Letters from John Wesley Hetherington to his Family, 1914-1915 - Part 10

Park, its worse than that I guess. The YMCA is in
full swing here and just now they're singing some of
the grand old hymns, it makes our thoughts fly
homeward to you in sunny New South. Well let's
hope it will soon be over now, and then it will
be worth while to come home. Cousin John said in his
letter that Jonathan Shield was dead and Armstrong
Hindmarsh's wife Ann. I forgot to tell you last letter.
We have wounded coming here from Bulgaria now I
have heard or they are expected. More work to do for
the Allies, I hope we shall give all them a big
bump, just to thicken the gravy. Big review of us
& Coy: tomorrow by some big head, hope it is much
warmer than today as reviews are usually slow
affairs. Well I shall wind up now, as there is
nothing fresh here, not even the eggs,  though they
charge fresh prices daily, 2^d each now.
I trust you are all in good health & spirits, plenty
of work and not suffering too much from high prices.
First post just blowing, 9 pm, Lights out
9-45 fancy me going to bed every night at
9-30 pm in Sydney.
Your affectionate Son
Wes on the Warpath.

With love to all. 

[*29*]
Somewhere near the Dard^lls
Sunday Nov 7^th/1915

Dear Folks at Home,
I missed writing you last week end as we were busy preparing
for a move. This week has been full of incident as I am near the
big fight again, and I have had more time to look about and see
things than on the first occasion of my setting foot on the Peninsula.
What a wonderful and fearsome thing war is, you never know what
is going to happen next. I have not been in to see the boys in the
firing trench yet as I have had heaps of work. I am now acting
Armourer-Sergt for the Battn and there are plenty of jobs to do.
Some of them taxes a man's ingenuity working as you do with a
limited number of tools. For instance last week I was asked if
I could make sail or bagging needles as they were unprocurable
in Lemnos. That was a puzzle for a bit, but I eventually scored

with some made of sardine-tin openers and I faked 'em so
as you could scarcely tell them from the genuine article, just
for the fun of it. Today had to make tin funnels without
a rule or compasses, so you can guess they're "razors."
And all the while the Turks were pitching nasty shells into
the gully over our heads, so work was interrupted now &
again to see where they "lobbed". Wonderful to see & hear
these shells and still more wonderful to think there wasn’t
a man hit. You see the hill-sides are honey combed with
dugouts and as soon as the shells start everyone keeps himself
heading to a dugout whereinto he dives quick & lively on hearing
the approach of a shell. Then our guns take up a part in the
duet and the constant passing of shells goes on for a wh
after which we have peace for a “smoke-oh.” We are well

sheltered behind a big hill, and now I can go to sleep to the
snap snap of a Maxim overhead, and the last sound I
hear before passing into the land of dream is the deep boom
of the bombs away in the firing line. Quite the strangest
church service I've ever participated is was held near our
dug out last Sunday night, by the same little parson who
came down on the Clan McGillivray to Malta with us in
April. He's a real bonzer, he comes from Victoria and goes
about no shorts just the same as us. He has been paying attention
to the graves of the boys who fell in the early days and some look
real tidy land will kept, there are a good many buried near
us here and they lie on the hillsides close to the sea, while the
fight still goes on around them. Most of them buried near us
belong to the Victorian Brigade, the NSW men were more to
the left on the first few days. The weather has been splendid
up to now and I haven't taken any hurt either from cold
or want of tucker, in fact we hade little or nothing to growl
about bar Turks and lice. I have made a close acquaintance
with lice lately and I don't like 'em. They're worse than fleas in
some respect but they're easier to catch and we have a daily
"chat" to keep the plague down. We call them chats, and it
is not considered undignified by even the "heads" to strip off
shirts and diligently search for the enemy nearest to us, and
when we find him we call in our neighbours & say rejoice with
us for we have found that which biteth exceedingly,
and we slay him in his thousands & tens of thousands.
[*I heard the hymn 'Oh God our help in ages past'

 sung to the accompaniment of a machine gun
 during the Church service, & 

Holy Communion was 
held just behind the firing line.*]

