Letters from Fred Leslie Biddle to his Mother, 1916-1917, Part 14 of 24

France
1.11.16
Dear Mother
I have just received a
budget of letters which have been chasing
me around since was hit. Dates of them are
June 12^th 18^th & 26^th. So that they are really
ancient history already
I was very sorry to find that M^rs Paterson
(senior) had been having one of her bad turns &
I hope she is now much better. Please tell
Arthur if you see him how sorry I am.
Isabel seems to have been having a good
time at the Opera. She writes most enthusiastically
about it & I notice the papers give the company
very good critiques.
Am glad you liked the photes of Hollis &
Jean. They might have sent me one of each, but
I suppose they reckoned I would have no plan
to keep them. However I think I could carry
them along all right if they still have a
copy to spare.

2
Mother says in her letter that the papers
say that all the Australian troops are kept
together but that isn't so. We may all be
within 20 miles of another but the division only
rarely are in close contact. We scarcely ever see
the units of the 2^nd Div & have never come
up against the 4^th & 5^th Div Arty at all. The
3^rd are still in England. We have been close
to the 2^nd. several times, but we rarely go outside
our own brigades let alone divisions.
I have only seen Frank Dirham of 2^nd Div
once, & that was at Tel-el-Kebir.
I was very pleased to know that Uncle Job
was still going so strongly & hope he will
continue to do so for many years to come &
also Aunt Fanny. Please give then my love.
The Temporary promotions which seen to puzzle
for a bit. Ours were made so as things were
not definitely settled at the time, but generally
they work as follows
If an officer is wounded & away more than

3
a month he is "seconded" & a temporary promotion
carrying the pay of the higher rank is made.
If the "casualty" returns within 3 months, he
takes up his old position & the other man reverts.
But if the casualty extents more than 3 mos.
he is placed on the supernumary list & the
tempy man confirmed
When the super is fit he is absorbed into the
first vacancy, which is most unlikely to be
his old unit. That was why I was so
anxious to get back. Had I been away for 3
months, I might have waited a long time in
a Base Camp & then been sent to a unit
in which I had no interest at all
Of course the system is a very fair one
& much better than in previous wars, where a
wounded officer went on the super list at once.
Did you ever receive the Anzac Book?
I note you say Hollis had received one, but you
had not
I'm glad you were able to buy some things
you wanted with the money I sent, but

4
hope you have bought something really personal
for yourself alone, also.
How do you like Mrs Wolfenden. I have
a never met her but she has my very great
sympathy. Her son was a clever fellow &
very game. By gove, the 4^th lost two good officers
in Wolfenden & Siddall at Anzac.
Isabel seems to be very anxious to know
if I have been to Paris yet. Well. I haven't
but hope to go some day. Special permission
has to be obtained to go there, but if the division
gets out for a good rest, as we are all hoping,
I may have a chance.
She also says my letters are wonderful
epistles containing no news. Its a great
compliment. & We are all developing the art
of writing about nothing by sheer necessity.
As a matter of fact we are not allowed to
write the sort of news you want to read.
At present I am sitting in a filthy dug-out
which is the nearest reminder of Anzac we
have had since coming to France

5.
The villages are much more scattered in
the part we now occupy than in some others, &
those that do exist are so knocked about, that it
is almost impossible to find one stone standing
on another. In addition they are not healthy,
because they are well shelled by the Bosche who
has been pushed out of them.
The rain & mud are terrible. Its quite the
usual thing to be over the Knees in liquid, mud
& horses & vehicles are quite frequently bogged.
We use packhorses for everything. Our beauties
lost the way two nights in succession & we
were on short commons.
The dug out is leaky, but we're all
quite happy, being thoroughly dirty. I have
washed twice in a week & shaved once.
You would love to see my ginger whiskers
The great thing is to make up one's mind
to be thoroughly dirty & roll in the mud, Then
having discarded all pretensions of cleanliness,
one goes right back to primeval savagery & is
quite satisfied & happy.

6
We quite expect before long to give the Huns
another go, as it must be coming round to
our turn again. As I think the newspapers
will have told you, both sides work a system
of "relief & refit" & then in again.
At present the latest rumour is that we
go in once more, & then get a spell in England;
but we live upon rumour & very rarely do
the prophecies come true.
However we're hoping this latest one has
some grains of truth in it. Personally I think
that it would be a wise thing, to take the old
1^st Div out for the Winter, rest it for a while &
then train hard for next Spring & mobile operations.
But I haven't yet been made G.O.C. in C. so
it probably won't work that way.
Geoff Strahan got badly hit today & will
probably have a close call. It was just a
chance shot. He, Dodd & Kerr were walking
along & a shell dropped at their feet blowing
them all into the air. Kerr was hit severely in
the leg & Dodd was uninjured. He had

7
a wonderful escape.
Hert. Byrne also has had a near share.
A 5.9" shell fell about 3 feet from him & failed
to explode. He's hoping it's an omen for future
good luck.
Ernie Holmes has had shocking bad luck.
He was trying to get somewhere in the inky
darkness, & blundered in front of a battery
just as a gun fired. His leg was blown off
just below the hip & I'm afraid he has no chance
of recovery. However he reached the dressing
station alive, & its absolutely wonderful how
the medicos pull the fellows through.
Dodd has just been awarded the Serbian
"Order of the White Eagle" but we are all
disappointed that he didn't get a Military
Cross. But that may come later. He has
done the pluckiest things ever since we first
landed in Gallipoli. His latest exploit
was to crawl out through "No Man's Land" to
the Hun trenches (in daylight) in order to get
some required information

8
Well I think I've reached the end of my
lether tether.
I am still like Johnny Walker & expect
to continue so. This is a healthy life despite
occasional discomforts. The great thing is
to dodge lead poisoning,
I was very glad to notice that Uncle
Walter has made some improvement & trust
he will soon buck up.
Please remember me to the Hills & thank
them for their kind messages, & also to all
other friends, Arthur & Becky, Stanesbys &c.
Love to all relatives & extra special quality
to Father, Isabel, Noel & your own dear self
Your affete son
Fred.
P.S.
Don't blame me if you cant read the screed.
Writing tables are not part of the furniture of
this dug-out.
Fred