Cecil Mills Collection - Wallet 1 - Part 1 of 12

AUSTRALIAN IMPERIAL FORCES
TRAINING DEPOT.
SEYMOUR. 
Broady
29:10:15
Dear old Petty Girl
Will you pay
the enclosed a/c for £2:10:6
into your credit at the first
opportunity. Got here OK, they
had commenced to telephone for
me, to attend a lecture at 8/30
& it is nearly that now, so
can't write any more now
I'll be looking out for a big
wave in the morning
Your loving Husband
Cecil

Mrs C.B. Mills
"Gowrie"
10 Ardmillon Road
Moonee Ponds

Australian Commonwealth 
Military Forces

Y.M.C.A.
E. G. CLIFFIN
FIELD SERVICE SECRETARY 
The Young Men's Christian Association
OF TASMANIA, ON ACTIVE SERVICE WITH
The Australian Imperial Forces 

At Sea
30th October 1915.
 
My Darling Fairy.
Your letter written after I left
you on Tuesday reached me on board the Boat after
we had sailed. It is such a dear brave old letter
that I read it often & will soon know it word for word.
It has to do me for a long time, as there is no chance
of hearing from you again until we reach Egypt. I
have written to your Mother thanking the old Dear
for her wire. We had a pretty busy time at Broady
getting away, but we had the most successful dis embarkation
of any troops that have ever left Melbourne up to the present
time. The arrangements were all carried out well & the
people were allowed on to the Wharf quite two hours before
the ship sailed. Of course the men were all on board &
could not go off to meet any one. Outside Military
Officers I did not see anyone on the Pier I knew for
which I was thankful. It is a sad business, the departure
of troops for Active Service. I have discovered Pettie that
all women are the same underneath. Rich & Poor, there is
no difference when it comes to saying good bye to their men.
I saw the same look in dozens of eyes that I saw in yours
last Tuesday afternoon, when marching from Port Melbourne
to the Pier & I am ever so thankful you were not among the
people there, as I could not have borne it. I think it was

2/ 
better to say our farewell the way we did. The dear old 
train went slowly past you, as tho the driver knew 
I could see you for a long time. The crowd on the 
Pier was wonderful, & it was really a beautiful sight, 
with the thousands of streamers floating about. 
We went straight out the same night & had the men 
settled down fairly well the first night. The sea sickness 
did not commence among them until they got out of 
their hammocks the next morning. It was rough from 
the first night & it was not only the men that suffered. 
Only 3 of the Officers escaped absolutely & so far I've 
been one of the lucky ones & consequently have had to 
do duties for other fellows. It is a lovely ship & we 
should have a very enjoyable voyage if we strike good 
weather.  I have a nice 2 Berth Cabin (Sunday 12:15 PM) 
to myself. Cabin Stewards, Bath Steward ec are all laid on 
& we are first class passengers, except that we do not pay any 
fares. The food is excellent & well cooked. The men had a 
pretty rotten time the first two days, but are all settling 
down to it now.  They are being very well fed. Of course 
they are crowded a good bit, but they have plenty of deck 
space. The Officers only have a small part of the Boat 
deck reserved. We are all hitting it pretty well together - 
we should be a happy family during the voyage. There 
are 7 sisters on Board.  They all seem very nice women, 
though one would not exactly pick them for their beauty. 
I produced Johnnies photos last night, &  entered him 
against any of the other officers' children at Weight for 
age. Johnnie got the verdict quite easily, as was only 
to be expected.  The troops are writing millions of letters. 
I had to knock off last night & have a go at censoring. 
Had 2 hours this morning, & have to go on again after 
lunch. Four of us are now on the work. Lunch is on now so will 
write more after the censor job is finished 

3/ 
Sunday afternoon. 

Going to write a little more before commencing on the
letter reading again. I know Dearie you will have many
a lonely hour before I come back to you and it is
very brave of you to let me go so willingly to take my
share in the war, to fight on behalf of you & the boy.
Don't fret about it any more than you can help, but
keep on looking forward to my return. I am kept
pretty busy all day and intend to do the right thing
by the men that I am placed in charge of. Newey
is Adjutant of the Ship & Hamilton our other
Officer is Chief Censor, so practically the whole of
the work in connection with our men falls upon me.
I had the dog watch the second night out, till 5
both morning & afternoon. One Officer has always
to be on duty ready to take orders from the Ships
Officers. I ought to have been sick, as I've eaten
some frightfully rich things. For lunch. I had Giblet
Soup, Welsh Rarebits, Prawn Mayonaisse, Chicken -
Ham. Did not bother about any sweets or cheese,
only had fruit & coffee. I got quite a shock the
first night out when having a bath, to in discovering
how thin I had got, could count all my ribs with ease.
Suppose it was all the rushing about I've had lately, so
I'll put on some condition again during the next 3 weeks.
or so

