Correspondence between Herbert Vincent Reynolds and his family, 1916 - Part 9

Aug 2nd, 1916
France.
Dear Mother
Very pleased to receive your letter
dated June 11^th, so far all the letters that you have
numbered, have reached me allright with the
exception of No10 that probably will come along
any time now, as we were moving when that one
was due, any how if only one out of a doz went
astray I would not mind.
You will be pleased to know that I have met
Pete he looked me up a few days ago. I also
met Wallie Mitchell they are both looking well
Well no doubt you will have seen the casualty
lists & seen that our lot have been in action, well
once again I got through allright & probably it
will be some time before we are in action again
Our unit suffered more than any other Fld Amb
we lost 3 killed & 16 wounded which is an extremely
high percentage considering that we had only
about 75 men in the field, the remainder were
working at the dressing station & on the cars.
I do not know how H Elliot got on I have not
seen any of his company since they came out, his
Batt have gone right back & we are still up
pretty close to the line, so I have not had a
chance of finding out wether he is still with
his Batt or not.
I received a letter from Eva Stan & Siss a few days
ago, also one from yourself. xxxx
 

No doubt you have been wondering how
things are going over here. I suppose every

body is anxiously awaiting news of the

big push, well we cannot write much

about things, but everything is going

well with us & the enemy is being forced

back inch by inch although he is making

a desperate resistance we have the guns

munitions etc. & they are beginning to tell

We have every protection against the enemys

foul gasses etc & although he makes use of

them still, only very few cases occur in

which the gass affects the troops.

We only lasted 3 days out in the vicinity

of the fighting, it was a veritable hell

& shambles the peninsula at its worst

was nothing to the artillery actions that

go on over here, we would not have lasted

a day at Anzac against artillery such

as we are facing over here, just try &

imagine a desolate landscape torn with shells

not a patch 5 yds sq, that has not a great hole

torn in it with a shell, trees stripped of

their leaves with great gaps torn in their trunks

& buildings, well, once fine structures some

of them, now a mere pile of debris, & you have

what the country looks like that we have

taken. since the advance commenced

I think this is about all that I can write this time

trusting you are all well your ever very truly

Bert

PS

Mr Key received the money that 

you sent & he is looking after it for me

until I get a chance of going across

to England, they are sending me a

parcell so I suppose it will come

along very shortly.

Bert

I only seen J Kernich out at the

line but did not have any time to

speak to him I do not know how

any of the other lads got on at all.

A.F.A. 2042.

114/Gen. No./5248.

FIELD SERVICE

POST CARD

Mrs Reynolds

Albert St

Sebastopol

Ballarat

Victoria

Australia

                                                                                         

'reverse side of Field Service post card ~ see original'

I am quite well.

 { letter dated 25/6/16
Signature } Pte H T Reynolds

only.          }

Date Aug 18th 1916

[

Aug 30^th 1916

Dear Mother

Well I think lately I have not answered

one or two of your letters, so it is up to me to do so

now, well all your letters have reached me that is since

you began numbering them, the last one came to hand

today along with letters from Sis, Eva, Ada, Mrs Stones &

Stan, your parcel also reached me safely, it proved very

acceptable, we always rush anything from home, the trouble

with it is it does not last long enough, & does not go far.

the fact that it is something from home helps to cheer one

up a little & no matter how small the articals are they are

always greatly apprieciated. The socks are just the thing

& we all enjoyed the cake especially yours truly, the

cocoa etc will come in very handy also. the other articals.

You enquired as to who the other couple of Ballt chaps are

well I don't think you will know them or their people, one is

Geo White from Ballt East he worked at the Town hall gardens I

beleive; & the other is a chap named Rowe they live at Legar St Ballt Sth

he used to work with Pete & they knew one another at home. Well the

first named chap was wounded the first day we were in action & the

other had an extremely narrow escape the third day we were in action this

second time, he received wounds about the head & shoulders, they are

both in England but we have not heard how they are getting on.

Old Sebas seems to be going down some from all accounts

but there is no need for you to worry yourself about moving out

I don't think, there will be better & different times come after

we get home. I would not con mind being in W Raines shoes

he is lucky to be back again I hope is gets along allright now.

I hope Stan gets along a bit better with his

French at school, tell him to stick at it & get

through his exams with flying colours.

Now a bit of our doings lately, we have been in action

for the second time on the Somme since last time I

wrote, our casualties this time were very heavy again

they were 4 killed & about 20 other casualties, one of which

has since proved fatal, we got a great shock on hearing

that one of our officers had died of wounds, as he only

appeared to have a slight wound & in fact it was but

the effects of a poison in the shell caused his death.

I have had extremely good luck over here & have not

had a scratch worth speaking of.

Well lately the huns have been having a pretty rough time of

it from all sides, I wonder how they feel now Rumania

has declared war against them, there ought to be a big

difference made in the Balkans now, & probably the dardanelles

question will be got over now by Russia.

At present we are getting a good deal of wet weather it rained

pretty near all last night, we are in small wooden huts which are

pretty decent they keep pretty dry.

I paid a visit to a picture show with a couple of mates     

last night, it is run by the military authorities & was worth

the price of admission 3^d but not worth getting near drowned

which we did on our way back.

Well I think this is about all the news I have to send

so trusting you are in the best of health.

I am yours ever very truly

Bert.

[*On Active Service*]

[*Aug 30 1916

11 2nd*]

Mrs Reynolds

Albert St

Sebastopol

Ballarat

Victoria

Australia

[* A M Wilson*]

Sept 12^th 1916

Dear Mother

Very pleased to receive your letter

dated July 23^rd. I received Vi's letter by the 

last mail, & was very pleased to get Herb's address

I have not met him over here yet, but I may be

able to come across him now I know his address.

Well at present we are at a rest station, which is

a sort of a convalescant camp for those suffering

from slight illness, it will accomidate about

200 but we have not that number here at present.

I have been spending my time, doing odd carpentering

jobs since we took over this camp.

We get plenty of night leave to visit a town

which is about 2 miles distant, where the principal

attractions are a couple of military picture shows

& we spend an evening at them pretty often.

I met Jack Harris a few days ago, but did not get a 

chance of  a speaking to him for many minutes. He is

keeping pretty well.

I was not surprised to hear that you had some of 

my letters returned, very likely some more will return

to you, as there were a good few that I did not

get about that date, & have not reached me since

Sept 13^th 16

Another o mail arrived today from Australia & I

received your letter dated July 30^th also one from

Eva & Siss, & one from Keys they said that they

spent an enjoyable time down at the old

home at Tydd, during the mid summer holidays.

Well Mother there is not much news to write

I wrote Mab a few lines also Vi & Ada.

At last a Zepp has been straffed in England

Mr Key in his letter said they could see it

burning as it fell; from their home which

is about 12 miles from the scene of its

destruction, he said that the raid was the

first they have had for months past in

that part of the country.

I hope our airmen get a few more successes

like that, that is the second Zepp that they

have destroyed so let us hope they will keep

on at them as long as they come on their

murderous voyages, & destroy unprotected towns.

When we were in action we witnessed the

destruction of an enemy aeroplane by one of

our airmen, the plane caught fire as it

com^menced its descent & burned till it

crashed to the ground behind our lines.

Well I hope you are all quite well at home

yours very truly

Bert.