Letter from Gladys Brian to the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald

PR82/8
The Editor
S. Morning Herald
Dear Sir
I am enclosing extract
from a letter written by Sapper Gow
G.S. son of Mr Charles Gow of
Strathfield, which I consider of
sufficient interest to obtain a position
in the pages of your paper. I have not
noticed any mention of the action he
describes up to the present. He is one of
4 brothers (which constitutes all the boys
of the family) & all serving as Signal Engrs.
The writer of this letter & another brother
have been "at the game" 12 months, & are
attached to the Signal Squadron, working
in conjunction with the Anzac Mtds. He
celebrated his 21^st birthday last June.
Yours sincerely -a very proud sister
Gladys Brian

11^th August
Oghratina
Dear Dad
Just a short note to
advise yourself & Mother that Frank
& myself are still maintaining excellent
health & condition. — This  is being
written during a lull in the battle,
but as the severest fighting is over (that
is the attack upon Romani) I can assure
you that there are no grounds for worry
as regards our safety. Of course you
have had full details of this scrap, so
it is of no use me trying to give an
account of this last forlorn invasion
of Egypt by the combination of Huns & 

Turks. But I must admit that the
defence by our Light horsemen was
absolutely brilliant. I consider that
these men have quite maintained their

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glorious traditions, won on the never-
to-be-forgotten Peninsula. When I read
of the brilliant fighting qualities of the
Aust & NZ troops before, I took a good
deal of it with a "grain of salt, but I
have changed my mind a little, since
I have seen for myself. — If you could
only have witnessed the attack by the "Turkish
hordes" under their Hun taskmasters, &
watched the glorious defence by our handful
of Australians Light horsemen, you would
have been proud to be an Australian, &
would be only too glad to fight for a country
capable of producing such splendid
specimens of manhood. - A patrol action
commenced about 1 am. on the 19^th inst,
developing into a fierce attack about 2.30,
& from then on till 5a.m. the brunt was

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taken by the 1^st A.L.H Bde, at which time
the 2^nd A.L.H. Bde & NZ [[?]] R. came into
action, & a couple of thousands of our men
held a very thin line, keeping back thousands
of Turks rushing on in massed
formation, German fashion, & beating in
waves of whole brigades at a time, against
our thin line of Khaki. — The morrow was
the scene of a splendid counter attack when
our Anzac Mtd Div' drove the Turks back
for 10 miles, capturing over 3000 prisoners.
This battle was considered by men of our
H.Q. staff, the second fiercest action they
had seen, & I can assure you that our
Staff officers all carry good rows of colors.
Well. I can't dwell longer on the subject,
but must add that I am glad the first
real action I participated in, was of the

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highest order, ending in such a
magnificent success for us, with
so few casualties, altho the enemy
suffered dreadfully.
The rest of the
letter is purely personal

The Editor

Sydney Morning Herald

Pitt & Hunter Sts

City
Letter
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