Letters from Captain Walter Morris Felix Gamble to his family, 1917-1918 - Part 15

[*P.S. Best of love to The boys.
Tell Fred The Flying Corps is at Sea.
is easily The best branch. I was 18^th March 18
joining it myself only for this. he can easily say he
is a mechanic & all That kind of Thing. Strongly recommend
wally. *]

1
Dear old Dad & Mum,
I'm so sorry I
missed a mail, but here goes for
an umpteen pager.
As you know, I left England on 
The 13^th of Feb after Three months solid
holiday. in spite of The "flamin'" war
We crossed the Channel, and landed
at Cherbourg, where we spent
a couple of days mostly in buying
eatables etc, for The eight day
train journey which was before
us.
Of the first few days I can Think
of nothing very interesting. we simply
yarned, read, and played bridge.
(That is of course when we were
not eating & sleeping)
But from Marseilles Lyon onwards
we had a great time. we
changed with our surroundings
 

In England & Northern France
one is always seeing & hearing 
Things which keep The war constantly
foremost in one mind and
a chap is naturally Though quite 
unconsiously af affected by Them.
But when we arrived in The
Rhone Valley, as a matter of fact,
we awoke one morning to find 
ourselves in the warm sunshine,
so we all sat up to take notice,
and food. automatically we cast
off our war worn expressions, and
let our "top notes roam"
As we flew along, we now spent 
most of our time waving & throwing
kisses to all The pretty little girls,
who from windows & doors & 
tomboy positions over The garden
gate, sped us on our way. I
was surprised That after Three
and a half years of war, a
troop train should cause so
much excitement.

 

 

3

We were very lucky in striking

Cannes, Monte Carlo & Nice during

daylight, we had a great time.

The train just crawled and

stopped alternately until we

came to Monaco, and Then 

either the engine drivers wife

lived There, orx he had a dinkum

break down, anyhow we were

allowed to wander about The

town for several hours. We 

saw The Casino and everything else

worth seeing, even to The beautiful

gardens around which floated

beautiful forms. I don't wonder

That people spend as much 

of the winter there as possible.

We simply dragged ourselves

back to the train and for many

hours afterwards thro though my

body was being carried along

in a swine of flying carriages,

my Thoughts went back to that

 

 

laughter loving crowd. and a I

lived Those few hours over again

and again.

A very amusing incident happened

at Cannes. The train had pulled up

in a cutting and our particular 

part was under a bridge which

was Thronged with people. who

were throwing down flowers &

heaps of mimosa and were receiving

sundry souvenirs in return, but

There was one just off The bridge

leaning over The wall - she was

easily the most beautiful of The

bunch - waving and stretching

out her arms invitingly. Her

challenge was accepted by a big

brawny Scotchman who scrambled

up The narrow pathway and after

exchanging a few words - inaudable

to us - she bent over The

wall till we all thought she would

overbalance, she Then Threw her

arms round his neck and kissed

 

5

him, much to the delight of all

who witnessed The little romance.

There was nothing vulgar about it.

it was just like a scene in a 

moving picture show.

Although we had a fairly good

time passing Through Italy, it

was a very poor show after The

South of France. and I kept

wondering what The chap saw in

Italy, who wrote "Open my heart

and you will see, scribed inside

it Italy."

Crossing The Mediterranean you

very nearly lost your "Ginger"

at least his ship nearly went

down, but I Think I could have

Kept my head above water for

a minute or two.

A Couple of days after leaving

port, at four o'clock Thursday

morning - I forget the date. I

was rowsed from my cabin. and

told to "Stand to your boat Station"

 

I didn't have a boat Station, I was

one of sixteen men on a raft. but

I didn't argue the point. but got

on deck. The engines had stopped.

and we were drifting peacefully

in the moonlight. our two Destroyers

were going round & round us

at full speed. I curled up in

a corner & went to sleep. - after

I found out that we were in

a dangerous quarter & The old

ship in trying to go too fast. broke

down. & it took four hours to

patch us up. - a drifting ship

at dawn is a submarine delight.

but nothing happened. The breakfast

bell woke me, and we were

sailing along merrily again.

But This is not all, I was

just starting my second course

at dinner, when The hour sounded

The alarm 20.3.18 Everyone looked at every

one else, some looked a bit "windy",

 

7

others annoyed at having to leave

their dinner half eaten and a few, 

a very few, looked as if They didn't

care whether the Cow calved or

broke her neck.

Anyhow many of us resumed our

meal when Crash!!! and The plates

did a tango round The table.

At this I thought it was hight

time I got on deck, so did

everyone else. As soon as I got

on deck I smelt fumes like

Those of a high explosive shell.

I thought to myself, "We've collected

one this time, and The water is

damn cold" But I didn't get my

swim. for we had not been

torpedoed, we had simply

rammed our escort nearly

cutting her in two, and ripping

a hole in our bows, large enough

for a section of fours to march

through but The bulkhead held

till we made our nearest base.

 

where we were trans shipped, our

poor old destroyer landed in a

day later. almost full of water.

Why we both didn't go to The 

bottom, is beyond me.

The rest of our journey voyage

to Egypt was uneventful. and

we spent a most delightful time week

in Alexandria with some dinkum

Australian Sisters. - they were

great - we had parties, picnics,

and generally acted The Goat just

like school boys & girls on our

Christmas holidays.

On 19th March 1918 at 10-15 pm all

The Australians on board, went

forward to see Their dear old

Southern Cross again, and we

lingered, telling what we said,

and Thought when we last saw it.

and letting our thoughts wander on

ahead to Australia of Three Years

ago.

I'll have to put The rest in

another envelope. Best of luck

Ever Your loving Son, Wally.

 

1

Kinkee

near Poona.

22-5-18.

Dear old Dad & Mum.

I ought

to be Kicked all

round The room for

not writing, but I

can't settle down,

when I got fixed

up at Bhamo I

Thought I would

have a chance of

cooling my feet, but

no such luck. I

had been There

about Three weeks

 

 

when The Colonel

asked me if I would

like to go to a

School on map

reading etc. for

advanced Officers,

I, thinking of The

5th Army School in

France, jumped at

it. I had a jolly

fine trip down, at

Rangoon I met some

jolly fine young

Australian ladies

and we nearly fell