Letters from David Wallace Caldwell to his Mother, 1915-1917 - Part 4

of stores of all kinds. I received your letter
yesterday saying that you were sending that
parcel which I received with the last mail so you can see how
irregular we get our mail here & it is just the
same with ours leaving here they lay for some-
times weeks in Batt. H.Q.'s as we are all the time
shifting & as in the case in our shift we were
packed up ready to shift for about 10 days
so you see they couldn't send many letters away
for about a fortnight so you can understand not 
getting letters regular & not only that I am
pretty busy just now as I am Sgt Major of
the Beach Detachment & there is about 400 men
here & I can tell you I get plenty of work
to do. I hold the rank of Coy Sgt Major.
now & I draw the money now; at least I will
some day. There don't seem much chance of 
me getting my commission yet a while but
they say everything comes to them that waits
& I hope it is true. Well mum time & paper
is short so I must close now hoping you 
are all as well as myself.  XXXXXX
from 
Your loving Son
"Wally"

Mudros West
Lemnos Island
Dec 16th 1915.

Dear Mum
Well we have shifted again as you see we
have been brought across here. But I don't know
what for though but I think we are going to
organise our Batt & then go either to Salonica or to
the Suez, there seems to be heaps of trouble for the
Allied Forces at both these places. I think they are
going to send a big lot of Australians to one or the
other of these places. They are drawing most of our
troops off of Gallipoli at least at Anzac, in fact
everything points to an evacuation of the Peninsula
I think we will be shifting again tomorrow to
somewhere else on the Island. I am keeping very
well just now & I hope you are all the same at
home. I have still got my job of Coy Sgt Major but
I don't know how long I will keep it, but I seem
to be pleasing them so that is the main thing.
There is only a few small Greek villages here &
most of the rest is all under canvas. There must be
hundreds of thousands of troops here on the Peninsula Island.
There is one good thing about this place we are not

troubled about water as we were on the Peninsula
I have just been told that we shift tomorrow morning
at 10 o'clock we have only been here two days & we
are going off again, we just get a camp straight
then we have to shift again & it was just the same
on the Peninsula. Mum y one feels a lot safer on
the Island than I did on the Peninsula. & I can
tell you it makeys you bob a bit when you get
the shells screaming overhead. Well mum I don't
think there is many of us that want to go back
to the peninsula for a while. But I hope we get
right into it at the next place we go to there
isn't no fun in standing off for weeks & looking
at the Turks, we all want a "fair dinkum go".
According to the papers the people in S.A think 
that the 10th are a wonderful lot but I think the
16th have a lot more to their credit. & also the
9th L Horse, (that is a S.A. lot). They have had a
terrible cutting up. they were in one charge &
only on came back to tell the tale so you can
see that there is more than one lot over here. I 
must close now with love to all & don't you
worry about me now from "Wally"

Dec 20th 1915.
Dear Mum.
Just a line or two to let you know that
I am still alive & kicking & quite well & I hope you
are all the same at home. We are not allowed to say
where we are, or any movement that we make. on
account of the very strict cencoring that is going on
just at this present time. Mum I think you will
get this letter a month later than you should do,
as they say no letters will be allowed to leave
here for a month so I suppose I will have you
rousing at me in your letters for not writing
but I write pretty regular. I hope that Bob &
Jack are keeping in good work, & I hope there
is plenty doing for all hands. I have not received
any letters from you since the one you wrote on  the 7th of Oct so 
you can see that we don't get our mail very
regular. It is now only 5 days off Christmas
I must close now with love to all & best wishes
also from "Wally"
Tell Eve to look on the back of her letter

Troop Ship "Minnewaska"
Jan 9th 1916.

Dear Mum,
I hope you are all very well at home &
getting on alright as I am in the best of health -
We are one our way from Lemnos to some-where
or other. but I think it is Egypt. I expect this
will be about the first letter you will have 
received for about 6 weeks. They would not let
us write any letters for over a month on Lemnos
& there weren't any letters sent away from Gallipoli
for about a fortnight before we left. I suppose
the people in Australia were wild when they
heard we had to evacuate the Peninsula after losing
so many lives there. I think we are going to
organise in Egypt again & then I suppose we will
be off again. It was pretty rotten about Ev's sister
dying especially having all those children & Ev is a
soon to go knocking herself out looking after the
children but I suppose she wants to do it so that is

