Letters from William Leslie [Robert] Chisholm to his family, 1918 - Part 1

13088
No2 ADSC.
Dear Max,
We have now settled down for a while in
a fairly big town quite close to Belguim. I have
been away up in Belguim quite a number of
times since arriving here and of course am
well within sound and sight of the big guns.
They dropped a few bombs over our way the
other night but without any result and I
believe the aeroplane was caught soon after.
We were very happy in our last place. It was
only a tiny village but we were very comfortable
in our billets. I shared a beauty with Len
Curtain. We each had a double bed. The French
people put three big mattresses on top of
one another and by the time all the clothes
are on one needs a little ladder to climb
up. They charge us 5 francs a week for this.
Its really awfully cheap as a franc amounts
only to 8 eight pence at present. After being
a week there we moved on up nearer the
 

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firing line to a bigger but less comfortable and
very uninteresting place, It is about 40 kilos from
our previous place and is very close to Belguim.
As soon as you get across the border the type of people
and the language changes at once. The people
are Flemish and in looks and language closely
resemble the Germans and are, I believe, not
trusted very much. We are about twelve miles
from Percy Dunlop. I am going over to see him next
Sunday to have a chat as it is now twelve months
since I have seen him. The food here is excellent
In fact we have never been fed better and the
cook is awfully good. There is nothing really
interesting to tell you. At present there is a terrific
bombardment going on, the biggest that has ever
been. The aeroplanes do a lot of stunts above us
but the one thing that keeps us from dying of
ennui is work, of which there is plenty. Mrs
Gilchrist sent me a pair of socks the other day. I
must send her a card to thank her. Gilchrist
himself is very dopey and is I am afraid quite
impossible as he has neither read, heard nor
seen the ordinary things of life and is always
getting into arguments of which he knows
nothing about. He lacks ambition and as a
singnig partner of course would be hopeless in
that respect. We have been unable to have any
practice or any concerts since arriving here

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as there is no Y.M.C.A. and no-one seems to possess
a piano. The people are very poor and many
have lost their homes through the Germans coming
down as far as this. It is rather a good thing
too as all the cottages are filthy and very
unsanitary. The farmhouses are built, & with
all the living rooms, fowl houses, stables and
pigstys opening on to a common courtyard
in the centre of which every bit of rubbish,
dung and filth is thrown for the pigs and
fowls to feed on so you can imagine the
stench which arises and how healthy it must
be. Our 2^nd Division has not come yet. They are
resting at present away from the Line and we
are supplying another Division. All the supplies
are brought by rail to the rail head where
they are then placed on our lorries and carted
to the Division dump from which the whole
division draws its supplies. They are carted up
the Line mostly by horse transport. There is
a terrific stunt coming off very shortly so
that you will know about it in a couple
of weeks. It is,I believe, going to be the biggest
 

4
thing that has ever happened. Some of our boys
have been in some very tight corners, since
arriving here and yesterday I was through
a town that had been shelled two days
before but the remarkable thing is that
not a thing was happening there and the
people were going about their work as
though nothing had happened. A number
of houses were smashed to pieces and the
whole street was chipped and knocked about
by shrapnel. We have had no Australian
mail for seven weeks now but I hear
there is one floating round the country
somewhere so we're hoping it will arrive
here shortly. The mails are in a shocking
state and we have lost a large number of
letters. Did you get the m letter about the Lyceum
concert in London. I am posting you the Pictorial
shortly which gives a notice about it. How
is Ettie getting on with her singing. She must
practise hard if she is to do any thing and
not fool round and waste money the way
she did with her music. It is much better
to have a few lessons from a really good
teacher than a lot from a quack. I will
try to send her some songs from London
if I get an opportunity. Lieut. Dyer is

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still in London and will do any little Commissions
for me that I want. Is Annie still with Mr
Steele. When I return we shall probably be able
to make it a family affair like the crowd that
used to appear at the Town Hall and Tivoli. The
only trouble would be to get Dad into an evening

suit and not to wear a tie that he did not would
tuck under his collar. He would also have to
learn not to suck his rabbit heads if we were
ever asked out to perform at a dinner.
I am afraid I have no more news for you.
Does Mrs Vaughan still come to see you. If so
just ask her into the kitchen and don't worry
about her as she really likes to think she is
being made at home. She is really awfully kind
although a little queer. Love to all
Will.
 

