Letters from Ronald Lennox Henderson to his family, 1914-1915
Crow's Nest
11th June 1914
My Dear little Mollie
I was so glad when you
came and spoke to me on the telephone
this morning, because then I knew that
you were really better. You are such a good,
brave little girl - a real soldier- and I
am just terribly proud of you. I would
drive into Toowoomba to see you, little girl,
only if I go to see you I might give you
the sickness that Peter had, and I don't
want to do that. It wouldn't do at all would
it? But I think about you all the
time, & I want you to come back here
to look after me again, as soon as you can.
When you are all right & when Peter is all
right, you will both go away to the
seaside, & paddle in the water & play in
the sand, if you would like to. You
ask Dr Falkner to if it would be a good
thing for you to have some "surf-bathing"
next time you see him. Isn't he
a good kind man to look after you so
well, & make you better again.
Peter is getting along well - he cuts
wood for the stove. By & bye you will
help him. He has a pretend sulky
in the yard & two pretend horses in it.
I went for a drive in it yesterday. He
calls the two horses “Navy-blue Nedwood"
& “Pink Tom”. Don’t you think these
are nice names?
Will you give my love to grandma
& Aunt Emma. I hope that when you
read this you are really quite well.
I got your paintings - they are lovely
& they are in my room. Good-bye now,
my dear little brave muffet. You will
soon be all right & I will see you again.
With ever so much love & lots of kisses
from
Father.
Melbourne
4th August 1915
My Dear old Mother
I was very glad to
get your wire on the boat in Sydney &
hear that all was well with everyone.
I expect the little people are getting
down to the new order of things quite
well. They are very sensible little customers.
I spent the afternoon at Bondi, but
did not see the girls as they were out. They
came down to the ships on Saturday & saw
them there for a few moments. Mr
Robinson & his daughters came down, likewise
Aunt Emma. Have had a lovely trip
so far round to Melbourne. Hope it will
keep so.
I see that amongst the doctor's joining
here is a Dr O'Hara who was at Edinburgh
with me - haven't seen him since I was
there. The big Irishman is my cabin -
mate - a real good sort too he is.
Have only time for a line as I
[* must rush off up town. Saw the Vintner family yesterday
but have not seen Eva - will not have time.
Ever so much love. from your loving son.*]
THE ORIENT LINE
OF ROYAL MAIL STEAMERS
BETWEEN ENGLAND and AUSTRALIA
Passengers Booked For
Gibraltar, Toulon, Naples, Port Said,
Suez, Colombo, Fremantle, Adelaide,
Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and all
Chief Ports in Australia, Tasmania and
New Zealand.
Head Offices:
FENCHURCH AVENUE, LONDON.
West End Branch Office:
28, COCKSPUR STREET, S.W.
On board the R.M.S. Orintes
18th August 1915
My Dear old Mother,
We are due
to arrive in Columbo tomorrow, so
must get my letters written before
that. There is a possibility that
we may not be able to land
there, as we may be only there
at night & nobody is allowed about
there at night because the
place is under Martial Law.
That will be bad luck - Fremantle
to Suez without a break is a long run.
We were delayed so much by the
very rough weather in the Bight
that it has put everything out
I fear. Since Fremantle we
have had a good trip & in
unusually cool air. We are in the
cool side of the ship & have the
best cabins on the upper deck, so
have nothing to complain of.
My fat Irishman from Brisbane,
who is my cabin mate, has been
in bed for two days suffering from
the results of vaccination. Several
of the nurses are pretty bad too.
I did not take, so will have to be
done again later on. In the meantime
will have the joy & felicity of
being inoculated against typhoid.
there is a man named Cheney
on board who lives somewhere Jindaryan
way & knows Kent & the Williams
family well. He is going on to
join the troops in England - King
Edwards House I think. There are
thirteen other fellows going over to
get commissions in England, &
also an Aviator on his way to
the Persian Gulf. Altogether quite
a military family. In the steerage
are a number of Italian Reservists
going to Italy to join the Italian
Army. Some of them are pretty
tough looking characters too.