the end of it. We are having a splendid trip over
the boat is about a 16,000 tonnes & can do about 20
knots an hour & it is good tucker & plenty of it. I
can tell you I am enjoying myself. I have still
got my job of C.S.M. but I suppose I will lose
it when we get to Egypt & the other chap comes
back but I don't mind as he is a pal of mine
The old Geelong got torpedoed the other day somewhere
near where we are now. They have got a good
few boats in these seas. There is such a lot of
islands about here, I hope g we get into action
again shortly as I want to get up to the top of the
tree & I havn't got much chance while we are
training, although I may get a chance as
R.S.M. one of these fine days & that is next door
to getting a Commission. I must close now with
love to all from   XXXX
Your loving Son
"Wally"

Tel-el-Kebir
62 Miles from Cairo
Egypt 20/1/156

Dear Mum
We have shifted again you see & are now
in Egypt. We evacuated the Peninsula on Dec 20th
then we were at Lemnos for a couple of weeks & now
we are at Tel-el-Kebir. We are camped along a
road which runs alongside the Cairo to Pt Said railway
There is the 2 Australian Divisions here, and I can
tell you it is alright to walk along the road from the
first Battalion to the 28th Battalion. The only Aust
forces that are not here is the 8th Brigade. that is
the brigade the 32nd are in & they are down on the
Suez Canal. on Outpost Duty. Just behind where
we are camped is the old Battle-field of Tel-el Kebir
& you can get skulls & old pieces of shells & some
of the chaps have got them for curios. I am
sending you a ghurka's knife & a Turkish Bayonet
& some Turkish Bullets home for Curio's
I will buy you something if I get to Cairo but
I don't think, we will get a chance to get up
there, because we are training hard. & I think
we will be moving again soon. I have got
all the parcels you sent & I am was very glad to
receive it. I got 4 parcels & last mail. from Aust
I got 5 letters from you all at once & the same
from Ev so you can see how irregular we get
our mails & they send them away just the same.

We were only allowed to send letters in last
week again they are the first letters we have
been able to send away since we left Gallipoli
so you see we are not able to send our mail
regular. I am still keeping well & am still
holding my job as C.S.M. But don't know
what day I will have to come down to Sgt
again. I hope we get into the fighting again
soon as it is dead slow here, but we are training
hard. I am expecting to see Fred Hisgrove
over here soon as Ev said in her last letter
that he was likely to leave on the 20th of Dec.
so he ought to be here soon. We had a case of
meningitis in our Coy. & resulted in a death
yesterday, but I hope that it doesn't spread
as it is pretty bad. I must close now as
it is getting late with love to all from
XXXXX
your Loving Son
Wally.
P.S. I suppose everyone is wild over the
evacuation of Anzac. but they wouldnt
be if they could only see the place & think
what the loss of life would be.
DWC xxx

Arabian Desert.
Feb 8th 1916.

Dear Mum.
Well here we are again. I am still
well & I hope you are the same. I wrote a P.C. the
other day to you but I didn't say much. We are
in Reserve here about 10 miles in rear of our front
line, we are just drilling most of the time but we
get some Outposts to do now & again. Most of
the Australian & New Zealand Troops are down here
But there is not much doing yet. I fancy that
we will be shifting on to France about
the Spring. But I suppose it all depends on
how things go here. I hope Blanche is well
again by now. & buzzing around as usual. I
was at Cairo the day before we shifted down here
& I got a couple of pieces of Tapestry for you. I don't
know whether you will like them or not but I thought
that it would be alright. It is fairly good stuff. The
smallest piece cost £2/10/0. It is all hand made.
I thought it would do for something or other. I sent
Ev a small parcel also at the same time. Well 
Mum I must close now with love to all
from
"Wall"

Moascar
March 9th 1916

Dear Mum.
Well I hope this finds
you quite well & having a fair time
I am well. We are still down here on
the canal but expect to shift to France
within the next couple of days. I 
suppose we will get it pretty hot
over there. well I suppose that is
what we came for so we will
have no cause for complaint
I have been confirmed in my rank
of Sgt Major now so you can address
my letters accordingly. I suppose
I will get up the ladder
gradually I am still hoping for
something higher & we have got
a good O.C. so he may make
a bit of f difference. Well old girl
I must close with love from
your loving son
"Wally"  XXXX