Jones, Oscar Anglesey (Captain, b.1892 - d.1917), letters - Part 6

3

and pie if we can excel them at it; of course

this comes second to the desire to get at

close quarters with the Germans. We will be

the first of the Australians to land there as

a fighting force, and it is up to us to make

a good impression of which I am sure the boys

will do. The rations here are excellent &  far

better than anything we have yet had. The mens

troop bunks are also good, portholes all along

that will give good ventilation and that is the

main thing  I cant speak from experience

of [[?????]] 

Australia. We have our trunks and valise with 

us, and I wish that it had been possible to get 

my cloth uniform from Dean before leaving, however

I will send for it later on; when we are

settled down. I am going to have a good

bath this evening, now that we are clear of the

harbour, where the ship had been lying for several

days, the water of course being stale, and rather
dirty.  It will be rather cold on the other

side I am thinking, and we will bound to notice

it, after Egypt, but a few days should suffice

to get acclimatised: and the warm clothing 

4
we have will do the rest.  I do not think
it probable that we will go to England, certainly
not for a while, but that may come later.
Tuesday morning:-  To-day is beautiful & one sees
the Mediterranean at its best.  There is just a
nice breeze, and the ship is making about 17 
or 18 knots.  I was on from 12 midnight to
3 a.m. this morning with the submarine
guard, and really enjoyed it, as the weather
wa so mild.  The ship zig-zagged all night
as it was bright moonlight, whereas on a
dark night they [[?]] go straight on their course
and lose no time.  To-day is just the same
sort of morning as the 2nd of Sept last; but
history will not repeat itself I hope.
A lot of our fellows missed their meals
yesterday, but most of them put in an appearance
this morning.  It is noticable that the
ones we consider as rather unstable always
seem to get sea-sick.  Not enough determination
I think has a lot to do with it.
We are to be inoculated again to-day
so I guess that sore arms will be the order
of things during the next couple of days 

5
I am in the top bunk in our cabin &
will have to cling hard when getting out
OR in. Thursday, We were inoculated on
Tuesday afternoon, and had double the does
that we got at [[?]]. My arm was
pretty sore all day yesterday; but is nearly
right to-day.  We have been inoculated
nine times now since enlisting & [[?]]
[[?]] so I guess some germs have been
stirred up.  Passed Malta
last night about 8 P.M.  We could just
see the lighting and the reflection from
Valetta.  I am to-day or I should say
this morning, as it is now 10 30 a.m
we have been passing islands & it
reminded me greatly of the Aegean
Sea and its numberless islands dotted
all over the place, but let the likeness
stop at that, we do not want anymore
reminders of it.  We should make
Marseilles to-morrow morning all being well,
as our boat has a good turn of speed,
passing everything we have sighted on
the way over.  There is a great  

6
amount of shipping in these waters &
it is nothing unusual to see eight or
ten boats at a time going other way.
A cap that I was wearing
was blown off and overboard this morning.
but that is nothing unusual as I lost
my hat coming over on the [[Wy?]].
I still have another one besides my
hat, so it does not matter.
We are now well along the African
coast though a long way off it, & to-night
I think we will be [[?]] nearly North
so as to bring us up to France.
The wireless news received last night
tells us that the Russians are giving
the Germans a bit of hurry-up about
Galacia, also that there was a bit of
a brush between some of our destroyers &
the same number of Germans.
One can notice the weather
getting colder the last day or so, and
I fancy that it will. be very keen in
France, but every day should be making
it warmer.  Last night was a

7
beautiful on, and I rather enjoyed my
shift from midnight till three in the
morning.  Always have a cup of tea
when I finish up, and it is A.I.
Will finish this letter to-night, or if time
allows to-morrow morning  Later in the
evening.  Am finishing this to-night as
I do not know if there will be time in
the morning.  We received word at
mid-day that the Minneapolis, a sister
ship to this one we are on was torpedoed
last night about 200 miles the other side
of Malta, so we were fortunate as they
must have run on the track knocking
around where we passed the same place
about mid-day yesterday.  The ship they
struck sank as she was being towed in.  I
heard that she was empty excepting the
crew so they would all get away.
Well Mother we expect to disembark
to-morrow as we heard this evening that
we would not be kept there long.  Will cable
if I can on arrival.  Trusting all at
home are well.
I remain
Your Son
Oscar. 

