Papers of Edgar Sydney Worrall - Wallet 2 - Part 14

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France is looking its best

Best of good wishes and all my love

Your affectionate son
Edgar

E.S. Worrell

New College 

Oxford

"A" COMPANY

No.4 Officer Cadet Battn

2nd May 1917

My Dear Father

I have just had some Home Mail at

last, sent on by Harry from 

Port Said, and it is ever

so much more recent than

any I have received personally.

I find out for the first that you have been elected

Secretary to Conference. My

heartiest congratulations.

You indeed deserve the

honour placed upon you,

after all your hard work.

Next year, I suppose

it will mean the Presidents

chair, and if so

 

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I'll be able to give you my

whole hearted support, in

dealing with your opponents

with machine-guns, bombs

rifle grenades, gas, or any

other way you may deem 

fit, for I am more or less

an expert in all these

branches of nasty persuasion.

Yesterday was May Day

and was celebrated in the

good old English style

with Maypoles and May Queens.

The bells commenced to 

chime in the gladsome 

morn at 5 A.M. and at

5.30 the choristers of 

Magdalen College sang

beautifully appropiate songs

from the tower which surmounts

the historic pile

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It has even got warm enough

for swimming, and we indulged 

in it today, for the first time

this year.

3rd May.

Since writing the above last

night, I have received quite

a budget of old mail dated

January and early February.

One was from Norman,

the first I have received

since he struck out on his

new venture.

I am glad you received

my back pay at last. They

took long enough to think

about it, but the pressure 

on the Pay Office must

 

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be something considerable.

Oxford is looking its

best. The College grounds,

green as emerald, sloping

down to the river, and

all the trees in full

bloom is a sight well

worth seeing.

Our course finishes this

month, so we are working

quite a lot of overtime.

My thoughts are with

you all at home, hourly

and the pictures are very

vivid.

All my love to you

Edgar

"A" COMPANY.

No. 4 Officer Cadet Battn.

11th May  1917.

 

NEW COLLEGE

OXFORD.

 

Mother Mine,

I have just received

letters from you and

father, sent about 8th March.

It is a great day for all

of us, when the Australian

mail is delivered, and it

seems to bring us ever so

much nearer home, and

little scraps here and there

are exchanged, and so we

get a fair idea of things

in all the states.

We have just had

cables through, announcing

that Hughes and his party

have had a very creditable

 

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victory in both Houses.

Good luck to them. We

all expect them to push

on a very vigorous war

policy, and make things

hot for the shirkers.

How kind of the dear

old lady, who asked you

to send me across that

parcel. I appreciate her

generous spirit very much.

Of course however, someone

else has had the benefit of

it, in the same way as I

have benefited through others.

We work on the admirable

system in our

Battalion, that members

who are absent on duty or

in hospital, forfeit their

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parcels and they are 

distributed amongst their

friends. This saves a

big strain on the mail

bag and the goods go

where they are most

wanted. If you explained

this to our friend, I am

sure she would understand.

As it is, I thank her

very deeply for those who

have been made happy

by her kindness.

I am glad you enjoyed

yourself at Wesley. Daresay

you were a little bit 

disappointed in not seeing

my name on the Honour

 

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Boards in the old Hall.

However there is a roll

outside under the [?]

that is worth ever so much

more than all those inside

put together. 

We used to sing "Somewhere

in France", in my day, when

I adorned the chairs reserved

for the elite Sixth

Form in the rear of the Hall.

It only seems a few months

ago since I sat there with

my bosom pals,and

heard a lot beside praises

hurled at our defenceless

heads, for creating slight

disturbances during assembly.

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Dorothy must have grown

considerably during the

last two years, but the

way I always picture her,

is care-free maid with

golden hair in glorious

disorder, a smudge on

the winsomely tilted nose,

the sparkling eyes, and

rippling laughter as she

romped with Toohey on

the grass, or turned on

the hose anywhere except

where it should have been.

That is the way, I love

to think of you all when

I return, just the same as

I left you. There may be a

few superficial alterations in

myself, but still I am a

boy, just a boy & hope to return one.

