Letters relating to William George Blaskett, 1916-1919 - Part 11

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Charlie's exam result. As

to the matters of which you

speak in connection with it,

I can sympathise with Modge,

for I have had my full share

of the same thing at various

times.

And now. dearest Mother,

I dont think theres anymore

I can say, except that I hope

old Modge got on alright at

the Kindi meeting. I'm glad he's

sticking up for the K. The other

people are a bit too hot. They

always were. I think I have

received practically all the parcels

you sent; all those you mentioned

in your letter anyway.

Now I must close with fondest

love to all from your ever loving

son       W.

France

15/4/17

Dear Mrs Blaskett

It is with sincere regret

that I inform you of the death of your

Son 2^nd Lt Blaskett, He served with me for

a long time and I selected him as an Officer

because of his good work. We attacked the

Hindenburg line on the 11^th April and your

Son went forward with his Comrades, but

was shot getting into the trench and I am

informed died immediately. Your Son was 

a good Officer and a brave man and it

is extremely hard to lose him, I lost

my own brother and nephew in the same

attack .So I can feel for you in your

Sorrow. You can be well proud of your

boy he got his promotion through sheer

hard work and led his men bravely and 

well, .Will you please accept my very

Sincere Sympathy .May God give you

strength to bear your sad loss.

Very Sincerely Yours

Raymond L. Leane

Lt Col

In the Field

April 16^th 17.

Dear Mrs Blaskett

The pain of your

sons death will still I am

afraid be still strong with

you. It is keenly regretted

by us all. William joined his 

Battalion as a Private and 

gradually worked his way up

the ladder richly earning each

promotion which he received.

On 11^th inst his Battalion attacked

a strong position and in the

midst of the action the boy

passed out. He was an

officer of great courage and

had earned the utmost respect

of all who had come in contact

2.
with him.

Please accept the heart

felt sympathy of the Brigade

for which your boy worked so

hard, and I trust the

nobleness of his death will

bring some solace to you in

your deep grief

Yours very sincerely

J.C Robertson

Brig. Gen.

G.O.C. 12^th Inf Brigade

France. April 18th 1917.

Dear Mr & Mrs Blaskett and Charlie

It is with a 

feeling of great sadness that I take up my pen

to write you. Today I learnt with deep

regret of your very sad bereavement. I could

not beleive it at first. and hastened to

Battalion Headquarters to see if the report was 

true, and found that was too true.  At
such times as this, it is difficult to write

ones thoughts down. I have lost a dear

friend, one of the finest young men I have

known. You have lost more, a son and

brother, and one whom any parent would

feel proud to call son. I cannot say how

sorry I feel for you all, but when I

say that I had grown to love Will as

a brother, you will know that it is

possible for me to sympathise with you. and

to understand your feelings. His loss came

as a very great shock to me, as it was

only a short time ago, that we spent many

happy hours together. Whilst will's Battalion

was camped close to mine, of a night time

we used to get together, and away from

everybody else, we would talk over old times.

He always struck me as being remarkably

cheerful, and never once have I heard

him complain of his lot. I well remember

the last time we met. It was one night

(2)

about 7.30 p.m. he came down to my

billet. and after making arrangements for

a football match between his and my units,

we left the others and went into a

French house, and over cups of coffee talked

about the happy times we had spent together

in sunny South Australia. God alone knows

what you have suffered, and my earnest prayer is

that he may give you Strength to bear your

great loss. He understands the aching heart, and

He alone can keep you in such times as

this, and it is to Him that I commend

you all. It is hard that poor old Will

should go, and others stay, but God moves

in a mysterious way. Some young men

whom I have known and met here, have

proved in conversation and in other ways

that they are not what they were. Not so

with Will. I was struck by his manly

bearing, and his high moral standing, which

must have influenced many with whom he

came in contact. A promising young life has

been cut short, and one who had brilliant

prospects has gone. and it is hard. but you
must remember at all times that Christ

said "In my Father's House are many mansions,

I go to prepare a place for you" Before many

years are passed there will be a family reunion.

and until then we must trust God.

(3)

Will has made the supreme sacrifice, and has

given his all for those he loved." Greater love

hath no man than this".

I went to his Battalion to endeavour to get

some particulars, and although painful, I know

that you would like to know all.

They speak of him in the highest terms, and

some of his men have told me that he was

the hero of the day. He led his men, and

was first in the Enemy's line, and from there

he led them to the Second line, and was

the first there, but he fell when he got

there. It will be comforting to know that

he did not suffer at all, he was killed

instantly by a bullet either from a rifle

or machine guns. I do not like telling

you this, but thought you would like

to know as much as possible.

I wrote to Mrs Peace, and to Mr Cleak

and told them the sad news. as I know

that they corresponded with him regularly,

and thought a lot of him.
If there is anything that I could do for
you I will be only too happy to do it.

I cannot say more just now.

I sincerely trust that time will assuage your

grief, and that this letter, despite your sufferings,

will find you in good health.

Your Sorrowing friend     Hard as it was.

Copy of letter from

Sgt Leslie Sando

48^th Battalion. A.I.F.

Well dear Mother, I want you to do me a favour

as I know you wont mind, I want you to go and

visit Bill Blasketts mother and give her a message for

me. I have tried to write to her, but I really

cannot express or put into writing (not to her at any rate)

what I think of poor old Will.

Although he was an officer we were the very best of pals

right from the time we left Australia. He was in

the same platoon as me up to the time he received

his commission  Well Mum our crowd had to

make an attack and it happened that the company

Bill was in had to be the first wave. We got a

very hot reception I can tell you, but I managed

to get through. When I was about 200 yds away

from the trench we we had to take I saw somebody

several yds in front of everybody jump into the

trench, I did not know who it was at the time,

I reached the trench a bit further down and as soon

as I got there, I was told by a Sergt that it was Bill

who was in front, but that he was killed just as

he landed in the trench, I went at once to the spot

only to find him stretched out on a fire step.

One blessing he died instantaneously.

It broke me up completely though as I thought

such a lot of him. Tell Mrs Blaskett that there

P.T.O.

was not a man who didnt say something like this.

What do you think of Bill Blaskett I reckon he was one of

the gamest I have ever seen, such were the remarks passed

about him afterwards

Well mother I cannot express or put into writing what 

I think of Bill Blaskett but I am sure I'll never meet

again, such a clean living, honest, brave and gentlemanly

fellow if I live to be a hundred years old.

I took his wristlet watch off him, and will send it

with his pocket book to his mother

AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH

MILITARY FORCES

Sergeants' Mess,

12th Training Battalion.

Codford.

1^st August

1917.

My Dear Mother

Have just received your

welcome letter date 28/5/17.  According

to all accounts you have not been

getting very many of my letters.

Did you ever get that photo

of Billy Blaskett, that I sent home

to you? Also that letter that I

wrote telling you how poor old

Billy was killed? I'll be a very

sore man if that photo of his

has gone down, as he wrote a little

on the back, and wanted that as

a keepsake. I also sent a pair

of German Field Glasses home to

Mabel, but I suppose they have 

gone down too. In case you

didn't get that letter explaining

how my pal, was killed, I'll repeat

write it again. I couldn't didn't. write

to Mrs Blaskett myself as I