Letters from Captain Walter Morris Felix Gamble to his family, 1915-1916 - Part 10

Somewhere in France.
21^st July. 1916
P.S. Thanks so much for tenner
I got it in time to fix myself
up. For goodness sake don't think you neglected me.
Dear old Dad and Mum
I had a glorious
Voyage from Egypt to France. We
were delayed for a couple of
days at Malta, the Sun shining
from behind us, lit up the whole
island - From the domes and spires
on the houses
to the rock built fortress on the
coast - giving it the appearance
of a great golden rock set in a
xxx deep blue Sea - It was 
wonderful.
My poor pencil cannot describe
our entrance into Marseilles
it is the most wonderful port
I have ever seen, overlooking

the harbour is a church situated
on the top of a mount and
towering from above this is a great
Golden Statue it is over 40 ft high
It is "Notre dame de Mer" and
each fishing season the boats
are blessed by hers before going
out to Sea.
France is now looking her
best [[?]]  your [[?]]            what
our journey through the Rhone Valley
was like for the whole of the 
first day, I could not leave
the window for fear of missing
a yard of beautiful France,
At intervals along the line
the lassies arranged in all their
beauty, hung over The fences

and waved us on our way
(at the end of the journey my
arm was sore & stiff through waving
I think the symptoms pointed to 
"Wavers cramp")
We stopped at a Station. and
now I am corresponding with
three pretty little French girls
their letters are funny They must
have taken hours to write.
The poor girls don't Know what
a poor correspondent They make 
are writing to.
I am no longer in the Infantry
I have done my share of the fatigues, and
drudgery which the poor foot sloggers
have to put up with. I have now 

a string of letters after my name
Vis - 15^th A.L.T.M.B.  which means no the
language of our great "I"talian poets
15^th Australian Light Trench Mortar
Battery.
We have plenty of work to do
 but is of a different Kind to what
I have been used to, the men have
for the most part small numbers,
and have been right through The
grim business, and although we 
have only been together for a 
Short time, there is a grand feeling 
of comradeship growing among

us . this also includes our four
officers, who are all good chaps
and game as They make 'em.
They say the Gallipoli affair
was a glorious fight, and the
Australians earned the name of 
"The bravest thing god God ever
made" Well, I might tell you,
they have more than kept up
the standard they made for 
themselves, and did it with a
song on their lips. - It wasn't war
Well Dad, and dear old Mum
I am still going strong, and am
getting your letters (welcome) regularly
also dear old Mona's, & "Life". They 
Keep my old frame in working 

order (I've started this page, so I 
will try to finish it).
I have not seen old Malcolm
for some time, but Ivor and I
are still together. he is as fit as
I am, although the poor beggars
mail has gone astray somehow.
General Elliot, on seeing me
one day with the T.M.B. said to me
that I missed a Commission by
 leaving the Battalion, evidently he 
was ignorant of my swimming
episode.
My charm has worn away out
of recognition but it is still there
fulfilling its mission to the letter
Well Good night Dad, and Good night
my dear old Mum, Wally 

P.S. Ill try and to follow
up with a long letter Somewhere in France
next week.
Wally.                                              Aug 4^th 1916.
Dear old Mum
Another year to 
go Mum, and then finish.
Kitchener Said so, and I
think his word is worth
taking.
I had a beautiful
hot bath yesterday, and
a clean change of under -
clothing, it was grand. I feel
much lighter today.
I was paraded before
General Elliot a couple of
days ago and he

3
You have no idea how
rotten I feel when I 
open a letter from home,
only to find "no letter this
mail" I am more afraid
of reading that than I 
am of all the shells the
Germans can throw over,
and they can throw 
some.
We give them a
pretty lively time with
our little guns, it makes
you feel you are doing
something towards The
cause when you see
2
recommended me for a 
Commissioner, if it comes off
it will mean that I 
leave the battery for a while
but will get back again
when there is a promotion
among one of the Battery 
Officers.
Ivor is getting his third
stripe in the M.G. Coy, I
see him pretty often
although I am not living
with him, he is about
the size of a brick house
and as fit as a fiddle
with it. 

4
the little shell which
you have directed drop
into Fritz's para trench
and send up a shower
of wood work, and sand
bags and perhaps a leg
or an arm, it's good fun.
We are living pretty
well at present, food 
stuffs are cheap and rations
are not too bad, we have
the hardest doer God ever
made on our gun, and he
Keeps us laughing all day,
and sings us to sleep at
night - he has a lovely voice -
Tons of love Wally

 5
P.S. Oh! I must tell you
how we live, with all four
diplomas in cooking. I doubt
whether you could turn
out more palatable
feed, than we do. - Quaker
Oats, bacon & eggs toast & butter
& tea for breakfast -
Roast, mashed potatoes, rice
pudding for dinner and 
for tea, Birds Custard & 
jelly and pan cakes, and
every dish well cooked.
It's not such an awful
affair after all, Is it?
Wally.