Letters from William Rawson Leach to his family, 1917 - Part 2

set down to have our tea which consisted of Bully Beef
& Biscuits & tea without milk & sugur still we were very
thankful to get that as we were very hungry. After
tea we went & drew our Blankets (4 each)  & were allocated
our tents  eight to a tent. We are isolated  from the
rest on account of the mumps we had on board.
We will get into huts (which look very comfortable
in a fortnight time. The food we are getting is very
good but they don't over feed you & bread is
none too plentiful nothing is wasted I tell  you if
you have any bread over you are supposed to
take it back to the Q.MStore. We get potatoes twice
a day + meat the same Butter is a scarce item &
Sugar is as valuable as gold almost. We get
bread & dripping, & treacle for tea & they dole the bread
out in slices one slice per man. We are camped
in NO  36 camp which is at Lark Hill & we are only a
stones throw from the Historic Stone Henge. There
are several villages near by & I have been to a few
of them which are.  Amsbury Durrington Bulford
Shrewton & they are the real old fashioned places
of which one used to read abovt the old church
& the thatches roofs on the houses with their quaint
 

3
little windows. The streets are narrow winding and
the inns you have to stoop to walk in the
doors & they are open till nine of a night &
certain hours of a sunday. They also have the
best canteens in the camp still you very
rarely see any of the soldiers drunk. The
different camps extend for miles & miles
& I have met several fellows I know since
being here. I struck Bob Stewart who came
over on the Marathon with you the same
convoy anus he is in the artillery & we
are all camped together. I havent seem any
other NSWales boys but have struck
several I know from Sth Australia. I
must tell you of the narrow escape we
had at sea the afternoon before we
landed it was very misty & a submarines
popped up between us & the Marathon & the
destroyed Lapwing" spotted it & let drive with
three shots that was the last of the
submarine; she went down to remain there.
We afterwards learned that there were
about a dozen submarines around us
& there other was a boat- sunk jut a head
of us a few hours previously. You get
 

4
the real dinkum news over here the Australian can
hold their own with the rest. The Gemans hate them
like dirt. Ill give you a couple of instances. They have about
five hundred Terman prisoners herein camp & they do the
odd jobs in the camp such as making road & painting
the buildings & they get a penny an hour The other
day they went on strike for a halfpenny a day more & the 
authorities said they couch huge the rise & they would
put an Australian guard over them. They declined to
accept the new terms. The Australians make them workd
tell you. Last Saturday there was an air raid our London
& the next day Fritz was watching one of our aeroplanes
over the camp & was laughing (I suppose at the previous
days events) & an Australian walked up &  copped him
out the back of the neck with a shovel & gave him
something to laugh at. During the taking of Langecourt
our boys had at pretty not time & the Germans got
in amongst our Artillery &t hey cut the lads to pieces
those which stopped to destroy the guns. This got the
artillery boys blood up & they collared the rifles from
the infantry & went for Fritz & drove him back on
to his own wire entanglements & they took no prisoners

5
either. I haven't got any letters from you yet
but I had a letter from Uncle Fred yesterday
& he told me there was letters for me so
wrote & told them to send them on to me as
I should get word in a day or so. We wont
get our leave for about another four
weeks & we get four days only so I wont
be able to see too many of  my relations
that trip. I had a letter from Percy yesterday
& he is coming over to see me on Wed or Thurs
next. He is at Perham Down about twelve
miles from here. They are taking us pretty
steady for awhile. But things are just
military fashion all a bungle sofar.
The opinion is that England will win
alright but she will bungle through.
Now I dont think I have much more
news so will close for the present
with love to all at home
Your aff Son
Rawson
PS Still send my letters to Uncle Freds not can
always get them readdressed.
Love Rawson
The mails which left Adelaide on the 22^nd of
May were lost at sea so I suppose some of
my letters went down.
 

