Letters from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his family and a condolence letter, June 1916 - c. September 1918 - Part 18

N^o 18  Belgium 6  24.10.17

Dear Father & Mother
Am back at wagonlines after my trip
as F.0.D. When I arrived at the campsite yesterday 
at 5.4 5a.m I found that the group (of
artillery) was going to do a shoot at 6 a.m.
I can tell you I “got a move on" to the O.P.
as I did not want to get caught in
Fritz’s retaliation fire. I got past his 5.9
barrage line before he opened fire but had    
to go thro' his .77 barrage. We all have a
respect for (& a dread of) his 5.9 shells but
his .77 ("pip squeaks" or "whizzbangs") we treat
with contempt. Up there where it is all
soft mud I have seen pieces of his 5.9 whizz
about 600 yds after bursting in the ground -
the pipsqueaks, if they are percussion bursts,
only throw up a little mud. It was misty
& drizzling most of the day so was bad for
observation. I had to stay at the O.P. until it
was nearly dark to observe & report on another
group shoot. Things were much more lively
there than at the O.P.s on the Somme. - it is
hard to describe conditions in this part of
the front. I said that the Somme was 
indescribable — no words could make you realize
the conditions there — well! it is worse here
As for mud!! I'd prefer to be down on the Somme,
bad as it was, for the winter — this place is
"no bon pour soldat" — & winter hasn't started 

18  2  6  24.10.17
yet. However we are hoping that we will

“pull out” of here before long & that we will be
sent to a quiet & not shell torn part of the line.
I am not keen on souvenir ^hunting now — for one thing
I already have 4 trunks full in London & for
another there is too much metal flying about
in these parts for it to be a healthy occupation.
Ern asked me in one of his letters what my
colors are.  All artillery are scarlet & blue,
differing in shape according to divisions.
Mine are like this [refer to sketch original document] Hals old div. [refer to sketch original document]
& the other divisions this [refer to sketch original document]. Mounted
troops, such as light horse, artillery, & A.S.C.
have their colors divided diagonally as above;
the infantry have theirs divided like this:-
[refer to sketch original document]. Other units such as engineers

A.M.C. & A.V.C. have a one color patch for
their branch but the shape varies according
to the division they belong to. These are
the principal branches of the service but there
are special units, such as the tunnelling Coy,
the wireless section & A.I.F. Hdqrs staff, who
have distinctive patches of their own, but
I can’t  give you any more details as it
would be a breach of censorship regulations.
I think little & often is the best way
to write you at present so I will now close
Fond love to all
Your loving son

Charlie 

No.19  1  Belgium 6 26.10.17

Dear Father & Mother,
Since I have returned from England I
have received the following letters. From
Mater 8 dated 29^th May 3^rd & 28^th June 11^th - 17^th & 23^rd
of July & 5^th & 15^th August. From Ern 8 dated 27^th May
11/18^th & 24^th June 8^th-14^th-22^nd & 29^th July & 5^th August.

I have received 1 from Pater 14^th Aug & 1 from
Tom 11^th Aug. I have not received any from
Wilf altho' Mater said in her letter of 29.5.17
that he was going to write. Would be very
glad if he did write & also sent us some
snaps of you folks at home as it is two
years since I last saw you & three years since
Hal left home. In writing about the
color patches in my last letter I forgot to
mention that altho' the Australians were
the first to wear the various "Tommy" units
as well as some Canadians & New Zealanders
now wear them. As regards the gold
braid stripe for every time a soldier is wounded,
it is right enough in its way, but I
think the French scheme of a stripe for every
years service is better — a first stripe for the

first year & an additional stripe for every 6
months completed after that. At present an
Officer or man can have been over three
years in the firing line &, being lucky enough
not to have been wounded, has nothing to
differentiate him, when he goes on leave,

19  2  6  26.10.17
from the thousands in khaki who have
never been out of England. Over here very
few of those who have been wounded wear
the gold stripe, but most of them put it on
when they go on leave. Another thing about
it is, a reinforcement may go into the line
& get knocked the first night — he gets something

to show he has been in the firing line

(for a few hours), while a man, who has

served over 3 years & not been wounded,

has nothing. At present a scheme is in

vogue, for the men only, to wear an inverted
chevron on the cuff of the left sleeve for every

year of service, whether at home or abroad

but, needless to say, it is not popular with

the fighting men. The authorities are now

talking of another scheme which, if carried 

out, will, I think, be very good. If a soldier

completes six months in any fighting zone in
a year (1915-16-17) he gets a stripe. If he fought

at all in 1914, if only for a day, he is entitled
to a stripe of another color. There
is another badge which is not popular
with the A.I.F. still fighting, but which
is popular with those in base jobs & in
England & that is "A brass "A" may be
worn on the color patch by officers & men
who served on Gallipoli". Most of our officers

& a lot of the men served on the Peninsula &

19  3  6  26.10.17

yet there is not a brass "A" to be seen in

the whole of our divisional artillery.

Fritz is not using gas now. I suppose it is 

because we have discovered deadlier gases

than his & he hopes if he doesn't use it

we won't — which certainly seems to be the 

case. When I was up at the guns he fired

a few gas shells but they were only tear

gas. None of them fell near my battery so

I did not have to use my "gaspirator" as

the lads call our respirator. We always 

have to wear it at the "alert" position

when within 5 miles of the ∧FRONT line — also

our "tinhat" (steel hat for protection

against shrapnel). I think I have already

said that a rifle used to be a soldier's

best friend but that now his tinhat &

respirator are more necessary than even

his rifle. Our lads did a "push" this 

morning. Unfortunately heavy rain fell

just at "jumping off" time & it has been

rain incessantly all day since then.

