Letters from William Rawson Leach to his family, 1918 - Part 6

3
today. We have
had a week
bitterly cold
weather too &
yesterday it
snowed today it has fined
up a bit & the sun was out
for a good while still the
air is very keen & it seems
like another frost tonight. Have
just had another letter this
evening from Mr Buxendall
& Ethel & they are treating me
as their own son & brother I will
enclose their letters so you
can read them. I am going
to see them when I get my
leave. You seem to have been
getting some pretty high temperatures
during February we could
do with a few of them. In that
war chest parcel was a note
P.T.O
 

4
from Mr E H Carey High Street so
I wrote & thanked him as I
thought he may have given
the parcel so mention this as the
war chest might think me a
thankless creature in not acknowledging
the parcel explain it to Mrs
Dalton will you. I got about
eight Bulletins & several
Champions through the week
one Bulletin was from Al the other
from Edo & about 1/2 a dozen
from Dick they were all
very acceptable provided our
detachment with plenty of
reading matter at the Guns.
I have received most of 
my parcels but there are
a few missing so far &
they are as follows. Sallies two.
Elsies second one. Ruths which she
notified me as sending from Manly
the same time as Alices. Marjories.
 

5
& the one you
have sent about
the 10^th of February.
Still they will
turn up sooner
or later in future send all my
papers & parcel to 31^st Battery and
it save. Uncle Fred bother in.
relabelling them. Your news
about my new niece to hand
they will be a proud pair now.
(excuse pencil but my ink has
given out in my pen.) Congratulate
Dick & Ivy for me. They dont overwhelm
me with correspondence.
Still Im only an ordinary soldier &
perhaps they have all their time [[now]] only
occupied making their home comfortable
while others are at deaths grips (with
a fenian) guarding the future of their
offspring. I have kept silent a good deal
but Dick has never as much
P.T.O.
 

6
sent me a packet of cigarettes not
that I want any pampering or do I
value any little thing that is sent along
for its intrinsic value but for the love
& kindness which accompany it. I dont
know whether he has had his salary
cut down but I think he is in a
for better position than Sallie is to
send a parcel. Still I know Sallie
would go short herself to send a pcl.
& give her very all when it
came to a pinch. Anyway its the
only quarter of the family in
which I havent been remembered.
I don't want to bear & any grudge or
make any unpleasantness but its
a thing that I could hardly make
out when I see pcls coming to me from
all members of the family regularly.
with one exception. I suppose he
thinks I am getting a nice little
pile along side me with my £1-1 a
week going into the bank. I wonder how
he would care to go on with only a
surplus of £50 a year to look forward
 

7
to making a home.
Still I'm not a greedy
lover of money & don't
place great value
on it perhaps that accounts to
his getting a bit high up the 
tree of life. Still I have one
consolation that I have given
my all for home & hearth & country.
& have never regretted it.
I would have liked to have
had some of that duck which
Elsie sent you. Ruth was very
fortunate to see in the orgy
(as we call anything of that sort
over here) now mother & father I
will have to close but will
say good bye with last
love to selves & all at home
your aff son
Rawson
P.T.O.

PS. The eucalyptus will

come in OK as it is a great
boon over here love
from Rawson
X X X X X X X X 

Australian 
War Memorial
PR00441
 

On Active Service
Mrs S Leach
Victoria St
Parkes
N. S. Wales
Australia
 

France
May 7^th 18
Dear Mother & Father,
I received three letters
from you last night dated
Feb 24^th March 5 & March 12^th & of course
needless to say how glad I was to get
them. I thought they would have
a reply to my Xmas letters but you
mentioned Dec 15^th as being, the last
dated letter of mine but I expect next
mail will be a reply to my Xmas
letters or you will then see how
we fared on Xmas day. I am
sorry to say that where we had Xmas
dinner Fritz is occupying just at
present but we hope it wont be
for long. I got the snap which
you enclosed in your letter of yourself
which is very good. & also good
several snaps from Ruth by
the same mail Uncle Fred
informed me that he had
also sent a parcel which had
come for me but I dont expect
it for a week yet will let yow
know in my next letter who it
is from. Elsie & Ashley will be
 

2
glad of their removal from Walla
as no doubt the German element
would get on their nerves after
nearly four years of war. I shouldnt
say Harden was an ideal spot
still better than Hunville. I
have not been too well the last
couple of days but am beginning
to feel better tonight Have been
on light diet for 48 hours (which
consists of custard & milk) but am
going back to the ordinary rations
tomorrow. We have had more rain
the last few days & things are
getting in a real puddle again
It is lovely down in the horse
lines mud up to your knees. We
are still out in reserve & having
a fairly decent time I got a
photo from Alice last night which
is very good tell her I had to cut
it down so as it would fit my
pocket as that is the only place you
can carry photos about over here
I am enclosing a cutting out of the
newspaper so you can see the
part we have played in checking
 

3
Fritz.  She other piece about Baron
Richtophen I saw him brought down
& was on the spot where he fell only
a few minutes afterwards. He
was riddled with machinegun
bullets. Our front have been very
quiet the last week or ten days of
course there is a continual roar of
artillery during the night but
one gets used to that & take it as
a matter of course. I havent
seen anything of Gordon Best
since I came over here he was
sent to a different division to what
I am in. Father enquired whether I
got the pcl Edo & He sent while he was
in Sydney, yes I got that safely
with the cigarettes & tobacco in.
Sallie & Arch had apparently been
left at Cronulla according to Father
letter Ch will is not a bad place
& a good deal better than some
of these hot sweltering country
towns & they are nice & handy to
Sydney. I got a pair of sox just