Letters from Irving Russell Flett to his Family, 1915-1916 - Part 5

P.S. I haven't time to read this over

so excuse scrawl & mistakes IRF

 

20th Nov. 1915

Dear Father, 
Your welcome letter of the 5^th inst to hand last

Sunday, along with a whole budget of others.  I had a record mail last week. 

It took me just about a day off & on to read all correspondence. 

As you say our fellows will have to take care they don't lose

their head over the praise they seem to be getting, as I think there is still a 

good deal to do before we break the back of the Task; he is a very persistent

gentleman. Hence I think he is getting a pretty rough passage, as our artillery

& bombs are doing a lot of "[[?]]" pretty well every day, & I would much prefer

being in our own trenches than in theirs.  It is a really fine sight to see

our big howitzer shells landing in their trenches, so powerful are these shells that

we frequently get fragments into our lines, in fact have had men wounded by

them, sometimes as far over as 200 years, so you can judge what the burst is

like & how the explosion would affect anyone close to them.

 

The rumours that you say are all over Melbourne, re a ship being

torpedoed, this causing the Brigadier's death are, as you will by now know, quite

correct, but it will by now, no doubt, be public property.  I suppose it is hushed

up for the reason that they don't want recruiting to fall off or the public to lose

faith in our sea power, but suppose these things are bound to happen occasionally

Am glad that you & Wally headed the service in memory of the Colonel, & only

wish I could have got ashore at Lemnos, when he was buried, but nobody knew

anything about it, not even our battalion commander - he was trying to find out

to let me know, as he said I could go ashore for it.  I hope the  send

off you are giving the church fellows will be as enjoyable as the one given

to us.  We had a good time.

Glad to hear that business is good, but it will be in

 

Rest of no interest

 

 

28th Nov 1915

Dear Mother & Father,

Im afraid you will have to be satis-

find with a very short letter this week as we have been

very busy, & besides, I have not received any letter from

you as the mail has not yet arrived.  We just heard a

couple of days ago, that the little steamer carrying last

mail's parcels from Alexandria has been sunk on the

way over, so it looks very much like we will not get any of the

Mutual Store Hampers or billies that were sent to us unless

perhaps they did not leave Melb. at the same time as the

letters; besides your hampers I had one other, & two billies

coming over, one of them being from Jeanie Landers, so if they

have have [?] gone to the huge store that Davey Jones is

accumulating through this war, I for one will be very

disappointed.  It makes one's stomach think his throat is

cut to think of it.

Well, I have reported the weather as

perfect for quite a long time now, but last night, which

completed our third month in the trenches, was a fair

corker, we had a beautiful  snow storm & today, (Sunday)

there is a blizzard blowing.  The trenches look very

pretty, with the snow on all the parapets, but they do

not feel at all pretty.   It is also very draughty on 

 

duty in these trenches, but both Hec & myself are

with best of health I think we might to be able to

stand it alright.  The hills all round look very beauti-

fun with their snow capped summits, but when it starts

to thaw I'm afraid we will get very muddy.  This should

put a stop to the shortage of water which we have been

experiencing of late.  We have been that short that I can

only have a wash about every fourth day.  The day before

yesterday I managed to get hold of half a small tea

cup of water, & with it had a shave, wash, & brushed my

teeth, & thought that if this sort of thing went on much

longer, I would have to drink it after.  I knew of one

fellow here, that had a shave, wash, brushed his teeth

& washed a pair of sox, all with one cup of water, so

if you have heard of more use being made out of this

quantity of fluid let me know.

Things of the fighting business are

decidedly slow, we hardly firing a shot.  The same

applies to the Turks, & it looks as if both sides are

settling down for the winter, & are going to start an

endurance test.  The sea is now getting pretty rough, &

we are experiencing considerable difficulty in landing

stores, as there are no breakwaters, & by the look of

 

 

the piers I doubt if they will stand the squalls  they

are sure to have to put up against.

