France; October 29th, 1918

My Dear People,

Just a few lines to let you know I am quite well.

Things are going fairly well over here now. We won the Brigade drilling competition yesterday & will now represent the Brigade in the Divisional competition. The weather has been very nice lately & we have not had any cold weather to speak of yet. The French people are as busy as bees digging up their root crops, potatoes, marigolds, turnips etc. The women here work dreadful hard, they are at it first thing in the morning & last thing at night, young & old just the same.

I had a letter from Mick Griffen the other day, he is doing alright in Hurdcott. I also heard from Henry Tralaggan, he is on a Base job now & will very likely not be sent to the line again on account of his shoulder, which is quite right, as it has been out ten times now.

We are to be reviewed by General Hobbs, commanding officer of our division to-morrow so I suppose their will be some fussing. When we are out spelling we have to keep our equipment scrubbed & the brass-work polished; especially on those drilling stunts & I can tell you the Aussies look very smart indeed.

Major General Talbot Hobbs inspecting troops

Well I will close now hoping you are all quite well.

I remain
Your Loving Son & Brother
Tom

Warminster, UK; March 3, 1918

No 3 Battalion
Overseas Training Brigade
Sandhill Camp

My Dear People,

Just a few lines to let you know I am quite well.

I received 7 letters last week, one from Mum (Dec 16th) two from Siss (Dec 18th and 30th) one from Aunt Bessie, one from Elsie Bryce and two from Annie (Dec 28th and 1st Jan). I was very glad to hear you were all doing alright but sorry that you were worrying about me as I was having a splendid time.

There are a good many of my letters missing. I suppose they are chasing me round the hospitals I have been in. Noel Tiver is in this camp. He had an ingrowing toenail & was lucky enough to be sent to England with it.

From Mum's letter I see that some of your ideas of a wounded man's treatment are wrong. For instance, when you heard I had been sent to England you thought I was badly hit. This is not always so as men are sent to England with very slight affairs sometimes. It depends on the hospitals in France. If a big "stunt" is coming off all the hospitals in France are cleared out to make room for the wounded who are sure to come. That was how Noel got over with such a trifle. He was in hospital in France & nearly right, when a special clear-out was made for the Cambrai business.

So if I get wounded again & sent to England, do not think it is serious until the Military tell you so. You can rely on the casualty reports being pretty correct, as I have seen men wounded & then seen the reports on them & they are pretty accurate. Do not worry the Red Cross or cable, as if a man is dangerously ill the authorities always let his people know. If an English soldier is very ill in a French hospital the doctor sends for his people & the Government pay their expenses & send them over to France to see their son. Of course that would be impossible for an Australian. I do not know if you are aware of it but that is what most soldiers pray for - a nice little wound to get them into hospital for a spell. A man who is so seriously damaged as to be discharged is considered the luckiest man alive.

The weather here is lovely now (real spring) & yesterday was the nicest day I have seen in England. At Church this morning the priest gave us a great sermon on our boys marrying English girls. (There were 800 Australians married English girls last month). He was pointing out the difficulties & dangers of doing this especially to Catholics who, of course, generally marry Protestant girls. Besides this he did not think it fair to forget about the girls that most of our chaps have waiting for them in Australia. I do not think it is fair either. It is a standing joke in this country that the "Aussies" English wife does not have to knit him any socks as he gets plenty of parcels from the girl he left in Australia. Of course some of the English girls are alright, but, the class that most of our chaps marry are, well "not much".

I expect to go to France on Thursday to have another go at the horrible Hun. If I don't have any harder time than I did last trip I will be alright. The weather from now on should not be so bad. Aunty tells me Kath has got six months leave (what's the matter Kathy tired of the game?) & that Annie is going to T.T.C.

I suppose Will put in some good work while Megs was staying with you (go for it while you're young Will). By the way, who is Phil O'Rielly marrying, Miss Nugent? I am enclosing a little sprig of shamrock. Noel Tiver tells me that there were big bush fires in the North East. The feed must have been pretty good & the wheat crops must have been pretty good too. It is a pity you cannot sell it straight out for full price.

I was glad to hear Ralph Thomas had only been taken prisoner. I expect he will have a pretty rough time for a while, but he will be fairly sure of getting home alright. I suppose his mother is worrying about him.

Well I will close now hoping you are all quite well.

I remain

Your Loving Son & Brother

Tom

Hurdcott; January 19, 1918

No. 3 Command Depot
No. 5 Camp
My Dear People,

Just a few lines to let you know I am doing alright.

I have been here nearly a fortnight now and according to my own opinion, I am nearly fit for active service again. This camp is only a few hundred yards from where I was living here last year.

No. 3 Command Depot, Hurdcott

I noticed it as a bit cold here in the huts after the steam-heated ones at Dartford, but it is not nearly so cold as it was last winter. We had a little bit of frost and some heavy falls of snow & a lot of rain. Last year it was very cold & dry at this time. We have practically nothing to do here in this camp. Every few days we are classified by the M.O. & as you improve you are sent along to other camps & have to do fatigues, drills & guards. I will stay here as long as I have nothing to do. But as soon as I am sent drilling etc. I will put in to go to the overseas depot & then to France. Our boys are having an easy time in France now & I guess they deserve it.

We wear our uniforms here so I have finished with "blues" for this trip, in Milton & Dartford you were not allowed out in uniform & if you wore your overcoat, you had to have a blue band on the arm. This is so you cannot get the good and joyful liquor which makes the boys sing. There are a lot of "pubs" in England and a lot of drinking is done here. The women drink a lot too & come into the bar to drink it. Of course I know there are plenty of "hussies" who drink in Australia, but they do not generally go into the bar to drink it. I have got a very nice uniform & will look fairly decent on leave.

Australian Soldiers in England 1918

I wrote to the Australian Hospitality Bureau & got a very nice letter from the Secretary. She tells me she has plenty of invitations for men on furlough to spend a few days at private houses, & as I think it would be very nice to stay a few days at a private house. I will go & see her when I go to London.

I intend to go to Ireland & it will not be my fault if I do not get some fun out of my fourteen days. I hope the Sinn Fieners do not hang me when I get over there.

It is not much of a game stopping in London, as the place is fairly swarming with Australians. I want to get away where we are not so well known.

We have a fairly decent time here - concert parties at the Y.M.C.A.s and the old Picture show is still going. I am enclosing a card of some of the badges on the hills here they are made of white
stone. There are a lot of them on the hills here of different Regiments. There is a big map of Australia & I will send it to you. I saw a pack of hounds out the other day & a considerable number of ladies and gentlemen after them, but they did not stir up any fox while I was watching them.

Well I will close now, hoping that you are all quite well.

I remain

Lour Loving Son & Brother

Tom.

P.S. We got another parcel from the Red Cross the other day, more tobacco & Sweets. I swapped my tobacco for chocolate.