Letters from Wilbert Berg to his family, 1915-1918 - Part 11

to put mine into it, it might be a good thing & all

that but you never know when Mart & myself might

want a few pounds & when you have it in your pay

book you can always get it. I have not dropped across

any other Glebe boys that you know, there is a terrible

lot of the 18^th Batt. in camp here, Have you been drawing

my money alright? I suppose it amounts to a nice

little sum now & the deferred pay is amounting up

now I get 1/6 deferred pay now, I have been getting

the extra 6 a day since Feb. last. I suppose the

girls still go over to see you & keep you alive with

playing cards etc. Very little war news appearing

in the papers lately, they must be marking time

on all the fronts. Things still very unsettled in Greece

"Tino" is just about to give into the Allies demands.

I suppose Sydney is full of returned soldiers now

there is a batch leaving England nearly every week

for home but I am not lucky enough to be one of

those lucky devils. Well Dad & Mum I think that

you will be tired of this uninteresting letter so I

think that the best thing I can do is to stop

so with heaps of love & kisses etc XXXXXXXXX

XX I am XXXX

X Your loving Son XXX

XX Will XXXXXX

Give my kindest

regards to all old

friends.. XXX

WNB. XX

Wareham

Dorset Xmas Eve

My Dear Dad Mum & Sister,

I did not receive any letters

from you this week although I got one from Millie

but I suppose yours will come along later on. It

looks like as if we are going to have nice weather

for to-morrow & everything points to us having a

real good time I will let you know all about it in

my next letter. I got a letter from Mart during the week

he is still O.K. he got my Reg. letter alright & was

delighted with the contents. What do you think about

the latest peace talk, the end of the war is not

very far off now in fact you can expect us back

again about June, & what a time we will have then

Germany is absolutely beat now, but she will try & get

the best peace terms she can, all the experts over

here say it will be pretty well over by March, but I

give it another couple of months. A chap I was talking

to the other day told me that Harry Carr from

Araluen is in camp here & I told him the next time he

saw Harry to tell him to come up & see me but he has

not come along so far. They are going to have a big day

here to-morrow, they are having poultry pork & plum

pudding etc for dinner & they are giving every man a

red cross box with some things in it, but I do not

think that they will be as good as the Xmas billies

last year. The boys in my hut & myself decorated

our hut up with flags etc & we had our photo

taken at dinner time so if they are any good I will

send you some along when they are finished. The

people over here do not seem to keep Xmas up the

same as we do out in Aust. but I suppose the war

makes a lot of difference. There is very little news

for this mail but I suppose there will be a good lot

to tell you next letter. You must excuse the writing

mistakes etc as I have a rotten headache. Must

close now Dad so hoping you are all in the best of

health etc & with heaps of love & kisses XXXXX

XX I am XXXX

XXYour loving Son XXX

XXX Will. XXXXX

XXXXXXXXX

Wareham

Dorset  31/12/16

My Dear Dad Mum & Sister,

Just a few more lines to let you

know that I am still quite well & had a lovely time

at Xmas, I had that much to eat that I could not

move for a couple of days but if all goes well we will

all be having next Xmas dinner at home. I got a

letter from Mart to-day, he is still quite well & going

strong & likes his new job. I have not had any letters

from you for about three weeks now although I have

had some from Squib, your letters must have gone

astray over here, I hope that you get my letters O.K.

as I write every Sunday. There is still a lot of peace

talk over here & things are looking very bright, it

must soon end now. We had our photos taken down

at the mess at Xmas dinner & I also had it taken

with the boys in my hut so I will send you some

along as soon as they are ready. Guess who is in

camp here? Joe Ryan & Harry Carr from Araluen. I

was talking to a chap the other day about the valley

& he asked me if I knew them, so he is going to

bring them along one night to see me. I do not think

that there is anything special on to-morrow, we had

all the good things at Xmas. Mart told me in his

(2)

letter that he got your parcel alright, Millie said in

her letter that she sent me one but it has not turned

up yet. The Aust. Red Cross gave every man in camp

here a Xmas box with Cigs tobacco pipe cards lollies

& a writing pad in it but they were not as good as

the billies we got last year, but still they were very

nice. We had plenty of pork & poultry for dinner &

I bet if Mart had have been here he would have

made them sit up. Things seem to be very quiet on all

the fronts lately, the Germans made a bit of an

attack at Verdun but did us good, & things have been

pretty quiet in Rumania. Things are very quiet over

here especially in camp here life is very monotonous

but still it is better than the trenches. We had

real nice weather for Xmas but just at present

we are having rotten weather "God Rice Cooper" I

would not live over here for all the money in the

world, the English people tell us that they have

eight months winter out of the twelve. We have

not had any Zepp raids for quite a while now, but

I suppose they will pop over again one of these nights

Well Dad & Mum this is about all the news that

I can think of for this mail so I will have to

ring off now so with heaps of love & kisses

XXX I am XXXX

XX Your loving Son XX

XXXX Will. XXXX

XXXXXXXXX

Remember me kindly to all

old friends.