Oh! for a nice warm bath and clean clothes. I have some
clean clothes of course but if I put them on I'll just dirty
them so wots the use. And there are no washerwomen here,
and worse still no water to wash with so a chap goes
about feeling gloriously dirty and lousy. I suppose by the
time we get a bath again they'll be able to dig a trench
round the back of my neck and put a gap through my
hair. Anyway it doesn't matter so long as I can eat my grub
and I can do that, and if we can only clean our boots right.
Just before Xmas everything will be endured, and laughed
over in the happier and fat days to come. The beach at Anzac
is quite a different place now to what it was in April and
I think we are here for keeps. It is possible to get many of
the comforts of life and the YMCA have even established a
canteen not far from the memorable spot where we I landed
The YMCA have done a great work in this war, wherever
one goes they are in evidence, doing what they can for
the fighting men. They give writing paper etc away and have
a big notice on their tent here "write that letter home now."
I got Mothers letter of the 12^th yesterday also Megs beautiful
card today and wonders on wonders I even got that
parcel of Stockings Joes [[Meg?]] sent me ever so long ago. I
take back all the nasty things I've called our P.O. Strange
to say I haven't had a letter from Joe since I left Malta.
Glad to hear Mother keeps well, don't worry to about me I'm in
A. I. health and safe as houses. I hope we'll have turkey
for our Xmas fare. Yours with all love & good
wishes Wes
There go the Maxims again.
 Rat; tat, tat, the Turks are
uneasy tonight.
[[*I might say I feel more content 
here than I would at home, feel 
right it is only right each
family should have one member 
in the ranks in this great struggle.*]]

30
Nov 20/15 2^nd Battn A. I. F

Via Egypt

Dear Folk at Home

Didn't write last week as we were
busy shifting again a bit 
further along the line and that
means searching for new 
"possys" delving and digging to
make ourselves snug and warm
 for the near approach of winter
So far the weather hasn't been

 too bad, though it is chilly at
times and the gales that spring 
up here simply tear along like
mad. The ships have to clear 
off the coast then and everyone
has to hold on to all they've got.
It was a very rough night
one night this week and 
the mules had a tough job up the
slippy hill sides 

bringing in supplies. Great things mules,
and their Indian drivers also. 
Our men are in a fairly quiet
position now, "nothing 
much doing" as the boys say in the
firing line. The artillery on both side are doing the work
"Beachy Bill" (Turk) his been behaving very rudely this [[last?]]
week and though he usually knocks off at sundown so that
our chaps can't spot his position by flashes, he has worked
overtime in the moonlight and keeps lobbing shells on to the
Anzac beach just when there is work to do. So the Navy got
riled today, sent an aero-plane up to mark the target, and let
them have a taste of John Bull pills. It must have done
"Bill" good as he hasn't been near so rude since. The Turks
try hard to shoot the aeroplanes down, but they haven't
bagged one yet. Yesterday they had one of theirs up and
our artillery had a pot at it. They did some splendid
shooting and one shot was so good that we all cheered
The plane didn't stop for more it got away lively.
[[*Have just heard that over 100 bags of 

mail have gone down with one of our tugs
foundering on leaving Anzac, so you 
will probably be short of a letter or two.

It is greatly interesting to watch the puffs of shrapnel
bursting round the planes, and is must be exciting to be up
there. Early this morning the Turks had a few shots at a
big tug boat just in front of us, shots fell all round it
one actually splashed water over the nose of it. Then they
thought it was time to get out & when once he moved he
went ahead & then astern and Turk couldn't hit him for nuts
after that. Oh theres plenty to see & life isn't dull by any
means. The health of the troops seems to be improving with the colder
weather, dysentry isn't quite so prevalent, but still it's bad enough.
We have had one or two casualties since we arrived back here, two
men killed & one or two wounded in
three weeks isn't very heavy though.
One chap killed this week was hit 
the first day (in April) while he
was lying just about 6 yards from
me on that lively Sunday
morning. He went West 

altogether this week poor chap. Things
are beginning to warm up 
here considerably and 
appear to be drawing
towards a final flutter.
I never get very near the firing line now
unless there is a little job to do 
at the sniping guns. These are
rifles fixed on stands in positions 
in the trenches. I hear Kitchener
was round here last week but 
he wasn't seen down our way.
They're just waking 

up to the fact that this spot is of 
some importance
now. Had they put the men in 
in April that we have here now the
game would have been finished
 long ago. And what a lot
of work would have been saved, 
and the thousands of precious lives.
The trenches are like a maze, 
when you get in you lose yourself quite
easily and wandering round
 makes you even more confused.
I've had a few squints at Johnny 
Tucks quarters through the loopholes
& periscopes & my word he'll take 
some shifting out of this rough 

