Letters from Charles Edwin Gatliff to his family and a condolence letter, June 1916 - c. September 1918 - Part 9

Conflict:
First World War, 1914–18
Subject:
  • Documents and letters
Status:
Awaiting approval
Accession number:
AWM2019.22.290
Difficulty:

Page 1 / 10

FR WNEE nother have and battery stihely t with ceneral advance but 2 present are quiet hime or our P.A ade is covering. ifanty in receive. I forgot to mention in y last letter a threlling insident I can when P.O.Oam at a low allitude light over my ou planes came down af por beor had she tail of his plane set He flew staght on for a few seconds hen lost equitil plane a to earthin mex hopplin over Two avrator and of rach of two plan ont of their planes whilst they were Il several hindred peet up in the air. by they were killed by maching n before they fell out of their planes, the non of a plane ais very similar on the wing. St 6 the shoot of a bd thes gracefully along until at fet bt of then illeng to with huning all ways plane had one of ips avinge shot off ty alive with whilst the fight 15 ekes after the stay single plane e
16 30:3:17 Today I went into the by town nearly scently captured by the australians It is neap of ruing & before the town can be rebust most of tthe debns will have to be carped out to the open comrtry. The walls of the buidings were made of a of mid & shaw (so you fan imagin se of the town after having been about by our shell pre & blown by Frity. He left the cellary of the rown hall pracfically intact to they were at once occupied but the crafty wretch had left it mined of the mine was explosed by closeort after we had occupted it everal days. Every body to now sturing o dijonts of clllars which Fitz left intret. As present we four officers as pretty comfortable in a dupont Fritzs. He had blown in the month of be cleared the broken Sinber le earth away & put fresh mining set & it is now quite coofy -a bit small was endertly bull for only 2 officer. latery is now close t Ts than but I have of yet seen him here. Lond love to all fourlo th
4417 France 17 Father o Mother De an egain F0.0& as ou trade not in action at present it is not a adirus gob My hadquarters are is same village as they were the fast time & 1h was A0.0 but our infantry have advanced pken a comple of mor villaged. I visitedo a the afternoon- the ifoly were lying quiet but the sitillery on toth sides was very active another bestation oinfart &at the post bat I sew i Capt Flleokt last I sew Capt Charp who was soff eft major instructing at the swadnesdons cchool. At te same post was the pave of Capt Book also of the san we e going into action you tononow. Have see sidenl shrillyy insidents in the oir lately but as preet cane write about then. A couple of days ago I received a letter from Lit &on fom makr & yesterday when I was at tal battery be gave on a letter for om which had then addressed to tranks battery. Will call & see nak y way back to te takeng tornow. All weee, rad lve the
th t0 t 47 p wth we don th luck a pen d lte t 4 the t is
Fan 41 tather to the 4 X as wayon b He can billeta Frank I did an exccting your days in will the infartry & the had to relieve lapt Drexer at wagonleved O gettin back to the battery I received the place os that the wayar line was been shelled & had to be shifted We lost several posses. I sook maye & same ahough hexe Ou batteng also p ltt landlin by outy the day alines. We bt we had no were nearly captured along fath the other batteries in the stuet last letter wt have been dated 15.417 e 124:17 the sadi 2 if a accout to paper te tought at durn lut th
after 49 t the the m po 25 tt & pr puess I am not 80 to be put of action in this war t shell tie the succesful way which dodged Fetzs 5 hell at poghtI thl before Tast A 10 at neet the working paity at 91 a mileo untl at the enhance to te right on the road about don 412 where It would ten at left her at 19oatoct recomporti a spot D.P. (more about flus and p fet 44 a.m. I was just spartin tt tren 3 lovely 595 right on I waited a quarter of an how Tuth bbehaved himself during that 5 t & thoroughly reconpostied being left alone Futz all I was they. About midday from the battery an came across woith a letter for me from Mater to the way, was dated 31p.127. te Fruty had ween spaing our batsery th with wh me vey to say at present
france 22 onene that the last time n strafed our battery (I was also er to the infantry. Then again wa an 4 or leave our batfery fof 14 backshersh (e2 something for nothn Futz was after some heavies meax us got a few of hix shorp we ho ded of two wounded. and at the wayon line just on leave he fixed a et at by pa us & killed one will see rom all t 4 fardian angel as keeping where the spilts De a fatalist -what is to be will I take all reasona pye but (so far) have not felt windy caut eans Windy ightined it is a conpt for to put of get the wind up hep latter phrase orfincted the Spapnot spy tr it is universally used tto exp Veg put a heavy fir on to the Genman h 14 his ony lads will sa must have pat the wind uip Byts use another phrase of confinne the lads shell of bellet had my 4 4s of our / 14
Hanee walkeng teone wene fnd tulea withs they pace of ti to fet out queckening yet none of the of the se othen back 54 pet again or to a plant of hi waid apdp right into a shell I think a lot of our nowsome of them t they letters which I cansor I have no don you have of lots of this war where me have been killed who had a premonition of the t persoally of hd yo my lav the first was when u wht t peeo they s ch e tt i the ot killed the other wold fet e people know sen h ppl paper home. He said fll he was going teget knsetted to he was a touple of days lapee On of my s wa hs klled of Gun Nalley the other ha wrife to bath their people &f uip e papers The second inspange sund supt before I went on leave mom the I had bo send another jusned laes to the funpits ail tes my of the ant
Fance 22 te not to be sent up as he felt an thing would happen to him if se had t po the next night He a sta hell landed at the battery + the only casuality was this poor begar killed. These sort of thing a hext haid at times but as nan have a sort of renonition that whes safely Ido Max about the t wle ha di the first part of ts letter The or san r the new Sommy division) tto which we ary astacted came tound t t daya ou the wansed to go but ad 00 fat I sold, it & foe daye to go there in daylight menl would have to be du to it sure enough next do was told 50 men wer being ito me te last) night of I was to superise the of the th They peedp tex wa supalens I sawe stiked will what was wanted & left them to it I received The yesperday after tt asddpessed to 89. 414 say Lattey OB was up wa e
t2/ better oe. tr an alternative also sujlest lt postion Pliter to me with rded the seC.ad fested as I was of the spot I could no onnigsanes pen the preis lasi te pt the C.O didnt sufest work on the that he should superise the Eaas Op but relieved him & sent sown to do the jobI did not say a Sy o the C.9 about the suxpested byo pot box ut r I nept pp te Monau stable o the that effect the 0P Hnight been complesed to the bast has just past but I thin it will be 5/a done to the OB ao it wpll advite at te Frif Howepex orders is orders I pust not enferise my superior fer thea bryadee I am only of cuballer But even eserals do poolish shings at hi XA the roce up with a staff officer derlies tloe to Hald posipion theothe lovely tayet day Thes Joly struck (a

