Letters from Irving Russell Flett to his Family, 1915-1916 - Part 1

File No. 12/11/590

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA.

WAR MUSEUM LIBRARY.

RECORD FILE OF PAPERS

NOT TO BE TAKEN AWAY>

 

Subject Letters of Lt. I.R. Flett, 23^rd Bn. A.I.F

 

Referred to by.	Date.	Referred to by.	Date.	Referred to by.	Date.
K.I.A.	28.	July 1916		POZIERES

 

S.S. Euripides

8/5/15

Dear Mother & Father

Just a line to let you know

that we got away safely & up on time after & very busy

time & an early start. The steamer is a most luxurious 

one & from first impression I have an idea that we are 

going to have an ideal time on our trip. It is hard to 

realise that we are not on a pleasure trip. Hec 

& Harold are on board &seem to be enjoying themselves

There is a considerable difference between our quarters

& those of the men, but I think they will be comfortable

We are treated like lords, only having two in a cabin

Mr Kaars being my cabin mate, it seems as though we

are going to see the thing through together. We have

electric lights from the ceiling also at the head of our

beds & a washing basin each & many other little luxuries

You will be able to find out from the papers where to

address letters to us or failing that Mrs L might

be able to enlighten you

      I will have to wind up now

as I have to go & see that the men are fed. Will write

from next port. Remember me to all at home & Aunties

                 Your loving son

                           Irvy

Excuse scrawl

as this was written

in great haste

                                   11 May 1915

Dear Mother & Father

                Just a few lines to let you know

how we are getting on & that nothing more serious than sea

sickness has occurred to anyone, although I so far have

escaped that, but suppose two thirds of the entire complement

has been under with it, and I can tell you it leaves

its victims very so so for days after, but it is wonderful

the way all the fellows takes it, they dont complain at all,

they only laugh at one another. They are about as good a lot 

of fellows that you could come across in a years journey.

When we got outside the heads the difference in the motion of

the ship was very marked, there being a very big swell on

& although she is a splendid sea boat the roll was very

noticeable & straightway begin to tune everyone up We

are indeed very fortunate in the boat that has been chosen

for us we have every comfort including hot and cold sea

baths electric fans in the cabins, or wash stand & basin each

in the cabins, electric fans, & cots instead of bunks, ours being

one of the first boats on the Australian service to be fitted

up with cots, & I can tell you they are not half bad to

sleep in. The meals would do credit to Menzies or

Scotts & the style is something that would open your

eyes, every meal has about ten courses, including breakfast

It beats me why people when they are going for trips round

the world & to England stick to mail ships, when they can get

a ship like this & it does not cost nearly as much. We are not

at all killed with hard work up to the present, there not being

quite enough room for our usual program, but the men are

very fond of physical exercise & we give them a fair amount

of it. It makes you think what a marvellous thing the

ocean is when you are day & days sailing, being out of

sight of land all the time, seeing nothing but a great was

of sea all the time, not even sighting a ship. It is a

wonderful & pretty sight to look over the side of the ship at

night & see the phosphorous that is thrown up when she plows

her way through the water, it being nearly light enough to

see & read if you were down near enough to it The men

are all very comfortable their food being excellent, they all

pronounce the tucker & hammocks a vast improvement on

Broadmeadows & I can tell you we are all very pleased at the

change. Hec, Harold & Scotty are getting on tip top, Harold

being the only one that has so far been turned up a bit, but

he was not very bad, they have been sleeping out most of the

time, it being a little too stuffy in the troop deck for their

liking. I have lent Hec my waterproof bed so he is pretty

comfortable & can sleep in all weathers, being completely

covered in & on a good soft padding. There is very little news to

                                                                Inf Bgd

                                                          A Coy 23^rd Btln. 6^th A.I.F.

                                                                            A.I.F.

