Letters from Fred Leslie Biddle to his Mother, 1916-1917, Part 2 of 24

Sunday 23.1.16 
Tel-el-Kebir 
  
Dear Mother & Father, 
Talk about fresh news, 
it seems like getting yesterday's when one receives 
a letter dated 21.12.15 on 20/1/16 after having been  
used to waiting 8 to 10 weeks at Anzac. 
I can scarcely realise that sufficient time  
could have passed to be able to receive a  
letter from Australia referring to the evacuation. 
I have no doubt you will have had a  
full a/c of it in the papers long ago. 
Yesterday the special supplement of  
the "Times" giving General Hamilton's dispatch  
on the Gallipoli Pens positions was received  
here. I will send you a copy in case it  
may not be published in full in Australia. 
It is certainly as frank in regard to the  
Suvla affair, as one could expect in a dispatch  
for all the world to hear read. 
One would like to read the "secret"  
dispatch now. 
We are now turning ourselves into field  
artillery once again, & from the little we have

(2) 
seen so far it will not be long before  
we are right "up to scratch" again. 
The "rustiness" is disappearing fast &  
the Mena training is still observable despite  
the fact that for 8 mos we have done nothing,  
which in a way resembled field arty work. 
I have just got rid of my big job of  
checking every single item that a battery  
should have, & noting what we have as  
serviceable, repairable, or unserviceable. &  
missing; even unto "screws, lubricating, boss-head  
5/16" x 1/2", spare, 6." or Pins, split, 3/32 x 1 1/4"  
&c &c. 
Now the "requisitions to complete" are sent in,  
all we have to do is to get the stores, mark them  
& issue them. Quite easy, I don't think! 
I had a week in Cairo on duty as a  
witness for character in a Court-martial, & so  
got some chance of living a civilised life for a  
while. 
Leave is very difficult to get now even  
for 24 hours, so I was lucky. But its an awful  
nuisance not having a town near. There are  
lots of little odds & ends a fellow wants, even

(3) 
a few clothes to replace those worn out. 
You will be glad to hear I have  
received every parcel you have sent & they  
have been just the thing. 
Even the warm things are useful here  
because altho' the days are splendid, the  
nights & early mornings are bitterly cold. on  
the desert. 
Close from camp, in fact practically  
in it, are the defences of Arabi Pasha where  
the famous fight took place in '82 & there is  
a well kept cemetery close to the railway station  
where the names of some famous regiments may  
be read on the headstones. 
It seems strange after over 33 years to  
find the trenches practically fit for immediate  
use. No doubt the gravellying nature of the  
desert in these parts has prevented them filling  
up. One can see quite plainly the positions  
of the guns & the embrasures are quite distinct. 
It was quickly found necessary to issue  
strict orders against digging for relics as  
our "irreverent" men,  were digging up the trenches  
for skeletons (native) & old cartridges etc.

4. 
One would think they hadn't seen enough  
of the dead on the Peninsula. 
I am pleased to see that you have at  
last obtained a servant in place of Dolly  
& I hope Mother will now be able to get a  
rest. 
Why not take Isabel away from "biz" for  
a few weeks. She doesn't owe H.A & Sons  
much, anyway! 
By jove I've some mail to answer  
now. I have letters & papers for the last 2  
months & they fill a large wooden box- 
We had no mail at Anzac for 6 weeks  
before leaving so I've quite a job on  
hand. The prospect rather frightens me. 
I am sorry to read that Hollis has  
had such a bad time. His luck has been  
right out but let's hope his troubles are  
now over. 
Uncle Walter also seems to be having  
a rotten go of it. 
I hope he is a lot better long before  
this. 
I am enclosing a photo of McCormack

5. 
& Byrne taken just behind the battery in  
front of our dug-out. 
It will give you an idea of the costume  
normally worn, even by generals, during the  
hot weather. 
Many of the men even did without the  
shirt & were as brown as berries. 
Well as you can imagine there isn't very  
much in the desert to write about & in fact  
life is pretty dull. 
We have been ordered not to write details  
about the method of evacuation at Anzac  
for fear of giving useful points to the enemy,  
so that the most fertile subject to write about  
is barred 
I have received a lot of letters from  
Isabel & will have to send her a special letter. 
I should like to have had a hand helping  
to make the Xmas pudding & no doubt as you  
say a few of the raisins & sultanas would  
have lost their way; but anyway with a  
bit of luck next Xmas I'll be right in the  
thick of it (the stirring I mean, not the "pud"). 
Best love to all & Kindest regards to friends of  
mine. 
Your affcte son Fred

23-1-16

Tel-el-Kebir 
29.1.16 
  
Dear Mother, 
Sunday once again is here &  
here goes for the week's news. 
I have had no letter from you this  
week & must confess I have very little to write  
about. We have just spent the week in the  
ordinary routine work of gun drill, exercise,  
signalling &c. &c. which may be interesting enough  
to us, but to nobody else I think. 
I hear Major Phillips will be back here  
in a week or ten days, but don't know yet  
whether he will get this battery again or not. 
At present Cap'n Harris has it, but he really  
has no claim on it. 
He was is 2 or 3 months senior to me & was  
adjutant of the Div. Amm. Col. We did not reckon  
on that unit being included in our promotions. 
He was brought up to Anzac & acted as Staff  
Captain for a while, then went to 5^th Bty for  
a few days to take Caddy's place. However  
Caddy came back early & so he was pushed on  
to 4^th Bty. He stayed about 3 days & then went  
sick. Now that the show is back here he has

2. 
rejoined. 
I have been in the beautiful position  
of carrying on, whilst various officers brought  
up for experience &c have been shoved over me. 
Now I am further off a step than ever  
as war service doesn't count at all, & all  
sorts of dug-out officers are coming along &  
taking seniority from the date of their original  
"militia" commissions. They may have been  
years on the unattached list doing nothing, but  
still they are senior. 
Of course I am not an isolated case.  
It is practically impossible to find any officer  
of the original 1^st Division who isn't in  
the same case. 
Our subalterns are junior to men who  
were their juniors before we left. You see  
the men who stayed behind have been made  
captains, & so forth, to come away with later  
lots.  
Well that's enough "growsing" although it  
is the main subj subject of talk everywhere. 
We are all feeling very fit now & the  
fellows of the 2^nd Div. Arty who came along

3. 
to see us, say we haven't changed a bit. 
No doubt you will be relieved to know  
I haven't any grey hairs or haggard lines  
on my face. 
I must get some photos taken at first  
opportunity to let you see for yourself. 
We hear all sorts of tales as to where  
we are going & expect to get to France sooner or  
later. If that comes off I hope to get to  
England occasionally as they arrange regular  
week-end leave every six weeks I believe, in  
that part. 
Hollis is no doubt back in Adelaide  
& going strong before I write this & I hope  
he is getting "fitter" every day. 
How are you keeping now. I hope you have  
been able to take things easy & that the new  
servant is a big help. 
Also Uncle Walter, I hope is much better.  
There doesn't seem to have been much "luck aboot  
the hoose" lately. 
How is the Melb Hospital going. I hope it  
hasn't shut down yet. Perhaps with the record  
harvest on hand it may be Kept going.

4. 
How did Raymond's wedding go off & where are  
the happy couple spending the honeymoon. 
No doubt you were all there. Isabel  
seemed to be excited about it. 
I haven't come across Bruce yet, but  
he is possibly at the reinforcement camp at  
Zeitoun. No doubt he will drop me a line  
when he gets the chance. 
Give my Kind regards to the circle of  
friends & my love to all relations. 
My very best to Father, Isabel, Hollis  
& your do own dear self from 
Your affcte son 
Fred