 

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The Spring here is very 

reminiscent of home, but with

out the glorious wattle and

flowering gums, we seem

lost. In their places however

we have flowering cherry

and peach, and the copper

beeches, with their bright red

glow of colour.

Mrs. Edwards of Bendigo

wrote me a very kind

letter and I have just

acknowledged it.

Best of love to all, and

my Mother mine, please do

not worry after my welfare.

Your loving son

Edgar.

"A" COMPANY.

No. 4 Officer Cadet Battn.

11th May  1917.

 

NEW COLLEGE

OXFORD

 

Sisters All,

Maybe, sometime

you are a little disappointed

that I do not answer

all your letters individually.

I do my best, but after

writing to Mother and Dad

there is an obvious scarcity

of news, that can be easily

realized, so you will understand,

all of you I know,

that it is not through

neglect on my part, for

I assure you, you are

all three, continually

in my thoughts.

 

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The river is ideal at this

time of the year, and punts

and canoes are in great

demand. There is little room

for rowing except on the

Thames itself, but the backwaters

are far more delightful.

There is a fascination

about a punt peculiarly

its own. You hire a punt

for the small sum of two

shillings for the afternoon

or evening. The punt is

supplied with ample cushions,

and a twelve foot

pole as the means of

progress.

You go up the river

by easy stages, reach your

destination, have tea under

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the willows, settle down in

the cushions and probably

go to sleep. To come home

you merely untie your

punt, keep your course

with a paddle and

drift down. When you

arrive at your starting

place, you suddenly

remember a weighty volume

of 'Kings' Regulations for

the 'Army', you took

with you, with the 

intention of studying, and

placed under the cushions

out of the way. But

with true and praiseworthy

 

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optimism, you do not even

feel downhearted at the

omission, but decide to

do some reading when

you get back to College.

We play tennis in

the evening on the beautiful

New College ground. The

river flows alongside 

and the whole setting

is very nearly perfect.

I daresay you all have

many social duties to attend

to as daughters of the Sec:

of Conference.

Kindest wishes to you

all,

Yours aye,

Edgar.

BRITISH OFFICER'S CLUB,

A.P.O. No. 1

B.E.F.

France

26th June 1917

 

Y.M.C.A.

 

Mother Mine,

I am under orders to proceed up the line

tomorrow, so probably this will be my last chance

of writing for some time. To my great satisfaction

I have been posted to my old Battalion, so

will be amongst old friends once more.

At present we are camped outside one

of the biggest ports in France, and the situation

is not even exaggerated by the ill-used and

much abused word "beautiful". Here, Henry V

fought one of his most famous battles, so I

daresay you can deduce the exact spot. It

is easily the finest camp the Australians

were ever in, and only a 1½d train ride

into the city. We are on the side of a hill

and in front of us is another hill, with a

most wonderful wood crowning it. All

around, are pleasant undulating valleys-

well timbered and watered, so you can

imagine we are almost sorry to leave it.

Captain Chaplain J. A. Gault was here

but went across to England this afternoon.

He is looking remarkably well, and the life

BRITISH OFFICER'S CLUB

A.P.O. No. 1

B.E.F.

 

Y.M.C.A.

 

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certainly  seems to agree with him. On Sunday

afternoon the band gave a few musical items

in front of the mess, and quite a lot of

French people came up to see us and join

in afternoon tea. The idea is an excellent

one and tends to create a strong friendship

between us.

Yesterday evening I went into the city

and had a passable look round. It is

far bigger and much better in every respect

to any French city I have yet seen. The

walk around the sea front was really

enjoyable.

These training camps are widely known

as 'bull-rings', because of the thorough final

dash men go through before proceeding to the

trenches. Here they learn to throw bombs, use

the rifle and bayonet, receive instructions in

anti-gas measures, and man and relieve

trenches. By the time a man finishes he

is surely as well trained for the scrum

as the gladiator of old was for the "bullring"

The weather is great, and this part of