                                                                At Sea

Dear Mother & Father,

            Here we are again still in the sea but  dont

know whether our journey is nearly ended or not as we have not yet

been told our destination. Since I last wrote our trip has been much

more interesting than before, as we have been passing a few ships & have

made a call at Colombo as you will no doubt know from the very

hurried post card I sent from that port also the table cloth which

I posted & hope it has reached you safely. I also sent Aunties one.

Well we are now let to tell you where we are & where we have

been since we left home. On the Saturday night, after leaving

Port Melbourne we stopped just inside the heads, sailing through the

rip on the Sunday morning Our journey after leaving the Heads

was fairly rough but got a bit smoother as we got somewhere about

where I should Adelaide is. We did not call at that port

the first spot we touched being Albany but of course we were not allowed

to land. It is a very pretty place & has a fine light house &

wireless station, the harbour is a very fine one & you get a fine view

of the surrounding country it being fairly high. We left Albany on the

Thursday night since when it has been monotonously calm. I would

give anything for a real stiff blow & rough sea. We arrived at

Colombo on the Monday week after leaving Albany & we were very

pleased to see land once more, & such land too. The harbour &

breakwater at that port well came the name of being one of the best

in the Empire; the breakwater is made of reinforced concrete & stands

about 12 feet above the surface of the sea the total length of the

breakwater being about 3 1/2 miles in all. We anchored just in

the harbour about 2 miles from the land & could get a fine view

of the surrounding country & such a pretty harbor & shore I think

it would be impossible to see anywhere the different shades of

green being very numerous & going right down to the edge of the

water. The ship had scarcely dropped anchor before there were

swarms of native boats filled with very eager salesmen clinging

on to our sides & I think I can say they are about the most unscrupulous

scoundrels that walk the earth, if they say a thing is 2/- you can

always beat them down half way. I can tell you our fellows did

it with the greatest pleasure. Talk about Australians being

prejudiced against coloured races- why it is nothing to the

Englishmen - all the crew is English & I can tell you they

gave these niggers a pretty rough time when they found them on

the ship, cuffing them on the head with anything that was handy

but they dont seem to mind as they always grin It is marvellous

how they shin up the ropes as all the gangways are guarded by

armed sentries with instructions to fire if necessary. It was very funny

to see one fellow, I was standing on the gangway signalling at

him to come up with his boat load of fruit (they were let to come along

side the ship with fruit for the men) but he was not having any

he got right under the stern of our ship as fast as he could run row,

                                               3

& when I enquired the reason of his fright one of the ships officers

told me that he was frightened of my revolver which I was wearing

at my side, it appears that only last voyage this ship made one of

the officers fired at & sunk two of the native boats because they

would not keep away when told, so the chap evidently thought 

I was dangerous, but directly I disappeared up he came game as

you like. They are wonderful fellows in the water & rather clean for

natives; our chaps were throwing money into the water for 2/-

the Cingalese would dive from the top boat deck a distance of

over 60 ft, which is a pretty high dive, into the shark infested

sea, which is more than I would care about doing. On the Monday

night I went ashore with three other officers & no sooner have

we stepped ashore than were rushed with ricksaw men but

we walked up to the shops first & made a few purchases. I got

measured for a Khaki suit at 9.30PM & it was delivered on the

ship next morning at 10PM & only cost £1; it would do some of the

Melbourne tailors good to take a lesson out of the cingalese

tailors book, with reference to speed anyway but I dont say too much

about the fit, but the togs are comfortable & that is the main thing

& it does not matter how we dress on board. Directly we put our

noses outside the ship we were rushed by the rickshaw men who

fight with each other like the very dickens for a fare. We hire 

four of them as only one can travel in each vehicle, & I can

say I had one of the most enjoyable & beautiful rides I have ever

experienced. Of course it was quite dark & we could not see very

                                      4

much of the road we were travelling along, but the whole place had

a splendid lighting system being all incandescent light & all along the

