Letters from William Rawson Leach to his family, 1918 - Part 10

(6)

as a crown. I received Marjories  

letter along with yours tell her

I will drop her a line next week

The lad tells me he has got a

new boarding shak & that he

is getting much better fed.

It is just twelve months today

since we landed in England &

the time has flown since

then. I often feel like sending

you a cable but sometimes you

have a lot of bother to get cable

forms & then if I sent you one

cable I would have to send more

otherwise you may think something

was wrong & often it is anything

but convenient to get a cable away

I know how you feel but I

have come to the conclusion

that "no news is good news".

Now mother I think I will have

to close so good bye love to self

& all at home

Your affson
Rawson
PS Am keeping OK & well

 

Australian

War Memorial

PR00441

O.A.S.
11 JUL 18

Rev. A B Collins

Cronulla

NS Wales

Australia.

Send Rawson's on to your mother

 

1918

France

Saturday 27.7.18
Dear Father

Just a short note

to let you know I am alright

will drop you a longer letter

next week as we are kept fairly

busy just at present. I received

your welcome letter dated may

11^th _^last night & glad to hear you are

all well at home. I also

got your parcel from home

which at 2AM this morning

& it was very acceptable had

just come back from a

trip up to the battery with

ammunition & needless to

say we were hungry & enjoyed

your the contents being wet

through, made some cocoa

in our dixies using candles

to heat the water. It was

the parcel with a note in

from Elsie which you

(2)

sent on April 29^th. Am just

enjoying some of the cigarettes

which were enclosed. The

weather has changed somewhat

since I last wrote & we have

had a good deal of rain

the last few days I am fairly

damp just at present still

that is a mere detail as I

happen to have dry feet

which is the main thing.

Will get my clothes dry tonight

by sleeping on them placing

them between the ground sheet

& the blanket you sleep on

by the morning they will be

quite dry. Leave has

reopened (which is a good

omen of how they hold Fritz)

& I should get mine in Sept.

if the allotment keeps up to

present numbers so I am

looking forward to the time

(3)

coming round. Now Father 

I will have to close so

good bye I hope you will

excuse my brevity. Love

to all at home

Your affson

Rawson

 

[[William R]]

Australian

War Memorial

PR00441

30 SEP 18

Mrs A Leach

Victoria St

Parkes

NSWales

Australia

France

August 4^th 18

Dear Father

I wrote you a short

note last week & mentioned

receiving your letter dated

May 11^th the anniversary of

my departure from Australia

& you will note that I am

replying to it on the Anniversary

of Great Britians entry into

this great struggle. We are

now into the fifth year & lets

hope that the next anniversary

will be one of peace but we want

an honourable & lasting peace & shall

not be satisfied till we return

victorious. I have been nearly twelve

months in France now & as you

say am a well seasoned soldier

not only does it bring a better &

closer brotherhood among the men

of our own nation but all the

allied nations & particularly do

I pay a tribute to the French

(2)

whose valiant deeds of the last

few weeks add great laurels

to their pluck & stamina & we

have something to be thankful

for that France has given us

a great Generalissimo in Foch

& man of great foresight & one

who will not let Fritz rest

on his oars. I beleive the time

is not far distant when our

turn is to come & with the

vigour the Americans are

entering into the fray. The Huns

have a hot time ahead

of them. The Yankees have

turned out great fighters

& we have several of them

attached to us & they are

real hard cases. They are

teaching us to play Base ball

& are very keen on their

national game. They have

some very funny sayings 

(3)

& I believe their slang eclipses

that of the Australians. They

are a fine stamp of soldier

with plenty of go in them

& they are going to prove a

great factor in the final

knockout to Fritz. I am writing

this at the battery position

& we have our guns in

the back yard of the houses

of an evacuated French

Village & we are very comfortable

having tables & chairs to eat

our meals off & spring mattresses

to sleep on it is like being

at home. We are living in

the house & cellars so arent

faring too badly. Have been

doing very well as regards

food lately too I'll give you one

day. menu Breakfast. Porridge. Bacon

Toast, Honey & Jam. Dinner Fried steak

& Onions. Mashed potatoes. Rice & stewed fruit

Tea. Salmon. Rissoles Preserved Fruit & Custard

Bread & jam. Honey. Cheese etc. Supper Cocoa

& Biscuits