1
FRANCE 16   30.3.17
Dear Father & Mother,
We have moved our battery slightly
forward again with the general advance but

at present are having a quiet time as our F.A.
brigade is covering the infantry in reserve.

I forgot to mention in my last letter a

thrilling incident I saw when F.O.O. - an 
air fight at a low altitude right over my

head. Four planes came down in five minutes

One poor bugger had the tail of his plane set

on fire. He flew straight on for a few seconds

& then lost equilibrium & the plane came

rushing to earth in flames toppling over &

over. Two aviators out of each of two planes

fell out of their planes whilst they were

still several hundred feet up in the air. 

Fortunately they were killed by machine gun

fire before they fell out of their planes. The 

shooting down of a plane is very similar

to the shooting of a bird on the wing. It 

flies gracefully along until it gets hit & then

it comes falling to earth turning all ways.

One plane had one of its wings shot off by

machine ^gun fire. The air seemed alive with planes

whilst the fight was on but 15 minutes after 

the start there was not a single plane

in sight. I have no desire to see such 

another air fight. 

 

2

16    30.3.17

Today I went into the big town nearby

recently captured by the Australians. It is

a heap of ruins & before the town can be 

rebuilt most of the the debris will have to be 

carted out to the open country. The walls

of most of the buildings were made of a 

mixture of mud & straw so you can imagine

the state of the town after having been

knocked about by our shell fire & blown up

by Fritz. He left the cellars of the town hall

practically intact so they were at once

occupied but the crafty wretch had left

it mined & the mine was exploded by

clockwork after we had occupied it

several days. Everybody is now steering

clear of dugouts or cellars which Fritz

has left intact. At present we four

officers are pretty comfortable in a dugout

of Fritz's. He had blown in the mouth of

it but we cleared the broken timber &

fallen earth away & put fresh mining sets

in & it is now quite “comfy” - a bit small,

as it was evidently built for only 2 officers.