roadside there are many trees, bread fruit trees, banana palms

cinnamon trees and every sort of foliage you could think of. The roads

there are perfect, being made of some sort of gravel like we use in

Victoria for front garden paths, being of a reddish color. The way 

these rickshaw niggers can travel is wonderful, they run all the

way & are talking to you all the time explaining all about the

different places, they all talk very good. English even to one another &

there is no difficulty in making yourself understood. g The bo

The cingalese even get a pretty hot time from their own people. My

man evidently infringed some rule of the road because a native policeman

said something to him & he answered him back. For this he promptly

got a whack over the head with a sandbag or something of that kind

which was enough to kill an ordinary man, but he just jogged on without

waiting to even give it a rub, I suppose they are just used to

this sort of luxury. We had a good drive round all the native

quarters & stopped there about midnight to buy some bananas

Immediately we stopped a great crowd gathered round us & fired all

sorts of questions at us. Even in these low quarters English is fairly

well spoken. Australians seem to be very popular amongst the natives

in fact more so amongst them than with the whites. After a lot of

arguing we got who some bunches of bananas for the men (who by the way

were not allowed shore) the dealers asked 5/- per bunch of about

250 but we eventually got them for 2/- four per bunch. A safe & only

                                                  5

plan when dealing with these bounders is never to give them what they

ask, because they will always climb down more than half way.

When we move off the native quarters on both arms were going like

pump handles shaking hands all round, they cheered us & paid is all

sorts of compliments, one of them being "Australians fine much big fellows

a bigger than Cingalese or English bigger ever came here" as uo can

see were treated like lords. Next day (Tuesday) Raws, Addison,

another officer & myself went ashore again, because we only saw the place

at night before. We hired a motor car @ 10/- per hour each & had

3 hours of the best ride I have ever had. The colony is marvellous

there being vivid green trees with bright scarlet flowers on top all

along the way, pam groves, & houses that would do credit to the

most wealthy Melbourne suburbs, with garden that would not

be touched at home. The cinnamon gardens are wonderful & you

know you are coming to them when you get a mile away. The native

police, whom our police would be well advised to copy for

smartness, all saluted us as we drove along, likewise did a great

number of the people, & it made you feel like a governor general

driving along answering salutes. The buildings in the city are opened

our eyes for architecture, the post office &hotels being specially

fine. The salvation army & Y.M.C.A. are also represented here

the latter having a very big place. Our stay at Ceylon altogether

was a most enjoyable one & the only thing I am sorry for is that the

men did not share our good luck. A few of them took french leave

but have to do a little extra drill per day as punishment but they are

                                      6

perfectly satisfied, saying it was worth risking. They have names themselves

the "Colombo Tourist Association" & rather proud of it, &

seem to look down on the other men who did not break away. The

weather, ever since we left Colombo has been terribly hot, the perspiration

trickles through singlets short & coat. I will never growl at even

Elizabeth Street on a north wind day after this beastly tropical

climate, Australian climate is a king to this. This morning we passed

Aden & are now sailing along with the Arabian coast, which is about

as barren a spot as you could clap eyes on there being nothing but

mountains of rock & sand; Africa is ^was on our port side but we can

just dimly see the coast. We passed about 2 miles form a Turkish

fort which js now run out having been battered to pieces some time

ago. Just now we are sailing over the spot where the Israelites

crossed the Red Sea & they must have had a jolly long walk.

There is a good breeze blowing today so our first day in the much

feared Red Sea has not been toom hot compared with with what we

have been thro, but still there are five days of journey in this

sea to come yet, so there is plenty of time for it to keep up its good

name. We have no idea yet where we are going & there is a great

deal of speculation as to our destination. You can read all

my letters to Aunties, as if I wrote separate ones they would contain

much the same news as it is really hard to find much to write about

How are all the Brighton people getting on, the two Jims & all the

rest also the church & boys club & Lacrosse. I suppose you will

mention all about them when you write. I wrote to Mr Sinclair.