However we have heard that all objectives

were gained & we are "hanging on"

Also good news from the French front —

11,000 prisoners & 120 guns captured —

time they did something anyhow!

Fond love to all.

Yours lovingly

Charlie

N^o 20  2  Belgium 6  29.10.17
Dear Father & Mother

Winter will soon be here now — thank

goodness, it is late this year, but the nights 

are beginning to be very cold. Our lads all

dread the coming winter (& so do I) — we are

hoping that we will be out of here before

then, for, past believing as the mud of the 

Somme was, I think it will be worse

here. We are having rain nearly every

day & it will soon be utterly impossible

to do any more "pushing" on this front.

As it is, it is marvellous how our lads

manage to advance. It the push the

other day the Australians gained all

objectives, the Canadians didn't quite

gain theirs, & the Tommies were "held up"

altogether. There is no doubt that our

Australian lads add laurels to their

fame every time they go into action. I

am satisfied (& the Tommies admit it

too) that they are equal to the finest

fighting troops in the world. They & 

the Scotties generally get all the hard

nuts to crack - & there is a great

bond of mutual respect & admiration

between our lads & the Scotties. our

lads write home about the Scotch lassies

(most of the Australians go to Scotland

when on leave) - if the lassies are

 

20 2 6 29.10.17
as good as the laddies are fighters they
are good enough for any soldier boy.

From the strong concrete pillboxes which Fritz

made in the shellholes in the territory now

occupied by us on this front it looks as

tho' he thought he was there to stay & it

is marvellous to think that any troops could

advance over such country & capture it - but

then it was Australians principally that

did so. As for the positions that our guns are 

in it is wonderful that they even got the

18 pdrs there let alone the heavy guns which

are now up in front of what used to be 

Fritz's front line a little while ago. Altho'

Fritz's "pillboxes" made it hard for us to advance

they were a blessing in disguise for without them

for shelter for the personnel of our batteries

we would be very quickly "blown out" as the

country does not permit of ordinary dugouts

being made (& anyway, if it did, they would

not be proof against the shells he is using

here) & as we are the attacking army we

cannot waste time & material in building

substantial caves which we might only

occupy for a few days & perhaps not at all.

We are still fighting hard for the last

important position on this front. I hope we

take it soon as until it is taken I think

they will keep the Australians here. Two or

20 3 6 29.10.17

three times now we have made what we

hoped would be the final smash & each

time at the critical moment rain has fallen &

spoilt our plans & saved Fritz. We have

now our full strength of officers so only do

four days out of every sixteen at the gunpits,

one day of which we spend in the front line

as F.O.O. It is quite enough as things are

far too lively up there for my liking.

Hal, as B.C. runs very little risk as he

fires the battery from a "pillbox". He has

been at the gunpits ever since we came 

into the line but is coming to the wagonlines

for a spell in a couple of days. He is

quite well & so am I - like Johnny Walker

we are both "going strong". I wonder

whether Tom has left Australia yet - 

when he gets over this side of the world 

he will have to do a couple of months

training in England just so he may

spend the winter there. I have already

written wishing you all the compliments

of the Xmas & New Year Season but in

case Fritz has torpedoed that mail I

send you my best wishes again.

Fond love to all

Your loving son

Charlie

N^o21. Belgium 6 1.11.17
Dear Father & Mother,

Just a few lines to let you

know that Hal has returned safely

to the wagonlines. He is quite well but

got "a taste of gas" the other night & in

consequence appears to have a cold. It was

not a deadly gas that Fritz used - only

"mustard" gas shells. I go up tomorrow

to do a couple of days liasion "stunt"

with the infantry. We have just heard

of the disastrous defeat inflicted on the

Italians by the Austro-Germans - 100,000

prisoners & 700 guns captured - ye gods!

Coming so soon after the Germans defeat

of the Russians in the Gulf of Riga it

must hearten the German people to as

 it serves to neutralise what the British

are doing on this front, may tend to 

prolong the war. I have received no

letters from you lately but Hal has

received one from Mater in which

she mentioned that you had heard 

of Frank's death.

Fond love to all

Your loving son

Charlie

A Posted 18.11.17 Belgium 6 1.11.17

Dear Father & Mother
Tomorrow I go up to the front line

for two days as liasion officer to the infantry

You may perhaps not have noticed it but

my letters, numerous as they have been lately,

have not told you anything about conditions

"in the line" here. And this letter, which does

do so, I don't intend to post until we are

"out of the line" so that you will not be caused

extra anxiety by knowing what a "hell" of

a place we are in. It maybe that the

death of Frank & so many other officers & men

I knew so well has unsteadied my nerves

but whenever I go up to the gunpits or as

F.O.O. I always wonder now if I shall win

through safely. Nearly every day we have several

casualties & it makes one think how long can 

we "carry on". My battery had to shift its position -

our previous one was so untenable that it is

a marvel to me that we were not all "blotted

out" of existence. I had several very narrow escapes

from bursting shells & it is astonishing at times

how at one misses getting blown to pieces - 

& at other times an unlucky fragment from a

bursting shell half a mile away will cause

a man's death. Fritz used to put a barrage

on our officer's "pillbox" nearly every night &

I used to dread getting an S.O.S. One

night at 7 oclock we got an S.O.S. I

 

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