Letters from Fred Leslie Biddle to his Mother, 1916-1917, Part 22 of 24

France 
25.6.17. 
Dear Mother 
At last a mail is in, 
after a spell of a month without any. 
I suppose some must have gone down. 
Anyhow the letters dated 16/4/17  
& 30/4/17 have arrived O.K. 
I'm delighted you were able to  
take a holiday at Christmas Hills & hope 
you thoroughly enjoyed yourself. 
You look very serious in the snap 
of Father & yourself taken up there, 
but you never could smile when your 
photo was being taken could you? 
That's the worst of these mobile 
countenances. 
Father seems to have gone very white 
haired, but otherwise looks very fit. 
It was bad luck to strike wet weather 
wasn't it? 
Re the notification from Defence 
Dept, isn't it ridiculous that a gathered 
toe should be solemnly notified in

2 
Australia. I had it fomented for 3 days 
then opened up & in two days time was 
out & back to France. 
In fact I only stayed in the Rest 
Home 3 days completely. After that it  
was just as easy to get ab out & about 
as ever. 
I've already written & told you about 
it, so need not dwell on it. 
As you say it's the old old gag, ''I've 
got a sore toe." 
Strange that Tom Miles should 
know old Jimmy Marshall. He was 
25 years in the Field Arty in Victoria & 
came away with us at the beginning. 
Last winter played up with him 
terribly, & I quite expected, when I sent 
him on leave to London, that he would 
collapse when he reached there. 
Unfortunately he did, & was sent  
back to Australia. 
I hope he's getting on well. We  
looked upon him as a mascot & he 
was a jolly good man & a trier all 
the time. I thought (& still think) an 
awful lot of him.

3 
If you see the Miles's please ask 
them to give him my kindest regards 
& best wishes. 
I don't know where he got the idea 
I was an interpreter from. I've got a 
long way to go before I could speak 
French well enough to be considered that, 
but anyway we have French officers & n.c.o's 
attached, who do that work. 
I have not come across Young  
Trickett, but know he is in the 5th Bty. 
I suppose Father is jubilant over 
the elections. Hughes had a good win 
You will be glad to know that  
Os Caddy has received the D.S.O at 
last. He has waited long for it & it's 
about time he received recognition. 
Mrs Caddy will be delighted. 
When you see her, please give her my 
kindest regards for herself & her son 
Pac & his wife. 
I was very pleased to read that  
Isabel had done well at the Theatre  
Royal concert. Glad we have some talent 
in the family. I suppose she hasn't had  
any more touring offers like the last.

4 
I wonder where Father read that the 
Australians were more prone to septic 
trouble than the English fellows. 
It's just the opposite of what we  
understand here. We understand that 
the Australians stood the winter better 
than anyone, & I'm sure the physique 
& constitution beat them all. 
Funny Isabel should meet the 
captain of the Ascanius. That's the ship 
that ran into us when we were in the Indian 
Ocean. Do you remember our collision? 
Isabel put on a beautiful smile 
for her photos with Miss Andrew, didn't 
she? I notice she didn't wear the pincenez. 
They must give her a very distinguished 
severe look. 
I'm looking forward to seeing her 
efforts as a sock & balaclava maker. 
So Isabel has been consulting the 
soothsayers. I wonder who the lady is 
that sends me parcels regularly? I'd 
like to find out, because they don't reach 
me, & I'd like to write & tell her to 
register them.  
Glad to know that Noel did his

5 
solo flight well, hope he has a 
good flying nerve. If so he will 
probably get into a fast squadron 
of "strafers", which is much more exciting 
& less risky than observation plane work 
on the slower machines. 
Don't run away with the idea that
the fellows who bring down the Hun 
planes have the worst work to do. 
Its the slow plane, taking photos & 
observing, that have the roughest time, 
Nine out of ten of our machines 
brought down are in the latter work. 
Our fast ones can now run rings 
round the fast Hun planes & the Huns  
won't face them.  
I'm delighted to hear Uncle Job 
is still so hale & hearty in his 88th year 
also Aunt Fanny. 
Tell Uncle Job it's only twelve more 
years to go to reach the hundred & I'm 
sure he'll still be going strong, then.  
Sorry to hear Coz Clara is not keeping 
well. also Fred Lade. 
Please give them all my best wishes  
& love.

6 
I had hoped to hear good news of  
Uncle Walter. He seems to have had 
a pretty bad time, but hope he will 
soon buck up. 
You must have enjoyed your trip 
with Arthur & Becky. I hope they're 
in the pink. Tell Arthur I've still 
a long way to go for Lieut Colonel, but 
will do my best to please him. 
I saw a paragraph in one of the  
Bulletin issues re Becky, & am glad to 
know she is still "plump pretty & 
charming" & "Champion of Champions. 
On the strength of the last sentence 
of the clipping, Arthur should certainly 
instal her as a saleswoman in the 
business (& take the reporter out to see 
a man about a dog). 
I hope the chee-ild is doing well, & 
following in his parents' footsteps. 
Well, we've had a busy time 
& I've lost a lot of good men. I 
shook hands with myself & said good- 
bye pretty often, but dodged 'em somehow, 
as did all my officers, altho' they 
were right in it. 

7 
We have been out for the usual so- 
called rest, & I managed to get a 4 
days leave to Paris & had a great 
time. It was looking beautiful & the 
Avenue des Champs Elyseės & the Bois 
de Boulogne were 'magnesia'. I'd 
like to have stayed a month. 
Went there with Dodd & Riggall, 
who are both cheery souls & the time 
simply flew. 
Now we are in again, adjacent to 
trouble, but having a very peaceful, 
time in the best bit of France we've  
been in. No mud, fine woods & good 
green country. The horses are having 
the time of their lives grazing & we are 
all as fit as can be again. 
As long as the place doesn't turn 
round & bite, as it usually does when  
we start looking for trouble (& we always 
do) this spot will do us for quite a long 
time. 
I hope the maid is still doing well 
& that you are having a good rest. 
& that all at home are well. 
Please give my kindest regards

8 
to all friends & love to all relations. 
Best love to Father Isabel &  
your own dear self. 
Your affcte son 
Fred