Letters from Wilfred Evans to his family, 1915 - Part 14

papers arrived for my predecessor - Tatler
Bystander & some Land & Waters which are
splendid & I quite enjoyed them. He 
had them sent from England. Sorry to 
say that most of the papers you Harry & Ern so 
kindly sent have not reached me, only 
about three or four in all. I still have 
my vest pocket Kodac & am taking 
some snaps which I hope will be 
interesting when I am able to have them developed. 
One third of the whole of the Brigade have
gone away to Lemnos to rest as they have 
been here all the time since May about 3 weeks 
after the first landing & they were due for a spell 
& my batman went off though he was loth 
to go without me, but I sent him as he had  
been here from the beginning. I have another 
very decent lad who wanted a rest from 
trench work, quite a decent chap, of good 
family I think as his people own some station 
or other in S. Australia. He likes being with me 
I think as he has easy work & is a friend of 
the Corporal in the dispensary with whom he 
has his meals & he is trying to learn something of 
A.M.C. work of which he seems very fond.
I think my dear I have exhausted 
practically all the news I possess  

this time as day follows day in very 
similar fashion.  Just at present  
I can hear some big naval guns 
bombarding away down towards 
Cape Helles, they have outbursts every now 
& again. Please send round to 
all the family with this letter my 
heartiest wishes for all success 
& prosperity in the New Year & for 
a happy reunion during it after 
a successful ending to these troubled 
times Much love to all & a double 
share to mother from 
Her loving son 
Wilf 

9^th Light Horse Regiment, 
Anzac, 
Nov 22^nd 1915 
My dear mother, 
No mail has reached me since last week except
one of the parcels sent from Egypt containing chicken broth (which I had ordered) I 
fear that we will miss a mail as we have been informed that a 
large number of mail bags were lost in a boat which was sunk 
by a submarine - very bad luck for us. Since writing you the 
weather has become bitterly cold & we have been glad to put 
on warmer attire one item of which is sheepskin jackets made 
from the whole hide of a sheep & which were a present to 
the regiment & they do look funny with the hide worn outside & 
the fur inside & fashioned as a jacket for the upper part 
of the body. It is too unpleasant sitting round at night in 
the cold so we retire to our dugouts & I get into bed, which 
consists of a stretcher with a soft mattress from my sleeping 
bag on top of it & on this I have two blankets sewn together 
so as to form a bag & I slip into this put another blanket 
or two on top & then in order to read & keep my upper 
body warm put on my cardigan & sheepskin & I'm 
as snug as a bug in a rug. I have managed to  
obtain a lamp now so am quite well able to read. 
I am still in my old dug out with the New Zealander 
also as he has been unable to obtain anything to cover 
his place with, when I remove my tarpaulin to my 
new dressing station so I am remaining here 

until he gets what he wants as we could hardly 
go & leave him without a roof to his head.
It is a bit crowded but we manage & when 
we go to bed about seven at night we talk & so 
pass time in addition to reading & my batman 
brings in some cocoa about nine o'clock so that after 
all, even under these circumstances life is not so bad. A Medical 
Association has been formed at Anzac which meets 
every fortnight at No 1 Casualty Clearing Station & 
Addison (the New Zealander) & l went along & Wesley 
stayed at home as it was his turn to do so, because 
it is necessary for one man always to be at hand 
There was a very large attendance in the big tent 
which was used for the meeting, fully fifty medicos 
being present. I met fellows whom l had not seen 
previously for twelve months & quite enjoyed doing 
so & then we had a discussion on an Epidemic of 
Jaundice which is prevalent just now, fortunately 
only a mild thing, the men being off color in 
more ways than one for a few days. Last night a  
Turk prisoner gave himself up in our trenches 
a fine built fellow, by race an Armenian who had 
been forced to serve. He was rather a fine built 
fellow with aquiline features & a large nose 
& rather fair skinned. He was dressed in 
the 8 usual Turkish overcoat of greyish 
wool which is a very warm & his clothes were 
in good condition & his socks very good.

He appeared well fed also & is believed to 
have been a sergeant. The first indication of 
his presence was given by his calling out 
near our trenches just about dusk, & one of our 
fellows, very small in stature too, hearing him replied 
& then jumped over the parapet bayonet in hand 
& brought him into the trench with great pride. The 
Turk had left his cap & rifle behind & was shivering 
with cold, so our kindly fellows took him to a fire & warmed 
him & gave him a good meal & then he was brought down 
blindfolded & under escort to headquarters. Some 
kind chap had given him a muffler for his head & 
they treated him generally as a kind of pet. Th His  
small captor, proud as a game cock, formed part of 
his escort & formed an amusing contrast to his  
large prisoner. When he was being taken away from 
headquarters the way he was addressed by his guard 
amused me very much - "Come on Johnny" said the 
escort & away he went though he understood no English 
Our lads always speak to the Ghurkas by calling them 
Johnny & l suppose it was natural for them to address 
him thus. The parcel which l received from Egypt 
today was one of the missing ones unfortunately not  
the chocs. but some soup which we had tonight 
We are to have a winter issue of rations commencing on 
Dec. 1^st including oatmeal, cheeze, pea soup & cocoa 
which will be very much appreciated. Oatmeal particularly 
we will be glad of as the men all appear to desire that

