Letters from Alexander Sutherland Mackay to his Family, 1916 - 1917 - Part 5

Port until the submarines are settled.
I'm looking forward to meeting some of 
my old mates, I doubt if many of them
will come to this camp. Haven't seen
Bill Nott for about a fortnight. Ill
probably go over next Sunday to see him
Little to do or see after the day's work
at this camp. A second rate picture show
& a variety show are the only places of
amusement, I wouldn't mind being
nearer some town. Got a reply from
Headquarters re Fred Shaws & Ronnie's address.
They evidently can't read English as the
enclosed replies will show. I asked for
their present addresses. However I've written
to Ron & will try Fred with the old address
Well Lil this mail closes tonight so I'll   
drop over & post it. Love to all
Your affect brother
Alex
[*1DRL*]

Bulford
6/3/17.
Dear Mother,
Its about time I dropped you another line
nothing really to relate since last writing Roy. We expected
to finish our schooling here this week but our gunnery test
has been postponed until Friday week. We will then go on
our four days disembarkation leave, after which we will
probably come back here for a week or so. Bill Nott got his
leave from Larkhill last week & has not yet returned. He may
be sick but is probably taking French leave. I don't know how
they are over there but overstaying leave is no joke here. They
pile it on thick & practicually will hear of no excuse whatever.
In England you can't travel far without being caught especially
in the cities. MPs are like fleas on every station & in every
town, in addition to which, any civilian policeman has the
power to pull a soldier up for his pass. Still some fellows
me seem to have solved the problem, one gent at present
in the clink is awaiting a court martial for 109 days absence.
Most of the long sentence men go to the Isle of Wight. Since
my letter to Roy. Ive had my second inoculation here. Neither
of them effected me nearly as much as those in Brisbane. 

With the exception of our letter from Phyl, Ive received no
letters since yours Lily's & Roy's came to hand. Ive just answered
Phyl's written from Blacktown, in pencil. Told her I never used
ink but have proved myself a liar, by this letter to you.
Roy has not written yet, evidently he hasn't received my
letter. Connie Keys wrote again saying they were all off to
France, she was leaving Brighton the next day for a fortnight's
leave in London. Judging by her letter, Connie does not like
the English climate anymore than I do. Men are being sent
over practically every day, the preparations being made are
evidently wonderful. Men just returning say its simply
marvellous to see the Artillery & huge guns going towards the
front. They say its a continuous stream both men & guns, the
sight of which greatly cheers the men already there & makes them
believe there can only be one in it at the end. They are
publishing no results of the submarines operations in the English
papers now, food supplies are the chief topic. Britain is
undoubtedly preparing for the knockout this Spring you can
absolutely feel it. The other Allies are evidently doing the same
so although this Spring may not bring peace, one can't help
thinking the bulk of the fighting will be over. The December
Quota is over here at Park House - a camp some 4 miles away.
I struck a number of my old Warren mates. Showery weather
has now set in no more ice & snow I sincerely hope. Our 

Sergeant just informed us the early morning parade 6 am
has been cut out from tomorrow morning first parade 9 am.
Military all over they never thought of it whilst the snow
& ice were lying all over the shop. However its nice to think
we can now keep to our bunks. This morning 56 men
were given 3 days C.B. for being late on the 6 am parade.
Luckily I missed the bus, this CB is worse than the Clink.
After parade you have to answer the bugle call every half hour
until  9.45 pm to answer your name. This mornings catch
was a record, six in our hut hut fell, as soon as "Paddy Doyle"
(as they call it) sounds all the others rush to open the door for them
advising them to hurry up. Naturally the six make use of some
very choice language & speak nicely of the O/C. One fellow in
particular is a beauty, dry but forciable I'm tired from laughing
at him. We laugh but our turn may come anytime, this new
Major makes it an easy thing to catch. Im enclosing a couple
of pages from my so called diary, these will be the last as from
now on I'll only write letters unless anything of interest crops up.
Will Mother I hope you have got a girl to help you in the
housework. Love to all & a kiss to little Audrey.
Your affect son
Alex 

