bombardment they had experienced at the front. The 20th Battalion was holding the salient at the time and lost four officers and 91 men killed or wounded while 11 were taken prisoner. Two of the precious Stokes mortars fell into the hands of the German raiders, an embarrassing and alarming loss to the battalion.10 For the Australian soldiers it marked the beginning of their deadly experience of war on the Western Front.
Of this day George would simply record in his diary:
Fleurbaix Bombardment Friday May 5th
A fortnight later he wrote home from the trenches. He revealed nothing of his experiences and appeared indifferent to the shelling, writing from his dugout with the air of a seasoned veteran. In his card to his mother he did not mention the German shells, describing instead the Allied bombardment of German lines and how lovely the countryside now appeared as summer approached. Regardless of the reality, his instinct was to protect his mother from the grim reality of war. Sarah’s sons would continue to write reassuring words as the war raged.
France
May 22
Dear Albert, It is fairly quiet along our trenches, the Germans are putting a few shells over just at present I am writing this in the dugout, two of us sleep in it. I am in the trench mortar battery it is a small gun for firing bombs we be in the trenches along with the infantry. I will give you my address again. 2748 Light Trench Mortar Battery 2nd Brigade Headquarters 1st Aust Division. Any letters that have been addressed to the 7 Batt I will receive alright but with this address I will get them quicker. Hoping to get a letter from some of you soon. I remain your loving Bro
George
Has Al & Percy sailed yet
France
Dear Mother
Just a card to let you know I am well hoping all are the same. It is nice weather here now and all the trees are sprouting out, everything looks lovely. Our guns were bombarding the germans heavily last night. I have written to Jim and hope you get my letters. So goodbye with love from
George
Two days later in his letter to Charlie, George’s indifference to shellfire appears as an acceptance of fate; life had now become a game of chance:
France
May 24th
Dear Charlie
… We are having nice weather here now everything looks splendid, it is a great country for grass, everything grows so thick and high of course there is no stock on it to keep it down, it seems a great pity that such a fine country should be blown about as it is. It is not too bad in the trenches, where we are there are a few bombs and shells flying now and again, of course you never know when one is going to lob on top of us just got to take our chance. I am in the trench mortar battery now it is a small gun for firing bombs, we [will] be along with the infantry just the same, we have been giving them a few bombs and nearly always get some back. There seems to be a big battle on our right as we can hear the guns going day and night. I haven’t seen Amos for a fair while and don’t know where Charlie Cockcroft is. I think Ray Leed must be in Egypt yet he is in the 58 Batt. You remember I told you in other letters that I met young Miller from Pyramid in the Yeitoun camp well I noticed in a paper that he is seriously ill, we very seldom get any papers to read and would be glad if you would send the Pyramid paper, wrap about 6 up together and send them, I never got that paper you sent at Xmas time …
MELBOURNE, JUNE
As Allan and Percy waited impatiently for their departure they could not imagine what George was now experiencing in his position at the front. His letters home revealed little; they were censored and were weeks, often months reaching their destination, sometimes never arriving as ships were sunk by German submarines in the North Atlantic. Newspaper reports were censored, details were manipulated and Australian actions were generally reported as British. Only the casualty lists provided some measure of the truth.
As the meningitis epidemic continued to plague the formation of the 3rd Division, the men of the 38th Battalion underwent a stringent medical examination. All those considered to be in good health shifted camp to Campbellfield on 5 June in final preparation for departure. Allan’s assessment of his latest accommodation differed little from his view of the camp at Port Melbourne.
Cambellfield
Wednesday
Dear Mum
Well Mum you will see by the top address that we are in a new camp. We got orders Monday night that we had to shift camp to Broadmeadows. We got up at 4.45 Tuesday morning and packed up. It was raining and I can tell you things were pretty sloppy, anyway we were examined before we left. Anyone with a sore throat and cold were left behind. Only young Kerr and the lads that were in the hospital were left behind. We boarded the second troop train about nine and got out to a station here about 4 o’clock. Then we marched about 1 ½ miles to the camp and it was very late when we got fixed up or I would have wrote last night. Anyway Mum the camp was very very dirty and we [were] all day in, the whole battalion, cleaning it up and it is not finished yet. The tent floors were something disgraceful you would think pigs slept in the tents. We were only issued with 3 single blankets but I got to work and got 3 more. We are not under isolation here but the camp is very poor. Anyway we will be going soon, I believe we are getting another final [leave] anyway I will be up. We can see the Broadmeadows camp from here it is only ½ a mile away. I got 5 letters today. The ones you addressed to Bendigo came in today. I believe Les has had one or two bad turns again. I don’t think he will get with us and I am sorry too. Billy Street’s feet are very cold he says straight out he does not want to go. He says everyday, he wished to God that he did not enlist: and poor old Les is just the opposite. Well mum we have a firm Lieutenant he is proper white man, he says he will look after us at the front. He treats us well here. Mum I want you to write to Kirby the jeweller in Bendigo and get those compasses Charlie give us we left them there to be inscribed and of course we have been under isolation and could not get them. Well Mum we will go to Sharps on Sunday. I will write again to morrow night so goodbye for the present.
I remain your loving Son
Allan
… We got our cakes down with us. They are a bonzer lot of cakes. I could fancy I could see Mrs Gamble. Tell Jim to put a nice letter in the Pyramid paper from me and on behalf of the rest of the lads thanking the Mologa people for their kindness. Tell him to stretch it out well…
After returning from his final leave, Percy wrote home:
Thursday [15 June]
Campbellfield
Dear Mum & Dad
Just a few lines to let you know, I arrived here all right, I got down about quarter past five, it was a long tiresome trip, I slept well that night. Well Mum we are going Tuesda
y we might be going aboard Monday, but as far as we hear it will be Tuesday morning. Peter Owens is not back yet, he sent a wire, I did not hear what was in it. I suppose you saw Les he is supposed to come back to night. Albert Brookes is transferred to our section, it was not its full strength. The Governor General was out yesterday, he presented the colours they are very pretty, there was a fair crowd out from Melbourne. We were supposed to go on a night march tonight but the doctor advised it not thank God he was right for once. We have to go for a bath to morrow, it will be all right. We have to come back Saturday night, I don’t know why they want it. Well Mum news is scarce so I think I will close
From your loving son
Percy
Percy reveals little of the way he must have felt now that his departure was imminent. By contrast, the prospect of travelling to England was clearly an adventure for Allan as he wrote to his mother to reassure her once again that he would be safe.
Friday night [16 June]
On Town
Dear Mum,
… we are well and happy. We go on board Monday thank God. I believe we are going to England, Wont we have a fine time. We are going out to Sharps to morrow but wont stop long. I am not to keen on going but anyway I will fulfil my promise. Yes Mum we got another hamper today Les brought it down. We are not working to hard now. Just getting ready for embarking. I don’t [think] the war will last long now the Russians are smashing them up some. I am going to the train to morrow night to meet Charlie. Well mum don’t worry of us I can assure you will be always safe and will be good boys. Well mum I have told Albert all the news but I will drop you a line on Sunday so goodnight Mum
I remain
Your Loving Son
Allan
Charlie travelled to Melbourne to say his final farewell to his brothers and to pass on small gifts which Sarah and Charles hoped would bring some comfort to their sons as they embarked on their long journey. Allan and Percy made the most of their final days in Australia before they wrote their farewells to their family.
ANZAC Sons Page 11
