Letters from James Joseph Makin to his family, 1915-1916, Part 7 of 12

France, 
15/5/16. 
Dearest Mother & Father, 
There has been "nothing startling" since 
I wrote last week. There have not been any 
letters from Australia during the past 
week, and I am feeling the want of them 
a bit. 
I saw Mr. Heathcote yesterday and 
he showed me a letter from Perce dated 
7/3/16 giving him all the news from school. 
Perce mentions, inter alia, that he had just 
written to me, but this also is "on the way". 
Tell Perce he Norman is well and was very pleased 
to get his letter. Jimmy Haddow got a 
commission in Egypt and is now with the 
58^th Battalion. One of the other chaps who used 
to be in the tent at Albert Park (he is now 
a Warrant Officer) was asking if he had seen 
Perce. Norman Heathcote said, "Don't you 
remember the little boy who used to bring 
over the hot scones and apple tarts." "My word 
I do", said Bromilow, "and I wish we had a 
few of them now. That was in the good old 
days". Then followed a eulogy of the apple 
tarts and of mother's good cooking. 

2. 
There is really not much to write about 
until I get a few letters from you. I have 
not had any letter from Les. since I last 
wrote, but I have another from Dr. Gibson. 
he says that he wrote to you telling you 
how Les. was getting on. I suppose you 
were comforted a bit by it. He is a very 
jolly chap indeed, and his letters cheer 
me up considerably. 
The weather has not been so fine lately 
and it is said that the month of May 
is usually showery in northern France. 
We do not know when we will move out 
of this Camp, but it should not be long now. 
We hear all sorts of rumours about the fighting, 
but it seems to me that the closer one is, the 
less chance you have of hearing anything reliable. 
I have sent a good few postcards the 
last couple of mails and hope they "landed" 
safely. 
Hoping to hear of you shortly, 
Your affectionate son, 
Jim. 

P.S. There has not been a mail out 
for several weeks, hence the delay! 
France, 
27/5/16. 
Dearest Mother & Father, 
Your letter of 29/3/16 to hand. Little 
did you think when you were writing 
that letter that I was just making myself 
at home in "Sunny France". I quite 
imagine you thinking of me browning 
under the fierce Egyptian sun. It has 
been very hot in Cairo lately, so I see 
by London papers. 
Well, dear parents, two long months 
have passed away, and I am still 
"no forrader" as regards taking part in 
any of the "box on", which still continues, 
however, with renewed intensity. At present 
the gallant French "poilus" are still 
beating off the relentless attacks of 
the Huns, who continue to press on 
as if the capture of Verdun was to 
them all in all. Of course, we know 
what a prize it is; but is it such 
that the Germans can h afford to have 
regiment after regiment of their picked 
soldiers shattered, and all in vain? 

2 
The point is this :- The Germans realize 
what a mighty offensive will shortly be 
launched against their hard-pressed lines, 
and they are making a frenzied, 
desperate effort to achieve a smashing 
victory, so as to divert some of its strength. 
But, even should Verdun fall, - which 
is no more likely than it was two 
months ago, - it would be a barren 
victory, inasmuch as the slaughter 
of their best regiments has been 
colossal, and such that the Hun 
"morale" must be permanently shattered. 
Let us not forget therefore what a 
debt we owe to these devoted Frenchmen, 
who are being subjected to such 
frightful hardship and are bearing 
the brunt of all the Hun "frightfulness", 
before the fortress of Verdun! Their 
steadfast courage and tenacity should 
never be forgotten, and to us here 
their success or defeat means everything. 
I shall not say anything of the Australians 
for you probably know more about them than I do. 

3 
I daresay you get a letter from 
Les every mail telling you of his move- 
ments.He is now at Weymouth, and 
again "fit for service". There is a possibility 
of him getting a position as instructor 
here in France, for training camps are 
numerous, and there will be plenty of 
material to instruct. He must now be 
an efficient instructor. I hope I shall 
meet him sometime, but the chances 
at present are not promising; but of 
course, one never knows, does one? 
I was thinking of Muriel and the 
old violin the other day, and what did 
I do but write to her - You know, plenty 
of one does &c, just to make her 
laugh a bit. I hope I succeeded. 
I am sending some P/C's to Gert. 
and Perce this mail as well. 
I must now close with best 
love and wishes. 
Your affectionate son, 
Jim. 

