Letters of John William Axtens, 1917 - 1918 - Part 2

4
At Sea
My dear Mother,

I've forgotten what number this letter

ought to be so I'm calling it No 4 - I think 

that’s nearly right. Yesterday we crossed the line 
and had the usual ceremonies - Father Neptune 
and his Court. The skipper had a big canvas 
bath rigged up and all hands enjoyed it greatly. 
To night the officers are giving a concert; I am 
singing the Trumpeter & The Perfect Day. It ought 
to go off alright as we have some good voices. 

We reach our third port of call in a few days 
where this mail will be put ashore. Every 
morning at six we have a hose parade. All 
the men come up on deck stripped and the 
fire hoses are turned on. Nearly everyone 
sleeps on deck now, and we all have our 
hair cropped short and wear short pants. 
I don’t expect we’ll reach England before September
as it is usual to stay about a 
week in port at S____ L____. There is very 
little news so I expect I’d better finish up now. 
My next letter will be from England. How is business 
going. I hope it is still O.K. & going ahead. Fondest love

to yourself, Dad & the kids. Your Son,

Jack.

Give my love to the G.G. girls.

this afternoon. 
Will write again in a few 
days, as I think we’re staying 
a while. Fondest love

to Dad, the kids and yourself
from

Your Son,

Jack.

3.

22.7.17.

My dear Mother,

This is our second day
ashore here - Sunday. Have just 
come from service in St. George’s 
Cathedral. Yesterday we went for 
a motor trip round Table Mt. 
stopping on our way at Hout Bay 

and Camp Bay. The trip is 
about 32 miles and the scenery 
is fine, the last twelve miles or 
so is right along the Coast. Did 

a bit of shopping and sent you 
a Cable when we got back. In 
the evening we went to see 
“Milestones” at one of the theatres 
and thought it O.K. We 
are all made honorory members
of this club i.e. officers are,
and generally blow in here for
meals. The weather is glorious 
very sunny and not too hot. 
1 hr later:- Just had a good feed. 
Going for a motor run somewhere

5

At Sea.

15.8.17

My dear Father & Mother,

We are now on the last 
lap of our journey, having left Freetown, Sierra Leone 
a few days ago. The men were not allowed ashore 
there, but officers were given leave for one day 
to return to the ship at 5 pm. It is considered 
to be a very unhealthy spot. About 
200 whites live there but retire to their houses 
on the surrounding hills before dusk. Everything 
is very English although it is entirely a 
“black” town. All the shops have English names 
and it is the only language spoken. We had 
a good look round and saw the native markets 
etc and afterwards went up to the Garrison 
Officers Club which is on the hill. While 
we were buying postcards in a Kodak shop, 
I asked one of the white residents which was 
the best place to get dinner; he said that 
there were two hotels, the “Grand” and the 
“Royal” but that the “Grand” was easily 
the best. Expecting at least a three course 
dinner, we blew in.. No seeing any menus

lying around we asked the coon who was 
hovering near what we could get - he said 
sardines, corned beef & cheese. It didn’t sound 
very interesting but we told him to trot 
in some corned beef & cheese - which he 
did. The C.b. turned out to be our old 
friend bully beef under an alias; we gave 
that a pass, and directed our attention to the 
cheese, another miss. It was like a mouldy 
brick. We finished up by having a sumptuous 
feed off sardines & dry bred bread. We did not 
leave our names in the visitor’s book with 
a few nice remarks. After we had finished we 
strolled round and had a look at the “Royal”

and we agreed that the “Grand” was the best 
after all. On the wall above the bar counter 
in the “Grand” was a notice NO GOODNOTES ACCEPTED.

It looked rather queer, as all our notes were good 
ones - English Treasury Notes; but we came 
to the conclusion that it meant “chits” or “notes 
of hand”. Altogether we enjoyed our trip ashore 
and landed back on the ship (can one 
land on a ship?) after a long pull across the harbour;
the current is very strong. Our convoy

left Freetown nine strong including a cruiser 
and an auxiliary cruiser, the Morea. 
We all have to wear our lifebelts continuously now 
and submarine guards and lookouts haunt the 
ship day & night. Shorts & shirts are the order of 

the day although we haven’t had any very hot 
weather. We expect to make port in about ten 
days all being well. Am enclosing some post-cards 
and a few copies of the “Heavic”. The poem
“Anzacs” was written by Miss Ethel
Campbell of Durban an enthusiastic Y.M.C.A. 
worker. The “Heavic” is coming to light with a souvenir 
issue containing the names of all the troops

on board. The small snap is one taken at 
Anzac Rifle Range, Liverpool a few weeks before I left.

