Letter from Alexander James Boyd to Mr Reeve, July 10

Dear Mr Reeve,
[*PR82/8*]
(Northern France, July 10
Can it be longer said, writes a  correspondent, that Genl. Birdwood
commands the Anzacs?
Certainly he did till  recent ly, when the New Zealand fighting
forces passed into the handsxof Genl. Godley, the Dominion commander;
but at the present moment he has only Austn. troops under his command.
Genl. Godley has the Anzacs if the term "Anzac" is to be taken to
embrace Aust. and New Zealand troops.
Both G.Os.C. are very bpopular with the men under them and it must
not be forgotten that Genl. Godley was in control on the Peninsuala
when the actual evacuation was carried out with such signal success.
Perhps the time will come when there will be an Australasian Army
operating in France. This depends upon the way in which reinforcements
come to hand fr Aust and New Zealand. In that event the event of an
Army being formed Genl. Birdwood might be given the command; but that
would only come about with the consent of the New Zealand Govt.
The administrationnof the two forces has been carried on in a
manner so satisfacterily that it is the Imperial people have had to
admire. The men, after their preliminary canter in Cairo, have behaved
splendidly with a few xceptions, and the presence of thousands of
Australasian troops in France from June 0 May onwards undoubtedly
paved the way for the aggressive movement which has just been begun.
In France, the Colonial troops have not the scope wh Africa,
the Sudan, S. africa, Egypt and Gallipoli afforded for demonstrating their
xtraordinary adaptability. Here things are "cut and dried", so to speak,
and an English soldier feels mor as much at home as we do. The difficut
Difficult transport work, shortage of food, trying heat and so stiff
hand-to-hand struggles demand rapid thought, immense stamina and an
acquaintance with rough out door life; and these the are attributes wh
every Colonial soldier carries in his pack.
/During the recent raids the German soldiers were powerless to
against the Austn. troops, who blacked their faces, went out bare-footed,
lay in the rain for hours at a time on in quagmires, under shell fire, and
then suddenly darted down the steep steps of the German dug-outs with
without a thought of the reception they were likely to encounter."Every
man for himself "is their motto in these raids, and last week a man was
actually wounded by our own shrapnol while chasing a German through t
whole length of an enemy trench. The German escaped fr his hole while
the Aust was bombing 22 Germans in an adjoining dug-out; but he did nt
get away without being seen. The Aust killed him with a life preserver
60 yards away from the scene of the raid, and, altho he lost his the
use of his left arm for a few weeks, he said with a grin" I got my pound
of flesh"
When the Aust troops are called upon to participate in an
advance on our front the incomparable Infantry will make things very
"willing" for the enemy. The insulting remarks wh they have emitted during
the past few weeks with a parapet to save them will not be forgotten.
I am pleased to be able to say that the best of good feeling
xists between our lads and the English troops, any one of whom would
make six of the sort the British Govt sent to Gallipoli to march to
Constantinople.
Kindest regards to all.
Yours Faithfully
Alec - J Boyd