The Canteen is very good on Board. Can buy
anything almost & once we leave Australia, the
duty comes off everything & we will be almost paid
to take things away. The ship supplies us with
everything such as towels soap &c  & there is no
occasion to spend any money. Ive spent 6 so
far, in having a Ginger Ale with Claridge yesterday.
There is no liquor on board, except what is sold on
the sly. We heard rumours today that the crew are
peddling whisky at ₤1 per bottle & Beer @ 2/6. We
are trying to catch them at it & then there will be
something doing. Your packing was a great success.
Put my hand onto everything I wanted at once.
Unpacked my cabin trunk second day out, as I've
got 2 wardrobes to put things in, so I don't have to
have the trunk out now when I want anything
Am ever so glad that you like being at M^rs Wragges
Hope it will always be so until you want to go over
to Sydney. You know where this letter will be posted,
& there will be no chance of posting another until
we get to Egypt. I will try & wire you from our
first port of call which will be where this letter is
posted. Will not be able to go ashore myself.  Such
a great crowd of the letters I have censored are written to
parents, nice manly letters most of them, that it makes
one very proud of ones men & also makes one realise
what a jolly fine body of men they are taking them as
a whole. The fountain pen is going well & is a great
blessing to me. Am not quite used to writing with it
yet, but that will come with practice. Now for some more
censoring.

5/ 
10 PM.

Had another big go in at censoring & the back of the
job is nearly done broken now. Had to get busy with
indelible pencil & water a few times, but most of the
men seem to understand that they cannot write about
certain things when on Active Service Abroad. The tucker
is still something to write home about.  Seems to be improving if  
anything. Up to the present we have done no drill, but we
intend making an attempt tomorrow. The men are
beginning to feel pretty flash now the sea sickness is
wearing off, plenty of good tucker & no work is as good
to them. Tomorrow we have a Medical Inspection. We
expect to discover a few cases of Venereal Disease; not
many I hope. Today I was deputed to get up a Sweep on
the Melbourne Cup among the AIF Officers & the Ships
officers. There were 30 horses left in on Wednesday last, &
of course we do not know how many have been scratched
since, so we all think we are getting a run for our ½ crown
whether we are or not. In case I forget to mention it
later on. My absolutely correct address is
Lieut CB Mills, 6th Reinforcements, 23rd Battallion,
6th Infantry Brigade, A.I.F. Egypt. I am more than
pleased I did not buy a lot of things to bring with me.
Ive got everything I want for the voyage & anything I
want later can be purchased the other side to more
advantage than in Melbourne.

6/
 
We sighted a few whales today, but they were not
very close to the Ship & we did not run any of them
down. so far it has been fairly cool, but the Sisters
reckon it will start & warm up once we leave get into
the Indian Ocean, which will not be long now.
The O.C. Troops who is in charge of this Transport is
not much chop as a disciplinarian & it will fall upon
we subalterns to keep things up to the mark. We
have yet to find out whether he will support us, when
we put the acid on any of the men. I can see
trouble sticking out by yards with a few returned
soldier chaps going back to the front. They are probably
Venereal Disease chaps that have never seen any fighting
at all, but they try to run the roost, & bluff the Officers
that have not been across before. I don't think much
of their chance however. I paid all the men again
yesterday & today & they made things hum in the Canteen.
These swaddies are very reckless with their money when
they get it. They get heaps of good food, but go & fill 
their tummies with all sorts of tinned fruit, biscuits,
& soft drinks. Well Dearie Girl, I'm off to my Bunk
Lower 25 to be exact. Wish I could find my
Dear old Wife & Johnnie there when I went in, but
I'll shut both eyes tight & imagine they are there, &
look forward to the time I'll really be with you both
again. Good night my Dearie. Will be able to
write more before the Mail closes. Ba Ba
 

7/
  
Time for a little more this morning before the
Mail shuts up. We expect to hit Port tomorrow.
Weather is keeping so so, not absolutely calm yet,
& some wind still about. Nearly all the men
have got over their sea sickness & are getting very
fresh & gay. A hard days drill would be a good
thing for them but the boat is still rolling too much
for Physical Jerks. Well Old Darling, it will
seem such a long time before I get a letter from you & 
Johnnie but I know there will be one chasing along
after me very soon. I've got to chase away now
down to my mens deck as there are some returns
that require my attention. Good bye old Girleen, &
don't worry & fret any more than you can help.
I do hope you are still comfortable and
contented at Mrs Wragges. With all my love to
you and our Dear Boy 
Your ever loving Husband
Cecil 

I will number the letters on the outside, so you
will always know if any are missing & you
might do the same to mine
Cecil