Letters from Lt Colin Douglas Simper to Mrs Irene Simper Wallet 2 Part 10

 

Air Mail
[*10*]

Mrs C D Simper

C/O Blackwood

South Australia

A.C.F. With Which is Achieved
THE R.S.L WAR SERVICE FUND

THE SALVATION ARMY and
THE Y.M.C.A.

C D Simper

SY21753

Lt Simper  C.D.

HQ Coy 2/48 Bn

April (13)

Dearest darling,

Hullo darling 

No, you see I havn't deserted

you, in fact I hadn't forgot

ten you for one minute, and Im

never likely to either for I 

love you    o ^so much for that

I have some good news the

mail is almost normal again

now, I have numb   ^number 2 and 

I shouldn't have any trouble

with this letter. I am not

going to attempt to explain

the lappe lapse of my letters. I

leave that for you to under

stand, I can say this though

I have been particularly busy

2

Anyhow I shall give you a 

little local news, Len Chappie

came back yesterday & all 

the blokes and I have been 

down and had a few moments

with them.

Chappie wanted to know why

I didn't answer his letter, 

you know the one I received

at home, but I told him, as

I did not get it until a week

before I reported back, I did 

not think e it necessary.

He is OK and getting a little

fatter.

I had the pleasure of meeting

Tom (Diver Derrick VC. DCM.

who I told you was now 

in A Coy. He seems a good

type of bloke, He nearly

3

broke my fingers when he 

shook hands.

There arn't too many units who

can boast 5 Victory Crosses,

some now dead of course, but

apart from that there are a 

good number of others.

Well honey I am settling

down to my new job. I'm 

beginning to know the lads

and seeing as there’s 40 of

them it takes a good while

They are hard working PC

and that suits me.

You apparently have got the 

situation wrongly,

We are not forward troops

far from it, I was in

a lot more danger of getting

knocked than I am now

4

It is hard to explain our

actual job within censorship

regulations but, Mrs Cluer's hubby

would be able to give you

first hand information as to

what we do, ask him what

the job of a Pioneer PC is

from an infantry Bn,

He will tell you what work

we do.

You probably ask how can I

manage without complete

knowledge of their work,

well I have a couple of

good Sjts and they know 

the game backwards, and in

any case, Ill get on alright

with the PC. and they will

teach me all they can, you

see when I came over to

5

this Coy they knew all about me

as an officer, Yes they said we

know all about you, so my

fame or illfame has spread 

which certainly makes it a

lot easier for me,

Now I will tell you of my

fellow officers of this Coy,

Bert M^cClure is the first, he's

a South Aussie man, Prospect 

I think. He's a gangling blond

headed fellow about 32 or so

laughs quite a lot

Then there's Cecil Norgate, la

de, da Lieutentant, well he

is compared with us others

he's married also, home

town Brisbane,

Lastly Max Steel, whose a 

big red faced bloke of 28

6

or so, acts & talks like an

Irishman, abrupt but a good

hearted strong fellow; I like

him best I think, though

they're all a good happy crew.

We have the best Coy Comd

in the Bn and are envied

by all others, Maj Morphett

M.C. (Military Cross) who is one

of the finest blokes I've met.

He smokes a pipe & is a 

big chap good looking with

a hefty mostache, deep

voice and hearty manner.

By the way 50% of the Bn

have got mos now. I

reckon everyone is growing 

them & I've had numerous

questions asked me, how to

trim them, how best to

7

make em grow, & even have

been asked, 'Heh 'Col, "What do

you think of my mo, does it

suit me, etc, I give varying

opinions 

Ive been counting out my

money, I have nearly £100

in deferred, £29 in back

pay, & pay day next Thurs

Cause I still have £2 of the

last one.

My allottment will be changed

within a day or so, I intend

to increase it by 4/5 per

day, drawing 4/- myself

which is going to be plenty

so far as I'm concerned in

future, while I have money

I'll spend it, so that will

be that, the only thing

8

is I was talking to someone

the other day who said we

must keep 4/6 for ourselves,

Officers that is, well if thats

true it will increase yours

only to 4/- or so, I know I

will soon find out. 

You'll excuse the ink spots on

the first page I'm not used

to the pen again yet,

Well darling it's now round

about the hour which 4 Yrs

ago I timidly approached you

and said how do you do

to the future Mrs CD Simper

and tonight 4 years past I

was walking up the beach

with an exceptionally bright

exceptionally nice girl, who

I took to straight away