Frank’s battery is now closer to me than

Hal's but I have not yet seen him here. 

Fond love to all

Your loving son

Charlie

 

France 17   4.4.17

Dear Father & Mother

I am again F.O.O & as our brigade

is not in action at present it is not a 

very arduous job. My headquarters are in

the same village as they were the last time I 

was F.O.O. but our infantry have advanced &

taken a couple of more villages. I visited our

front line this afternoon - the infantry were

lying quiet but the artillery on both sides

was very active. Another battalion of infantry

was in the line, & at the post that I saw

Capt Elliot last time I saw Capt Sharp

who was staff sgt major instructing at the

Broadmeadows school. At the same post was

the grave of Capt. Booth also of the same 

school. We are going into action again

tomorrow. Have seen several thrilling

incidents in the air lately but at present

can't write about them. A couple of days

ago I received a letter from Lil & one from

Mater & yesterday when I was at

Hal’s battery he gave me a letter from

Ern which had been addressed to

Frank's battery. Will call & see Frank

on my way back to the battery

tomorrow. All well. Fondest love

Your loving son

Charlie

 

France 17  13/4/17

15.4.17

Dear Father & Mother

Just a few hurried lines

to let you ^know that I am O.K. Things 

are very willing, with the battery 

at present. We are about the foremost

battery in the front line at

present. Sadly this morning Fritz

counterattacked & put an intense

barrage across. He pushed our lads

back but we have driven him back

again. Have been firing like mad

all morning - once with 5 Taubes

right over us & with 4 Fritz's
"sausages" observing  - we had to

sacrifice ourselves to save the 

infantry but luck was with us -

we have had no casualties, altho'

things are mighty warm. Fritz

captured the guns of one of our

brigades but we recaptured them. I

have now got to rush off on a four 

days liaison stint with the infantry

Haven't had a wash or shave for

over a week - this is the life.

Hal is O.K. & of course Frank is

as he is at the wagon lines.

Fond love to all Chas

 

France 18  20.4.17

Dear Father & Mother

Just a few hurried lines to say

that it is "quite a good war". I am 

back as wagon line King again - & am

living in the same billet as Frank. 

I did an exciting four days liaison 

with the infantry & then had to relieve 

Capt. Dreyer at wagonlines. On getting 

back to the battery I received the pleasant

news that the wagon line was being 

shelled & had to be shifted. We lost 

several horses. I took charge & came
here. Our battery also got a rough 

handling by Fritz the day ∧after I left 

but we had no casualties. We 

were nearly captured along with 

the other batteries in the stunt I 

wrote about in my last letter which 

by the ∧way should have been dated 15.4.17

& not 13.4.17. You will have read 

about it in the papers - am sending

Lil a paper with the account. Fancy me

having a lovely warm bath tonight - 

have shaved once with cold water during

the last 6 days - the only wash I have had

during that time. Now for the bath!

Fond love to all

Charlie

 

1
France  22   25.5.17

Dear Father & Mother,

I guess I am not going to be put

out of action in this war by shell fire 

after the successful way in which I 

have dodged Fritz's shells of late. 

The night before last at 10 P.M. I thought I 

would not visit the working party at O.P.,

which is about half a mile away, until 

10.30 P.M. I was smoking at the entrance to 

my dugout when at 10.5 Fritz suddenly 

put a dozen 4.2s right on the road about 

200 yds from here just where I would 

have been if I had left here at 10 o'clock.

