Letters from Wilfred Evans to his family, 1918 - Part 7

the portion of the Mellabah held by the Turks is still
very bad apparently & mosquitos come down to us
from there. Well we went on to our furthest
posts as we must do our mosquito work as
far forward as possible to protect the men in
the first line. While we were in one of these posts
there was great excitement a Turkish patrol
was sighted & our people opened fire on them with
great pleasure, as they are always looking for
a little sport. They got their machine guns
ready & rifles & while doing so I had a look at
one of the Turks through a telescope sitting up
on the skyline with his rifle in his hand.
Then they all opened fire & it was funny to watch
the Turks running like rabbits for cover I
think the range was rather great & they weren't
very much harmed but everyone was pleased
so why worry? We then inspected our
mosquito area & came back to the fresh water
at the Auja where we boiled our billy & had
lunch. It was beastly hot coming down the
gullies & we appreciated our tea very much.
We expect another Australian mail in tomorrow
& I am anxiously looking for letters from you
as I want to know if my letters have reached
you safely & how you are, as you didn't seem
very weIl when you last wrote. I must come

along & buck you up some of these days - Am
just waiting a favorable chance to apply.
The news from France lately seems very good indeed
& we are all immensely pleased about it, particularly
when it seemed so critical a little while ago.
I'm trying my best to think of some more news
to tell you & don't think I can. Oh! did I
tell you of the swimming pool in the Jordan, a
most remarkable place, some of our people
camped near there whom I visited one day
have a spring board erected to dive from &
then one can go into a kind of whirl pool
caused by a bend in the river which takes
one up stream for about twenty yards &
then one swims out into the main current
which is very rapid & whirls one down at
a great rate for about 50 yards & then
with a few strokes to one side, one gets
into another current which brings one
back to the starting point. Very nice
indeed on a hot afternoon but rather far
away from here. No more news this time
mother mine. Cheer up, & don't be
down hearted, we've got the Germans
cold now & we all hope to be home
before 'so very' long, with lots of love
& a big hug from Your loving son
Wilf

14. 8. 18. 

My dear mother,
I was indeed grieved to hear that you had
again received no letters from you me. In your letter of June
15^th you seemed so despondent about it, I felt quite sad
& would have cabled but am sure you must have received my
letters since that time as it is nearly two months ago & some of
my letters which should have reached you then were addressed
to Harry & some to the boarding house at North Sydney &
some to your new home, but first of all to Greja before
you changed the name. x I can quite understand
that you may miss some of those too if a different name
is over the door now, but I am sure you will have
received some of them. I'm awfully disappointed that
they are wandering over the country & wonder if it would
be worth inquiring at the P.O. I suppose Candelo
would forward them to you would they not?
But not the place at Vaucleuse?
Well, my dear, I think I have some good news for
you. I mentioned to Col. Fowler who is taking
Col Dixon's place that you were not well &
wanted me at home & yesterday he was at a
conference at Corps H.Q. & mentioned the matter
to Col Downes who as you know is the chief of
the A.M.C. here & practically governs the

2

movements of medical officers. He said that my
name was already down as 7^th on the list to go home
without having applied for it & some of the others
who were before me on the list (having been over a little
longer) were not very desirous of going home. So Col.
Fowler thinks that if I apply & pitch a fairly good
tale that I should be able to manage it, & I think
the fact that you are getting old & are not strong & 
wish to see me after so long a period will be
quite sufficient. So my dear, you can pick
yourself up with the thought that you may see
me quite soon. I will write out my application
tomorrow & though I may possibly not get home
on the first boat that leaves I should have
the best of chances of leaving at any rate before
Xmas. And my word, wouldn't I like to be
with you for Christmas. So, please, my dear, don't
overwork, try & get yourself real well for me
to come home to, if the house is a bit dusty
what matters it? & if someone does dirty the
steps well let it rest just to please me &
keep yourself fit.
Since I last wrote, nothing very much has happened
here, we have just gone on in much the usual way
doing our usual routine of anti mosquito work
sanitation & so on. Col Fowler was away for
a couple of days at Jerusalem & I carried
on in his absence & so kept myself fairly

3
busy. This morning I had a fairly long trip out
to some of our far mosquito areas went partly by
motorcar & partly by horse. It was fairy hot down
at the Jordan but cooled down a little when a few clouds
came up. Just the last day or two we have
noticed a few clouds for the first time during the whole
Later next morning before breakfast.
summer.  
The parcel you sent me arrived safely yesterday
& I have just been having some of the biscuits. Our boys
bring us in cup of tea in the morning & biscuits help it
down quite a lot. Very many thanks my dear for your
thoughtfulness but I really wish you wouldn't spend
money on me. I noticed in the papers a few day
ago that Charlie Wesley had been wounded in
France & sincerely hope it isn't serious. Since I saw
his name on the Casualty list, I have received a letter
from him, but it must have been previous to his wound
as he says nothing of it. I have written & asked him to
send me all particulars. Sorry I can't raise any
more news this time, my dear, but possibly the bit
I gave you at the beginning of the letter may be
worth much. Hoping you are better & taking every
possible care of yourself, with lots of love & hugs
from
Your loving son
Wilf.

Wilfreds August 14. 1918
 

1
30.8.18.

My dear mother,
I have missed some days
in writing to you this week as we have been
on the move & letter writing has been postponed
from day to day. In addition my writing paper
has run out & I have to use this scribbling
stuff. Since I last wrote to you, I think, I
wrote out my application for leave to Australia
& a day or two later Col Downes was visiting
our x Divisional headquarters & drew me aside.
He told me as I had already heard that
I was already down on the list to go in
turn but practically said that if it
was urgent I could go on the boat
which recently left & carried y my
last letter to you. He did not say this
in so many was words but I gathered
it from his conversation. He was very
decent indeed about it, as he has
always been with me, but & went on

2

to say it would be rather awkward
if I went just now as Col Dixon
had only recently left & it would
rather upset things if we were both
away at the same time or at any rate
so soon after one another. I said
that I didn't want to hurry it too
much & could wait if he wished until
Col. Dixon returned in two or three
months, & that all I wanted was
to hold out some definite hope to you
that I would be able to go home.
shortly say in two or three months time.
He said that I could surely do
that so there you are my dear.
Cheer up. I may be home for
Xmas yet, in fact I'll be surprised
if I'm not. We are quite a long way

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from where I last wrote as we were
relieved & are now in rest. I arranged
things very well, as I motored to Jerusalem
& waited there until our people had
arrived here & then joined them.
I stayed with a rest camp there
which is formed by one of our Ambulances
& is situated in an old monastery
where the patriarch of Jerusalem
used to live. He was taken away
by the Turks & his house furniture
& all is occupied by the rest
camp with the addition of a
number of tents. I was very
comfortable there & enjoyed the
few days I spent in it. The day
I arrived at Jerusalem I lunched
at the Jerusalem hotel, met four
of the nurses from our hospital on

4

a visit to Jerusalem also, had a few
words with them after lunch, as they
not too many as I wasn't very
interested & trotted away to the
Rest Camp. The house is beautifully
situated in the German portion
of the city in large grounds of it's
own & surrounded by a number of
trees & vineyards. There is an old
Greek church next to the house over the
burial place of S^t Simeon & there
still remain a couple of Greek
priests who chant weird dirges
several times daily. There is also
a German woman living in the next
place whose husband is a Syrian
med doctor in the Turkish army
& at present in Beirut. She has
a couple of pretty kiddies & of course