France, 
28/5/16. 
Dear Perce, 
I have not had a letter from 
you yet but I know they are delayed 
somewhere. I met Mr Heathcote, and 
he had a letter from you dated 6/3/16. 
He was very glad you remembered him. 
I suppose you know Mr Langford by this. 
How did you get on in that 
swimming championship? I hope you 
had good luck. I am playing football 
here today, and am to captain my 
company against the Artillery. I am not 
sure that will we will not "get the cane" 
but we will at least "keep them busy". 
I suppose you are a much improved 
player this year, but mind don't forget 
to score well at the exams. as well as 
in matches! Love from 
Brother Jim. 

France 
4/6/16 
Dearest Mother & Father, 
There is no mail out this week but 
I am writing now so that it will not 
seem a long time between the dates 
of my letters. You can always rest 
assured that I write every mail, and 
that if they do not arrive regularly, they 
are delayed somewhere. 
Since my last letter several of your 
letters have come to hand, and also two 
parcels. The third one containing socks, 
which you mention as having sent, has 
not yet come, but will come in time 
I hope. 
I am glad to hear that you are 
getting letters regularly from Les. This 
should relieve you of some of your 
anxiety. I trust you are not worrying 
over me, for I am "A1 at Lloyd's"- 
as Mr. Irwin used to say. There is 
not much prospect of me being in 
any scraps for a good while yet I 
am afraid, and when I do get 
there, you must not think I shall 
"forget to duck". 

2 
I was rather surprised to hear that 
Jack Frood had enlisted, but supposed 
he was married before this. I do not 
remember ever putting my name on 
any locker at Broadmeadows, but it 
is just possible that it got there. It 
was rather strange that he should have 
seen it, in any case. You did not 
say whether the Ballarat people 
enjoyed themselves, but I daresay they 
appreciated the change. Plenty of 
pictures at the Danc, suppose? 
I can imagine you were awaiting 
my letter from Egypt anxiously. There 
was no mail despatched between Perth 
and Suez, which accounts for the long 
time. I was glad you got my cable, 
otherwise you may have been worried. 
It has been said in some 
letters that there was a rumour abroad 
that the Warilda was sunk, but I 
trust you never heard it. 
It is rather funny to think of 

3. 
you writing to me on April, 4^th 
thinking I was melting under a 
burning Egyptian sun, and toiling 
on desert sands, when at that 
time I was here with the temperature 
almost at freezing point and being 
almost pierced with cold winds. Too 
bad, altogether! But since then the 
weather has become almost perfect. 
We have now had a succession 
of many weeks of beautiful Spring 
weather, and at times the sun has 
been quite hot. I am anxious 
to know when my letters from Egypt 
arrived, and if my diary "materialized". 
You must not judge it too harshly, 
for I make no attempt to obtain 
any literary effect, but strive only 
to record my doings from day to day 
as simply as possible, and as briefly as 
is convenient. Please overlook any 
mistakes, and attribute them more to 
carelessness than to ignorance. 

4 
At present my diary makes much more 
entertaining reading, but to send it, I 
am afraid, would be quite out of the. 
question. I have not received any 
papers from home, but they are sent 
to the battalion, where it would be 
too much trouble to return them 
back to here. I daresay they are 
appreciated up there, nevertheless. It 
would be better, if you wished one to 
see anything of interest in a paper, to 
cut it out and enclose it in your letters. 
I think I have all Ruby's letters 
but none from Perce so far. Tell him to 
write now and then, for I am very 
interested in his school work. Does 
he still forget his lunch now and then? 
I am writing to Ruby this mail 
also and I can tell her about the 
parcels better. 
Trusting you will keep in good 
spirits and keep up a brave front, and 
until I write again, 
Your affectionate son, 
Jim.