Correspondence from Henry Miller Lanser to his family, 1914-1916, Part 3

My dearest Father,
An opportunity
of writing to you has only
just arrived & strange to
say on my Birthday.
Well dear Father I am
writing to Thank you for the
money you so kindly sent.
I am getting Thomas Cook
of Cairo to send the money
on. I have sent you
several parcels which will|
appear valueless to you Two
parcels will contain a nose
cap of a Turkish shell.
which will go to the collection
of Battle field Curios
providing they reach you

let me know if you got
a parcel of battle field
Curios, which contained
an article which I valued
very much & that was a
Ghurkas "Cookery" or knife.
I wrote to Mr G.W.
Wallace for £10 Thinking
I was going to England
rotten luck twice fooled
never mind The third
attempt may come true
but my greatest desire
is to be making back
to Good old Australia
I dare say you can
gess where I am; and
that I can only leave
to you. I heard to-day
that poor old Val Madden 

has been killed by a train
& where, - I shall tell you
some other time. Give
them all a kiss a Home
for me. Father & one extra
for Dearest Mother.
whom I shall write to
tomorrow. In the meantime
I shall write to Uncle
Fred & Grannie. Have you
heard from Harry yet?
Is he still in England?
Must colse close
now. With Fondest love.
& a cheerful time from
the old son.
Miller
[[N Ingham?]] 

service
Mr E.N. Lanser,
C/o Messrs. Geo. King & Co
Box 51
G.P.O.
Sydney
Australia
Postage seal from Cairo - see original 

712 Sergt. Lanser
D Coy
1^st Bn
Toussoum
near the banks of the Suez
Canal
3/3/16
My dear Father,
There is one thing I can
always rest assured at & it is this - you
all are quire comfortable & happy as it is
possible under these most trying conditions
that we are undergoing at present
I have fallen off writing a great deal
I know but when the Authorities ^are continually
making different arrangements as to the way a
letter is to be written also not allowed to
put his Company address etc. makes things
frightfully awkward thus leaving me frightfully
little to write about. Things still go on in the
same nude stile thoroughly sick of drill
& the O.Cs effort or grinding in discipline with
vain results. When the men get a moment
to spare it generally starts in diminishing
the domesticated live stock. What a God Send
& relief it will be to be once again making
use ofx the hot bath at Kooringa "Cheero" say
I & lets hope it will be soon. With fondest
love & Good wishes to all.
Your loving Son
Miller 

Toussoum
Sgt. Lanser
D Coy
1^st Bn
A.I.F.
7/3/16
My dearest Father,
While retiring, on my
corrigated iron bed, I thought I would drop
you a short note to tell you that I was
sending you a sketch of "the Major"
B.I. Swannell. the original D Coy Commander
It is a splendid sketch of him. It was sad
news to hear that "Blair. I." had been killed
it happened on the first day of the landing. I happened
to be with him just a few minutes prior
to the fatal shot. Well Father I have not
a great deal to tell you just now
but will certainly write it relate my experiences
on the Canal as soon as we move.
With Fondest love to all at home.
From the old Son.
Miller.
The sketch ^below is a very good one Typicaly
of Sundanese
& sketched by
Lt. McShane.
Signal Officer

30.4.16:
Dearest Edith,
I know that a little note
from your old brother will be one of the
means to give you just a little pleasure
I really can't say much just now that may
interest you a great deal. First of all I might
say that I have been at a school of
instruction & am now within four days of
completing my course of three weeks
which has been very interesting & learned
much of the tactics of this rotten war which
I hope shall finish before long. But we cant
expect it to end until we have completely
broken the backbone of these Germans. And
xwhen its all over & I am once again
in good old Sydney I daresay you will of
grown a great deal when I get back
also Dear old Basil now don't forget
Edie to send me a long letter Telling me

how you are progressing with the music
etc. I bet you are making a better fist
of it than I did. I am looking for a good
time when I get back. How is the new
pup of yours getting on. It is now that
I realize how unkind I was to that little
pup you previously had. Dear Mother will
remember w if you don't. How busy I was
that day twisting of or cutting some iron
& the unfortunate dog was which was so full
of play got tangled in my feet. I never forget
little instances like that & others that have
occurred at Home. "Cheero" Edie old girl
& dont forget to write like I have done.
With fond love & kisses to all from your
loving brother
Miller.

30.4.16.
Dearest. Basil,
Just a little note this time
to make enquiries as to how you like that
Scouting Corps that Dear Mother often spoke
of in her letters, I believe you have had a
week or two from Home & put in rather a
good time. Write & let me know all the details
of the camp & the uniform you wear.
I am not up to date as to how things are
at Home. I gess you can ride that bike of
yours like a "son of a gun" by this. I bet Mother
can get anything groceries etc. like "one thing"
Kooringa must be nothing but cycles, or I
might say machinery I gess, the spray pump
is out of action now but it can easily be
fixed up by taking the cover off & giving it a
good greasing. I will have a far better idea

of a spraying aparatus when I get back.
How is that creeper growing on the wall?
I shall hardly recognize the place when I get
back. I wrote to Edie yesterday but dated
her letter the same as this but didn't quite
no what date it was but you may get
the letters together. I tell ^you what I would like
you to do, & that is - to give the barrel of
my Le. Enfield rifle a clean & then pour some
oil down the barrel it would be a pity to
let it rust too far. you will do that for me
won't you Basil it won't take a minute.
We are having splendid weather here
now but I wonder how long it will last?
Fairly warm in Sydney yet I bet my word
I would enjoy a dip in the surf now I'll
make up for lost-time when I get back . With
fondest love & kisses to all. Your loving Brother
Miller

ON ACTIVE SERVICE.
Mrs E.N. Lanser
"Kooringa"
Robinson St
Chatswood
Sydney
Australia
H.M. Lanser.

Pressed items - see original document