Letters from Fred Leslie Biddle to his Mother, 1916-1917, Part 8 of 24

15.7.16 
Dear Mother, 
I am afraid 
I have left you longer 
than usual without a 
I letter but we have been 
pretty busy & moving about 
a bit, so that I haven't been 
able to get much time for 
myself. 
We have had a little 
excitement lately but fortunately 
no casualties. 
The Hun has had many 
tries to get us & did very little 
damage until about a week 
ago. 
I was awakened by a H. E

2
shell bursting about 10 yds 
from the canvas hut in which 
I slept & used as an office 
The other fellows slept in one 
next door. 
There was a great scatter 
in pyjamas & bare feet to a 
funk pit against the farm 
house in which the men were 
billeted (about 10 yds away) 
Their 10^th shot set fire to the 
farm & as we had a lot of 
High Explosive shell stored in 
the building it didn't look 
promising. 
However all hands turned to 
& we saved the ammunition all 
the battery records , 3 bicycles & 
fitters tools. although the shells

3 
were coming pretty thickly & 
the place was well alight. 
The funk pit began too 
get too much like an oven 
so I cleared everybody out to 
a flank. 
As my little hut was still 
O.K. I made a rush in & threw 
as much as I could reach on 
to my valise, & heaved my boots 
& some odds on ends out on to 
the grass. I was just getting 
out with the valise when two 
shells fell on the house & the 
splinters flew through the hut 
I got out O.K. but decided 
not to wait for more, so heaved 
the valise on to the grass & 
went up the ditch in my bare

4 
feet in good time. 
One of the subs saved two 
valuable "directors" & a good 
lot of everybodys clothes in the 
next hut by heaving them out 
on to the grass. 
But we all lost a good amount 
I was very lucky & saved nearly 
all my clothes but lost about 
₤30 worth mostly in instruments 
including a brand new micro- 
telescope & prismatic compass. 
All my maps with the work 
of the past 3 months plotted 
on them were burnt & all my 
notes of various registered 
targets, with other valuable  
information 
As we were going out to

5. 
rest billets & my successor 
in the position came in that 
morning it was most unlucky, 
as it meant him practically 
making a fresh start. 
However we get used to 
these things & take them all 
as a joke. 
Pat Madden was up for 
a few days experience & 
attached to me for instruction 
He got out with a nice pair 
of blue pyjamas & a shrapnel 
helmet. Lost watches, compass 
valise & lots of clothes & other  
gear. 
He had been wanting to 
get up to the front for some 
time & was with me 4 days. 

6 
He got all he wanted. 
We haven't had a hotter 4  
days since the attack on 
May 19^th at Anzac last year. 
That is personally of course 
Generally it is the usual "quiet 
with some artillery activity"). 
Well the first day I took 
him up a tree about 40 feet 
high to have a look. 
Then a battery behind us 
started firing & had 2 prematures 
We were only about 150 yds 
from the guns & one shot cut  
away a branch in front of us, 
& a bullet from the next scored 
the little seat Pat was sitting 
on. 
Pat had just begun to get  

7
over a feeling of giddiness, 
but we got down that tree 
in record time. He was nearest 
the trunk so led the way but 
I can assure you I was 
treading on his fingers all 
the way down. 
Well we sat down at the  
foot of the tree & then another 
buzzed round us, so we 
got closer to mother Earth. 
As the battery was firing "gun 
fire" (that is "hard as you can lick)" 
the show was pretty noisy for 
Pat's first experience of under 
fire, & a little bit more thrilling 
as it was our own side's stuff 
we were dodging. 
Well when that was over

8 
I took him down a trench 
to Strachan's Observing Tree. 
Going down the trench some 
fairly heavy stuff was bursting 
a bit over us but, as all 
shells seem to be coming 
straight at one until one 
gets used to judging them, 
Pat had a most uncomfortable 
walk; but he adopted the 
principles of bobbing when 
I did for, as he said to 
me "you know where the 
damn things are coming from" 
Well then I got him up 
Strachan's tree & he got 
so giddy he had to sit 
right down on the platform

9 
while the whole thing swung 
round & round him in  
circles. 
Lots of the fellows can't  
climb trees at all without 
getting giddy but it's strange 
that Pat who rides straight 
to hounds & never sees red 
lamps on the fences should 
get giddy. 
Well next day I took 
him along with me to another 
tree some distance to a 
flank whilst I did a  
special registration for one 
of our raids. 
This tree was used by 
Dodd of the 6^th & had been 
spotted by a Hun sniper

10 
who had kept one of his 
subs treed for about half 
an hour the same day. 
Well I got up with the  
sub & we got potted at/again, 
so came down for a while. 
Then as the job had to be  
done, & the place we had to 
fire at couldn't be seen from 
any other spot I had to go 
up again & observe shooting 
& give corrections with the 
wretched sniper potting all 
the time. 
However I got it done & 
wasted no time getting the tree 
trunk between us, where the 
beast kept me treed hanging 
to iron spikes driven in the

11 
trunk for about 10 minutes, 
Then he must have concluded 
that I had slipped down for 
he suddenly started to put 
them around the foot of the  
tree where Pat was talking to 
2 or 3 other chaps & laughing  
at me doing the monkey act. 
Well the sniper scattered 
that little happy band & I 
got down all right 
Next day the Huns shelled 
the battery a bit & we had 
to withdraw to a flank but 
they fell all round us as we 
scooted, & were quite close 
enough for thrills especially 
for a beginner. 
You must understand that