Letters from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his family and a condolence letter, June 1916 - c. September 1918 - Part 13

N^o 1 Command Depot A.I.F.
Perham Down 
Salisbury Plain
10.7.17
Dear Father & Mother,
I left London from Waterloo R.S. at 2.10 p.m.
yesterday & arrived at Ludgershall R.S. about
From there I walked about a mile to here. I only
reported at the orderly room last night. This morning
I saw the adjutant & he told me to report to the
D.A.D.R.T. (Deputy Assistant Director Railway Transport)
as there was a shortage of R.T.O.s (Railway Transport
Officers) & Conducting Officers (who take charge
of men going across to France & also parties of men
going from camps to railway stations & vice versa).
With a couple of other officers I had to walk to
see the D.A.D.R.T. at the Bhurtphore Barracks at
Tidworth a couple of miles away.  He said that
there would be too much footwork for me to
do either of the jobs under his charge.  When I
told him that I had been adjutant in Australia
he said that he knew there was a shortage of
officers who could do that sort of work & he
rang up the A.A.G. (Acting Adjutant-General) &
told him about me.  As a result I have been
told that I am to go to N^o 2 Command Depot 

2   10.7.17
at Weymouth — what to do & when I am to go I do
not yet know.  When I went up before the
medical board a fortnight ago I met one of the 
school sergeants I had under me at the L.H. camp
in Seymour.  He left Australia in charge of the 16/8
L.H. Refs but has been over in France as Signals
officer to the 4^th L.H. Regt. I met him again at
Andover Junction where we had to change trains
on our way down here.  He is sleeping in the same
cubicle as I am & he was one of the officers who
walked to Tidworth with me this morning. 
2/Lieut Hopkins is his name. I went down to 
A.I.F. Hdqrs last Wednesday to see about some 
pay & met another of my old Seymour L.H. Sgts 
He is at present a Corporal in the 8th L.H. Regt. 
but has been doing transport work in France & 
is at present awaiting his commission in the 
Aus Flying Corps. Birch is his name. He 
mentioned that he was going to see his uncle 
who is manager of a bank in London. The bank 
turned out to be the Commercial Bank of Australia & 
his uncle is Tranter who I have heard Pater speak of. 
Tranter has only been over here 3 weeks. I was 

3   10.7.17

interrupted a little while ago by an orderly and a 
message that I had to report at the orderly room at 
once.  I thought it was for my orders for Weymouth but 
found that I have to go up to London tomorrow &
bring some prisoners down here.  I will have to get 
up at 6 am & catch an early train & return about 
midday.  There are 14 prisoners & 7 of them are bad 
cases in handcuffs — great joy for me (perhaps).
 My orders for Weymouth will come while I am 
away.  I met Cpl Birch when I was coming 
back from the Provosts' office, where I had been 
getting particulars about tomorrow's info, & I 
brought him back to our room to see Hopkins &
we three had a good yarn about the old times at
Seymour.  Weymouth is close to Bournemouth
so I ought to be able to get an opportunity of
seeing Low Gacquone. As it is a seaside resort.
I ought to be able to have plenty of bathing 
altho' the weather is now quite cool.  We had 
the summer weather instead of spring about 6  
weeks ago.  Lately it has been raining nearly 
every second day. 
Fond love to all 
Your loving son 
Charlie

N^o 1 Command Depot A.I.F.
Perham Down
Andover Hants
14.7.17 England
Dear Father & Mother,
Just a few lines to send you some more
snapshots marked as follows:-
3 51^st Battery Officers mess & dugout after shelling 25.5.17 on hole
large shell hole in some of pictures on left of entrance to dugouts
4 57^th Bty O.M. enhance — shell hole on left — 25.5.17
25 Lt C.E. Gatliff 51^st Bty a.f.a. London  2.7.17
26           "               "          "               "                 "
Haven't heard from Hal or Frank since I last wrote & also
have not received any letters from Australia since
about a week previous to leaving France on 12.6.17.
Have heard nothing further about being sent to Weymouth
— it looks as tho' it as a "wash out". Have had no
duties today & will have none tomorrow, another officer
having reported here has relieved me as orderly officer.
Court marshal are held here practically continuously
One of the members cannot carry on & I could have

got his job but I want to get to Weymouth camp,
by the sea, if possible, so got another officer just
arrived put on. However I am a member of a D.C.M.
(one of the other usual members being a witness in
this case) on Monday. Fond love to all
Your loving son Charlie

N^o 1 Command Depot A.I.F.
Perham Down
Andover Hants
15.7.17 England
Dear Father & Mother,
It has turned out wet & miserable today
(altho yesterday was one of the hottest here this
summer) so, as there is no reading matter in our
officers' mess, I am trying to pass away some of
the time by letter writing. Breakfast is available
on Sundays from 8.30 to 9.30. I strolled into the O M
had a glance at orders & then had breakfast
at 9 a.m. an orderly corporal came with a message
from the [Adjt that the O.P.D's parade was
waiting for me. I wondered what O.P.D. was. I
found that I had overlooked on orders that I
was to take charge of the Other Protestant
Denominations Church Parade.  I was only 10
minutes late. I had to march about 400 men
to the Y.M.C.A. hut. It was a good thing the
service was early & held indoors as shortly
after it started there was a heavy thunderstorm
The C. of E. church parade was not held until
9.30 a.m. & the men for it were all caught
in the storm while they were on the parade ground
Each day I meet somebody I know. Yesterday