Well, I think I have told you about all

there is of interest this week, & besides the mail closes very

shortly & I do not want to miss it.  Hope Wally is

keeping alright now & that Auntie Alice is feeling more

fit now that you have the warm weather. Give my love

to Aunties at [Lufra?] & tell them their mittens were

invaluable last night.  I will  now close with love to

yourselves & hoping you are in the best of health

Your Loving son,

 

Russ

 

The other night we received information to the effect that a peace

conference is to sit on the 11th (tomorrow) & everybody is thinking that there is

some truth in this "furfy".  We have now had close four months in the trenches

& although we get out of the actual firing line every 48 hours (or rather did)

now things are not quite so regular, we are never really out of range of either

bullet, bomb, or shell fire.  We always consider ourselves to be safer in the

firing line than our in the "rest" camp.  We are not as well off as the

troops fighting in France, as they after spending a month in the  trenches get

a fortnight's spell at home quite safe from everything.  The little cold we

have had played up with our men very severely & when the real thing comes

I dont know how they will stand the cold there are numerous cases of

frostbite & the hospital ships were crowded with sick cases only.  Hec &

myself stood it well & have never been better in our lives.   I am able to

get him a few luxuries now & again, including candles etc., which are very

hard to get hold of here.  If a fellow has to go to bed at six o'clock without

a light & not being able to have a read it gets pretty miserable.  I can tell

you it is not too bad in a comfortable dug out with an interesting book

to read.  I am pleased to hear that the Display came off just as usual, an

there

was no reason why a junior club should not have a show at the end of the

season as there is no disgrace in youngsters having their night out.  I hope

they gave the usual good account of themselves.

[?] ask if I received the parcels that are posted to me

from time to time; up to the last batch that were sent they same to hand fairly

regularly , but the last lot that were sent have not arrived, & from reports we have

received they are not very likely to come to hand as we have heard the parcels

have been sunk, but I fully expect to get the one you sent by this mail. I hope

the comforts you mention that it contains include chocolates. Miss Anderson's

papers have not yet arrived.

Lately we have had very nice weather, only had one cold

spell, & are not anxious for another, the rain has also been [?] off. The Turks

have been a trifle livelier lately & this makes the trench life a little more interesting

but these lively spells do not occur frequently.  Sea baths I'm afraid are just

about knocked on the head, but I am looking forward to having a warm bath

when I get out this time, now that we are in full issue of water again.

Well, I will now have to closes, as it is getting harder &

harder each mail to write you anything interesting.  Pay my usual respects to

Uncle & Aunties. Auntie Alice, Aunties at Lofra, & Wally, & hope you are all in 

the best of fettle & still able to sit up & take a little nourishment. I suppose [?]

will be sending you a few lines the mail so will be able to tell you all about himself.

I remain

Your ever loving son

[?]

14/12/15

 

Dear Mother & Father

Just a few lines to let you know

that both Hec & myself are tip top & in good spirits.  We

are under the impression that we are shortly going to make a shift

and in case you do not hear from us for a week or two or longer don't

worry yourselves as there is nothing to worry about.  As this is written 

in great haste I will now wind up with love to all at [?]

& Lyfra & Uncle Tas.  Ask Wally to remember me to all friends

also [?] regards to

Mr sinclair

 

I remain

your ever loving son

[?]

 

(2)

2nd Jany. 1916

P1 of no interest

 

reached previously it doesn't seem to matter much what calls the Victorian people

have on them they always manage to beat the last year's hospital collections, but I

reckon if the war doesn't conclude this year the limit is just about reached.  They ought to 

let the golden offering slide for a year or two.  I thin & have the Jubilee then as they

will benefit by the delay.  I hope Jim D'Alten has received all by letters as I have written

several to him but to date have only received one from him.  I also send a good many to

J. T.  & have received a couple from him  & one from [Toenie?] also two or three from Mabel [Chap?]

It gave me a great surprise to hear the bad news about poor old Len Flood as he was such a

healthy sort of chap, & unless a bullet had his name on it,  as we say here, I fully expected to

see him scrape through alright, but still once we leave Australian shores we only live from day to day.

