Letter from Anne Cheater to the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald

PR82/8
Lithgow Hassans Wall Road 
October 5^th 1916
Fm P H J Cheater, 6^th Light Horse
To his Mother
To the Editor Sydney M Hd
Dear Sir,
Would you please insert this
in yr paper, it is very interesting
and please mention young Summers
we dont know where his people are
Are not our horses wonderful
My sons horse which he took away
with him only looks pleadingly at
him when 60 hours without water
or feed, and licks his water bottle
yrs faithfully. 
Anne Cheater 
[*An old fact sercher*]
 

Er Males
Pass Round
Dearest Lawrie
you will know by the
papers that we have had some good
fun oh I was happy time passed so
quick now it is all over I am getting lazy
again. We had been in trench with Jacko
for about a fortnight & we gradually fell
back on our camp on the night of the 3^rd
August at 1 am the order came to stand to
& with horses saddled we lay down beside
them wondering & thinking that it was a
blow over but heavy rifle fire broke out to
the south of the camp where the 1^st brigade
were doing out post at 6 oclock we left camp
& little knowing what we were up against
about a mile out of camp riderless horses
came galloping by then we knew that
we were in for it then the order came to 
gallop & we pulled up under a bridge
within good range schrapnel & bullets
were now playing around & doing their
usual damage waiting here for a few minutes
we moved on to right flank & dismounted
for action I got up with the first rank
& we could see the Turks led by Germans

2
on white ponies pouring round on our
right trying to surround us we were only
a handful of men at this time as the
others had not time to come up & we held
them till the rest of the division took up
different positions to Prevent & nullify their
surrounding movement at the last we had
Turks on 3 sides of us I tell you it was some
hot. I had begun to think of the good things
I had missed in life but thank God when the
Turks crawling from bush to bush were only
300 yds away in my mind I had prepared
to stay 3 men were shot just near 2 of my
old friends then when the N Zealanders &
1^st brigade had established themselves further
back in good positions we were ordered to retire
I might tell you for ma will like to know
that Zero was the last horse to leave & I with
6 others were the last men to leave our flank
having to carry young Germans who was wounded
badly along with us bullets were just clipping
past us like hail but though 3 of Bty men with
me got hit neither I nor the old horse did
I don't want any of this "brave" business again
when you write your people dont understand
one gets und & has no fear for these things
[*Simmons family live
in Walla Walla & if
you ever strike them tell them
they need not be ashamed of the
representative they sent to fight.*]
 [*he is still 
alive*]

 

Resting behind a ridge we waited for a while
mind all this time our camps were impossible
to stay in as they were under direct fire
& poor horses with broken legs & wounded
were pitiful at about 10 oclock we were
ordered to the right (young frozies dropped here)
then it was our turn & we with the help of
the yoemanry outflanked & beat them bad
on the night of the fourth they returned
but in the morning we followed on taking
Prisoners & loot wholesale all their red cross
fill in to our hands: oh talk about lovely
Ponies most beautiful. I would love to have
one of them at home on the evening after
following all day at Katia we struck it hot
they turned & snapped & with machine guns
made their mark among us on the 6^th 7th
we rested (our horses were 2 whole day without
water or feed & the gallantly held the credit is
due to them) on the 8^th till the 12 we followed
on the 12 Asnay was struck & oh the shells
were awful but apart from horses deaths were
a very small percentage (I might tell you that the
Turk brought his big guns up by laying 18 by 4
Planks for a distance of 50 miles I still think the
Turk a gentleman
with love to all
Herman