at present rather than any other item of diet.
I am Secretary of the Officer's Mess at present &
arrange all the meals & duties of the officers' batman
in regard to drawing water & wood for the mess
& so on. It entails a little extra work but keeps
me employed. In addition I help censor letters
when I have time. I have been wondering since
reading your September letters if my cablegram announcing
my departure to Gallipoli arrived after Ern & Alice left  
& hope sincerely that it did not just at the time 
when you would be fell feeling lonely. Your letters
which I hope to receive soon after you had 
received the telegram will enlighten me as regards 
that. I hope that you are well & am longing
now for some more letters & hope that the gap
between the change in my addresses will not be
too long & hope you continued to write to the old
one from whence they were forwarded.  I have received  
the 4 Australian letters since my arrival here,
two from you, one from Mab, one from Cedric Job, &
one or two from Egypt. I am very well & in good
spirits & hope you are the same & all the Evans
Thomas family. Much love to all the dear ones
wish I could drop in & see them all & a
special share for mother from
Her loving son,
Wilf

9^th L.H. Regiment, 
Anzac, 
Nov. 28^th 1915 
My dear mother,
I am writing to you this time from my bunk
as it is the warmest spot, my feet right away down in my
blankets & the upper part of my body clad in undershirt
pjama coat, cardigan & sheep skin to keep me warm
while I write. The weather is now bitterly cold & last
night we had a fairly heavy fall of snow following
rain so that the place is moderately slushy. It is
been snowing a little today but has eased off tonight
but there are still two or three inches of snow on the
ground - reminds one of Cooma as also do the winds,
which are fairly high and bleak. We find make ourselves
very comfortable at night like this by going to bed
as soon as tea is finished & smoking a pipe or 
reading until it is time to go to sleep - generally
about nine o'clock.  I am still in my old bivouac
or dug out (bivvy for short) with the New Zealand
medico as his cover had not arrived until it rained 
& snowed and now we are waiting until the ground
dries before moving.  Pray don't imagine that I'm
getting frozen because I'm not, when I went for 
a walk through the snow covered trenches
this morning I had my rubber Wellington boots on

which effectively kept my feet dry (which
reminds me of Eden & Mrs Chopin laughing at 
you about worrying lest my feet should get wet
on the beach - poor mother how the various
vicissitudes of life separate us at the call of duty & how
little motherly powers of protection avail us in later years,
but it is only for you I am distressed, I am doing
here what I should be doing & as I previously told
you there should be no regrets in my doing so, for it 
is to help others & our country & I hope you are satisfied
long before this, not but that I am looking forward
to a happy reunion in the months to come) & to proceed, 
an overcoat and rainproof cap & I quite enjoyed
a brisk walk round to see that the sanitation
was good, & had a look in at the mens
bivouacs in the trenches which are dug out 
from the sides & roofed over with tin if available 
or waterproof sheets & generally hold about 
six men in each.  They seemed for the most 
part fairly dry & comfortable though there
were a few grumblers as there always will be,
but some were quite cheerful & happy. Of course
it is not the best occupation in the world for
men on a cold night to take their turns of 
observation in the trenches - two hours on & four off - 
but no one expects war to be a picnic & the
authorities are doing their very best to look
after the men. I think I am not overstepping 
the censorable mark in saying these things though

one has to be very careful. Being on a hill
here with a fairly steep ascent the roads
became very slippery with the road so that the 
commissariat department had their trials on bringing
up stores but they succeeded very well. You doubtless
now that mules & donkeys are very largely used for transport
& they are wonderful creatures, horses would be of
very little use, but these animals are quiet & can carry
such big loads up steep ascents & are so readily 
handled except when they become stubborn. Wesley  
& I see each other almost every day as the distance
between us is so short & we can easily visit each other in 
the afternoon. Parry of whom you have heard me
speak before & who is with the 16^th Battalion paid
us a visit this week & told us his various experiences
Three tins of soup arrived from Egypt this week sent 
according to order by Stephen so that one or two of the
parcels we ordered asked him to send manage to 
come through safely but not the chocolate. I'm
going to write & ask him to send some baking powder
soon as up to the present it has been unprocurable
on the Peninsula. It is very difficult for me to 
write you a decent newsy letter my dear, as
we only see a few people, & apart from personal
matters we can really say very little on account of
censorship. We have had no mail again this week

worse luck, I suppose it all went down with
that ship. I am longing to hear from you again
but suppose that some of your letters are at the
bottom of the sea - better luck next time.
It's wonderful how one appreciates letters out here
even more than in Egypt as we seem so cut off
from the outside world. I have now been here for
two months - time has flown since I came over here
seems to have passed much quicker than in 
Egypt. I'm afraid I'll have to end a
most uninteresting letter with love to all 
the family with mother's usual share 
from 
Her loving son
Wilf