Letters from Wilbert Berg to his family, 1915-1918 - Part 10

3

with, it is only if you have £10 in your pay book
due to you that they let you have it, I know that 
Mart has not got nearly that in his book, but I
am going to fix him up with that, I wrote to him
& told him not to worry about sending you a cable
for same as I would fix him up.  I have just on
£50 due to me in if my pay book & I have £8-10-0
in my pocket so I will be able to give him plenty
so he can gave a good time & he deserves it.  I
was glad to hear that all old friends were so
well. My word Auntie Maggie got a nice little
sum out of the Railway Dept.  I did not think that
she would get nearly that much.  Well Dad &Mum
I think that this is all the news for this mail
so I will have to close now. So with fondest love
& kisses to all
xxxxxxxx xxxx I am xxxx xxxxxxxxxxx
xx Your loving son
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxx Will xxx
Remember me kindly to
all.

Wareham
Dorset 26/11/16
My Dear Dad Mum & Sister,
I received a couple of
letters from you during the week but they were
old ones that have been astray for a couple
of weeks. I am still without a letter from
Mart & I have written to him nearly every
week that I have been away & I cannot make
it out at not getting a letter from him.  I am
having a nice little stay over here, I am here
nearly four months now, & I hope to stop
here a lot longer. We are having horrible
weather here lately, but I suppose we can
expect nothing else over here in the winter, it
was bad luck for me to get over here in the
winter it would be a lot better if it was
Summer time over here now.  What do you
think about the old Emperor of Austria passing
in his cheque it is a pity that a few more
of his cobbers would not follow suit including
the old "Kaiser" What do you think of them
sinking the Hospital Ship "Britannia" it was
a good job that there were not any wounded
on board, she was a lovely ship, I saw her at

2
Lemnos Island last year just after we evacuated
the Peninsula & I saw by to days paper where
they sunk another Hospital Ship the "Braemer Castle"
I travelled on her from France to Dover when
I was coming over here, this is the second boat
that I have been on that has been sunk
the other one was the P&O liner "Simla", we
came from Lemnos Island to Egypt on her & on
her next trip she was sunk, so I suppose the 
next one I will not be so lucky, they say that
third time proves it so I suppose I will be
on board the next time. One of the boys in
camp was decorated with the D.C.M. during
the week, he won it on Lone Pine last year
they took a long time to think about giving
it to him, I went out on parade to see him 
get it, & it was the first time that I have seen   
a such decoration, it is a lovely medal & I
dont mind telling you that I would not mind
having one, but there is plenty of time yet. 
We had a Smoke Concert here during the week
in our mess & it was very nice passes the
monotony away.  The Cpls have a nice little mess
here, we pay 5/- a fortnight so you see it does
not cost us much.  I met a chap the other
day & he was telling me that he lived in

3
Forsyth St, Bryant is his name, when he told
me his name I remembered seeing him out
there. I have not seen any Glebe boys for ages. 
Only George Avon, he is only two huts away from
me & I see him pretty often, They came around
to-night & ordered us to cover all our windows
up so they must expect a Zepp raid to night  
I would like to see one, the boys say it is a
lovely sight to see these "big cigars" up in the
air with all the searchlights playing on it,
& the shells bursting all around it.  Some silly
fool in camp here tried to do away with himself
last night by drawing a razor across his throat
but he did not succeed only half done the job  
he told the Doctor that he had been worried
lately so he thought he would put an end to it. 
I suppose Glebe is still in the same old place, & 
all old friends out there are quite well.  I would
not mind being there to night.  It was 17 months 
yesterday since we left home the time soon passes
by although some times it seems ages to me since
we left.  Well Dad & Mum I will have to draw this 
letter to a close now as news has just about  
run out So with heaps of love and kisses  xxxxxx 
xxxxxx I am xxxxx 
xxxxx Your loving son xxx 
 xxxxxxx Will xxx 
Remember me kindly to all 
old friends.

Wareham
Dorset 3/12/16 
My Dear Dad Mum & Sister, 
I received two letters
from Mart during the week & he is still quite
well & going strong over the other side. He said
that it is awful over there now they cannot
use the waggons on account of the mud & all
the work has to be done on packhorses.  The
poor kid said that the pays were few & far between
& he asked me to send him a few bob, so I had
£10 on me at the time so I sent him £5 as  
a Xmas box.  My mate (Cpl Parnell of A Coy 18^th Batt)
& myself have put in an application to get
into the Officers Training School but we will
not know how we will get on for a few weeks
once we can get into the school the rest is
easy, so we thought that we might just as
well have a star as a couple of stripes.
Things are very cold over here just at present 
& we have a pretty severe frost every morning
There are about 400 of our boys going back
to the front from here to-morrow. It is hard
luck going back so close on Xmas.  The Zepps
had another raid here during the week but