How is Actens & Co getting on? O.K. I hope. Please 
let me know all the news about everything. Fondest 
love to Yourselves and all the kids. 

Your Son

Jack.

24-8-17.

Expect to arrive at Liverpool tomorrow or 
Sunday. - Have eight destroyers escorting us. 

JWA

6

Salisbury.

29.8.19.

My dear Father & Mother,

Once more down on the 
Plain, but at Parkhouse Camp this time. 
We arrived at Liverpool on the morning of 
the 26^th, entrained there and came on to Sidworth. 
After leaving the train we had at a 
march of 3½ miles and arrived here at 1 am 
on 27^th. Found three officers from the 8^th Coy 
here, they are now in the Divisional M.
G. Coy of our division, and I believe Major 
Marsden is coming over to take charge. I wired 
Aunt Florrie yesterday and received a letter 
from her this morning. Ray has been on 
leave, stayed a week at Crouch Hill and 
returned to France last Wednesday. Frank 
Winn is on leave now but I think he 
finishes to-day or tomorrow. I wired him 
this morning. I expect to be sent to Grantham 
for a machine gun course, soon.

2.

It has rained here ever since we arrived, 
seems as if it’s going to continue. England 
is on war rations now with a vengeance. 
In the mess we have the standard bread, 
a light mud colour, margarine, brown sugar, 
and we’re warned to go light with that. At 
present we’re in isolation for 3 weeks; all 
troops coming from Australia have to undergo 
this before being drafted to units. Six 
days leave is granted, but I suppose not till 
the 3 weeks is up. All the machine 
gunners who came over with us have been 
sent to other camps, so we’ve practically 
nothing to do. I will probably be three 
months in England altogether, and then 
expect to rejoin the Company. Will write 
again soon. Fondest love to yourselves and 
the kids.

Your Son,

Jack.

[*How is Alan
getting along with 
his studies?*]

No 7.

Crouch Hill.

12-9-17.

My dear Father & Mother,

I had quite a budget of 
letters a few mornings ago, most of them 
having had two or three deep sea trips. 
Dad’s letter 11.7.17. arrived too. I am now on 
six days leave; I reported to Grantham about 
a week ago and was sent straight away. 
When I report back I expect to go through 
an eight weeks course, and after that will 
probably be attached to the depot, instructing
for some time. With luck I ought to be 
able to spend the winter in England instead 
of going across. I have been thinking 
about a transfer to the Tank Corps, but 
don’t know if it’s possible. I met Norm 
Corkhill in town the other day; (he is one 
of the 8^th officers), he has been sent over to 
instruct at Flying Corps depots in machine 
guns; a good job I think. Went to dinner & 

2

a show together. Aunt F. & I went to see 
an exhibition of Canadian War Pictures (not 
movies) yesterday. They were very good, and 
there were also some captured German 
machine guns & aeroplane guns, which interested 
me particularly. Last night I went over to Brixton 
& the night before to Muswell Hill. (Holden's). 
I saw Arthur Treloar at Grantham, he is going 
back to Australia. Have met quite a lot of chaps 
whom I know & Colonel Charteris who was 
in charge of the Ismailia Machine Gun 
School, is now in charge at Grantham, so 
I’m not altogether a stranger in a strange 
land. Norm Winn & a cousin Gordon 
are also at G. I am very glad business 
is keeping good and sincerely hope it keeps 
on, although sometimes must be very hard to 
get. Grandfather wanted some particulars of 
the business which I wasn’t clear on. Is 
it freehold or leasehold, and if lease how long? 
Aunt F. Would like to have some snaps 
of Mother & the kiddies. I have just ordered 

3.

another dozen photos of Ray which he 
had taken while on leave. He is sending 
them home; they ought to arrive by 
the next mail to this. They’re splendid 
photos; although it’s fourteen months since I 
have seen him, everyone says he’s just 
like the photo. I am going to alter my 
allotment so as to draw 10/- per diem.
six shillings doesn’t allow much margin 
for special occasions like leave. Although 
I don’t expect to have to draw right up to 
that amount, I’ll always have some in 
credit - a thing I rarely have now. 

The weather now is glorious, let’s hope it 
keeps like it. I suppose you know all about 
the rationing of various foodstuffs here. 
Bread, flour, sugar, meat seem to be the 
chief shortages. Sugar tickets are to be instituted 
soon, and there are all sorts of 
restrictions with regard to restaurant meals. 
Grandma has been reading & enjoying the 
“Sentimental Bloke” very much. I tried to