Letters from John Wesley Hetherington to his Family, 1914-1915 - Part 9

from shell & rifle fire is also a benefit. I don't know very 

many of the men here now, such a lot of strange faces.

I expect, however that many of the old hands

will rejoin shortly, and it will feel more like the old

regiment again. They haven't quite fixed up the extra

bar for me for Armr. Sergt: The difficulty lies with the Brigade

expect it will be O.K before I write again. The other chap

that is here is to be transferred to the 1st. The Colonel told me on

the quiet I was all right for the step. I think this chap with

us now has disgusted them with his rough work. He's the

real Colonial motorcar, cinematograph, wireless, electrical, mangle

engineer. We don't live as high here as we did in Egypt not

yet anyway. Tents are scarce & two of us share a humpy

on the hillside, it will be all right if it dont rain, we've

defied the wind, but I think the rain would euchre us.

I have had several letters this last week also some of

Fred's papers for all of which I am profoundly grateful.

It seems like cool water on a warm day. I have also

had one or two from[[?Off]] [[Licences?]] friends of Burwood &

shall endeavour to reply to them in due course. I hope

they won't think me neglectful. It is quite so easy to

write when you dive into a bag for one thing & forget

another & your paper blows away etc.

Very very pleased to see Mother is nearing the Cowra visit

I didn't know lace was worth so much wish I'd bought

more now, glad you like it.

With sincere love to you all.

Wes/.

Rest Camp Lemnos.

Oct 10th Sunday / 1915.

26

Dear Folks at Home/.

I missed writing last week, one reason being

that I was fairly busy and another that I got so

many "back numbers" letters that I gave the post a

few more days to see how many more would roll in.

I got one letter so far back as March 3rd and I only learnt

last week of Fred going to the Union Steamship Co., and

about Mother actually getting away to Cowra. I got one from

Wal this week too, also some ancient epistles from Mr Vickery

of the N-L League asking me to get him some Egyptn

curios if possible. It seemd so funny to read Fred's

remarks on my visit to Memphis, that visit is away

back in my "think-box" now. I remember though we

followed Major Blair Swannett of the 1st that day, our

donkey racing his along the Canal paths. He was

killed the first day not far from where I was. His

name has been often in the papers I see for he was so well

known among the sporting & athletic crowd of N.S.W.

I had a high tea to celebrate Mother's holiday, steak & eggs,

fried tomatoes, cornflour & tinned apricots, gee, what a buster. I had to

have a blackfellows rest after it to let it get fairly settled.

Anyway I hope she feels all the better for the change,

for that holiday is long overdue. I'm a bit amused

at your remarks re my going in the firing line, bless

my heart & soul, Gallipoli those first few days was all

firing line and though it isn't quite so bad now

still you're not far away from the bullets when

you're on the Beach and an occasional one still flops

into the water as you approach the coast. Strays of course

but still they give a fellow a nasty knock at times.

When "Beachy Bill" sends one or two along he clears the

Beach altogether, and he has sent a few to Hospital while

they've been having a quiet dip in the sea. Anyway none

of our crowd are too anxious to be back to the Peninsula,

Lemnos is quiet, very, very quiet but there are no shells

to guard against, no bombs, etc, and everybody

gets his nights sleep. It is really astonishing how few

the men are who have gone right through from the landing.

Only about 54 in our Battn out of over a thousand,

have never been away for wounds or sickness. That chap

Davison on same photo as I, taken in Cairo is one. The

men are picking up a lot now. I'm ten horsepower better

myself from when I reached Lemnos Camp first. I

was feeling very sickly then, but we got a Primus

stove,  my tent mate & I & some arrowroot & cornflour

& eggs & steak and some mornings we have toast

& bacon, eggs, steak & tomatoes all on the same plate.

Things are getting pretty dear here now, too many traders

with one price for the lot, tinned fruit now 1/6 and1/9

a tin, eggs 7 for 1/- (not too large at that), potatoes rather

dear but good, cornflour (baksheesh) when you know how.