[*15/3/17.
May get 4 days
leave this week, if so
will see Elliot & get him
to cash cheque for me, or give
me letter of introduction to our
London office.*]
Bulford
10/3/17.
Dear Roy,
Your letter of 29^th Decr & one from Dod dated 7^th Janry
arrived today. Evidently some home letters are missing as to date
I've received two from you, one from Mother & one from Lily. The mails
owing to the submarines are very erratic at present, letters may
arrive anyday. The papers are arriving OK, Couriers, Sydney Mail &
Bulletin came yesterday. Glad to hear Claude Watson is in the
Artillery. Im always congratulating myself on picking that Branch
of the service. Grooming horses gets fairly monotonous but its
miles ahead of footslogging with packs up. All the snow & slush
will be over by the time he arrives & England should be just
the thing. I don't think he need worry about any delay in Brisbane
he is certain to get his fill before this war ends. They picked
150 men, as a draft for France, yesterday. I missed, as ab all our
squad did, owing to us not passing out until next week.
They say another draft will be picked in about 10 days time.
The present draft have not received any definite date of departure,
but they are all ready to leave at a moments notice, & in the
meantime are confined to camp. It looks as if our disembarkation
leave is up a tree but you can never tell, it may come to light.

It snowed fairly heavily all day yesterday, the result being that
we had no gun drill. Lectures inside one of the huts for three hours
physical jerks for one hour & stables for three hours, filled in the day.
Saturday morning we always fill in in the stables, today however
we instead of grooming horses, the officers only had to turn their
backs before snowballing commenced. No doubt its great fun & often
reminds me of the fight we had at Amity with those jelly fish.
I stopped several beauties fair in the nut, but everyone got the
his share. Today was rather colder than yesterday, as the snow
now on the ground has a fair amount of ice mixed with it.
One doesn't mind the snow itself, its the slush caused as soon as
the thaw sets in. Fancy wearing woollen shirt, khaki shirt, cardigan jacket,
underpants, tunic & pants, overcoat & raincoat at the present time in
Australia & a fire (when we have sufficient coal) in the hut, day & night.
Barring overcoat, raincoat, tunic, leggings & boots, nothing is shifted on
going to bed. Generally manage to secure two hot baths during
the week & ^they are the only occasions on which your shirts of come off. Each
week end, I have a complete change of clothing but bar uniform.
We have to hand one uniform in on going to France so I'm
keeping one solely for future use. The one in use at present
will be the gift on my departure. I told mother in my last
letter they had cut out the 6 am parade & no doubt its a lovely
invention, the first stir in the hut now is between 7 & 7.30 am.
Breakfast is at 8 am first parade at 8.45 am, -  not bad at all. 

I hear the December Quota now at Park House, are coming to this
camp immediately the draft picked, leaves. I hope so as it
will mean joining in again with a number of my Warren mates.
Fellows are split up all roads at present, they say you eventually
join the Brigade, you left Australia to reinforce. But goodness
knows if thats a fact, one is never surprised at anything they
do in the Military nowadays. They spring all sorts of jokes on men.
Bill Nott is back again I believe, two days overdue, they say
he was in hospital in London. He will probably write in a
day or so, his sickness may have been genuine, but I fancy
he worked his block. Food supplies are causing some uneasiness
in England, especially spuds. The papers say that large crowds
wait for hours in front of all the storekeepers in the cities trying
to purchase their share of potatoes (2 lbs) - Evidently things are
a damn sight worse in Germany, I hope so, as its shot bird
to cause revolutions & so end this terribly scrap. Well Roy Ill
close. I hope to advise receipt of some home letters next
mail. Love to all
Your affect brother
Alex.
14/31/7. Received a letter from Ernie Pillar today, he tells me you received
my letters from Durban & Cape Town. Evidently home letters acknowledging them are
astray. The draft left last night. We pass out tomorrow at Gunnery & I hear we are
to go with a draft to France, within a fortnight. The camp seems quite deserted at present
but batches of men from Park House are expected this week. Saw the account of Connie Keyes
receiving the M.C. good luck she thoroughly deserves it. 

