Transcribed letters from Douglas Gordon Campbell to his Father, 1915-1917 - Part 1

The Front
(Anzac.)
11.8.15
My Dear Father
Just a few words
from my dug. out. If one isnt
in a trench one sleeps in a
dug out, & I think the living
under-ground makes one feel
rather like a worm, especially
as we are on a ration of water
for drinking only. One officer
has had several cakes of
soap sent to him from friends
who expect it to be a scarce
commodity, but as we never
wash he now has a
nice supply, & was very hurt
at receiving another by post
today.  We are now in the
midst of the bigest battle
we have had here & which
 

I expect you will have heard
all about by the time you
get this. The fighting has been
very fierce ever since it
began several days ago,
though there is a slight lull
today, but we are gradually
advancing, but I dont think
the battle ' is finished by
a long way yet, - not till
we shake the Turks up a
bit more.  A part of this
regement was badly cut
up in a bayonet charge
a few days ago, though
they accomplished largely
what was expected of
them. I have seen a 
couple of other wonderful
charges since I've been here.
 

The trouble with us was
not being able to get some
of our wounded in; several
of them were out there for
days in front of our trenches
& although attempts were
made at night they always
had to be given up. I
think the behavious of both
the Australian, N.Z. & the
English troops under fire is
wonderful, especially when
you remember that lots
of them have been contin-

uously under fire for months
now  The general opinion
here is that the Turk is a
better & cleaner fighter than
the German. The men I
brought over with me have
 

been doing particularly well,
but there aren't many of them
left now. The worst things
here (Turks. excepted) are the
flies in millions, lice, (I
have insecticide) & everlasting
bully-beef & biscuit, & too little
water. Also it will be a 
good thing when we get a
chance to bury some of the
dead; especially those within
a couple of yards of the trenches
& they dont lack in numbers 
anywhere.
I received a letter yesterday;
as a boat was sunk with
a lot of our mails I was
lucky to get anything.

_____________________________
D.G.C. was a lieutenant in the
1^st Light Horse at this time.
 

Copy of Letters written by
Captain D. G. Campbell.  A.I.F
to his father.

_______________________________
France
2.11.16
My dear Father
you can't imagine the 
conditions under which the men
are working & fighting here. It is
simply frightful!  Nothing but mud
& shell-holes & water for miles.
Mud over the top of your boots
everywhere & often up to
your waist!  Shell holes only a
few yards apart. The men are
never dry & their clothes are
simply plastered with mud.
Six of us have a small
German dug out, so beastly

wet & muddy. Frequently a waggon
& team will fall down a shell
hole & have to stay there till
pulled out & frequently have
to stay there altogether &
be destroyed. Still the fighting
goes on, & the shells fly both
ways. The prospects for the
next few months aren't inviting,
& when an officer is having
a rough time, the men are
having Hell!! I see no chance
of leave for over a year unless
one of the shells sends me
to London on a stretcher.
The piece of paper I am writing
on is the only clean thing
for miles. Every man, thing &
animal is mud from eyebrows
to toes.

France
16.11.16

My dear Father
We have had a few
fine days at last with the 
result which you will have seen
in the papers. I passed an
interesting ½ hour watchin a
tank trying to get out of a
shell hole - & it certainly
was a big ' hole to beat a 
tank. An English officer got
a nasty rebuff for starting to
make a sketch of it in his
note book! Am finding
it difficult to write at the
moment as the padre is out
burying a few men at the
dressing station, & the rest
of the mess has freedom of
speech for a few time &
is making the most of it &

talking hard & fluently. I saw
the Prince of Wales a few
days ago riding along a very
muddy road with a Brigadier
& one mounted orderly. He
is better looking than I thought
from his pictures ; he seemed
pleased with life & quite
enjoying himself. He was
well up towards the
line & covered with mud.
The men dig out old German
dug-outs & take the prop
timber for firewood. They
dug out a deep one this
- morning & found nine dead
Germans who had been
smothered when the entrance
was crumped in. They often
dig up one or two, but were very
pleased to find nine !!

France
11 .12 .16
My dear Father
Doing much as usual
in the same old place! Judging
by the latest Balkan news
things don't look too encouraging.
The most hopefull thing is
getting old Asquith out of
Government ; it may give us
a chance of a fair go from
a political point of view,
which we would never get
while Asquith was at the head
of things. We aren't short of
anything from a military point
of view, nor, as far as we
can see, are the Germans ;
they are certainly not short of
ammunition. They throw over
a few dozen rounds at nothing

in particular, as they ground is
muddy they don't do much harm
& even fail to explode sometimes,
but they sometimes get a good
bag amongst camps, horse-lines
& dugouts. We can hear
the shells coming over all
through the day & night & we
are sending a tremendous
lot back.