Letters from Albert Charles Cox to his mother, 1915-1916 - Part 1

Sun, 17/10/15
Dearest,
You will no doubt be surprised to
see where I am to-night. Well, we arrived     
here this afternoon about 2 o'c & were
granted general leave until to-morrow
morning, which came as a very pleasant
surprise. It is on the cards that we will
be able to get off again to-morrow night.
You have received my wire, which I sent
this afternoon, I hope.
We had a very smooth trip the first night
& day, but since then a strong headwind
has been blowing, which has worked the
sea up a bit. This morning it was hardly
possible to stand up on account of the rolling. 

2.
Fortunately I have not been sick, although
a good many of the boys were down.
The meals are first class, & two of us
have a deck cabin, so things are O.K.
To crown it all, our own, as well as the
ship's officers are some of the nicest men
one could wish to meet, so we should
have rather an enjoyable trip.
We have been pretty busy up till to-day
getting our papers in order, but thank
heavens it is over now, & we can have
a bit of a loaf.
Owing to to-day being Sunday there was
not much doing here, but two of us
hired a taxi for a couple of hours &
managed so see a bit of the city.
The streets besides being very wide, struck
me as being very clean. We have a
couple of pretty good rooms here for the
night, & are going to take it out in the
morning. Went to the Oriental for
3
dinner to-night & got an excellent feed.
It is a fine place.
I could not go over to the car to see
you on Thursday, but I don't suppose you
expected me. I met the Firth's a little
further on & they gave me an extra 100
cigarettes from the Keeles' , so smokes are
plentiful.
I am enclosing a receipt for the £15 which
I paid into my account; in case it is
needed. There will most likely be a further
amount of 38/6 paid in in abo a few days,
but you will get a receipt if it is.
I took my first photo to-day of the
troops waiting to go ashore in the launches.
You will note that this letter is not censored,
but it will probably be the last that is
not, as I don't think we will be touching
any other port before we land.
By jove it is cold here to-night with 

4.
a strong wind blowing. They have fires in
all the sitting rooms which seems rather
weird for this time of the year.
I don't think there is anything more I
can write about so will have to close
with best love to all from
Bert.

At Sea
30/10/15
Dearest,
Although there will not be a chance of posting
this letter for a few days, I will tell you any news
that I can up to date. You have no doubt received
my letter from ^____ which has been the last port of call.
The trip so far has been very pleasent, with smooth
seas. For the first few days it was quite cold, but
it is warming up now. The awnings were put up for
us yesterday & they have made a great difference.
The general leave at the last post caused us a bit of
excitement in getting a good many of the crowd on
board. And what a waste of liquid; for there is
enough in the harbour now to give a fair number
a jolly good time. We started a sports programme
a couple of days ago with a boxing tournament.
There are no scientists in the way of boxing, but
they can hit pretty hard. The finals are to take
place this afternoon. The boys are at present putting
up obstacles for a race this afternoon. The programme 

2
is to extend over about a fortnight & there should be a
bit of fun.
The Captain & Cockie are about the greatest chums
one could imagine. He is a pretty good talker & comes
out with some very appropriate words at times. The
3^rd Light Horse gave him to the Captain when they
arrived in Egypt last year. I have a photo of him
which I hope to enclose with this letter.
The opinion I expressed as regards the officers on
board has not changed, except for the better, especially
with regard to the seniors. The Ship's Doctor, who is
an American, is a real hard case & very entertaining.
I tried to send a wireless to Joe when we were
within range, but was unable owing to the restrictions
imposed upon troopship wireless plants. In fact, we
have not had one word of news from the outside
world since we left.
With reference to the ship. She is a very steagdy boat,
but is always rolling a bit. The food, both of the troops &
ourselves is excellent, but a cup of our tea would be
very acceptable. There is not too much room for drill
so we are not overworked, in fact are having a pretty
easy time of it. Shall have to end for the day now. 