2nd Jany. 1916

XXX Well, as for news, I suppose ever this letter reaches you (which will

be some fine distant I think, as all letters are being held up for a while)  you will have

heard the surprising, & to me, unpleasant  news, of the evacuation of the Peninsula. I was

sorry we did not have the opportunity of letting you know by cable that on Xmas day we were at

peace with everyone, being on the island of Lemnos, the naval base, & fifty miles away from

the firing line & we are still here, having the time of  our lives .  You have no idea of

the sense of relief & the feeling of security that comes over one when he realises that after

four months of solid shelling & being in the firing line he finds himself in a peaceful island

so you can see we had a peaceful Xmas after all, much to our surprise & everyone

else's surprise too I guess.  Now that we are away from the front I can let you know

that for four months we have been occupying the particularly hot spot known as Lone

Pine ( no doubt you have heard of the place) of course while there we had to

make the best of it, but from the start realised what a death trap & impossible place

it was.  To start with our artillery could get no direct fire into the enemy as our observers

could not see the enemy's artillery, they being in excellent positions & much higher than we

were, & they simply had to fire down on us.  We were getting on alright until the Turks got

 

3

their big fourteen inch Howitzers against us.  We had several bombardments from them, &, to

say the least of it they were not at all pleasant & it would be quite a long time

before we got fond of them.  The morning of the night we left the peninsula we had a 

three hour bombardment from the 14" shells & although every shell landed within a radius

of 200 yards & [?] we were in the centre of the radius, unbelievable though it may seem, not

one of us received even a scratch, one of the burst in a sap about eight feet from myself &

half a dozen chaps I was talking to & although it raised a cloud of dust that made everything

quite dark for fully half a minute, the result was nothing worse than a hole in the

ground about ten feet deep & about forty feet across.  There must have been special

providential guard over the handful of 23rd men & two officers that had to guard the

firing line that last day.  I had the honour of being picked out of the whole battalion

to stay with a certain captain to take charge of the party that had to hold on till the

last, or can say that I was the last of the 29th Btln. to leave Lone Pine.  How we got

away without the enemy knowing anything about it is marvellous, because it must be taken

into consideration that in places the trenches were as close as three yards - that was in

our section, & although we had blankets laid all along the trenches & saps &

blankets tied round our boots to deaden any sound, it could not have been done if the

men had not played their part.  They all realised that the quieter they kept & the

smartness with which they obeyed orders, the better it would be for them, as, if the enemy

had found out that only fifty or so of us were in Lone Pine trenches all the night, holding

out against them & pulling their legs a treat, the result would have been pretty serious for

us all, & instead of the whole evacuation of all our thousands being carried out without

a casualty, which it was, there wouldn't have been one of the last fifty to tell the tale;

of course we picked the best men out of the hundreds who volunteered for the job.  Those

men who were not chosen were not at all pleased & one of them had a fine old dust up with

one of the sergeants about it.  Anywhere where there is a bit of adventure or risk just suits

our men to a T; they are the best chaps in the British or any other army, & if it is our

(4)

privilege to meet equal numbers in an open field I'm afraid for the welfare of that other

side - Turk, German, or anyone else.

I think I have told you in previous letters that the harbor

at this place is very fine also being very busy.  There are hundreds of vessels in the water

warships, dreadnoughts, torpedo boats, monitors, submarines & transports.  The "Aquatamia"

& "Muritamia" the two biggest ships in the world are at anchor in the harbour, they are

being used as hospital ships.  They are marvellous, & when lit up at night are well

worth seeing, with their red & blue lights running the entire length of the hull.  All the

other ships some of which are 20 thousand tons look pups compared with these two

giants.  The island is very hilly & has small villages sprinkled indiscriminately at about two

or three miles intervals; the inhabitants are mainly Greeks, & what they do for a crust when

the Australians  are not here, beats me, but I can assure you  they are making hay while

the sun shines, double prices for everything.  We get beautiful oranges here, the price of 

which is 1/- per doz - that is cheap enough, but at ordinary times I believe they are

sold as low as 4d per doz.  We buy about six dozen every three days for our tent of

three, so we should be healthy.  We have some good route marches & on Thursday last

our Battalion went to Thermos, where the hot springs are, & whilst there indulged in the

luxury of a natural hot bath, I can tell you I gave the vermin bad time for half an

hour, it was the most enjoyable bath I have ever had.  They had private baths there &

charge 2/- per dip - ordinary times 6d.  It was the first hot bath I had indulged in for

over four months, & didn't I appreciate it.  The temperature of the water is 110°, & the springs

have been running for hundreds & thousands of years.

We will be moving from here in a day or two for the land of

sand & dust, but at this time of the year they say it is very enjoyable, so are hoping to have

a good time, & a bit of a fly round, & collect a few curios - by the way I have

had the good fortune in bagging a Turkish Rifle, some ammunition & the neck of

a Turkish soldiers water bottle, all of which have Turkish engraving on them, so will have

5

something to show for my trip abroad.

