Letters from Fred Leslie Biddle to his Mother, 1916-1917, Part 13 of 24

14.10.16 
Dear Mother, 
The great event since 
my last letter is that I have been 
awarded the D.S.O. for work at Pozieres, 
(where I was hit) & for general good service 
throughout the campaign. 
Naturally I am very pleased & 
more than anything else because I know 
how pleased you & Father & all my friends 
will be. 
I am enclosing a personal letter 
from Genl Birdwood, also one from Genl 
Hobbs & another from Col Austin. 
Genl Hobbs as you know is the 1^st Divn 
Arty Comdr & Col Austin is the officer 
who was lent by the Imperial Govt to 
reorganize the Australian Ordnance Dept 
just before the War broke out. 
I had a good deal to do with him 
in equipping the battery which was my job 
as Captain & we always got on very well 
together. 
I have also received many letters from

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pals all through the Division, besides  
personal congratulations. 
What has pleased me more than  
anything else has been the lack of the jealousy 
which one often see in regard to decorations. 
It's a great thing & the highest decoration 
in the Service bar the V.C., but the latter 
is more for an individual act of bravery  
than for good work of definite military or 
tactical value. 
I have Col. Bessell-Browne to thank 
for it. He has always been extremely nice 
to me, & I think a tremendous lot of  
him, as we all do. 
At present I am acting C.O. of the  
Brigade, while the Colonel is relieving Genl 
Hobbs for a while. & have had a week 
only with my battery since returning to 
France. 
We are having a very quiet time still 
& inclined to be a bit bored in consequence. 
However this is a life of surprises & 
change & we never know from day to 
day what we will be doing. 
I had a letter from Os Caddy

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a few days ago. He is about 20 miles 
away from us & is doing very well with 
his commands. 
We had the bad luck to lose McDonald 
our Vet. yesterday. His horse shied on the 
cobbled road & came down on his ankle 
before he could get clear. 
Result - ankle smashed across the 
instep & all the small bones in the foot 
simply pulped. I am afraid he will 
be at least 6 months in hospital, & even 
then be lame for life. 
We are all very sorry, because he is 
one of the best & has been with the Brigade 
since Broadmeadows Camp. 
I had a great surprise this week 
in the shape of a letter from Swan of 
JF & H.R. Sydney. He is over buying, & 
had just arrived in London with strict 
orders from Mr Andrews to look me up 
in hospital or find out what had become 
of me & cable to Australia 
However when he reached the hospital 
they informed him I had returned to 
France & gave him my address.

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If I can manage leave at Xmas to 
get across & see Hollis, I will be able to 
look Swan up at the same time. 
Well I've had no mail from you since my 
last letter to you, but received one from Jean 
& one from Lucy Smith. I am sending 
Jean the lace fittings for a blouse for 
her glory-box, & am also posting the lace 
to you which I mentioned in my last 
letter. 
I hope you are all very well, 
especially yourself. 
Kindest regards to all friends & relations 
& love to you all at home 
Your affcte son 
Fred                       

France 
25.10.16 
Dear Mother, 
Once more I'm writing 
without having a mail from you to answer. 
I think I'll have to get an axe & go  
& Kill somebody in the Post Office. 
We hear that a very big mail is  
coming in & will be distributed in a few 
days, so I am living in hopes 
We are getting busy once more, & no 
doubt you will have heard of us before  
this letter reaches you. 
The weather is very bad, but we are 
getting used to the mud & do not mind 
it once we are thoroughly covered with it. 
It's the half & half business when one 
is trying to keep clean that really bothers 
one. 
I'm still keeping very fit & the 
scar continues to fade.  But I'll always

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keep a mark to show in case you 
might be disappointed. 
I daresay Hollis will be almost 
in England by the time this letter  
reaches you. I'm putting in good work 
towards getting leave in England at 
Xmas in order to meet him. 
I had a letter from Swan of 
JF & H.R. Sydney a few days ago. 
He is in England buying.  It 
makes me look forward to an occasional 
trip, after I get settled down again. 
How are you keeping now.  I was 
pleased to see in Jean's letter that 
Isabel had written to say you were 
much better. 
I hope all the rest of the family 
are keeping well. 
Love to all at home. 
Your affcte son 
Fred 
Please excuse brevity. I have to cut it short 
this time. Fred.