Wareham

Dorset 7/1/15

My Dear Dad Mum & Sister

I am still without any letters

from you & I cannot make it out because I seem

to get Millie's letters alright, but I suppose they will

turn up later on. Well how did you spend the New

Year out there? we had a very quiet time over here

a few mates & myself went out to have a look at an

old Castle about five miles from camp & we enjoyed

it very much but I was dead tired when I got home

it was too far to walk with my leg. I saw Joe Ryan

the other night, he came around to see me, & he told

me that he has a good chance of going back home

again as he is marked C3 class (this is Australia if

he passes the board) he is a lucky devil eh what!

I saw the proofs. of the photos that we had taken at

Xmas & they seem very good so when they are ready

I will send you some along. The peace talk seems to

go on just the same, the Allied Ministers are holding

a big conference in Rome so I suppose before long

we will hear some good news, if the war is not over

before long their is going to something big doing on the

Western front & I suppose by the time you get this

letter they will be at it (that is if the war is not over)

The Allies have got hundreds of guns out there, unlimited

supplies of ammunition, plenty of men, so beware Fritz

I wonder if I will be in it again I hope not as

I think that it is going to be pretty rough & the "tanks"

are going to be in action not only in one place

but all along the Western front & they are the "boys"

Anyhow we will wait & see. We are still having

horrible weather over here & I do not know when it

is likely to stop. Wagga Welsh is still in camp here

& asked to be kindly remembered to you. I did not

get any letters from Mart this week, but I suppose

he is getting along A.1. I suppose things are pretty much

the same back in Sydney. I saw a couple of papers

during the week, the first I have seen for a good

while & didn't I relish them. News is very scarce

this week I can hardly find enough news to fill up

two pages this week. How is Cassie getting on with

her boys? Do you still have your games of five hundred

of a night now? I have learnt to play bridge over

here & it is a real good game & a lot better than 500

I think I forget how to play it now but I will

soon learn again when I get home. Well Dad & Mum

my little stock of news has utterly run out now so

I will have to close hoping that you are all quite well

& in the best of health etc so with lots of love & kisses

XXX I am XXXX

XX Your loving Son X

XXXX Will XXX

Remember me kindly to all

old friends.

Wareham

Dorset 14/1/17

My Dear Dad Mum & Sister,

I am still without any letters

from you again this week although I received one

from Millie Cassie & a Xmas card from M^r & M^rs Fenton

but I know that it is not your fault, I suppose

they will come to hand soon in a big bundle & it

will take me half a day to read them all. I had a

letter from Mart to-day he is still quite well & going

strong, he said that they spent a good Xmas under

the circumstances, he also said that he expects to get

his furlough in about eight weeks time but I am

afraid that I will be back in France again by

that time. I think that I can only last out about

another month over here, I am going to send you a

cable as soon as I know when I am going, but

after xx I arrive in France I suppose they will

keep us at the Base (Etaples) for a few weeks train

before we go up to the line. Fancy Joe Ryan is marked

for Aust. & I think that Harry Carr has gone back

as I have not seen him all the week. The peace talk

has died down a lot, but there is still good hopes

of it being over in about three months time. The

Russians seem to be giving the Germans a pretty

warm time of it again on the Eastern front & the

Rumanians have pushed the Germans back in a

few places. George Avon is marked for six months

light duty here in England, he is having a bit of

trouble with his wound so the Doctor gave him

six months spell. The photos that we had taken at

Xmas will be ready to-morrow night so I will be

able to send you some in my next letter. I got the

nice parcel that Millie sent me, it was so long coming

to hand that I had given up all hopes of ever getting

it, but it turned up alright. The Big War Loan was

started here on Friday & the money is pouring in like

wild fire, one Insurance Company led off with £20,000,000

I am going to send a card to Horseferry Road to see if

I can find out where Lyndsay Wood is , I would like

to see him before I go back again, if Herb. Kelly is

in the 20^th Batt. reinforcements I will often see him as

the 20^th Batt & the 18^th Batt always work to-gether in

the trenches. I have not run across any more of

the Glebe boys, I have not seen Jack O'Sullivan for

about three months he must have gone back again.

Well Dad & Mum news has just about run out again

for this mail so I will have to close now, hoping

that you are all quite well etc & with heaps of love & kisses

XXX I am XXXXX

XX Your loving Son XX

XXXX Will XXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

Remember me kindly to all

old friends.

Wareham

Dorset  21/1/17

My Dear Dad Mum & Sister,

I am still without any letters

from you again this week but I know that it is

not your fault that I do not get them. I received a

card from Auntie Maggie & a letter from M^rs Harry Smith

they were addressed to the Hospital & the Sister sent them

on to me. The weather is still very miserable over this

way, we had a bit of snow during the week, Several

cases of meningitis have broken out in camp here & I

would not be at all surprised if they isolated the

whole of the camp, I would not mind that because

we would be able to stay in bed all day which is

the best place this sort of weather. My mate is

going back to the front again this week, he has been

over here since May so it is about time he went back

again. I am enclosing the snapshots I was telling you

about, they were taken by one of the boys in my hut

& they are not too bad. The peace talk has dropped

off lately, it is all War Loan talk now, my word

the money is rolling in for it, I think that they

will get a lot more than they expected to get. There