Letters from James Joseph Makin to his family, 1915-1916, Part 9 of 12

Somewhere in France,
3/7/16.

Dearest Mother & Father,
The mail has been extended until
tomorrow, so I shall give you the
absolute "last edition" news.
First of all, I am quite well and
in the best of spirits, - something which
I know you most want to hear each
mail. That great thing expectation has
been at work during the past week, and
it is the one thing, which prevents this
military life from becoming irksome. The
expectation of "something doing" at any
time, an impending mail from dear
old Melbourne, or of seeing new places
and new things keeps us always from
noticing hardships, fatigue or monotony.
The mail has not yet come, but it
is only a matter of days, they say.  Some
units had theirs' several days ago - dated
16/5/16.
The last fews days have been easy
ones, and we have had a good old rest.
We have also had a nice hot bath, and 

2/
a clean change of underclothes, - indeed
a boon to those who have become something
of a stronghold of those pests of all pests,
namely, 'chats'.  So far I have been
very fortunate in this respect, but others
have had a bad time.
There is really very little news to tell
you. I could easily write you a lot
of stuff, but I am afraid it would not be
very interesting. However, two pages looks
mean for a letter, - so here goes!
My razor having gone blunt and my hair
closely resembling a professor, I decided to
visit the barber's the other night. There
are no red, white and blue posts and barber's
poles here to look for, so you just walk along
until you see a small board sticking out
from a door, and on it written "coiffeur".
In you go, sometimes along a passage,
(don't hesitate to open any doors you come to),
and you will arrive at the saloon. The
particular place I struck the other night was
something of a family concern. - I was
greeted with "bon Soir, Monsieur", shown to the
operating chair, and the performance started.  

3/
Father was busy shaving someone, so mother 
cut my hair (and a good cut it was too). In 
the meantime several more customers came in, 
so further assistance was requisitioned. 
It arrived in the person of the daughter - 
a girl about 15 or 16 years old. I 
moved onto the next chair, and "Miss 
"Coiffeuse" proceeded. She lathered my 
face with great care, and was lavish  
in the use of soap. I did not know 
what was coming, - was surprised at 
each move. I fully expected that she 
would "carry on" and finish the operation, 
but suddenly, my face having been lathered 
with meticulous care, I was motioned 
to seat No. 3, where father proceeded 
to finish the job. This he did with 
the speed and touch of the skilled 
artist. I was then shown a bowl of 
water in a corner, where the superfluous 
soap is removed. (Perhaps I looked as 
if I wanted a wash) Anyway, the  
incident ended in paying "madame" 
"douze sous" (6s), and I bade all three 

4/ 
"bon soir", which they returned with 
typical French "politesse". I have 
learned to confine myself strictly to 
English, except of course the universal 
"bon soir", "bon jour", "no bon" &c, which 
all Australians use by this time. It 
is like this, - you think out a nice 
little sentence, remember your pronunciation 
and surprise Monsieur, who immediately 
thinks you speak French and opens 
out on you unmercifully "20 to the dozen". 
Of course you are hopelessly at sea, 
and feel "squashed" (as Rube would say). 
So now I plead ignorance and amuse 
myself in trying to follow their conversation. 
It is amusing to hear our Australian 
soldiers adapting themselves to the country 
they are in, and its language. In Egypt 
the universal salutation was "sayeda" 
(good-day); here it is "bon jour, Monsieur" 
(sometimes uncommonly like "bonzer 
manure"). You never think of saying 

5/ 
"Yes" here; it is always "oui, oui". 
When you tell anyone anything, and 
ask him if he "gets you", it is invariably 
"compre?" I doubt if you will "compre" 
all this stuff. 
We are very jubilant at the news 
of a British and French advance 
on both sides of the Somme, and hope 
it will not be the only one. The 
Huns are still striving for a decision 
at Verdun, but still with little success. 
The Russians are still imitating Johnie 
Walker, but have considerably more 
than 1820 to their credit.  I see 
Billy Hughes is on his way back. 
He "sure made some hit in Blighty". 
He is only a "pocket edition" in size, but 
his speeches have the weight of a Cyclops. 
I have not heard from Les since 
I last wrote. 
Well, dear people, I must now "desist" 
as I think I have inflicted already too much 
upon you at once.  Yours affect' son, Jim. 

Somewhere in France, 
8/7/16. 
  
Dearest Mother and Father, 
I do not know whether there is a mail 
to Australia before next month, but as 
letters are collected as usual, perhaps it 
is just as well to write each week. 
Your letter of 15/5/16 has just come to 
hand, also a letter and card from 
Ruby, a card from Auntie Kate, and 
two letters from Harry. I am still 
awaiting a letter from Les. I cannot 
understand why his letters are delayed, 
as I am sure he is writing each week. 
I am glad my letters from France 
reached you alright. I thought you 
would know I was in France before 
your received my letter. 
So far I have received three out 
of the five parcels you have sent. The 
two containing socks are still on the 
way. The only papers to arrive so far 
are several Age's and Argus's, but I see 
a good few papers nevertheless. 

2/ 
At present we are billeted in a 
farmhouse, - in the barn attached thereto, 
I should say. We enjoy a very 
comfortable bed at present, - plenty of 
clean straw. The people are very kind 
and obliging. The farm has the usual 
thatched roof and is on a typical 
muddy road of Northern France. The 
land about here is very fertile and 
both crops and gardens are looking 
splendid. The family at present 
consists of grandmother, father, mother 
and two grown up daughters. The 
latter work from morning till night 
dressmaking. I do not profess to be 
a judge of sewing &c, but I 
certainly think their work is most 
beautiful. Both speak a little English 
and are anxious to improve themselves, 
so I seized the opportunity of conversing 
with them now and then so as to 
learn more French. They speak and 

3/ 
work at high speed (at the same time). 
I think I am making good headway 
at French now, under such able tuition. 
The news of the Combined French 
and British advance is very satisfactory 
and the Germans must be feeling the 
pressure on all the fronts just now. 
Let us hope they will soon have 
felt the full weight of England 
and her hard punch. 
There is very little news to tell you 
this time, so I must adjourn till 
next week. 
Your affectionate son, 
Jim 
P.S. I am sending some PIC's 
to Perce, Ruby and Gertie.