Country. I think we'll do it though all the same if we get half
a chance and things don't go too bad in Suvla for us.
Well I got my promotion this last week and did better than I had
expected as I stepped up twice, from Corpl to Lance Sergt one
week and to Full Sergt this week so now you may address my
letters Armourer Sergeant J.W.H. I have been thinking of that
back money business you mention and if I can arrange it I shall
increase the allowance so that you can bank some for me.
You might also send one a pair of gloves and if Wal wants to earn
a war service button he can send me some Baking Powder it comes
in handy for small cake comforts and we use as much as ever
we can get of it. At present we are trying lime-juice instead as the
baking powder is all finished. You would laugh of you saw some
of the makeshifts we get up to here, real ingenious some of them
are too. "Beachy Bill" has just sent along another messenger
with lead & iron pills. I am at present sharing a dugout with the
post corpl. & I get plenty old papers and have a much better
chance of getting my mail quick. I got about 2 doz papers this
last week Freds included & I've had a glorious time reading at
nights. There's a nasty 18 pounder
round the corner backs every
now & again & he makes you 
jump just when 
the papers are interesting and
disturbs the mind a bit, but he's one of
 ours so I mustn't growl too much.
With a better postal system established 
it is safer to send anything so
if Elsie also desires to flaunt a 
war button she can send me a tin of
chocolate any old time her bank interest falls due.
Yours with love & best of the Seasons wishes to
one & all. Best love to Mother.
Yours O.K.
Wes/.

[*31*]

Somewhere in the East

Sunday Dec 6^th/15
Dear Folks at Home
After a fortnights break for which I
hope you forgive me I again try to pen a few lives. In the
first place I couldn't write for the cold last week, didn't
feel equal to thawing myself through to do it, It was such a
sensation to see snow again after so many years, and it
took me all I knew to keep from freezing. I wasn't the worst
bearer of it either some of the boys who had been keen to
see snow wished after that it would disappear for ever.
The snow also made the paths like mud patches and with
the extremely cold wind prevailing we were anything but
merry. However it has been quite mild again the last few
days & the hearts of all are once more full of hope. I was [[greatly?]]
amused at some of our chaps comments on the wintry weather
one chap assured me he would never again complain of cold if he
got back to Australia. It was rather a severe snap and now
that they've had a taste of it they won't be so taken aback next
time Mr Jack Frost comes. Warm clothing is being dealt out fairly
well and so far I've taken no hurt at all, I haven't any
outside work to do and with the help of two pair of socks &
stockings & cardigan jackets, etc., I keep fairly warm.
The rough weather interferes somewhat with the landing of stores
and we are often on bully beef & biscuits, so I'm lucky to have
good teeth. There are about 7 of us messing together in the
Quarter Masters Store (where the good things are) and we have
plenty of good jam, bully, preserved vegetables, etc to help 