Bulford
22/3/17
Dear Mother,
We passed out of this school on Friday & are now
waiting for the next draft to France. Since writing to Roy, I received
a letter from Elsie telling me all about her Gin Gin trip, she
evidently had a lovely time, its a wonder all that riding did not
shake her up. I managed to get my disembarkation leave of 4 days
with a fellow named Daye Davey went to London & Brighton.
Leaving camp on Saturday morning at 8 am, we caught the train
at Bulford at 8.45 am reaching London at about 12 oclock. On
arrival, we jumped in a taxi & went to the Queensland Agent General's
Office to see Roy's friend Elliot. He is a very nice fellow, asked
all about Roy & Doug. I got him to give me a letter of introduction
to the Secretary of our Bank & he also took my address in case I
should require anything in the F future. They have a large staff
at the Agency, chiefly girls. We then had lunch at a restaurant
& left for Brighton about 3 pm arriving about 4.20 pm - a little over
an hour to go 52 miles. Davey lives there so we stopped with his
people. Brighton is a regular city & of course one of the fashionable
seaside resorts of England. All along the seafront there are lovely green
lawns & promenades. There are also two magnificent piers, one a mile, the 

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other 1¼ miles long. The piers are roofed the whole distance & on top
they have electric lights of every colour in long rows. Of course there
are never lighted now but one can easily imagine how beautiful
they would look at night. At the end of the pier there are
Refreshment rooms, tobacconists shops, fancy goods & Photographers.
In addition to above, on one pier they have a theatre (Dress circle, stalls
& gallery) so you can see they are substantial structures. At present
the ends of the piers are rather knocked about, as if heavy seas
had been on. Some huge buildings ^in Brighton one in particular is a mansion 
built by King George III, now used as a hospital for wounded soldiers.
In peace time I believe it is used for concerts & ceremonial functions.
We only saw the outside, the architecture is wonderful, huge domes
& frills of all descriptions. I should say the ornamentations alone would
cost thousands of pounds. The stables they say, are like large dining halls.
I made several inquiries about Connie Keyes in Brighton, but none of the
men knew her, so undoubtedly she is over in France. Its rather
dismal in English towns during the war, everything in darkness. All
the windows are covered with dark blinds, its a criminal offence
if any light is showing outside. Saturday night we went to the
Hippodrome - a Revue not up to much. Leaving Brighton Monday
morning we got back to London about 1 pm, after feeding our faces
we made a bee line for the Tower of London. To appreciate this place
thoroughly one would require to read up his old English History.
Im sending a book or guide I purchased which may give you some idea.. 

(3)
we saw Raleigh's room, the room where the two princes were smothered,
traitors gate, scaffold site, several other dismal sights. I should say a
prisoner wouldn't last long in this place some of the rooms are simply
little dens. They are hundreds of years old & in many places you see
on the walls carvings by oldtime prisoners. These are all covered by
glass plates. The Jewel House took my fancy, its simply indescribable
The Jewels are in a huge glass case surrounded by iron bars & police
all round. Saw the present King & Queen's Crowns, Prince's Coronet
jewelled swords, maces staffs, trumpets silverware of all sorts, its
really beautiful. We then came to the Armoury, to look at the
oldtime breastplates helmets etc & weapons of defence one wonders
how on earth our men could ^carry such weight to fight in. Evidently
they had much better physique then, than now. The horses also had
enormous plates. We saw various suits of armour built for the older
kings, Henry VIII is a pet, apparently he was an enormous man with
a large gut (Pillar & Doug are not in it). His suit made to order, is set
up on horseback, its a sight. The old cannon, rifles & pistols are
weird looking things, but its an eyeopener to see the weapons of defence
before guns came in, battleaxes, swords, lances of all sizes & shape. How
one man could hold some of the tilting lances we saw, is a mystery
One sword built in the tenth century was about the size of our present
day sword, it looks as if they had better workmen in steel in those
days than they have now. From the Tower we went over the Tower
Bridge, London Bridge & Waterloo Bridge all over the Thames.