6
July 3th 1917
I have just got your two letters which you wrote
on the 20^th & 28^th May.  The other one you
mentioned has gone astray & I  expect that
went down with the boat which left Adelaide
on the 22^nd of May. By gove Tobacco & Cigarettes
are a price hereby you are sending a parcel don't
forget to put in some aof tobacco & cigarettes.
You never mentioned whether you got the
letter card which I wrote from Medbourne Head
You should havee got several of my letters by
this time. We saw in this mornings paper
that the mail which left Australia on June
14^th has been lost at sea so I expect some
more of our mail has gone down. I have
been inoculated twice since we landed & my
arm is a little bit stiff this afternoon they have
allowed us to have the afternoon off but we 
get alnight from alnight now but a fellow may
as well  "swing the Leall" as they call it
here. We are getting a taste of cold weather & the
tents aren't the best for sleeping in when it is wet
or sloppy. Aunt Alice has gone to Yorkshire for
a firenight or three weeks. I should get my
leave just as she comes back I am renumbering
my letters so am calling this No 1 from England
I will close now with love to all at home
I am your affSon
Rawson
PS. Got the champions safely. Gave them to
Gordon best to read.
 

OAS
Mrs S Leach

[*PASSED
BY
CENSOR
No.
5005*]
Victoria Street
Parkes
N S Wales
Australia
 

No 3 Battery Camp 20
Lark Hill
Salisbury Plains
Aug 19^th. 1917
My Dear Mother & Father.
I received fathers letter
yesterday dated May 30th addressed to me
 here in camp & am expecting further mail
any day now as they are probably the first
few bags sorted & we get our mail in
drib & drabs as it were getting one letter
one day & one the next. Well since writing
you last we have come out of isolation
& are now in huts which are very
comfortable but our last night in
the tents will be long remembered as
we had a thunder storm & was us out
nine of us were all huddled up together
in the middle of our tent doing our
utmost to keep our blankets & belongings
dry & I must  say we were fairly successful 
under the conditions. We have also
been alloted to our battery as you will
see by the above address. We are broken up
a little bit from our mates but there are
 

still a cluster of about a dozen of us still
together so things arent so bad. We are
getting much better instruction now &
plenty of physical exercise on hour
everyday just before dinner. We are getting
very good meals still & a little but more
than they used to dole out to no when
we were in isolation. We have been cutting
chaff this morning on an old out of
date chaffcutter turn the handle business
Some of their methods here in the farming
line are very primitive one begins to
think it a slow old place. My word they
are conservative here to the back bone
perhaps this war will take it out of
them. Things generally are a little bit
mixed & what with Stockholm Conferences
& threatened Railway strikes & general
dissatisfaction no wonder the Germans
have got a price over us. Still it
seems as though we will blunder
through. Our boys are making it pretty
lively on the Flanders from poo old
Fritz. I have not had my leave yet
but some of the boy are going for theirs
 

3
on Tuesday. They are letting them go in
batches soI expect I will get mine
probably the following Tuesday. I
put in for leave to Ireland for by
going there you get two days longer
& all you have to do is to pay the extra
fare. So I am going to have a day in
London & then get a fresh ticket &
go straight on to Scarborough. I
have had several letters from Uncle Fred
Will Walmsby Aunt Annie & they all assure
me of the right royal welcome so I am 
looking forward to getting my leave.
I have about ₤6.10 to collect for my back
pay & have about ₤5-0-0 in any pocket
sos don't think I will have to draw
any money this time in London. Still
one never knows what he might want.
Tomorrow we are going to march over to
Bulford XXXXXX  to a review & the Duke of
Connaught is to inspect the troops. Bulford
is about four miles from here & we have
to get up at 3.30 AM tomorrow morning
Thank goodness it isnt winter. I am enclosing
a few photographs in this letter & I daresay
 

X
they will be of interest to you seeing, that they were
all taken with my own camera which has been the
means of putting in a good deal of my spare moments
I have been printing some this afternoon, but will send
them on later on when I have fixed them to prevent
fading as they are only proofs at present I will
have to close for a while as I have to go & give
a hand to feed & water the horses.  one never gets
rest in the Artillery. I don't know exactly when
we will be going to the Front but I wouldn't be
a bit surprised if we were in France by the end
of September. As all the reinforcements ahead of a us have
gone so we may get a move on anytime after we
have gone through our tests.  Well I  dont think I
have any more news this time so good bye with
love to all at home
Your affSson
Rawson
[*Australian 
War Memeorial

PR00491*]