they did not do much damage & we brought
two down, then one day last week an aeroplane
flew over London in daylight & dropped some
bombs & it was brought down over in France
on its way home. My word things are looking
pretty serious in Rumania & Greece I saw by
to-days paper where they have been fighting in
the streets in Greece & Rumania is just about
to lose her Capital that is if the Russians do
not upset their plan. We all think that the
Rumanian retreat is a trap that Russia
has laid for the Germans let us hope so any
way. Wagga Welsh came in to see me on Friday
he is looking well on it & still the same old
hard case as ever, my word he got a nasty
wound it is about 12 inches long, from the hip
to the middle of the back he told me that
Ned Tregonning is going home. We have not
heard anything definate about Xmas leave yet
but we are sure to get it. I am going to spend
a few days up in Cardiff (Wales) & if we have 
time we are going to Scotland. Well Dad & Mum
news has just about run out again so I will
have to close now so with heaps of love & kisses
xx I am xxxx
x Your loving son x
xxxx Will xxx 
 

Wareham
Dorset 10/12/16 
My Dear Dad Mum & Sister, 
I received another welcome letter
from you this week & I was very pleased to see by
it that you had received some letters from me. It is
terrible cold over here now, to-day we had a very heavy
hail storm & after it was finished there was about
6 inches of hailstones on the ground, they broke a terrible
lot of windows etc in the camp. I have not heard
from Martie since writing to you last & I have not
heard anything further about going into the Officers
School. George Avon is still in camp here & doing
well although his wound is still discharging. I am
putting in for Xmas leave but I do not know whether
I will get it or not, they are only allowing 5% of the
camp to go on leave because the railway cannot spare
the trains to carry any more but you can bet that the
ones that don't get leave will take it. I can see a
lot of trouble over here at Xmas. There was a lot
of our boys left here for the front on last night, it
was hard luck for them going back so close on Xmas.
The Orderly has just come in & told us that there was a
parcel over at the Post Office for me, so I went over & got
it, & it was your parcel I opened it but I am going to

keep it till Xmas day. I must thank you very much for it Dad.
Mum you dont know how us boys over here appreciate anything
from home. I have just recevied a letter too in answer to
my application for the Officer School, but I have to be actually
with the Batt. before I can be sent away to the School, so

that means that I have to wait till I join up the Batt.
Again before I can do anything more in the matter, but
when I do get back again I will have another try.
Things are not looking too good just at present, I think
that Rumania turned against the Allies & is working
with Germany, I saw in the papers over here that when
the Germans entered Bucharest the Rumanian people
decorated them with flowers so that does not look too
good & then again they never put up a fight at all just
let the Huns advance as they liked. When the Huns entered
Bucharest they never had a shot fired at them & it is
one of the strongest fortified cities in the world, I think
that it is about time they declared it a draw & let us
all get home again. This will be my second Xmas away
from home but I must say that we will be able to spend
it better than what we did last time. One of the boys
was telling me that he saw my photo in the Sydney Mail
while he was up at Manchester. I have not seen it yet.
Well Dad Mum this is about all the news for the week
So I must close now again thanking you for that nice
parcel so with heaps of love & kisses

xxxxx I am xxxxxx
xxxxx Your loving son xxxxx
xxxxx Will xxxxxxxx

Wareham
Dorset 17/12/16 
My Dear Dad Mum & Sister, 
I did not receive any mail
from you this last week but I suppose I will get some
this week. It is snowing over here now & has been
for some time & my word it is cold, the boys have been
out snowballing but I have not been hit yet, it is
about a foot deep now & looks like keeping on for a
good while. This is some place over here, between the rain
snow & fogs it makes one feel inclined to go back to 
the front again. What do you think about Germany
singing out for peace? looks like if it is going to
finish shortly but you can bet that the Allies will
have their terms or else fight on, Germany must be
on her last legs or else she would not sing out for
peace. I had a letter from Mart yesterday he is
still first class, I suppose he told you that he has
left the 18^th & is now in the 15^th A.S.C. it is a
good lot to be in too, a chap has an excellent chance
of going back to Aust. when he is in that lot.  Army
Safety batch as we call it. When he has gone into
there I don't suppose he will get his leave now but
the main thing he is safe, the A.S.C. men never
go more than about five miles from the firing line

So you see he is quite safe. There has been a lot to
do over here alately about Xmas leave for the
soldiers, at present all leave is cancelled for us
but we are expecting another order to come out shortly
At present we are not allowed to travel on the trains
& I heard that Civilians have been stopped also
This is the way we get treated after coming away
to fight & yet they wanted us to vote for conscription.
You people out there do not know one little bit of
how we have been treated since we left Aust. but
you will all know when we get back home again.
How would the people like it if they knew, that
when one of our boys get killed the Military Charge
his next of kin up for the blanket he was buried
in, now that is a positive fact & there are many
many other things you will hear when we get home
I will leave that subject alone now & get on to something
else, I hope you have all been keeping well lately also
all the old friends. Several of our boys have died here
in camp lately with pneumonia etc & there will be
a good many more before long nearly every one in 
camp here has a cold but I am lucky I have just
got rid of mine & I am looking after myself so I will
not get another. They sent us a notice the other day
asking us to put our money in the Aust. War. Loan
I have £40 in my pay book, but I am not going