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

12.8.17 
Dear Mother, 
The Mooltan has gone down 
so away goes another mail from home. 
The Bosche seems to be pretty successful 
lately in the Mediterranean. 
Well, we're still in the hottest show 
the guns have ever been in. 
You will probably see Bean's article 
re the Australian guns going forward. 
We were the first battery forward again. 
The article is as usual exaggerated. If 
you take out the "journalese" & read the  
facts, you'll get approximately the 
true story. You can also count the 
cost by the casualty lists. 
But, as we're only Australians, the 
cost doesn't matter to the people we are 
at present working under. 
Of course I cannot tell you  
anything about the show, & perhaps 
it is as well. For if I said what I

2 
think of the show at present, the  
paper would be scorched. 
The thing I realise more the longer  
I'm in the game, is that for sheer 
lying our people can beat the 
Huns out of sight. 
Of course you'll think I've got  
an attack of pessimism. Well I 
haven't, but I think it time we 
counterbalanced the ridiculous drivel 
of the papers and communiques. 
This war won't be over till the people  
realise that the Bosche is not starving 
& not short of munitions.  
We don't have lager beer in our 
front line trenches, nor the excellent 
cigarettes of the Bosche, nor soda-water 
instead of ordinary water which might 
be infected, as the enemy does.

3 
I'm sure we'll beat them & the 
signs of degeneration are very plain 
in his troops, but the war won't be  
over for a long time yet. 
You must count on another 12 mos 
at least but I think the worst of the  
fighting may be over this year. 
Russia has upset all calculations, 
but I think the Bosches will get a  
nasty kick back when they are least 
expecting it.  
It's not surprising that the men 
are refusing to fight. They've been  
sold by their most trusted leaders & 
don't know whom to believe. 
Well I'm not exactly living in a  
palace & conditions are too uncomfortable 
to write a long letter, but I'm quite 
O.K. & keeping fit. Which is really 
the best news I can send I suppose

4 
I'm waiting rather anxiously to 
read how Hollis got on & whether 
the he saved anything from the  
Moldavia. I hope he had the  
foresight to insure the stuff he was 
taking home & I'm also particularly 
anxious to know whether he saved 
my D.S.O parchment or not. 
If it has been sunk I'm not sure  
whether I will be able to get a  
duplicate or not. 
Bad luck for him & for Jean 
to lose all the stuff for the 
glory-box. isn't it? 
Well love to all at home. 
Cheerys your affete son 
Fred