France
4.1.18
Dear Ma,
I received four letters from

you by this mail (yesterday) the

last date being somewhere about
the 5^th Nov. and was very happy
to hear from home. It hardly seems
12 months to me since we left Aussy
but the reason is that we have
had so much to interest and
the experience is so new that
Time has flown. We are still
on this quiet sector and the

work is fairly light although the
waggons are going night and
day. Our Christmas parcels

arrived from the 1^st aamTC .
Comforts Fund. Mine was packed
by Mrs Ross the O.C.'s wife and
was an awfully good one.
Christmas has been very gay
this time. Mine was spent
mostly with Percy Dunlop and
Alaric Howitt. For the last three
weeks there has been a continuous
round of parties, dinners and
general blow-outs. Percy
 

2
Dunlop gave a return dinner in the
nearest town, to the one I gave during
Christmas week. Both were a huge
success. Only eight in the party and
well selected congenial company. Our
menus unfortunately were limited
consisting mostly of soup, rissoles,
steak, roast beef tomatoes, peas
spuds, and different sweets and

the good wine of the country which in

these strenuous times develops more
and more each day in the prussic

acid direction. I was at nine
Christmas dinners. I am enclosing

the menu of one so you can see
we are not being starved out

here and the best food in 
England is sent over for the Army.
They have sugar, margarine and
bread cards in England now

as a precaution only against
people storing provisions. I have

had a few offers to join concert

companies out here and tour
France but I've turned them
down as I'm quite happy in this

Unit and get every facility

for practise and concert work
 

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I am going to Paris at the end of the
month and am looking forward to a

joyful and interesting time. Of

course Paris is quieter than at
peace time but still is much
gayer than London as there are

no restrictions on lighting or food
and no fear of aeroplane raids.
Gilchrist is still waiting in the
officer's mess And appears to be

more dopey than ever. He takes no

interest in himself or any body else.
He was "chatty" a few days ago and
there is absolutely no excuse for that

here as we are all in clean huts
and have every opportunity to

bath as often as we like. He's

about the only one in our column
who's had vermin on him. We

are going out for a rest very soon
and hope to be near a big town.

Bert Tilley is in the same Park as me
now and that fellow Wales that
Annie Absalom was engaged to. He
is in a Workshop here, I think. I've

had lots of presents from people in

England. A huge parcel from
the Lyceum for the "Ding bats". It
had lots of socks, scarves, mittens
 

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writing pads and things also a Cardigan
jacket from a Mrs Payne. The jacket

was made at Farmer's Sydney. A lot of

books from Miss Worship. A box of
cigarettes from Miss Bullen. Some books
from Dorothy Levi. A Shetland jacket
from E. Rose Dietz a sister of General
Dietz. A cake from Mrs Arthur Berrill
Tobacco from Mrs Smedley and cards
from the Countess of Cromartie, Charles
Gourlay Frederick King, Mrs Frederick
Harrold and lots of others so you see
I could not have done much better
had I been at home. Will Marshall
is quite close here I believe in the 3^rd
Pioneers. I have not been to see him
being fairly busy with Australian

mail and Pay Rolls. We are well
fitted out here in a comfy little
hut with beds, a fire, the electric

light and a primus stove and a

host of other comforts although
within 3 miles of the front line. The

Germans shell towns 27 miles

behind the line so you would need

to go a long way down to be quite out
of danger. Our food is still
excellent and plenty of it. It is
really wonderful the amount of