On the whole we live very well, but I'm losing my tent mate

next week & I may be at a loss for a few days. He is going

as Armr. Sergt. to the 3rd. He is only Armr. Corpl. here same

as I & I am senior to him in appointment, and the Colonel

said I would be given the extra stripe shortly so they

are fixing him up in another Battn. He is a real Colonial

worker, spoil something worth 1/- to repair a 3d article,

and he's desperately rough & ready. He reckons he served

his time (which I question) but it certainly wasn't with

anyone like my father, he would have been a mechanic

if he had. At present he's acting chief primus stove

engineer, and I'll do him the credit of saying he can cook.

It has been lovely weather here lately and the morning sunrise

and evening sunset are worth seeing. We are camped on

a hill-side overlooking the harbour & its like living at

Mosman or Cremorne, only we don't pay rent & I'm not

quite sure who is the landlord even. John Bull or [?]

Greeks. The Greeks are making more money than they

ever dreamt of & they get indifferent whether you buy

or not. Bad business for us, can't beat them down as

you could in Egypt. What we're going to do next I don't

know, not surprized if at anything now. When a

man goes to war he wants to have a nice calm temper

just like a cow, don't worry, just eat, sleep and

be as merry as you can. I don't say I can carry

my own advice out in fact I know I can't.

Had a noise in my left ear for a long while can't get

rid of it the Dr wanted to send me into Hospital.

I took fright at that, don't want anymore hospitals

this trip anyway so I'll wait till we touch civilization

again. There is plenty of sport here, cricket matches between

warships & our officers, soccer, football galore, quoits

and the Y.M.C.A. have a good big tent for Concerts.

We have fairly good swimming also. We are being

fitted out with new clothes, boots etc, so we are all

wondering as to the next move on the board.

We get a fair amount of war news, & Bulgaria is

interesting us just now and also the more forward

in France. Glad to see Wal is stepping up, also

that Fred fell in lucky for another job. I met

one of the Bathurst branch A.S.G. men on the "Harroo"

he was next table & he asked me if I was any

relation to a Hetherington who was formerly at

Bathurst. He said I spoke the same & looked

the same, so I said he guessed right, he is our

Tommy at Bathurst, don't know his name.

I haven't come across Hannah yet didn't know

which Battn he was in till this week.

I've simply wallowed in newspapers this week and

enjoyed old "Grit" once more. Thanks so much for

them. I'm in good health at present hope you are

all the same. With love to Mother & all of you

Nothing I want, if I did chances are against you

getting it with this postal service.

Goodbye for the present

Wes/.

 

Rest Camp Lemnos Island.

Sunday Oct 17th /15.

27

Dear Ones at Home/.

After wading, with my eyes, through about 2ft of

Sydney papers I am making a desperate effort to

lay them aside & pen you a letter. It is always a

difficult matter for me to lay a paper down, I feel

like a cow in a lettuce patch when newspapers are

around, and you may tell Elsie I still have

the old mania for digging them up. I plague

the postal Corpl. for English papers & hang

round anyone I see with a decent journal like

lone shoplifter after a blouse, etc, This past 

week there has been a dearth of candles & I haven't

been able to get through my usual (or unusual)

amount of news hunting to my great dissatisfaction.

Wall If Wal isn't too large in the head with

his promotion he might take pity on a poor

candleless individual & forward a dozen gross

of the biggest & thickest candles in the market. The

sort I want are usually to be seen on the altars

in the High and A.C churches. I regret much

now I didn't get one or two of those 5ft by 2"

dia candles I saw in Malta. They'd be handy

to hang the washing out in the daytime.

I've got g just learned the date, hadn't the slightest

idea before & asked two or three without being sure.

I knew it was Sunday, cause we had rice for dinner.

Well, tomorrow will be the anniversary of our

 

departure from Sydney Australia & I'm thankful

indeed that I have been spared to celebrate it.

We are having a concert in the Y.M.C.A tomorrow night

just to mark the occasion. It seems quite a year to

me, there has been so much crowded into it, 

such momentous events, things seen i never

expected to see, and, as I say, I am humbly

thankful that I among so few should be

privileged to be with the forces on this anniversary.

Wal has kindly asked me if I'd care for a

wool vest, well it would be very useful for

there will be cold winds & snow here but I'm

so afraid of these things going astray. Also

Elsie & her stockings, so much trouble to knit

and perhaps never reach me. Of course they

are used by some other if I don't get them

but that's no good to our firm. I think it will

be better to get you to send me one & also some

stockings. I have plenty of socks, in fact I

don't want for much, and too big a kit is a 

burden when it's "moving day", so I have written

to ask you to send me a vest & two pair of stockings.

