Letter from Sydney Luckett to The Sydney Morning Herald

"Watsonia, 

McIntosh Street

Gordon PR82/8

8/5/15

To The Sydney,

Morning Herald.

Dear Sirs

The enclosed letter is from 

my Brother-in-law who is serving with the 

imperial army in france. If you care to 

publish it you are at liberty to do so. Just 

leaving the personal matter out relating to

ourselves.

Sincerely yours,

Sydney Luckett

P.S. Please let me have the letter back 

again when finished with

 

Mrs Varney (Dots Address) 18/3/15.

Greywell

Nt Odiham Hampshire   In France

My Dear Sister,                       (somewhere)

At last I have received

your address and I now take the 

opportunity of writing a few lines

to you, hoping this will find you and

Sid & your family in perfect health

and spirits. as this leaves me at 

present. I don't know if you do, but

I expect you get all the latest

War News almost as soon as 

they do in England and know 

by now all about our splendid 

victory of last week. Of course 

our Casualties were pretty stiff, I 
should say anywhere between 4 & 

5 thousand, but we Captured 2 

very important Villages and the

German trenches beyond the 

Villages & about 2000 prisoners

& left nearly 20,000 killed and wounded 

Germans. We have had a terrible

Winter here, for months we had a 

Continual downpour of Rain and

by way of a change Snow. I dont

2

think that we had a fine day

(except xmas day) from the end 

of October up to the end of Feb.

Its been a  cruel time for our

chaps in the trenches, they have 

often had to stand up to their

waist in Icy cold water and 

always over the top of their 

ankles in mud, of course we

had a lot of men suffer 

from frost bite through it

(which means loss of toes, feet, 

fingers etc.) but they have stuck

to it like heroes and I am

pleased to say that the fine

weather has set in, and with 

its aid we shall give the 

Germans a dammed good 

pasting. It would do your heart 

good to see our men when

they leave the trenches for 24 

hours rest, they swing down 

the roads as if they were going

3

to a tea-party, smothered from 

top to bottom in mud, yellow

faced (the effects of of living in trenches)

but laughing & singing. Its quite

a common sight to see a Regiment 

about 1200 ^strong go into the 

trenches & return in about 10 days 

with only 2 or 3 hundred, I really

dont think that the people at

home realise the enormous losses

we get and how near it is to 

them. When I got leave last 

November there seemed to me 

to be hundreds & hundreds of able

bodied young men walking about, 

God knows we could do with 

them out here, I would like

to arrange a sight-seeing 

party & take them over the 

front & show them how the

French & Belgians are facing the

music, not that those of the 

British Army already out here

are any the less valient, I think 

4

It would put a spurt into them.

Since I started this letter to you

we have made a move up country

and Ive just got a letter from

Dad, who I am pleased to say has

got downstairs again also Mother.

I also got a letter from my 

wife, poor kid, she is fretting

very much, but Im pleased to say

she is in good health, as is also 

Freddy, who started school in

February. Well Nellie & Sid, I 

shall be always pleased to get

a line from you & we will, if

God spares me, send you a nice

long letter after this War is

over. Give my love to your children. 

I hear that you have another 

increase, Congratulations, but oh

Tut Tut,  I will close now with

fond love from your affectionate 

Brother Fred. 

T.C.

9/7/15

Letter 

Sydney Luckett

Miss Mavis Fleming.

Rooty Hill.