I wonder very much how things
are getting on at Crow’s Nest, &
whether the Locum is behaving
himself properly. The little
people have quite settled down to
the new order of things I
expect - they are wise little folk.
I will be very glad to get the
first letters & hear how everyone
is. Haven’t heard anything since
Melbourne. Had a wire from
Mr Purvis at Fremantle, wishing
me luck - decent of the old boy
wasn’t it? Didn’t have time
to go & see him.
Must say good-bye now.
much love from your loving
son
R.L.H
Give my love to Pater when you
are writing /.
2nd Stationary Hospital
23.9.15
Mudros
Mediteranean Expeditionary Force.
My Dear old Mother.
I have temporarily settled
down at the above address, so when writing you
might send letters there. If I have moved on
they will be forwarded. One is moved about
here, there, & everywhere, without notice so that
it is not safe to assume that we will remain
in any spot for more than an hour or two.
From what I have been able to learn since
coming here, I imagine that this hospital
will probably remain here for some time,
unless they shift to Suvla Bay. They may
be sent along there. Whether I will stay with
them or not I don’t know. When I
left Egypt I was supposed to be coming over
here for either one of the Field Ambulances, or
to act as Regimental Medical Officer to one
of the Batallions, but at the last moment
was switched into this place. This
hospital consists of a lot of tents & very few
beds - most of the patients simply lie side by
side on the ground. I have ab seven tents,
each one holding about 20 men, to look after.
This particular type of Hospital is called
a stationary hospital because it consists solely of tents,
is staffed entirely by males, & is meant to be
moved about after the troops. Xxxx
Stanley Fosters Bataln is camped about
¾ mile away from us, but I have not been able
to get over & see if he is still to be found yet. Will
try & get over there tomorrow. I don’t know where
Rex is - Dr Cedric Dodds is over at Alexandria, wounded.
I have met such a number of fellows that
I know here - old Edinburgh men, some of them
particular friends of mine there. Sometimes
I could almost imagine that I was back in
Ramsay Lodge in Edinburgh again - there is such
a collection of fellows here who used to live there.
Percy Wall is Adjutant in a camp about 200 yards
away - I walked in to him a few minutes
after I landed, & have been running across a
succession of fellows I know ever since.
25.9.15
I have been along to Stanley Foster’s Batallion - I had
a good deal of difficulty in getting any news. One man
who said he knew him well said that Stanley had been
wounded on 6th August in the attack on Lonesome Pine
Ridge, & was now at Alexandria. Another man who was near him told me that me that
he was missing after the attack - fate unknown. Finally
I got hold of Sergeant Wood of Stanley’s company. He
also knew the boy well, as he lived in North Sydney
& says he often used to go to over to town with him in the
(3)
same ferry boat. Wood told me that Stanley was
missing after the attack. Numbers of our dead
are still lying out in front of the trenches, &
cannot be got at, & a number more were collected
some time after the attack & being unrecognisable
were buried together. As many identification
discs as could be got were collected & brought
in, & amongst them was Stanley’s. One
feels very dubious about accepting all the
information that is tendered here, but this
chap struck me as being reliable, & as knowing
what he was talking about. I am afraid
that the poor youngster was killed then - at
any rate that is certainly his sergeant’s opinion.
Still, as I said, everything that one hears here
is a lie - or at any rate 99%of it is.
I tried to find the man who said that he (Stanley} had
been wounded, but could not discover him.
Will try & find him again tomorrow. He evidently
knew him, because as soon as I asked him if he
knew Foster, he asked me if I knew meant “Stanley
Foster”.
This is Sunday night, & about 50 yards
away a few men are some of the
most mournful hymn tunes that were
ever invented. Altogether the little ensemble
is not a cheerful one, & I think I will go to
bed & try & forget the whole business for a
time.
Goodnight & much love. Give the little
people & Gussie & Nell my love - I will
be mighty glad to see you all again.
Your loving son
R.L.H.
Read this to yourself
before reading it aloud.
——————
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