Lieutenant Colonel William McKenzie, MC, OBE - letters - 1915 - Part 10

it looks at present as if there 

will be no end to the war here

we really need ½ a million men

to push it thro' quickly. The Tommies

have failed to make good & now

we have to face a winter

camp'n a terrible prospect to

live in water sodden boots. They

have billets in France when not

in the trenches. We live & have our

being in holes - with frost & snow

Will have a lot of sickness & death 

thro this wet & cold.

I havent got any of your letters

since I last wrote. I hope this

finds you all well & doing well

It will be lovely Spring now & [?]

((?)) this youll have had a

hot day or two D.D. will be going

strong I guess it will be 'sticky' this

year with such a drain on the people

for War funds & price of living.

I hope the children give you no worry

& that all are shaping up well.

I  dropped across to Herbert (ex Capt) here

he was smoking a Cig -ett. Adj Sgt Owens was

Killed in the charge. He was brave to the last.

With much love & kisses to all I conclude

this rambling epistle. God bless the be with you all,

Yours as ever

Father

oxoxoxxxoxoxox.M.

IR84/150(3) Australian

War Memorial

From Wm. McKenzie. (A.I.F)

to his wife

Britain

10/10/15

My Precious Darling

Just a

line or two to let you know that

I am still 'going strong' &

gathering health & strength

& adding a little weight

every day now. The next Camp

is making much improvement 

in me. I guess we'll move back

to the front again at an early

date, then to face the shot &

shell once more, By all we

hear there is not the slightest 

advance been made since we

left the Peninsula a month come

Tuesday next. The Turks still hold

them up & the British Tommies wont

try to break thro'. The Turks carried

4 of the Tommies trenches last

week but had to retire again

Driven back (not by Tommies) but

by Artillery Fire. If the Tommies

had been worth calling soldiers

they would have advanced under

cover of the Artillery & routed

the Turks, carrying their positions

some high British Officers have been

2.

recalled as abject helpless failures

within the past few weeks. There

were Generals & Colonels.

Kitchener has sent the poorest

British material to the Dardanelles,

& kept the 'flowers" in France.

Evidently the French & British too -

are working on the Western Front.

So the Germans will be hard pressed

directly as the Russians are recovering

& swinging back on the Eastern Front.

I would not be surprised to see

the War 'crack up' about December

if the allies keep pushing up & on.

As the Germans in their own land wont

want to see their country meet the

same fate & punishment as Northern

France & Belgium. Who I sincerely

hope they get a double dose of their

own medicine & that the allies

wont be content until they

reach Berlin & take the Kaiser

a prisoner & try him for being

the murderer of thousands of

defenceless Belgiano, then hang

him tho this would never occur.

The [Anzacs?] would like dearly to

lynch him & his 5 sons for

the murders they have permitted.

3

My! Your sale was evidently a

huge success despite the war

& the weather. I am glad you did

so well & congratulate you. Tho'

I knew you'd come out on top.

I also note all you say re [W?]

who called on you in a wounded

condition. He is only one of thousands

of Rushn's & also the number is increasing.

I have written Donald & Gordon 

I guess you'll read these epistles

Coline got his last wee & I fancy

Mavis too. So their is equal distribution.

I was pleased to get Don's photo. He

looks O.K. I guess he's proud of his uniform.

I have never a fear for Don turning up [?].

I guess you [auctined?] & will be very

glad when [?] [?] is over. I hope

you can have a little holiday

by the seaside with the children to

recuperate somewhat. I am longing

to get home & see you all. Im not 

close to get about other Bio!

Hoping all are well & happy &

enjoying yourself in every way

love to all Greetings to friends

Yours as ever

Father

Sanpi Rest Camp

Lemnos Island

16-10-15

 

Dearest Muma

I have written so many

letters this week that I really

fail to recollect whether I

wrote you or not. I fancy

I did on Mon or Tues, but

in case I didn't I'll write

again giving you the benefit

of the doubt. It is Oct &

we are still in rest camp

& having a quiet time. The

men are being well cared

for, we have just got 270

all told in the regiment - 45 of

these are all of the originals

out of 1561. This shows you

what a bloody thing war

is - for killed wounded &

sickness. You can then see

how every fortunate I

am to have escaped injury

I am one of the few who

have stuck to the job right

thro' without a break. Chaplain

Dexter (Anglican) & MacAuliffe) RC

2

are the only two others that have

done so. And these two have

been some (at first) [?] on

Hospital Ships but they are

game 'sports' as 'the folks' say

I am. I am likely to have

a trip to Alexandria to get

my teeth fixed up which

are in rather a bad way

for the winter - 4 hollows

& plate clasp missing. I

also need a pair of britches

& other things. I [?] [?]

get one any some time this

coming week if at all.

I had a great service in a 

large marquee (1500) on

Sunday night when 9 [?]

professed conversion.

The singing was superb.  A

is the [W?] tent - Two

[Scots?] are in charge - Mr

(Rev) Thompson & Dr McDonald

A Divinity [?] - They insisted

on me taking complete

control of the 1st Service

& we made it gee up all right.

3

Unsworth passed thro' to the front

where I was & spent 4 days

there & returned thro' here &

is now safe at Alexandria.

He got some shells (6) on the

Beach while there shifting

his cases & is talking some

the way we all do at first.

But when you get a thousand

over your head & bursted not 

far from you - all in one day

you cease to speak of a few shells.

It would take a mighty lot to make

me speak openly of some of the

experiences, Ive passed thro'

I want to forget them.

I was awfully glad to get your

two letters my last post. They

do me so much good & cheer

me not a little. I am glad

to know that the children with

yourself keep well & [?] along

in a helpful sort of way. My

you are being honoured in meeting

the Society ladies at the Sales

which I am pleased to hear

4

are doing so well. You can

do a public function credit not

as well as any woman I know

& a lot more confidence would

help you wonderfully. Wont

decry your own wares. You

can do wonders so "buck up" &

face the foe. I'm so glad you

keep a smiling face & cheery

presence among the people, 

tho' you get heart-hungry and

lonely at times. My! What a

welcome I'll get on reaching

home which seems a long way

off yet. Our forces here are making

no move whatever & I don't

know when it will eventuate

now things are looking 'blue' in

the Balkans & if the Belgans &

Germans come down to us we will

have a tough time. However we

will wait & see what & who will

turn up "trumps". We'll make a

showing somewhere or [?] in the

attempt. I only wish we had 125,000

Austn's & aush New Zealanders.&

50,000 Gurkas, we'd over do the job.