to make the menu attractive. The dried vegetables all curious stuff the
potatoes being just like flakes of thin glue. Still they're not too bad when
rightly done. The other mixture, carrots, turnips etc, is too strong for my taste
seems too much like horse feed, it would suit a strong minded vegetarian
O.K. We have had few casualties of late, and our position at present seems
to be one where neither parties can heck nor [[gee?]]. We are quite close to
Gaba Tepe and the Point seems to poke its head out and dare us to come on.
I think Johnny Turk would have the kettle boiling ready to give us a nice
hot cup of tea if we went to pay him a visit in that quarter. Yesterday
we had a great view of our ships bombarding our side of old Achi Baba
talk about shells, poor old Johnny must have woke up with a headache
this morning if nothing worse befell him. There is always something going
on to raise excitement, though a bombardment isn't half so exciting as
the prospect of a wash. I've had one wash this week, got a condensed
milk tin full of water, shaved in it and washed my face with the brush.
The shaving brush is a great idea for getting the dirt out of the 
corner of one's
eyes and ears, though it isn't such a success on the face & neck, seems
to much like putting paint on a door. Then I've had a change of shirts
(one of them) and 'loused" the other so I feel quite respectable. I was
a bit disappointed in having to change that shirt as I had reckoned on it
serving the month out, one shirt per month is fair working average, but the
creepy beasties got too much for my philosophic temperment and 
after working
overtime for some days scratching myself I had, perforce, to put another on.
Now I have the satisfaction of seeing that shirt hanging on the wall, and
knowing that my tormentors of old are undergoing a hunger lock-out.
A qreat deal of our mail has been sunk recently so I expect you and
others to whom I have written will be short of those letters. It is

the Xmas mail and a later one that have been lost I hear.
J Turk has been lobbing some shells round our quarters today. You hear
a distant bang, then a sound as of a mighty pushing wind, then a big
big bang and you run out to see where it has landed. They seem to
have a particular spite against a hillside at right angles to us and they
"straffed" it considerably today showering dirt over our dugouts. Someone
had his clothes hung out yesterday giving the lice the open air
 treatment and
Johnny shell hit the lot & there were pants & shirts flying all roads.
It is simply wonderful how few men are hit in comparison to the number
and size of these shells. The dugouts save us of course. I've got a galvand
iron roof on mine, with sandbags on top of that & I've 50 or 60 sandbags in
hand for further improvements contemplated when I get time. At present
I'm kept fairly busy and get some funny jobs, here's some of this weeks

List Repaired the Doctor gold WO glasses, made a stove pipe for another
officer repaired the Adjutants field glasses, the Colonel wants a stencil
plate made with his name etc, another officer wants sprigs put in his boots
soles (I bucked about this) and the stores want some funnels made to pour
out the rum issue (I had ma doots as to whether a No License man
ought to make these and they consoled me with a "grey-hen" full of lime
juice,) and besides all these odds & ends are enquiries for rifle & rifle being
given in, so you see I haven't time much to think about shells, etc.
Stray bullets whiz over the top of the bank over my dugout, and at night
a stray bomb finds its way over, but few shells find their way here after
dark. Johnny doesn't give his gun positions away like that. The big shells
you can hear coming "Beachy Bills" are sometimes called the "Anzac
Mail" but the terrors of all are the / u/5's. They shoot shells like a
revolver shooting cartridges and just as quick, No wonder the French
i/5 is the best gun of this war. Had we had to land here in the face

of a battery of i/5's — well we wouldn't have been here at all.
Beachy" has just sent a stray one over to the Anzac beach, LEST
WE FORGET, he's hanging round. He's certainly a persistent beggar.
One of the boys whose work takes him down to the beach has 
a model cross
with his name on also KILLED BY "BEACHY BILL" so He says Beachy
sure to get him & (by way of a joke) he's got his cross ready. At all events
he swears if he does like to reach Australia again and his wife
presents him with another son he's going to Christen him Beachy Bill.
we got our first issue of oatmeal to day so there'll be "burgoo"
for breakfast tomorrow morning and perhaps a rasher of bacon
and treacle and I believe there's a quarter ration of bread (first for a
week) and perhaps even a bit of fresh beef, so there'll be feasting and
dancing in Anzac land tomorrow all being well, and provided the
water isn't turned off at the meter by a shell.
Well I don't want anything particular (except a bath perhaps) and
I can't send you anything but best wishes for the New Year & may
I see you soon, so I guess I'll just have to have patience
until that dark skinned chap whose kicking up a fuss because
we've taken up an allotment near him, makes up his mind to let
us see Constantinople and till we've seen Kaiser Bill in a glass
case and then we'll think of out beautiful 'arbour and the
North Shore Bridge, and come back to Sunny New South,
Love to Mother, best wishes one & all,
Wes
The Champion Bully Beef Armourer-Sergeant