2   15.7.17
I had one of my old B.A.C. Sgts (Sgt Dore) in my
room for a couple of hours. I have also met here
two drivers & one gunner of the 51^st Battery. Lt.
Col Knox, who is in command of the N^o 1 Depot, is

a brother of Captain Knox who was battery commander
of the 50^th Bty. I have not yet met him as he was
away when I dined at N^o 1 Camp O.M. the other
night. N^o 1 Camp O.M is used by the officers
who are stationed here. N^o 2 Camp O.M to
which I belong is formed by officers who are
only temporarily in the depot. The Adgt, Lieut
Dooley, was a machine gun officer in the 8^th Bde &
went to France from Egypt on the Tunisian
with me. He was "knocked" at Feurbaix in 
the July 19^th stunt last year & is unfit for
actual service again. After dinner at N^o 1  O.M.
I went to a concert at the C of E. hut. The
artists were a [[?]] troupe composed of
soldiers in this camp & they provided an
excellent evening's entertainment. I
got a great surprise when I came here, which
is part of the famous Salisbury Plains. I
expected to find a huge stretch of level

3    15.7.17
country more or less devoided of lumber, like over
plains in Australia — especially as it is
used for drilling troops. It is really all hills
& valleys with hedges & woods. Farmhouses &
villages all over it & with scarcely an acre
of level country. It is very picturesque & is
an ideal summer camp but I think would
be very bleak in winter time. I have
seen very little land in the South of England
under grain crops altho' a lot of pasture could
have been put under crop owing to the u-boat war
The grass is mowed here & is called meadow
hay — we must waste enormous quantities of
fodder by not doing likewise in Australia.
After the grass paddocks have been mowed they
look like huge lawns. The meadow hay is 
being gathered now so my [[?]] down here was
like travelling & has a lot of vast lawns — the 
effect was very pleasing to the eyes. Of
course all the letters I wrote you prove that I
like letterwriting — but I like receiving letters
even better, — & now, owing to my recent moods,
I haven't heard from you for ages & you all know
Hal & Frank won't write. Fond love to all Chas

Monte Vides Camp
N^o 2 Command Depot
Weymouth
24.7.17 England
Dear Father & Mother,
You will see by above address that I have
at last been sent to Weymouth.  I was told at Penham
that I was being kept there, altho' marked for duty at
Weymouth, because they had no other officers available
for court martial. I had managed to get out of being
put on them permanently but was put down as waiting
member — that is, to take the place of one of the other
members if for some reason they were prevented from
sitting. In France Field General Courts Martial are held
& any officer commissioned is eligible to sit on them
here in England they are District courts martial & the 
members must have over two years commissioned service.
Last Friday two captains reported at Penham — that left
me free to be sent here. I got orders to catch the 5.37
p.m. train which arrives at Weymouth about midnight.
I tried to get out of coming here as I had to
go up to London on Saturday for a medical board
on Monday morning & if the board said I was fit
for general service it would mean going back to W. &

then to Penham Downs or near there again as all
ranks at Weymouth are either temporarily or permanently
unfit for G. S. However I had to come here & then
rush away again the same morning to London. The
board marked me G.S. so here I am awaiting orders
for another move. I have already written in one of my

2     24.7.17
previous letters that the bad organization of our army is
worth thousnads of men to Fritz. There are three camps
of A.I.F. at Weymouth - one at Monte Vides about 3 miles
from the town, situated close to the sea in very pretty
country, another at Westham on the outskirts of the
town, & the third at Verne Citadel on Portland Bill
about 6 miles away. The Commandant of N^o 2 Com Depot
was going to send me as Adjt at Verne Citadel but
of course that has fallen through now as any day
I would receive orders to report at a hamming depot.
There were 8000 medically unfit Australians here
when I arrived but 1200 left on Saturday morning &
1500 on Sunday.  On Saturday night the U boats
torpedoed a P&O boat & also a 12000 tonner just

off the coast here. We managed to destroy the U Boat.
Fritz tried to arrange another air raid for my benefit
when I went up to London but his planes did not
manage to get further then our coasts. The police
in London rode round the streets with sandwich
boards on which was printed AIR RAID - TAKE COVER.
Loud rockets were also let off which at first were
taken for "Archies" firing. Altho I am marked G.S.
I have my doubts as to whether I will ever go back
to France. For the last 6 weeks I have been able to
give my legs a complete rest but I think as soon
as I have been in a training camp for a little
while my legs will be bad again.

3    24.7.17
Frank told me that when he was in England from
Gallipoli he met Les Moulden at Weymouth. Les
was then down to sail for Australia in a few
days. You can imagine then my surprise when I
heard someone asking for me this morning & on going
out saw Les. He told me that Frank, who I believe
was acting adjt here, had got his name taken off
the list of those who were to sail in a few days &
he, Les, had managed to stay here ever since. He is
a 1^st class warrant officer (regimental sergeant major) & has
been acting as quarter master for the Army Medical Corps
here for the last 12 months. He married a Devonshire
girl & she is living in Weymouth. Just before I
left Penham I met a corporal who used to work
under me at Sturrocks. He had been in the Bullecourt
stunt & said out of 1200 of them that went in only 92
returned & he was the only N.C.O. He had been
recommended for a commission but got wounded (for a

2^nd time) so most likely will be passed over now.
Haven't heard from you or Hal & Frank since I left
France & don't expect to for some little time to come
now owing to the way I have been messed about.
Am feeling very well & look it. Am sorry that I
cannot give you any particulars about Hal & Frank.
I believe they have gone up to Belgium.
Found love to all
You loving son Charlie