General Sir John Monash, Personal Files Book 17, 11 February - 18 March 1918, Part 16

Australian Corps
Our total casualties last nights' operations
are 1 officer died of wounds 1 other rank killed both
brought in two other ranks missing known to have been
wounded and probably killed one officer wounded
twenty one other ranks wounded of latter only four
are at all serious and all other fully accou remainder
of raiders now fully accounted for, and none others
missing
3^d Aust. Div.
G6 4 PM
5/3/18
 

Carefully prepared list
Trip to Paris & Riviera- March 1918    8/3/18

Taxe. principale......

Réponse Payée.......

TOTAL.......

INDICATIONS
DE RĖCEPTION
Télégramme.
[[? stamp]]
16/3/18

INDICATIONS DE TRANSMISSION.

Major General Sir John Monash C/O Cdt
[[ Nicholls Home CMH 89/S22 16 ADH.....?]]
Cdt Corps Commander has no objections to
your leave being extended to [[more?]]
months if you desire = 3RD  aust
divn

March18th 1918.
I am wondering whether you would care to interest
yourself, to the extent of trying to raise funds in Australia,
for an extremely worthy enterprise, in which I, in common with
many other Commanders of the A.I.F. have taken an active interest,
because we have recognized the great value it is to our troops.
being on the spot here, and knowing the relative merits of the
purposes to which are applied the various funds raised in
Australia, by the Australian Comforts Fund, the Lady Mayoress
Fund, the Belgian Relief etc,etc, I should very much like to see
a small portion of the munificence of the Australian public
diverted to this special purpose, for it would be of the greatest
possible direct benefit to the troops and to us Commanders in
looking after their welfare.  If you can succeed in interesting
some of the ladies, who are doing such splendid work for us, in
this project, you may be able to raise a good sum of money.
Anything from £100 to £1000 (as a total) would be acceptable and a
substantial help, and, if raised, could be remitted, through
Defence Department channels to the Commandant A.I.F. Head
Quarters, London, who would be asked to notify me of its arrival,
so that I could arrange to see to its reaching the Committee in
Paris for whom it is intended- I shall try to explain the matter:
in some detail, for the information of any ladies who may wish to
take the matter up with you.
As you know, our great problem is, how to keep
our men fit and well.- One way is to secure for them occasional
rest and relief from their hardships by giving them leave, to go
either to London or Paris.  Now leave is not an unmixed blessing.

.2.
Many of our men are quite young boys, who, if turned loose in
cities like London and Paris, get into all sorts of mischief, get
robbed, and often come seriously to grief.  Even for the older
men, a term of 2 weeks in London or Paris, without friends or
guidance of any kind is a mournful experience.
Of the English troops, the great majority of course
have their homes in the United Kingdom, and, when they go on less
leave, are met at Victoria or Charing Cross by their own families,
and are taken to their homes in London or the provinces, or
Scotland or Ireland, and are looked after and made much of.
But the Canadians and Australians have no homes
and no friends,and although we have provided barracks and
lodgings both in London and Paris for them to sleep at, at a
nominal expense, yet such an arrangement does very little towards
giving the boys what they really need when they go on leave.
Moreover, owing to the serious food difficulties
in England, we have been asked to discourage our men from going
to London, but to send them either into the English provinces to
the houses of private hosts, or to Paris.  Now it can easily be
realized that there is not much attraction to a soldier who
wants a change from his monotonous life at the Front, to go to
an English country place, where there are no theatres, and no
sight seeing.  So the leave given to Paris is much more eagerly
sought for, by Canadians and Australians- and you will see
hundreds of Australian soldiers drifting about aimlessly in the
streets of Paris, not knowing where to go, or what to do.
Naturally they drift, or are enticed, to the worst hotels and
lodging houses, the worst theatres and music halls, and the most
undesirable surroundings; simply because, owing to language

.3.
difficulties, the French better classes cannot be expected to
take the same interest in our Colonial troops and such English
troops as drift to Paris, as do the English folk.
This situation and the evils of it have been
recognized for a long time past;  and the matter has been grappled
with by a very fine woman, and an able body of ladies and
gentlemen assisting her, Miss Butler is of mature years, and is,
by profession, a public lecturer on historical and art subjects.
She is also a fine organizer and business woman and has a splendid
personality which endears her to the troops, and a motherly way
of handling them. Miss Butler conceived the idea of opening in the
place de la Vendome, in Paris, a suite of rooms which she has
called " A Corner of Blighty in Paris," organized on the basis of
a free club for soldiers. Everything that a soldier can want when
on leave (except actual sleeping accomodation,-  which is
beyond the means of the Committee)- is here provided absolutely
free of charge, meals- on a sumptuous scale, writing rooms-games-
music, concerts, and what is much the most important thing of all-
good advice as to how best to spend their time in Paris, and
where not to go. Miss Butler herself, every day, takes loads of
soldiers in Char-a-bancs round the beauty spots of Paris, and
lectures to them in a most fascinating way; and the boys simply
adore her and obey her most implicitly.
The place is run wholly by voluntary labour,
supplied by a large number of ladies- Wives and daughters of
British Officers, and of the Embassy etc, but, of course, the
expenses are considerable, and up to now have been provided
largely out of the pockets of the ladies concerned, and their
men folk, and supplemented by subscriptions from the Commanders at
the Front who have been in touch with the Institution. For

.4.
example, I myself sent £25 out of my provisional fund, and sent
also some orderlies to help staff the place and do some of the
heavy work; and I am going to send my Pierrot party to give some
Concerts in Paris in aid of the Institution. But, the truth is
the place ought to be 10 times as large, for only a small 
proportion of the troops sought to be benefitted can so far be
reached, Generals Birdwood, Currie, Russel, and many others are,
like myself, strongly supporting it, for we recognize that it is
conceived exactly on the lines that are wanted, under the
special circumstances, as I have explained them.  I have visited the
place, and have talked to many of the men, and I know that many
a mother in Australia has reason to be grateful-( And I have seen
letters from some who have said so) to Miss Butler, for what she
has done for our men;  and her efforts deserve the utmost support
and help from the Australian people.
I hope therefore that you will be able to
bring this matter before a few influential ladies and gentlemen,
who will be prepared, on my personal assurance of the value of
such an effort, to form a small committee to raise a substantial
subscription for the development of this very excellent home for
our men when on leave in Paris.
Yours etc,
John Monash