3.
2 Nov. 1915
Since writing the above I have managed to get a
few photos developed, which I am enclosing. They have
turned out very well & would be much better if
the paper was of better quality. You might show them
to Clemenshaw as he no doubt would like to see the
capabilities of the camera. The obstacle race caused a
good deal of amusement, especially at the finish, for they
were covered from head to foot with a mixture of
flour, soot and red ochre, having been thoroughly
soaked first of all.
We are starting a newspaper on board; the first copy
of which is to come out to-morrow. The amount of
copy is pretty large & some pretty good stuff amongst
it. I am responsible for the notes on the concert, &
you shall have the paper at the first opportunity of
posting it.
Cricket started yesterday, & we had some pretty
good games, finishing by losing three balls. It does
not take much exercise to raise a good sweat at
the present time, but you have already had your
experience of the tropics. Unfortunately the breeze that
is blowing is aft., but perhaps we are lucky to
get any at all. I have been sleeping in a hammock
for the last couple of nights on deck, & it is very comfortable
too.

4
You no doubt remember the manner in which my fingers
used to peel at home; well! they are six times as bad now.
For the last few days we have been passing
through shoals of small flying fish. I have a photo
of one which came through a porthole last night.
The heat seems to be too much for the photos as
they are commencing to crack, & I am afraid they will
not be too good by the time they reach you.
3 Nov. 1915
Yesterday was the hottest day we have struck so far,
but to-day is quite pleasant. We had a pretty good
shower of rain this morning, which has cooler down
the atmosphere, & sent the barometer up a little.
The distribution of the paper took place this morning
& they went like hot cakes. We could only do 200 copies,
so fixed the price at 1/- each as the minimum & auctioned
them. As much as 23/- was paid for one copy, so there
must be plenty of money on board. The proceeds are to
be devoted to prizes for the sports. A labour of love
for us. The play is a sample of the conversation
which takes place at one of the tables every day,
but one wants to be in the swim to fully appreciate
it. I shall close here, & write you another letter of
later events, posting the two at once. Best love from
Bert.

Still at Sea
10 Nov. 1915,
Sweetheart.
Since writing my last Father
Neptune has come on board & baptised
some more of his children. The ordeal was
not as trying as it might have been,
possibly on account of the shortage of oil
& tar, but we got a fair amount of it.
We expect to land in a few days, & are all
very anxious for news. To-day the sea is
as calm as in Sydney Harbour on the calmest
day, in fact during the whole trip it has
never been rough. We have been spending
part of the day shooting at sharks, but I
don't think many suffered. Although not in
sight of land yet; small birds have picked 

2.
the ship up, & have been running all over the
decks. They are like grey wagtails & so tha
tame that one can almost touch them.
By jove we have had some great sunsets.
Last night's about the best. The clouds
were so formed that it appeared as if land
was only half a mile away & consisted of
sandhills with trees here & there on them.
Above was a huge cloud coloured from the
palest pink to pitch black. At the same
time Venus & the moon (in its first quarter)
were setting together, which is pretty rare.
I am afraid you will not draw a very vivid
picture from the above despic description, but I can't
do any better.
The atmosphere is becoming very much drier
now & cooler now, although the sun is pretty
warm yet.
11 Nov.   3.
We have at last sighted land. We have been
putting in the last couple of hours looking at
Aden, and forts  It is a treat to see something
new. There are magnificent rocks rising abruptly
from the sea to a height of over 4000 feet.
Later on we expect to see some mountains 50 miles
off rising to over 8000 feet. They are all very
barren & do not appear to have any vegetation.
Please thank M^rs Newson for the cigarettes
& further socks, & Monica McShane for her
cigarettes, as I can't write to everyone at once,
especially on board as there is so little to say.
I wish you woulld also give the Firths' a
ring to let them know that I did not forget
to drop them a line.
Very little sickness on board & I have
been O.K. right along. I hope you are the
same & behaving yourself. Tol no doubt
is still courting, & I suppose is almost
Manager of his firm now. He might let Jack
know that his Sam Browne Belt is quite
safe. I forgot to give it to Tim when he came
down to Liverpool so brought it along. 

4.
I trust the cash is being paid in from
time to time, but I don't want any just
yet. It should commence from the 14 Oct.
I have written you another letter by this
mail, enclosing a copy of our paper & some
photos which I hope arrives safely.
Will write again shortly; with best of love to
all, including Gran, from Bert.
1 DRL 220

14 Nov. Just about passed the worst

part of the Red Sea by now, but it

was not as hot as it might have

been.  We have been pretty busy

censoring the letters for the last couple

of days. Thousands have already been

done, with a few hundred more to come.

This will not reach you until about

Xmas. time I suppose, & I wish you all

a very happy one.  I hope you are keeping

well old dear, & I am looking forward to

some letters.  Good-bye for the present, with

love Bert