Letters of John William Axtens, 1917 - 1918 - Part 7

4.
The old Ford still seems to justify
it existence – they certainly are
a good investment.
I had a parcel of papers from Auntie
Mill lately Bulletin & Sydney Mail.
The Bulletin is quite the most
popular paper we get.
Ray still gets "Motor Cycling" & knows
exactly what bike he wants. I believe
its an A.B.C. flat twin.
No signs of Fritz’s promised offensive
yet – don’t know why he’s wasting
this fine weather. Our intelligence people
say that he was as fully prepared a
month ago, as he could be. Perhaps
it’s a bluff.
I think that about exhausts the news.
Fondest love to yourselves & the kids.
Your Son
Jack.
 

France
12.4.18.
21.
My dear Father & Mother,
It is nearly a
month since I wrote last, but opportunities
for writing have been few; since my last
letter we have left Belgium, travelled half
of France by foot, train & lorry & finished
up here about four days ago. I came in
the line the following day & here I am.
Things are a lot different here to the last
front we were on – there is no harm
in mentioning the place now: Messines –
& I expect you can guess roughly where
we are now.
I had some Australian mail a day or
two back – the first for some weeks.
Letters from Mother,(2) Lola & Alan. I had a
late letter from Ivy Litchfield telling me of
the sad news of Auntie Eva's death. 
 

2.
The companies of the Div are now formed
into a M.G. Battalion – Major Marsden
has got Command of ours & of course every
one is well satisfied.
All leave was cut out a while ago, other
wise Ray would have been in Blighty
now. My leave also will be put back
but I ought to manage it in 4 or 6 weeks.
Things here aren’t so bright as they
might be – it’s up to the Yanks now.
The weather is glorious at present, today
is quite hot & is drying the mud up O.K.
It’s impossible to send any snaps from here
as Cameras are forbidden in France.
Am delighted that business is still going
ahead O.K. How is Geoff getting along there?
About parcels – tobacco is about the only
thing we find it hard to get, that is real
tobacco – the issues is like nothing on
earth. Havelock Full Strength either flake 
 

3
or mixture is about the best.
I hear regularly from Aunt Florrie &
Gwen so get all the English news.
Frank is at Grantham still – Reg
Webb rejoined from hospital the other
day.
I expect Alan is well on the path of law by
now – how does he like it?
A parcel from Lismore reached me
when we were at a place called
Godewaersvelde (Gode for short) & saved
us from starvation on a long train
journey; the North Coast sausages & paste
were fine.
This ought to arrive by May 30 Mother,
so I’ll send you my fondest love &
birthday wishes. Please forgive this
scrawl & mistakes I’m not in the best
writing position. Best love to you both
& all the kids. Your Son,
Jack 

Phy
Phyllis Axtens
Phyllis

Sketch - see original  document 

22.
France.
2.5.18
My dear Father & Mother,
I have had no
letter from you since I wrote last, but
mails are not so regular lately & one may
turn up at any time. I expect you have
heard all about Grandfather’s end. He passed
away quietly almost in his sleep &
had no pain. Grandma is very brave &
does not give way at all. She is a wonderful
old lady isn’t she? Harold Axtens was
killed in France on April 6^th; he was is Mrs John
Axten’s son I think. I have never met him
but heard a lot about him from Gwen;
they were great pals & she feels his loss a
good deal. Auntie Eva’s death was very sudden
& must be terrible for all those young kiddies.
It is hard to understand why she should be
taken, but there is some purpose beyond us in it. 

2
I hope this page will be less of an obituary
notice.
You will be surprised to hear that for the
time being I am in command of the Company.
Our O.C. was gassed a fortnight ago, also
four other officers & a large number of men.
I nearly got a Blighty wound the other
day – a shell came through the ceiling &
burst just above my head. Reg Webb got a
wound in the leg, but I only collected a
couple of cuts on the head – nothing serious.
Have you seen Arch Pursell since he came
back. I saw a newspaper cutting of his experiences
from the Herald.
Leave has not reopened yet – Ray & I are
almost first on the list & may get across together.
We are still in the line & likely
to remain for some time; but we ought to
have a good spell when we do get out.
Our crowd haven’t been right in the thick 

3
of things yet but manage to keep just on
the fringe.
The weather is getting warmer now & the
country is beginning to look great.
Rumour says that the Yanks are going
to get a move on at last; we need
them. There is a lot of strong feeling among
our chaps against the Tommies. They
were driven back at Messines as soon as
we moved south & lost a village in a
sector where they had relieved us a few days
previously. There are some very scathing
jokes against them; this is one. A Tommy
brigadier is reported to have overtaken a hare
on the road towards Amiens & said savagely
“Get out of the road you brute & give a man
a chance who can run.” Ray is O.K. &
cheerful as usual. Hope business is still going
ahead well. Much love to yourselves & all
the kids. Your Son,
Jack.

P.S. This is the colour of our
M.G. Battn of which we are
now a part.
Sketch - see original document 
Black, yellow centre. 

23
France.
22.5.18
My dear Father & Mother,
This is
the first time for a few weeks that
I’ve settled down to letter-writing,
but I expect to do better in the future
as I’m at present running a machine
gun course at Battalion H.Q. for a
month. We had 50 volunteers for
our unit from the Pioneers who
were over strength & the C.O. decided
to train them here & then hand
them over to the Companies. Four
sergeants are the assistant instructors
& we’re getting along O.K.
I am billeted with the Batt
doctor who was at the High School
while I was there. I have met
quite a crowd of old Mosman
 High School chaps lately.
The weather is glorious just