Letters from William Rawson Leach to his family, 1918 - Part 12

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Morcourt we were there a few days 

& were then sent to Rosieres & we

stopped there a few more days & then

came up to Chipilly, Morcourt, Mericourt

& were strafing Fritz & following him up the

next day or so through Bray where

we stopped a couple of days & did

a bit of "boxing on" with him

& from there we went to Suzanne

& from the last named place

we advanced through Peronne

& were just a couple of miles

east of that place & are camped

now in a place called Doignt. We

are out in reserve just at present

& have been so for about five days

now. We were in the stunt when

Mont St Quentin was captured & it

was a brilliant achievement as it

commanded Peronne. Our boys played

havoc in Fritzs ranks. I walked over

the battlefield the next morning (as

our guns had moved up to what

the day before had been the

front line) & the ground was

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strewn with German bodies

it our boys must have outmanouvered

them for I only saw two dead

Australians during a couple of hours

of walking. Our fellows had used

the bayonet freely & to good

advantage for dozens of the Prussian

Guards (who were opposing us) were the

victims of cold steel. This will seem

gory & blood thirsty to you at home

but one gets hardened & callous to

seeing dead bodies lying about

hacked & gashed beyond recognition.

Some of the prisoners that came in

told us that they had been sent

up from Verdun to stop the Australians

as they had stopped them before

but our infantry ran through them

at a gallop. We have just left

behind us the old Somme battle

field & the grass has grown over

the old shell holes & trenches.

You often read in the papers where

we may have captured several

villages but you can just picture

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what were villages as there are

in most cases very little of them

left all you may see is a few

heaps of bricks & mortar what a 

few years ago would have been

a decent sized town, I dont know

whether they intend giving Fritz a

big push this autumn over the

Hindenburg line but if they do they

will want to get to work right away

for another month will bring

winter on to us again & fighting

is practically at a standstill then.

You said in your last letter that

you hoped we wouldnt have to

put in another winter in France but

I am afraid we shall have to

face another one. Still I think we

can stick it, its not so bad if you

can manage to keep your feet dry

for we generally make ourselves as

comfortable as circumstances will

permit so it no use growling

now I will close for the time

being & will write a few more

lines later on as I wont post this for

day or so yet.

6

After we left Doignt we went to

Jeancourt & we there a week or so just

in local attacks & then about Sept 29t^th

we attacked the Hindenburg line just

north of St Quentin & crossed the

famous Canal & Tunnel (which you

have no doubt read a great deal

about in the papers) & fought our

way to Le Catelet where Fritz put up

a very strong resistance. I left the Battery

at Le Catelet & Gouey but they have advanced

miles since I left: & it will take me

quite five days to a week to find the

Battery when I get back to France.

I got Ten pounds (£10) from the firm coming

through London & will get another

ten if I want it when I go back

to London. I received your Bthday

cake about a fortnight ago & it was

lovely. I expect some of my other pcls will

have arrived while I am over here but

the other boys will get the benefit of

those. I met Billy Gray in whe a London

Tube last Wednesday & he is OK & quite happy

although he has lost an arm. Will close now

with love to all Rawson.

France

16.9.18.

Y.M.C.A.

WITH

THE 

AUSTRALIAN IMPERIAL FORCE.
Dear Mother & Father.

I said in my

last letter that I hoped to

post my next letter to you

from England but I havent

been lucky this week but I

am still "sweating" on my

leave & I am no 4 on the

leave roster now & am

expecting to go off any time.

I am getting quite excited

at the thought of 14 days

leave in England & you will

get another a/c from McKay

in due course as I intend

drawing £20 & I have another

£20 in my pay book so

I wont be stinted for money

P.T.O.

2

I am going to Glasgow & Edinburgh

for a few days & then coming

down to Bradford, Leeds &

Scarborough to spend the

remainder. I may reserve a

couple of days for London

at the tail end of my

leave. Frank Berry came

down & saw me yesterday

afternoon which was my

birthday so I spent the

afternoon with him. He

is quite well & is keeping

fit. The weather has fined

up the last few days &

we are having beautiful

days & nights which creates

great aerial activity & the

last few nights we have

been favoured with some

brilliant sights. Fritz planes

coming over & being picked

up by the search lights

Y.MC.A.

WITH

THE 

AUSTRALIAN IMPERIAL FORCE.

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& all were brought down

in quick succession last

night & there were great

cheers went up as they

came crashing through

the air in flames.

Billy Hughes has been creating

a great stir here among the

boys & he has just made

arrangements for 700 of them

to return to Australia & he

was round yesterday paying

a flying visit. I went to

a concert the night before

last & during the interval

an announcement came from

the stage that Sergeant -

& Q M. Sergeant - were wanted

P.T.O.

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at once at Hdqrs to report

back to Australia. When The

two of them got up to go

out, they were greeted with

cheers from the rest of the

boys. It was a pleasant

surprise for them the lucky

beggars, but I expect our

turn will come in time.

I expect by the time you

get this Edo will just

about be going in to camp

I will write him a letter later

on & give him all the

wrinkles that I can. Tell

him when he comes away

that the lighter he can make

his kit the better he will

find it. I have never been

stuck for anything yet

& can always get plenty of

clothing & equipment. If you

should happen to lose anything

you can generally

Y.M.C.A.

WITH

THE 

AUSTRALIAN IMPERIAL FORCE.

5

rely on getting it from one

of your mates & you make

a lot of mates in the army.

Tell him to provide himself

with a good sponge before he

leaves as they are much

better than face washers &

you can wash yourself with

a minimum supply of

water. I have cleaned my

teeth shaved & washed my

self in my dixie (which holds

a little over a pint) many

a time with the aid of

a sponge. I have often seen

others washing themselves

with a shaving brush &

they adopt all sorts of methods

P.T.O.

6

Now Mother I will have

to close so good bye

with love to all at

home

Your aff  Son

Rawson

P.S. It is just 2 months

tomorrow since I joined

the Battery.  Rawson

Sept 20^th

I am putting some more

to this letter as our postal

facilities were out of action

for a few days. We had

to get a move on a few

hours after I finished the

previous few pages so am

finishing this 4 days later

We are attacking Fritz again

& the stunt has been

very successful & we passed