Letters from Wilbert Berg to his family, 1915-1918 - Part 1

"Ceramic"
26/6/15
My dear Dad Mum & Sister,
Just a few lines to let
you know that I am O.K and having a
fine trip. We left Sydney yesterday at 3-30
& cleared the heads at 5-30 and are about 250
miles down the coast now, but we can still see
land. She is a lovely boat & everything is lovely
on board, they feed us up like Kings on board
We have butter jam Pickles milk sugar salt &
everything, also nice stews, the Officers say that
we will be fat as fools when we arrive at
our destination. The wash basins have hot &
cold water laid on & the hammocks are just
as comfortable as a feather bed, I went to bed
last night at 7 P.M. & I did not wake until
7 this morning. We are situated about admidship
& have a nice mess room with only 64 in it
we are lucky as doctor & Ern got seperated and
where they are there is 250. They are at the
stern of the boat & it is that rough that
they had to nail the hatches down where 

(2)
they are. I have not been sea sick yet but I
am feeling very much that way now. I saw
Mart on the wharf yesterday & said good bye
to him & the other boys. Well Dad & Mum I have
no more news just now but will write again
when I have any more, and I am dropping a
few lines to Auntie Mrs Webb. Mrs Wood Mrs Boyd
& Millie so I am going to tell them the same as
news. So will have to say ta-ta for the
present with heaps of love & Kisses from 
Your loving, Son,
Will
of the Keystone Mob. XXXXX
XXXXXXXXX
P.S. Dont forget to number your letters so
I will know if any go astray. 

No. 2
At Sea
1915
My Dear Dad, Mum & Sister,
Just a few more
lines to say that I am still O.K. I have
been pretty bad with sea sickness since
I wrote last I was down for three days
without a bite to eat, but I am as good
as gold now. It is an awful thing this
sea sickness. I felt like if the boat sank
I would still lie where I was. Great
excitement on board to-day. We were all
up on deck lying in the sun when the
whistle went & we knew that something
was on & we ran to the side of the ship
& we could not see anything so over to the
other side we went nothing there either
back again to ^the port side & all the officers
had their glasses out looking for, but we
could not see anything for about 10 minutes 

(2)
when it came into view, land. the first
we have seen for four days. It quite
broke the monotony, but it soon went
again & they say that we will not see any
more for 10 days. By jingoes she did rock
coming across the bight pity help Mart.
I saw Page yesterday, I was with him all
day. We had a good feed of pickled pork
beans & potatoes last night down at the
galley & it went well too. Well Dad & Mum news
is scarce again will write when I get some
more with love & kisses from
Your loving Son,
Will XXXXX
XXXXX
P.S. Excuse scribble as I am up on deck &
she is rocking like a cork. Remember me to
all. 

No. 3.
At Sea
1915
My Dear Dad, Mum & Sister,
Just a few more lines
but I have no news as it is very scarce
here. We are just striking fine weather now
& it is alright on board. We had Church
on board to-day & we all turned out. We
have no priest on board, but we have plenty
of R.C. Officers & they acted to-day, & we
are going to have the Rosary every night
from now on at 7-15. So it will pass the
night away until bedtime as we cannot
sling our hammocks until 8-30. We have
plenty of things on board to keep us
fit, such as boxing, physical drill etc.
& at night we play all kinds of cards,
draughts etc or else go up on deck
& listen to the band. We also have tons
of books & papers to read, but as for 

(2)
present news we know nothing. We
see tons of whales out this way, also
plenty of flying fish, they are characters
they jump up & have a fly around for
about 10 minutes & then duck back again.
Well Dad & Mum I will have to close
now as the boys are going down to the
Rosary so I will have to say ta-ta for
the present with heaps of love & kisses
From
Your loving Son
Will XXXX
XXXXXXX 

No. 5.
At Sea
1915
My Dear Dad, Mum & Sister,
Just a few more
lines while I have nothing to do. I
suppose that you will get tired of reading
these letters as we cannot get any news
here. We lost our Officer Mr Anderson he
went into the Hospital a few days before
we left but everyone thought he was coming
even his luggage was aboard & at the last
minute they took it off & we were sorry
too as all the boys liked him. Our new
Officer was Sgt. Major of C. Coy but he is
a very decent Officer too. I suppose you
have enough military news now to do
you for ever. We had a very nice
evening on board a couple of nights ago
& every one enjoyed it too. We had selections
on the band. Singing, & boxing. We have 

(2)
Hughie Gamon on board who won Gene
Greens Ragtime singing competition at the
Tivoli. & they kept him singing too. Silver
Jackson who is at our table had a box &
won on a foul after it was all over the
Captain of the ship asked for the winners
of the three boats to come up on deck
and he presented them with half a Sov.
each So you see we have some fun on
board. Well I will have to close now but
will write again with love & kisses from
Your loving Son
Will XXXXXX
XXXXX 

No. 8
"Ceramic"
18/7/15
My Dear Dad, Mum & Sister,
It is no use me writing
those other notes so I am going to write this
letter & get one of the Sailors to post it in
England. Well Dad & Mum we have a grand
trip so far except for a couple of days when
we had it pretty rough. She is a lovely boat
to travel in & very fast too we have passed
every boat we have seen, she has two big
guns on board & coming across the Indian
Ocean that let a target overboard & when a
couple of miles off started firing they got
five hits out of eight. We have only made
two stops since we left one was off Melbourne
when a pilot steamer came out & took a
couple off & the other was off Aden when
we stood out at sea waiting for orders.
Aden is on the Arabian Coast & a terrible 

(2)
place too it seems. It is between the
equator & the red sea. Their was also a
couple of warships & transports standing
there. We were only there a couple of hours
& during that time hundreds of niggers came
out to us in canoes. Land is very scarce
between Sydney & Africa. We left the same
afternoon as we went on board and we
saw land nearly all the way to Melbourne,
after we left Melbourne we never saw land
for five days when we sighted Albany.
We saw Albany only for a few hours & after
that we never saw land again for
fifteen days. & that was the African coast
but now we are tired of going out to see it
We never saw a boat from Melbourne until
we got to Aden. So without seeing land
& boats for over a fortnight we thought
that we were out of the land of the living
altogether. They have just posted up a wireless
message from the Alfred Holt's a blue funnell
liner wishing us the best of luck. and