Letters from William Rawson Leach to his family, 1918 - Part 14

For God, For King & For Country.

Y.M.C.A

H.M.FORCES ON ACTIVE SERVICE

PATRON

Y.M.C.A. NATIONAL COUNCIL

H.M. THE KING

PATRON

MILITARY CAMP DEPT.

H.R.H. DUKE OF CONNAUGHT

Reply to ..............Company...................Bat..............Regt.

..................191

(3)
by Xmas. Anyway failing that I think
that a couple of months next spring & the
Germans will be properly thrashed. Anyway
they have got him thinking now & the whole
battle front is moving. I am writing this
in Trafalgar Square at a YMCA & from where
I am sitting I can see a great crowd round
Nelsons Column. yesterday being Trafalgar day
& the monument is decorated with festoons &
wreaths. it looks a real picture. Now Mother
& Father I will have to close so goodbye
with love to all at home
Your aff Son
Rawson

France
29/10/18
Dear Ruth.
I am in receipt
of several of your letters
& must apologise for
not answering them earlier
but postal facilities have
been somewhat limited
during our recent great
advances & it is only now
& again that you get an
opportunity to write a 
letter. Thanks very much
for Griffith Bros Pcl which
arrived but I didnt get
any of the contents for it
came while I was away
on leave & my mates got

the benefit of it They said
it was OK. It is a little
understanding that we have

(2)
between ourselves that any
one who is away from the
Battery on leave or through
other causes well his mates
have his parcels. Alice's
Birthday cake also arrived
while I was away & all
the boys speak of it as
going down Tres Bon.
I had a pcl from Olive while
I was away on leave it
came to Uncle Freds. I had
a great time during my
leave & you will see the
two letters I wrote while
in England & gave a full
account of same so that
I wont go into details again.
I giving this to one of the
chaps who is going on
leave tomorrow morning
I had a letter from Percy

(3)
today & he is alright again
& said that he had a good chance
of getting back to Australia.
There are a great number of
civilians where we have 
been fighting lately & they
are just frantic with joy
after being liberated from
Hun rule for over four years.
Now Ruth I will have to 
close so good bye with
love to all at home & self
Your aff Bro
Rawson

France.

31.10.18

Dear Mother & Father,

Well I have

arrived back again in France

after having had a glorious

fourteen days leave. We

left Victoria Station at 6 AM

on Wednesday 23^rd & arrived

at Boulogne about midday

we came back via Dover

& on our way over on the

boat passed a floating

mine about 20 yds from

our boat they exploded it

by rifle fire. We stopped

the night in Boulogne at

a rest camp & started off

for the line the following

morning & we stopped a day

in Amiens & had a good

look round. I am enclosing

(2)

a PCard of the Cathedral &

it is a beautiful building

Fritz got a few direct hits

on it with his heavy

ammunition but didnt do

it a great deal of damage.

The next day we got into

the train again & started

off hunting for our battery

& we got right up to the

line when we learned

that the battery had 

just pulled out for a 

spell so we didnt stop

there any longer than

was necessary & hopped

into a motor lorry & came

back to find them just

settled down in a little village

We have been amongst a lot

of the liberated French civilians

& they dont seem to have realized

(3)

that they are from German

Rule it seems almost too

good to be true after being

under the Hun's for over four

years. They are very jubilant

over the turn of events.

We just heard the news yesterday

of Austria asking for a separate

peace & the end doesnt

seem to be far off now

What a joyful time it will 

be if it is all over by

Xmas, of course it will take

a good while before we all

get back to Australia but

it will be nice to think that

there will be no more puddling

about in the mud with guns

& ammunition at all hours 

of the night & with winter

ahead of us. The weather

has kept remarkably fine

(4)

for this time of the year

It has just started to rain

today but it has been fine

all the week. There is a rumour

just going round that we

are going back into action

tomorrow or the next day

but I don't know whether it is

true or not. We have earned 

a jolly good rest and we

are hoping we will get it

The battery had about 20

Casualties while I was away

(none of them fatal) mostly

gas poisoning. On my

arrival back here I had

letters waiting for me & your

letters were dated July 22^nd,

30^th, Aug 5^th, 24^th, & note your

remarks re my account

I think that is somewhere

about it. You were just

(5)

getting busy with the

show tent when you last

wrote, I hope it turned

out a success. I had

a letter from Olive saying

that you had invited

her up to the show. But

she seems to have her

hands full with her

Grandma & Auntie. Now 

Mother & Father I will have

to close so good bye

with love to all

Your aff son

Rawson

Rawsons letter

came on Saturday.

Australian

War Memorial

PR00441