5th Jan  Since writing the above we have embarked for our sea voyage, but do not expect

to sail till the day after tomorrow, but do not object to this, as we have nothing to do, &

a table as good as the Euripides, & last but not least a beautiful two berth cabin to

sleep in.  I don't care if they postpone our sailing date for a fortnight.  The men are

also splendidly fed, but sleeping accomodation for them could be a bit better.  She is

a beautiful ship & has a tonnage of 21 thousand, being considerably bigger than the

Euripides.  The men marched from camp this morning we had the delightful experience 

(that is the 23rd) of being played to the pier by a first class Scottish Bagpipe

Band; including drums there were 20 of them, & although we were all carrying

full packs the marching of our regiment was never better.  My word band

was perfect & I feel sure that if we had one of our own we could march all day &

not feel any bad effect.  Altogether we have had a very enjoyable fortnight on the

island of Lemnos also a first class rest. During our stay here [?] several of us

became acquainted with some of the nurses in the numerous hospitals here, with

the result that I have been to two dances & had a great time & tip top supper, the

latter being a great consideration to us now - more so now than it used to be. There

were also a lot of Canadian nurses there, & they are very American in a few ways, & very fond

of the Australians.   XXXXXX

I think for this time I will now wind up, as I  cannot

write sensibly with the constant thoughts of soft bed & clean sheets to get into.

Clean bed, good tucker,& nothing to do all coming in a heap is a danger to a fellows

mind box so I think I will wind up with love to Auntie Alice, Aunt Blanche,

Uncle [?] Aunties at Lyfra.  Hec & myself are in perfect health & good

spirits, & hope you are all the same, & will have heaps of good luck during the

coming year . Give Wally my love & tell him I will endeavour to reply to his

letter tomorrow also answer a good many others that I will

I remain  Your aff. son

[?]

 

Rest of no interest

12.1.16

 

afterwards.  Festival  teas are no places for hungry men, that I can vouch for.

You ask if there is anything we want at all, but as we are [?] a place

where we can get  most things I can think it will be with while [?] [?]

I see from father's letter that [?] Major Murdoch

has come away with Tim's Brigade.  Unfortunately I will not be able to see

him, as this Brigade is down on the Canal being a good distance from

our destination.  Brigadier [?] is a tip top man & should do good work if

ever they get into action.  Pleased to note that the Annual Golden offering

amounted to £50/-/-.  Im sure it realised all expectations.  Brighton [?] are

not so stingy after all.  I am beginning to think that I was lucky in getting away

when I did, as going through two schools like Bell & Bob have to would make one a

bit impatient to get away.  The four months I spent at the [?] was quite long

 

enough.  I acknowledge  all the parcels Auntie's sent to me & think all that

they sent have been received.

In my last letter on the boat I wound up by

telling you that we had just arrived at Alexandria & had pulled into

the pier.  We landed at about 5p.m. & entrained for Tel-el-Kebir about

6, where we arrived at about 11.30 the same night. It was a pretty cold [?]

as we had to travel in open trucks, & many of us left our overcoats in our packs,

which were in a different truck.  Where we are camped in a very nice [?]

& beats Heliopolis.  The ground is not nearly as sandy, & on the other side of

the railway line the place is beautifully green.  There is a fresh water canal

just the other side of the line, & is used for irrigation chiefly.  Our

work is not too stiff, & certainly a great pleasure compared with what we

have been through the past 4½ months, & not nearly so risky.  We are back to

drill again & get two half holidays & Sunday off every week.  The only objection

is that we cannot get leave just for a day or two to get into Cairo & I can

assure you it would be very welcome, as I very much want to purchase some

underclothing & throw away this old trench finery that I am still wearing.  However

I expect to be able to get in [?] the next day or two.  We were jolly glad

to leave Cairo, but can assure you we are not sorry to get another look at even

Cairo.  It will be a pleasure to be able to splash about a few pounds again.

I received Aunty Alice's letters of 14th & 29th Nov,  but am

afraid I will be unable to answer this time as I am simply deluged with

letters.  since I started this over a few days ago I have received seven

others as you can see I have my hands full.  The climate here at this

time of the year is beautiful, the best in the world as you have heard