Letters from Frank John Mulcahy to his family, 1941-1945 - Part 4

17

was much the same. We called into Station N^o. 4

where the sick kiddie was and found that she was

much better. We gave them a tin of sweets which

we had saved from our ration each day, and you

should have seen those kid's eyes sparkle. The mother

nearly cried on our shoulder, and then went in and

brought out a cake she had just made and gave it

to us. We felt very virtuous. On again through

the afternoon, during which we shot a couple of

turkeys, until finally we reached Station N^o 3 once

again. The rest of the camp convoy went on to the

camp site but the Lieut. and I stayed at the

homestead for a while and had a cup of tea. The

managers wife couldn't do enough for us and gave

us fresh meat, tomatoes, eggs and a loaf of fresh

bread which she had baked herself. We went on to

the camp and after tea the Lieut. and myself went

back to the homestead again to spend the evening.

The manager and his men were away for a few days 

 18

rounding up some horses, so his wife was very glad of

our company. They have two sons and a daughter.

The eldest son is head-stockman at another cattle-station

 and the youngest son has been in the AIF

for four years. He is a Sgt. in an infantry battalion.

The daughter was there, and although she is only

eighteen, she is being married in a fortnight to a

chap in the Air Force. He has been stationed in

Adelaide for 12 months, but is now on his way back

to get married. She is a very pretty girl and the chap

concerned certainly is lucky to have her for a wife.

He comes from a neighboring station and they have

known each other since they were kids. They put

on a marvellous supper for us and I was positively

bloated when I had finished. After a while we

said goodnight and returned to the camp.

Next morning, on our way, through, I was at the

end of the convoy and the mother & daughter were

standing outside the house waving to the boys as

 

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they went past, so I pulled up to say goodbye. They

promptly asked myself and the chap riding with me

to come in and have a cup of tea, so not being

backward we accepted their invitation once again. We

stayed there for about three-quarters of an hour

during which time the daughter had a go at firing

my Owen gun and then we took a photo of her

with it. By this time the rest of the convoy was

miles ahead so we had to leave. It took us about

forty miles to catch the convoy and that was when

they halted at a sand crossing, one of the jeeps

holding up the rest by becoming bogged. We eventually

got it out and pushed on our way. We passed the

telegraph station where we had dinner on the trip up

and a short while after we came upon Station N^o. 2.

We pulled in this time, as we had a message for them

from one of the other Stations. We had a cup of tea

here and after they had given us some fresh meat

we once more continued on our journey. About 10 miles

 20

further on we halted by an old stockyard and

had lunch. That morning one of the baby 'roos

died;- it was rather young and evidently the trip

proved too much for it. The chap who had been looking

after it was rather disappointed as he had become

very attached to it and had hopes of rearing it as a 

mascot.

Our destination at for that night was an old mining

town, the second last one we had passed through on 

the way up. We reached the town about 5 o'clock in

the afternoon after an uneventful trip from where

we had lunch. We passed Station N^o.1, but once again

did not call in.  Anyhow, we reached this mining

town and camped by a creek just outside the town.

It is only a small town, but it has two hotels and

the people there were marvellous. Although they only

had about two hours notice, the girls of the town

managed a dance in our honour that night.

There were about twenty-odd girls there and goodness

21

knows where they came from. However, the point is they

were there and in addition, were very nice and sociable

and we had a marvellous time. The two hotels both

had plenty of beer and were open till 11 o'clock at

night. The hall was very conveniently situated right

opposite one of the pubs so when things at the dance

got a bit warm we would slide across to the pub

and cool down. There were a lot of elderly people

sitting around this hall looking on and they seemed

to be enjoying the dance just as much as we were.

What surprised me was the fact that nearly all the 

girls were good dancers and could do all the modern

dances. There was nothing "bushy" about them, even

though they were miles away from the nearest big

town and well out in the Never-never.

We liked the place that much, that as we had a 

bit of time to spare, we decided to spend a few days 

there. There are some caves just out of the town,

after the same style as the Naracoorte Caves, so

22

we went out to see them next morning. The local

people warned us not to attempt to go in without

a guide as there was an extreme likelihood of our

becoming lost or breaking our necks or some such

thing, but as there was no guide procurable at the

time, we decided to take a chance and went in

without one. It was very beautiful inside and we

spent a couple of hours wandering around through

tunnels and crawling though crevices. Strangely

enough no one was lost although we had a few

anxious moments.

We went back to town and after lunch at one

of the afternoon hotels, we spent the afternoon

swimming in the creek. That night, in return for

the previous night's entertainment, we put on a dance

for the girls, paying for the hall & pianist. Once again

we had a lot of fun and it was after midnight

when the "do" finished. Most of the boys found their

way into the various homes for supper that night. I 

23

was invited in by a particularly charming family with

a very nice daughter and it was in the early hours

of the morning that I reached the camp. Honestly, 

we had a marvellous time during our stay there and

we were all very sorry when the time came to say

good-bye. Incidentally, the pubs didn't run our of

beer all the time we were there and they were open

from 8 in the morning till 11 at night. A lot of

the boys reckon they are going to spend some of their

next leave there, but I am afraid they are going

to have some difficulty getting there, as it is well

off the beaten track.

Anyhow, we left at approx. 8.30 in the morning and

as we passed through the town the people were hanging

out of windows and waving to us. We were

on the last lap now, having only about 130

miles to go and the day's trip was very ordinary.

We arrived back at the unit at about 6 o'clock

that night, very brown and burnt, but after a 

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most enjoyable trip. It was a marvellous break from 

the hum-drum of camp life and we all felt

much better for it. Needless to say, we were the

envy of the rest of the Unit after we had told

them of our experiences. The other baby 'roo died

yesterday. It was rather an unfortunate affair

as the little fellow had been quite lively up till

then, but yesterday morning they found him with

a hunk of [[?]] down his throat. It must have

affected him somehow for he died shortly after.

Well Dad, that is the story of our trip [[?]]

I hope you have found some enjoyment from reading it.

I might mention that it has taken three nights to

write this and believe me, it has been some effort.

I will close now, hoping this finds you fit and well.

Love to All at Home.

Frank

[[?]]

8/10/44

 

Ae00649

Australian

War Memorial

Air Mail

Out back

Up thru 

Cape York

to Gulf 

of Carpentaria

M^rs. J. Mulcahy

32 Corunna Ave

Colonel Light Gardens

South Australia

J Howie