Cecil Mills Collection - Wallet 3 - Part 7 of 17

6/ Some first class paper flirtations

are started over the Billys, so dont you go having
a Billy Boy except your really own, even if his
name is not Bill. Don't you imagine for one
minute that we are at the mercy of the Germs
when they ring in a Gas attack.  We have Gas
Helmets, each man carries two with him at all
times, The helmet can be adjusted in 15 seconds
- one can then laugh at all the bally gas the
Huns can send across. Of course there are
always casualties in a gas attack, as the notice
given is so short. The stuff comes at the same
speed as the breeze & the trenches are not as a rule
very far apart. The trouble is to get the men who
are in dugouts asleep outside & awake in time.
You would laugh so see our rig outs sometime.
Our Shrapnel Helmets (tin hats we call them) &
then gas helmets with big glass eye pieces making
us look like submarine divers are perfectly
ludicrous, but I would not like to be without one.
The Weeping Shells are the limit. We had
experiments wish them at the Grenade School,
There is no smoke at all once they have exploded,
but just go somewhere near where the burst occurred
then the fun starts. The irritation in the nose is
something awful, the eyes run so that one cannot
see, & generally speaking a man is useless.  But
we have the counter for this. We have a special
pair of goggles that clips over the nose & shields
the eyes, & then that is finished with. The gas itself has
no after effects. As regards liquid gas, it is
certainly very terrifying, but it cannot be squirted

7/
any great distance, & the flames rise so quickly.
that men only have to hug the ground & it passes
over then quite safely. You all want to
remember at home, that we have all these things
as well now, & that M Hun does not have it all
his own way by any means. There has been a
lot of talk in the English papers lately about our
Air Service. In this locality we easily have the
supremacy of the Air. The British Airmen fly
a great deal lower & more frequently than the Huns
& seem to have an absolute contempt for the Germs
Anti aircraft guns. Saw a beautiful sight one
day last week. Five of our big planes were returning
from a raid somewhere in Belgium, flying in
Battle Formation they came directly across the
German lines through a perfect cloud of bursting
shrapnel.  One after the other they came over - 
then when over our lines, in succession did a
lovely volplane about 45° for quite 2000 ft.  It
must have made the Fritz gunners grind their
teeth.  Just got word that Fritz has smashed
to smithereens the billets we were in while doing that
fatigue party. Cyril Docker's Company took it over from
us hope he has not got hurt. We built good trenches
at rear, so there was plenty of cover for all of them.
You are a bally millionaire having a Cr balance
of £24. The £5 in Cairo & £10 in Alexandria will cut
that down some when the drafts go through. Be sure
& put some into your Savings Bank a/c. You could
open a new one in New South Wales, that would
save you the trouble of writing to Williams

8/
It is just as well to keep the a/c on the wrong side
draw a bit out each month if you have more than
you require, but dearie for goodness sake do not
stint yourself of a single thing. It was nice
of PG.Mann, Co mention to R H Mann to attend
to anything for you, that you might require
advice about. I will write to Harry shortly
perhaps after lunch. Found out from an Imperial
Officer where his Divisional Head Quarters are.
Good distance away from here. Hope I can run
across him sometime. No more now old Dearie
but it does my heart good to read all about
Johnnies prinks & pranks in your letters & to
know also that you are keeping so very well.
Wish all my love so my two Dearest ones
Your loving husband
Cecil

O.A.S
Abroad
46
Mrs CB Mills
C/- Dr A Burne
"Kinellan"
Dalley St
Waverley
New South Wales
Australia

France
30:5:16

Dear Old Girl
The letter I finished
off on Sunday should have
just caught a mail & today
I heard a whisper in a very
low tone that another mail 
closes today, so in case of
accidents, just a wee note
to let you know I am quite OK
and feeling as fit as ever.
Absolutely nothing doing the
last couple of days.  The whole
Battalion is on fatigue & my
Grenade class is [[smashed/finashed]] up
for the time being. Yet is very
disappointing, as the men were
taking quite a keen interest in
the work & were getting on nicely.
We hear there is a mail down at
Brigade & we should get part of
it this afternoon. Your letters
should be one from Sydney & also
one from Kempsey

2/
Wrote a note so Harry today
telling him I was over here as
he is a H.Q. man, he can
easily find out exactly where
our Brigade is, & may be able
to arrange a meeting someday.
Hope he can manage it.
Suppose our Boy is now running
about all over the place, nearly
15 months old. It will be grand
when the bally old War is over &
we can all be together again.
Only a wee little note today as
Ive got a good few things to do
& in case the whisper is true
want to get a note on the mail.
Such big loves so my two own
[[Bestists]] in all the world
Your own old man
Cecil

47 O.A.S. abroad

Mrs C.B. Mills
C/- Dr. A Burne
"Kinellan"
Dalley St
Waverley
New South Wales
Australia