Letter from Charlie to his Father

PR82/8
Sumner
13^th May 1914
Dear Father
I am afraid it is rather a long
time since I last wrote to you, but
somehow I never seemed to have any
spare time to think what to write about.
I have a good subject now, however,
in the Territorial camp which I returned 
from last week.
The camp was held late in the
year owing to Sir Ian Hamilton's visit.
As it was to held 2,000 feet above
sea level at Kowai Bush, at the foot
of Mount Torlesse. we expected to have
a few inches of snow on the ground
every day. The weather however was very
mild for the time of the year, and
the camp would have been rather
enjoyable but for the rain. It rained
heavily for the third & fourth and
part of the fifth day, and from
then onwards we never had dry feet.
There were over 3,000 men in camp,
and in walking about they churned
 

up the mud until we sank in it
to our boot-tops. In the horse lines,
the mud was up to the horses knees,
and two horses dropped dead in
the lines. The ground on which the
camp was pitched was perfectly flat,
so that the water could not run away.
On the second night of rain the water
was six inches deep in the hollows
and several tents were flooded out.
Wer We were not so badly off as this
but the tent leaked like a sieve and
all of our blankets got pretty damp
Luckily there was plenty of straw to
sleep on, we had three bales in our
tent. Of course I caught cold, as
did practically everybody there.
One good point about the camp
was the food which was very
decent, and in one way the rain
was a blessing, as it prevented
us from doing too much drill.
On the fine days we were loaded up
with equipment, haversack, water-

bottle, rolled overcoat & rifle and

marched for several miles to a
sham fight. I reckon that marching
was the hardest work I ever did, but
it helped to keep us in good health.
The scenery round the camp was
pretty good. The camp was situated
an on ^a large plateau right at the
foot of Mount Torlesse, with mountains
on three sides and between two
rivers the Kowai and the Little Kowai.
The Rubicon also flowed into the
Kowai just near the camp. There
was plenty of flat country in which
to manoeuvre and broken country
among the hills and in the river-

beds. Kowai Bush is about two
miles past sprinf Springfield on the
way to the Cass.
Time is up now, so goodbye
Charlie

[* To b returned*]
Mr A. H. White,
c/o G.P.O.
Sydney
N.S.W.

SYDNEY N.S.W. SYDNEY
MY 19 8.30A 1914 MY19-8.30A