Letters from Alexander Sutherland Mackay to his Family, 1916 - 1917 - Part 2

December Quota
Field Artillery
The Warren
Marrickville
Sydney.
30/10/16
Dear Roy,
Yours to hand & by now, I suppose           
your are, like myself, fully satisfied that the
Irish are. not the only traitors to the Country
I'm afraid the soldiers votes, although of great
numbers, will hardly pull up such an enormous
deficiency. This state should feel proud, I dont
think, by tonight's paper 112000 odd in excess of
the loyalists. Fridays procession through the Sydney
streets opened by eyes to a certain extent. I never
saw such a crowd in my life, the streets & house tops
were simply a human mass chiefly women folk.
We started in fours but eventually got down to
single file & then could ^only get through. The numbers,
wearing Noes badges along the route, almost broke
ones heart. Numbers of these flappers & hideous old
hens, who probably never caught a man in their
lives, all had this parrot cry "Do you want us to
marry chinamen & blacks, because if you do vote Yes. 

It was absolutely useless arguing with them, so eventually
we could only grind our teeth & curse. Things were
fairly brisk before the Saturday, but that day itself was
very orderly. You should have seen Bill Nott, wherever
he saw a crowd he bunged right into the midst of
it. Friday night they had a large meeting in favor
of conscription, a returned soldier, & a young rather
miss looking female being a the leading lights.
Bill went into town with us but the last I saw
of him, he had his arm round the girl protecting
here from the crowd & ready to job anyone who
said "Boo". No doubt his face protects him, he is
a regular breakup. I stopped in town Saturday
night & went over to Mosman Sunday morning. In
the afternoon Dod Phil & I went to some people
named Tod at Chatsworth, going on to the
Blackets at Lingfield, afterwards for tea. Uncle Jim
& his brothers are all tarred with the one brush, you
can't help liking them, they are so considerate.
Mother wrote yet from Bathurst, she is enjoying
the cold weather, & evidently Andrey is having the
time of her life. No doubt it will do them both
all the good in the world. I hope Mother does
not hurry back as the will profit much more
by her stay there, than in Sydney. Poor old Keith
[*Tell Beryl that I received her letter & will write later. Leslie is evidently
having better luck with his fowls*] 

fell in for a bad cold but I believe is now on the
mend. Aunt Belle should also benefit by the change.
Phil & Wod are tiptop girls arn't they? Phil is acting
as cook at present so I haven't been going over as
frequently as I did when Aunt Belle was home.
We are always comparing Sydney & Brisbane & I can't
say I always win. The Richmond Record proves a
bit of a disadvantage in such arguments, but Ive
assured them I wouldn't mind them opening it
to read the worlds news, during my absence. The
November Quota is supposed to leave Wednesday week so
we will probably get a move on early in December.
This is still a keystone camp absolutely no gun drill,
they spend most of their time working out how to
l keep the men occupied for the day. Needless to say
the men are becoming real expert pointers. &
malingerers themselves. I wonder what Hughes will
do now, those fellows in camp may rest assured
they won't get out until they enlist, in any case.
Suppose Norah is still making good, its a relief
to Mother to know she has turned out trumps, & Else
& Lil will not cry over it. When does Lil expect
her holidays. Well Roy Ill knock off.
Remxxxx xxxats Thank Hunter Portus for his
trouble over those tickets, sorry we did not strike a
divy.

[*Regards to all at home, Doug Nell Pillar & Coy.
Your affect brother
Alex.*] 

December Quota
Field Artillery
The Warren Marrickville
Sydney.
30/ 10/16.
Dear Mother,
Your letter arrived yesterday also one
from Roy, I'm pleased to hear you are having such
nice weather, the change should do you an enormous
amount of good. I suppose Andrey is in her element
with the younsters, she will always remember this
trip. The Girls told me Kath's cold is on the mend
I hope so, poor beggar has had enough knocking
about for the time being. Well what do you think
of the Referendum? I almost feel ashamed of being
an Australian. Of course there are a huge number
of Soldiers votes to come in yet, but I'm afraid the
margin is too great to pull up. In the eyes of the
world I fancy we will be classed with the Irish -
traitors to the Empire. The defeat will have such
a bad moral effect with the Allies & no doubt the
stinking Germans will make the most of it. This
lovely state is the chief culprit by tonights paper
this states surplus for No, was some 112000. One
thing is practically certain, those fellows now in 