Somewhere in France
April 17^th
Dear Gla
At present we are in billets just
behind. the firing line, having had a
week in the [[?]].  We [[?]] again
in two or three days, for another spoil
at it.  The trenches over here are
a lot further away than on Gallipoli &
once the fine weather sets in things
will be a lot better, in fact it is
a [[?]] compared to what we had
at the Dardinelles.
We took over from an english
Regiment about 10 Pm one night.
It has been raining that day &
was pitch dark when we arrived.
He first said six men
here, six here, six there, "goodbye
old man" & good luck" & was gone
I tell you I was on pins &
needles that night & was glad
when daylight came so that one
could see their front & know

the lay of the country the 

2
only has three bombs from them while we
were there & one of them failed to explode
of course they had machine guns & rifles
playing on us, but that is nothing much
when you are in the trenches.  I had
a few pretty close to me while observing
& sniping but we had the best of
them at that mark & know of certain
casualties on their side.  They always
blow & whistle or a [[?]], (presumably
to bring up their stretcher-bearers) when
they have a man hit & we have heard
the whistle fairly often.  On of our
Company's had their billets shelled
yesterday afternoon & had to get out
for their lives, they only had one man
wounded (in the heel) so were fortunate.
One has to keep pretty quiet in
the billets, because they are observed
by the Germans either from, observation
baloons or else from a ridge on their
side which commands our area.
Their scheme is to shell a billet
with high explosive shells &  

3
when they see the men leaving it
open on them with shrapnel.  Just
like a man with a ferret - a shot
gun hunting rabbits out of a burrow
Once you leave the burrow then go
like blazes for some other cover.
I have been going through
a bombing course the last three
days, & know a lot more about them
than previously.  It will come in handy
when we get to close quarters with the
enemy.  I have been wondering
lately if Ivor has enlisted, somehow
I have an idea that he has.  Well
Gla; if he has i will not be sorry;
as long as he plays his part squarely
& well.  I believe that we are
going to another part of the line
soon, and expect to have things
a bit more lively than what it
has been up to the present
I had a letter from Aunt
Kate a couple of days ago,k in
answer to one I wrote from
Glominghen, and she said it
caused a bit of a stir when 

4
they heard I was in France.
I will have to try & get over
there on leave soon Just to let
them see one of the Australian
members of the tribe.  They gave
me Willie Pritchard's address, but
so far I have not the slightest
idea as to where he is .  Maybe
when we move I may get into
touch with him.  Some of the
bantam regiments that I have
seen, are about the size of that
little fellow who was killed in the
left accident.  They seem like a
lot of kiddies to me.  One could
take them in his hand & heave
them miles in the direction Casabian
took on a memorable occasion.
Well Gla I suppose by the time this
reaches you it will have passed your birthd
I will wish you many happy returns
now, although I have already done so
I should like to have brought you

get too
will have to
there on leave poon, fust to let
the Mustiation
themtee one
members of the Guibe: They gave
me Willie Wuitchard- address, but
D far I have not the slightest
ida as towtin he
n Mayhe
when ine more
get ito
touch with him. Home of the
bastan regiment the
have
sear about the rize of that
little fellow who was pilled in the
lift accident. They seen like a
rot of riddns to me. One could
take them in his cand & heave
Whem miles in tthe dustiou Casatian
hook an a memorable secase
Will yla I suppose by thes time this
negches you it will have pussed your bushd
will wish you man happy eturns
although I have talreadly done so
I should like to have bought y