Letters from Alexander Sutherland Mackay to his Family, 1918 - Part 6

France
8/6/18
Dear Mother
Ive recently received the
following letters

Elsie's of 13^th Mch, 22^nd & 27^th Mch
Lily of 13^th, & 23^rd Mch
Yours of 24^th & Roys of 26^th Mch
also one from Connie Keys dated 23^rd May.
I fancy I told you last letter that
I had a pair of socks from Elsie Artillery
colours & one from Lil with letters, well
Elsie's other pair with the different colours
came to light yesterday. They are tiptop
require no branding, nobody can get
down on them. Tell Elsie not to worry
about my nervousness in wearing them.
Style is a nonentity here. Ive often struck
fellows with sugar bags wrapped round
their legs. What a boil over for those
Labour pits at the elections. it looks as
if they are in for good. Roy was saying
that my nomination had not been
 

received. I was afraid that would be
the case. We were in action when the
papers arrived, I nominated Tolmer to
save all worry, but from their arrival
we only had a week to get them down
& over to Blighty. I mentioned at the
time they would be too late, evidently
the votes from the 8 or 9 Queenslanders with
this Battery were all napos.
Ron told me he was sending for money,
it was only in case he got Paris leave.
They are restarting leave again, Im not
likely to get any for some time, as I took
long Paris leave that trip. Im not
hankering after Blighty & if my turn ever
does come & I can strike a mate Ill try
for Nice & Rome. I believe they are great.
However its no use dreaming, at present,
in fact Aussie would suit my programme
admirably. I suppose next letters from the
girls will give all news of their Montville
trip, they're wise in taking on those
trips in lieu of cities. I reckon they are
twice as enjoyable. What a terrible time
 

Australia is getting from floods &
cyclones, its about time the whole
world quietened down isnt it? Glad
Roy fixed that £25 for me. I dont think
Ill get it over unless I run absolutely stiff,
or see a probability of leave. Tell him I'm
getting the Bulletin & Sydney Mail regularly
now thanks.
We were in Action again now & likely
to remain  so for about some time. To date
we can't complain. The weather is still
very warm, although rain is hanging
about.
Well Mother I must close. Im sending
a couple of coins for Father ½d & 2½. I may have
sent them before also an Argentine penny.
Love & best wishes to all
Your affect son
Alex
 

France
18/6/18
Dear Roy,
Today I received the following
letters - Lil's of 12^th Apl, Elsies 12^th Apl, Dod's
19^th Apl, Yours of 22^nd Apl & Lil's
of 22^nd Apl. No doubt Else & Lorna look
lonely without a few lizards & boomerangs
on that horse. Evidently some letters are
missing, as so far I've received no account
of their Easter trip. I suppose they will
come to hand shortly. Little Audrey must
be getting on well, its a good thing she
takes such an interest in her lessons.
Give the old kid a kiss for me.
This posie has been pretty good so far
but this morning, he is rocking a few
in. Its a case of duck, to avoid splinters.
Our planes have him wet, theyre like
bees in the air at present. His machines
 

seldom come to light during the day.
Yesterday he was more active than y usual
but two of his planes came to grief, one an
awful gutzer in his lines, the other intact
in ours. He retaliated at dusk by bringing
down one of our Balloons in flames. An
Airscrap is very exciting, we had a good
view of his two machines coming down. Its

cruel to watch, but you can't help cheering
when you see a Fritz falling. We are
still having glorious weather, a light drizzle
occasionally but not enough to wet one.
Glad to hear they are having more
success at the "Selection", how are the Chooks
getting on, does Les make anything out of them?
Well Roy, Ive little news & simply want
to let you know Im OK. I see one
of of one of our mails from here was lost,
so no doubt some of my letters have been
destroyed.
Love to all
Alex
 

France
27/6/18.
Dear Elsie,
Since my last letter, Ive received
two from Lil & yourself giving full accounts of
the Montville trip. You both evidently had
one of the trips of your lives, what luck you
had in striking those other girls. Doris'
aeroplane stunt on the horse must have been
rather amusing. I did not know you could
stick on in the pigskin. The Cockies' luck was
in having green oranges, they would have been
minus a few otherwise, with you types knocking
about. Still in action & faring well, Fritz has
not started his push here yet. Aeroplane scrapping
is the chief excitement, two of our planes came down
intact not far away this morning. One pilot
had several bullet wounds but managed to
land safely. Yesterday afternoon we were watching
one of ours, using his machine gun of on Fritz's front line
 

He was a marvel, looking the look, dodging
& twisting a treat. He was too low for Fritz's anti-aircraft
guns to operate, (they would have caught their
own men) but his Fritz's machine guns were plugging
at him a treat. Our pot apparently did not trouble
about those, but was on to them for about 10 minutes
& then flew home. Aeroplanes are very active on this
front & some of their antics are wonderful. The
Froggies are great ones at swooping down, you think
they are going to land but when close, rise like a
bird, tip over, fly upside down or anyway you like.
Still having glorious weather. The Italians have recovered
their lost name, they are doing marvellously well, fighting
like trojans. I think if I was in Fritz's place Id
cry quits as soon as possible, undoubtedly he has a good
few kicks left yet but there is only one end, he must
come, in military language, a complete gutzer.
Ronnie hasnt written for some time. Ive no idea
where his crowd are at present.
Well Else, pay day today so Ive a bit of
work to do for a change
Love to all at home.
Your affect brother
Alex
 

France
9/7/18.
Dear Lil
This week I've received your letter
of 29^th Feb, Norman Bourke's of 10^th Apl, Elsie's
of 29^th Apl & 1st May, Roy's of 3^rd May. Else's
of 12^th May & yours of 13^th May. I fancy its
your turn to receive a letter from me. Im
pleased you saw Norman Bourke, he is one
of the best. Glad to hear you got full
particulars re my doings, I suppose you would
find much of it almost impossible to read.
Im continuing on but there is a good deal
of sameness about the days when you are in
the line. Its a case of bunching a week or
so together now & then. Got a letter from
Ron this week, he is still back where I passed
him on the road that time we were going out.
What a rotten spin poor Bert Millingen
has had, he deserves an Aussie after all
his suffering. Our fellows have been
doing well here again & apparently have
Fritz properly bluffed. Some of the reports
are as good as a play, for cheek & brazenness
 

some of our pots are impossible to beat.
They don't seem to give a continental at
times & of course Fritz suffers the results.
Aeroplanes are still very active, we counted
52 yesterday morning up above, all ours, so
needless to say there were no Fritz's machines
about. Still have glorious weather, impossible
to wear a Tunic during the day. The last
three mornings three of us have been going
for a swim to a lagoon, about a mile back.
We leave about 6.30 am returning about 8 am,
the water is perfect, clear & warm. You can
imagine how we appreciate a bath after
two or three weeks without one. Glad to hear
Roy has made use of the account for the Opera.
Keep him up to it & for anything else
that a few quid will meet. Less & Hugh are
evidently not doing too well, I hope the eggs
give Les a lift. I hope if he wants an
advance for anything Roy will help him from
my bit. I don't know how I stand but if
there is sufficient to cover any investment he
would like, he might just as well make use
of the money. Its no use letting it lie idle.
 

Your parcel has not arrived yet but
probably will do so in the course of a few
days. I've been exceptionally lucky with
letters & parcels both coming & going.
Last posie we were in, I got some postcards
from an album in a chateau. Most of them are
written in French which I think makes
them interesting. Ill post them if I get an
opportunity. Some of the kids faces are
tiptop. Well Lil, I thinks thats all
for this scribble
Love to all at home.
Your affect brother
Alex