This morning I had to reconnoitre a spot 

for a new battery O.P. (more about this anon)

so I got up at 4 a.m. I was just starting 

when Fritz threw 3 lovely 5.9s right on 

that spot. I waited a quarter of an hour 

& as Fritz behaved himself during that 

time I went & thoroughly reconnoitred 

the spot being left alone by Fritz all
the while I was there. About midday

my batman came across from the battery 

position with a letter for me from Mater

(which, by the way, was dated 31.3.17). He

said Fritz had been strafing our battery 

all the morning with what result I 

am not free to say at present. It is 

 

France 22  2   25.5.17

rather a coincidence that the last time he

deliberately strafed our battery I was also 

liaison officer to the infantry. Then again 

when I was away on leave our battery got 

a little "backsheesh" (i.e. something for nothing)

strafe. Fritz was after some heavies near 

us & we got a few of his "shorts" - we had 

one man killed & two wounded. And 

when I was at the wagon lines just 

before going on leave he fired a few at 

random at us & killed one of our men. 

So you will see from all the foregoing 

that my guardian angel is keeping 

me away from where the shells are 

falling. I am a fatalist - "what is to be 

will be" - I take all reasonable precautions

but (so far) have not felt "windy" 

"Windy" means frightened it is a corruption

of the phrase to put or get "the wind up" -

how the latter phrase originated I cannot 

say but it is universally used to express 

fear. If we put a heavy fire on to the 

German trenches our lads will say "That 

must have put the wind up Fritz". To 

continue, I feel (to use another phrase of 

the lads) if a shell or bullet "has my name 

on it" I will get in no matter how I try to 

dodge it. I have seen scores of our lads

 

France 22  3   25.5.17

walking along while being shelled without 

quickening their pace or trying to get out

of the line of fire & yet none of them got

hit & again I have seen others run backwards

or forwards or to a flank & run

right into a shell. I think a lot of our

lads are fatalists now - some of them say

so in their letters which I censor. I have 

heard, as no doubt you have, of lots of

cases in this war where men have been 

killed who had a premonition of their

death. I know personally of two in my

own battery The first was when we went 

into the line near Flers. One of our specialists

there made his two chums agree that if

any of them got killed the others would

write & let his people know & send his 

private papers home. He said he felt he

was going to get "knocked" & he was a

couple of days later. One of his chums was

also killed at Gun Valley. The other had

to write to both their people & fix up

their papers. The second instance

occurred just before I went on leave.

I had to send another gunner from the

wagon lines to the gunpits & detailed

one of our latest reinforcements to go.

The sergeant major told me the man

 

France 22   4   25.5.17

begged not to be sent up as he felt

sure something would happen to him if

he went. He had to go - the next night

a stray shell landed at the battery &

the only casuality was this poor

beggar killed. These sort of things make

a  man think hard at times but as

I have a sort of premonition that

I am going to come thro' safely I am

quite happy. Now about the O.P. I 

mentioned in the first part of this letter

The C.R.A. (Divisional Artillery Commander) of

the new Tommy division to which we

are attached came round here the other

day with our C.O. He wanted to go out

to our forward O.P. but I told ∧him it was

not safe to go there in daylight. He

said a trench would have to be dug 

out to it. Sure enough next day I

was told 50 men were being ∧sent to me that

(last) night & I was to supervise the

digging of the trench. They turned up

under two subalterns. I saw ∧them started well

on what was wanted & left them to it

Then yesterday afternoon I received a 

memo addressed to O.C. 51st saying that

our battery O.P. was unsuitable & suggesting

about the most heavily shelled spot in

 

France 22   5     25.5.17

this vicinity as likely to make a better one -

also suggesting an alternative battery position

Blister forwarded the memo on to me with

a note suggesting saying the C.O. had suggested
as I "was on the spot" I could do 

the reconnaissances. When the previous liaison

officer "was on the spot" the C.O. didn't suggest

that he should supervise the work on the

F.O.O.'s O.P. but relieved him & sent him me

down to do the job. I did not say anything

to the C.O. about the suggested new

O.P. being a "hot box" but, as I mentioned 

earlier, went there this morning &

found it unsuitable. I then sent a 

report in to that effect. The trench

has been completed to the FOP tonight

(my party has just gone past here

3.15 a.m.) but I think it will be

goodbye to the O.P. as it will advertise

it to Fritz. However "orders is orders" &

I must not criticise my superior

officers - the CRA is a brigadier-general

& I am only a subaltern. But even

generals do foolish things at times

One rode up with a staff officer & two

orderlies close to Hal's position the other

day. They were a lovely target for 

Fritz - now we have struck a general off

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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