camps won't get out, so they might just as well enlist.
I'd give anything to see Martial Law proclaimed at
once. I was confident all along of Yes winning, until
Friday when we had the procession through the
streets. I then got the surprise of my life. Iv never
saw such a crowd, the streets & housetops were simply
packed. We started marching four abreast but
on reaching Wooloomooloo we had to march in single
file & could only then get through. The crowd were
chiefly women & young girls & at Woolloomooloo especially
they were all asking us to vote No. Trams brought
us out & back & on reaching home we could just
about talk. We were yelling on the return journey
at everyone we thought had a vote to go for Yes.
If they agreed they got a cheer, if not, a lot of
cheek. We struck one well dressed female evidently
a firebrand for No, as she answered very determinedly
when I asked her. She started across to hand me
a paper but I simply waved it aside & started a
chorus of Yeses. All our crowd joined in, she was
livid with temper, she was yapping at me all the
time but of course you could only see her lips
moving. Our chorus of Yes drowned everything, she
would have scratched my face with pleasure when
we started to laugh at her. Im afraid we dispensed 

with all respect, but we just felt in the humour
after the procession. I stopped in town on the
Saturday night & went out to Mosman on the Sunday
morning. In the afternoon, Dad Phil & I went to
Chatswood to the Tods. Uncle Jim going on to
Lingfield. We went on there for tea afterwards.
Its a splendid idea they have at the settlement
as it is called, the three houses with no dividing
fences. Its practically the same as if they lived
in one house. They are all so very nice, one felt
at home immediately. Mr & Mrs. Blacket & Mrs
Cox especially, they're Blackets to the backbone.
The November Quota leave Wednesday week I believe,
so probably we will leave early in December. I won't
be sorry, as all our fellows are heartily full of malingering
here. They might just as well give us leave until the
boat sails, as we are learning absolutely nothing. In
four weeks we have had about ½ a day's drill on
the guns simply a few guards & marches. The January
Quota although not leaving until after we depart, have
had more drill, y so you can see they have no
system whatever. All they seem to worry about, is
that we are not in the lines or hanging around
headquarters, anywhere as long as we are out of sight
& can fill in the day. Well Mother I must drop a
[*few lines to Roy. Our Quota is on duty tonight, so I did not bother about going

in. Like Brisbane its a case now of go in anytime you like A Pass is a

consideration. Kind regards to all & a kiss to Audrey.
Your affect son
Alex. *]

At sea
S.S. "Benalla"
10/1/16
Dear Mother,
Needless to say I was very
disappointed at missing you. Two of
us were picked as waiting men & on
arrival at the boats side it was found
one of the picked to go, was missing, also
the other waiting man. Of course I was
then called. I sincerely hope they make
it hot for the missing men, as everyone
knew they would slip if possible.
We left the Warren Camp at 5 am ^yesterday
reaching the wharf about 6 am & I can
tell you we were all thoroughly tired
having had practically no sleep the
previous night. We had all embarked
by 7 am & then put out into the

harbour until 2 pm when we set sail 

South, nobody appears to know
we are to call at Melbourne or
not so it may be sometime before
you receive this letter. Although so sorry
to miss you, I was jolly pleased I had
no relations at the boatside. One view
of a troopship leaving, is enough, its
a pitiful sight, we were accompanied
to the heads by a fleet of small
launches packed with relations & friends.
The majority of the womenfolk were
properly broken up, resulting in a large
number of men aboard having moist eyes.
We struck a bit of a swell outside & some
were soon in a prone condition. Today
the number considerably increased so far
I've been as good as gold. We had
some sport last night fixing the hammocks 

but eventually got settled thoroughly
enjoyed the sleep. Naturally things are
a bit mixed aboard at present, probably
a few days will lapse before everything
is in working order. Bill Nott is with
me, he opened the Ball by punching
a fellow for smoking between decks
no doubt its a dangerous practice with
all the kits stowed round. They have
issued strict orders against it. I hope you
got a wire from Uncle Jim, I gave one
wire to a Sergeant Major & then in case
he forgot, sent another ashore by a
parson. I suppose Lily will be in
Bathurst on Monday, no doubt she
will be excited over the trip. I thought
I would be able to meet her Sunday
morning, it just shows you can't read 

the future. Well Mother, Ill close
this letter in case a boat might pass
& take our mail. All letters are to
be left open in order to be censored
I will number this one & continue to do
so. Won't worry if letters don't turn up
you will know that no opportunity to
post a letter has occurred
my address is
Gunner. A. S. Mackay
No 30137
6^th Reinforcements
9^th Brigade
Field Artillery.
[*CJF
Lt
11.11.16*]
The O/C told us that our friends
by giving the above particulars to the
Secretary, Defence Dept Melbourne,
could find out the our exact address
at any time.