Many thanks all the same and hearty good

wishes to Wal for success in his promotion. The

old letters still keep rolling up and I'll have to

plug to get them answered. Still one can't have

too many letters out here, it's very quiet indeed

though we've got a band or two here now.

There's nothing new to report from the "Dards" in

fact we learn things from the papers you send.

We get what news there is in very small doses,

afraid it will spoil our appetite I suppose, and

yet we're simply aching for news. we poach for

some by nosing round the bluejackets and marines

but they don't know too much either, so we must

just wait & see. I do hope we'll have Turkey for

this Christmas feed though, he's p had plenty

of cooking this Summer and unfortunately the

cooks haven't got off without some burns. I see

by a "Grit" I have just received MF JW Hetherington

has been wounded twice. Well I didn't know

of the second accident and it must have been

"a canny lame". No I don't want more kudos than

I've earned and once hit is enough for me, thanks.

The pay office here is like the Post Office, I had to leave

my pay book in Alexandria when I sent the remittance

to you, for some trivial redtape formations and I

haven't seen it since though they promised to send it

on to the Battn. It has about £40 standings in it up

to 26th Augt/15 after the remittance was sent and as

it is to us just like a bank book I want Fred to take

a note of that sum & date in case I have to refer

to it again. Without my pay book I have no claim

until the final accounts are made up I suppose. Of 

course I have had another issued to me but it does

not cover back pay. I've plenty of money in hand

at present, more than I need.

We have to buy a few things to make life worth

living, and the Greeks are robbers, but they

have started a Brigade canteen and though

prices are high, they're not so high as the Greeks.

Quaker Oats 1/3 a tin, Coffee & milk 1/6 a tin,

tinned Salmon 1/6, and other prices in proportions.

Now they're starting a beer canteen, so all's

well with the Army again. I don't think

That fine ship the Aquatania is lying in

the Harbour here, she is a hospital ship now,

and a beauty too. Dr Moran Mothers doctor at

Balmain is here I believe though I haven't seen

him yet. There are even Canadian nurses here;

what a mixed up crowd we are to be sure.

Well I'll dry up now, I'm keeping quite well and

eating well. The Primus Stove is the King pin and

we make some fearsome & wonderful things on it.

Else says she won't [[gr?]] at my papers, well I'll be 

generous too and I won't think narsty things of

her cooking after this. Still this tucker is better than

Mrs Lumsdens, I'd rather do three months on this,

than a month on her hillsticker pudding.

Good night and love to all, hope the boys

will all have good work & plenty of it.

Love to Mother tell her not

to worry I'm all right.

Wes/.

[*P.S. The best jobs in the Army

are the A.M.C., plenty of tucker and lots of

Red Cross clothes etc. wish Advise any would be

soldiers you know to join them unless they're really

anxious to shake hands with Turks.*]

 

Lemnos Island.

Sunday. Oct 23 / 1915.

28

Dear Mother/

Another Sunday here and I must try to drop a

line if only to say I'm in good health and her eating like

10 men, found my lost appetite and another one too.

The weather here this past week has been very cold for

we Austns. Cold winds blow here for days together and

we are camped on a cauld hillside. Lovely harbour

view but, ye Gods! that doesn't count when it's blanket

time or before Reveille in the morning. That's when the

wind talks to you. I have a fair good stock of clothes

and I keep putting 'em on and I'm not sure whether I'm

putting weight on or whether it's only clothes but my

belt is tighter than when I landed here. We may move

again any day, but I'm in a more settled job now and

I don't mind as long as I keep healthy. I'm not acting

Armorer Sergt. & expect to push another bar upon my arm

next week. That means a few more comforts when we reach

civilization again, and alltogether I feel more satisfied.

Don't be surprized if you don't receive too many letters

after this as we may shift camp & letters be redirected.

I am pretty much my own boss now and a person of

some (!) importance. Tut! tut! Oh! these robbers of Greeks, and

their outlandish language, it almost makes you wish to

walk all over their face when you go shopping. It is a panto.

When you're in a shop full of soldiers & all trying to make the

Greek understand what they want, Scotch, Irish, Canadians,

Australians, Cockneys, etc. just imagine it, talk about Calla