Letters from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his family and a condolence letter, June 1916 - c. September 1918 - Part 22

N^o 33  1   Belgium 14  3.12.17
Dear Father & Mother,
I am still at wagonlines. At 12.45 a.m.
on the night of 1/2 Dec — the night I last
wrote you I received a message that our
wagonlines had to be moved that morning
so instead of going to the gunpits I trekked
here which is about 6 miles from our
old lines. Everything is now running
smoothly here so I am going up to the
gunpits this afternoon. Yesterday
when I got up a few flakes of snow were
falling — that day & today have been
bitterly cold. We have got splendid lines
for our horses (at last!) covered in stables
with cement block standings, compact with
all round the stables covered with broken
bricks. The men's billet is right alongside —
it is a three storeyed up-to-date wooden
building — the first I have seen in Flanders
strange to say it has not been hit by a
shell — if it had been it no doubt, would
have "gone up in smoke" but all the windows
& nearly all the doors are missing so the
wind is whistling thro' in great style. I
am camped in it & am nearly frozen so
will conclude this short epistle. Hal &
I are both well & trust that you are all
the same Fond love to all
Your loving son
Charlie 

N^o 34  1   Belgium 13   9.12.17

Dear Father & Mother,
You will be pleased to learn

that Hal left here 3 days ago to attend a
three week’s artillery school in England,
which starts today. As he most likely

will get his 14 days leave when the school
is finished we will be well out in rest
when he returns. My own leave seems as
far off as ever; we are short of officers at 

present so I don’t expect to get away now
until general leave starts which may
be in another week or so. I hope I get 

my leave whilst Hal is in England as
it would be nice for us to go about
together. I have just returned to the
gunpits after a strenuous tour of duties
forward - Bty O.P.(day), Battalion Liaison (night),
Bty O.P.(d), Brigade O.P (n), Bty O.P. (d.), Batt L.O.
(n), Bty O.P. (d), & then back here. As some of

the nights I have slept in old pillboxes with
a couple of feet of water in them; & have not
been able to light a fire & it has been bitterly

cold; & have had to carry my blankets, rations,
& gear, like an Australian swagman, from
one job to another you can guess I am mighty
glad I am back at the battery. The first

day we had a fair fall of snow so I was
nearly frozen at the O.P. I made a couple
of pannikins of tea out of shell-hole

34  2  13  9.12.17           

water which I boiled on a Tommy cooker.

The last two days it reminded me of Ypres

as Fritz was throwing a lot of shells about.

One day he was particularly annoying as

he was putting a barrage of 4.2s & 5.9s

between where I was & where I had to go

He made me walk an extra half mile

to get round his shell bursts but when

I got to my destination I rang up the 

C.O. & told him where Fritz was firing from

& he got our heavies to concentrate on

Fritz & they shut him up in five minutes.

The Captain went down to the wagonlines

for a couple of days yesterday so I am at

present shooting the battery. Tomorrow

is polling day to see if Australia is

to have conscription so as to send the

requisite number of reinforcements

monthly. The Captain will conduct the poll 

here & I am polling officer for the wagonlines

When I have finished there it will be

my turn for another spin forward, so 

you will see I am a regular "Wandering

Jew". The worst of it is, with all these

duties, my legs are troubling me a bit &

I don't want to "give in" a second time.

No more for the present.

Fond love to all

Your loving son Charlie

N^o 38  France 15 
Xmas day 1917

Dear Father & Mother, 

We are out "at rest" again — this time

not far from the sea coast but the weather

is not propitious enough for us to want to

go for a swim. We pulled out for a couple

of days just behind the line & while there

had a lovely (?) frost. I have never seen

anything like it — the whole country was

white as though there had been a heavy

fall of snow. It took us three days to

get here. The first day was charming (altho'

a trifle too cold) — everything was heavily

coated with frost & it looked like a

huge Xmas card. The worst of it was it

was too cold to ride & I got very tired 

walking, especially as it was a long

march & as the horses were fresh they walked

fast. I acted as battery captain & had

to march at the rear of the battery. I

had a job looking after the stragglers,

only a certain number of gunners are

allowed to ride at a time on the vehicles —

that is another reason why I walked most

of the way. The second day the trip was

not so pretty as a bit of a thaw had set

in. The third day I'll never forget. The 

trek was over hilly country — there had been

a heavy fall of snow the night before &

then a frost had set in. The roads were

38  2  15  25.12.17          

so slippery the horses could hardly stand up, let

alone pull a load. We were very fortunate in 

being the leading battery that day, each

successive battery polished the surface of the

roads more. We reached our destination 

without serious mishap — the whole battery

getting in together with the exception of

the cook's cart. Every time a vehicle came to

grief I had to attend to it. The cook's cart had

a couple of mules in it tandem fashion. The

poor beggars kept on falling down until at last

the other three batteries (or the main part of

them) had all passed us. At last the mules

could go no further so I rode on & sent back

a pair of fresh horses to bring the cook's cart

along. There were vehicles of all sorts all

over the country, on the roads with big gaps

between them & in the open fields driving thro

the heavy snow which was better going than

the slippery road. Napoleon crossing the

Alps or The retreat from Moscow was

nothing to it. We "got in" about 3PM but the

last battery (of our brigade) which did not

have so far to go as us did not reach their

destination until 10 P.M. Of the other brigade

one battery passed thro' our village about

midnight & two others bivouacked for

the night out in the open fields in the 

snow (ugh!). As for the D.O.C. which

38  3   15  25.12.17          

xxxxx was in the rear of our column, xxx

it was 3 or 4 days afterwards before the last 

of their vehicles "got in. It has been freezing

hard ever since — the temperature is somewhere

about 18^O. I expected my leave might come

thro' during the march but was disappointed.

Then when we got here I thought I would

have a good chance of having Xmas dinner

today with Hal in London — again I was

disappointed. It has just come out in

orders that there will be no increase in

our leave allotment — even tho' we are out at

rest — rotten isn't it? especially as we were

promised it. Anyway it is time I got my

leave as I am the next officer to go & our

last went about 5 weeks ago — perhaps I

will be over in London for the New Year.

All the time Hal has been away he has  

not written to anyone over here so I

have no news to tell you about him.

We had a Xmas service in the schoolroom

here this morning. "Lead Kindly light" is a

favorite hymn with the boys here — the line

"For I am far from home" appeals to them I

suppose. We are having our Xmas dinner tonight

"a chook" as the main item with some issue

Xmas pudding to follow. No one has received

any parcels or letters from Australia for ages

Fond love to all. Your loving Son Charlie

MARBLE ARCH HOTEL

HYDE PARK, LONDON. W.
Key to numbers on my letters from

— France Aug. to Dec. 1917—

1   Boulogne

2   Aus Details Base, Rouelles, Harfleur near Havre

3   St Momelin near St Omer

4   Wagonlines Dickiebusch near Ypres

4^A Wagonlines xxxx Ypres

5   Gunpits Nomme Bosschen Westhoek

6  Wagonlines Chateau Segard near Ypres

7   Lission Battn Hdges Broodseeinde Ridge

8   Wagonlines Gordon Camp, Le Creche, ne Steenwersk

9         "                Hillside     " , Neuve Eglise, ne Messines

10        "                   Kent       " Le Senche ne Bailleul

11   Bty O.P., Messines Ridge

12   Bde O.P., "Dead Hun's Possie", near Messines

13   Gunpits, "The Cellars", La Rossignol, ne Messines

14   Wagonlines, Kemmel.

15    Estree near Montreiul s/mer & Etaples.

                       C.E.G.