Letters from Fred Leslie Biddle to his Family, 1914-1915 - Part 12 of 19

Alexandria 
5 .8 . 15 
  
Dear Mother 
Letters from home up to June 16th 
safely to hand 
Glad to know you are all pretty fit. 
I am sending you a batch of photos this 
week which I am sure will interest you 
The larger ones are taken by Col Johnston & 
the smaller by Lt. N Cormack. 
None of them give a full idea of how 
hilly the place is because the photo camera 
flattens all the underfeatures into the general 
slope but you can pick them up perhaps by 
looking close into the picture. 
I am quite sure they will tell you much 
more than I can write about the place 
Unfortunately there is no photo of the beach & the 
ridges running up sharply from the sea. 
The photos make the end of Shrapnel Valley 
meet the beach but as a matter of fact you have 
to climb over the last ridge & drop steeply down 
to the sea. 
At any rate you will appreciate why we 
have no horses ashore. They would be quite useless

2 
After all the final resort in all difficulties is 
old-fashioned man-power & nothing has yet been 
produced so reliable under all circumstances 
Things are very quiet here & we get no  
news of what is doing 
Obviously the country is not a wise place 
to publish early news in. 
I have a whole bunch of letters to 
write to England & odd friends in Australia 
who write me. 
The mail closes shortly & must ask you 
to excuse the short note. 
You know I never could write long 
letters about nothing. 
Love to Father, Hollis, Isabel the boys, & all 
relations 
Kindest remembrance to all our friends & to Dolly. 
& best love for yourself from 
Your affete son 
Fred 
PS.  
Had a wire from Hollis & Adelaide pals. this week. 
Did you get mine?

Alexandria 
17 .8 . 15 
  
Dear Mother 
Your letters up to  5 July 3rd 
safely to hand also those from Father & Isabel 
They have been a bit irregular lately on 
a/c of the mail service being disorganised 
You may be sure everybody looks forward 
to letters from home with the latest news. 
We are all very pleased at the splendid 
recruiting figures especially in Victoria. 
I hope They ‘re not sending any wasters tho', 
as a small percentage here all ready are not 
improving the good name of Australia. 
It annoys me to read letters from 'Old 
fogies' wanting all the racing crowd from 
Bourke St sent to the front. 
It's time somebody rose up & said that 
this army is not a "dump" for that crowd 
They'd be as much use as a sore/finger. 
Things here in Alexandrea are very dull. 
The place is full of soldiers but that's all 
No doubt you were all pleased to see 
that at last we were allowed to make a

2 
move at Anzac & now occupy about 3 times 
the old area. 
It's just my luck to miss the show after 
watching the country which they have just taken 
for 3 months. 
It's the old old story. Promised not to keep 
one away for more than a month & then forgot 
all about it! 
The sinking of the Royal Edward with 
troops aboard has caused a bit of a sensation 
here & yesterday a large no of men were 
brought here & admitted to hospital with pneumonia 
It's a miracle it has not happened before 
Well there's no news at all in this place. 
In fact we very often read about things for the 
first time in the English papers, 
I have not received the parcel yet but 
suppose it will turn up. 
Glad to hear all are well at home & 
that Bruce has enlisted. 
Love to all including your own dear self 
Your affete son 
Fred