No 4106 20th Battalion 2nd

C/o- PO Section BEF France Reference No. 30

Dear Mother,

The mail for Australia closes tonight and I am trying to catch it by sending you this. When last I wrote I as in a quarantine camp in the south of France at Marseilles where we spent a fortnight of monotonous existence doing nothing. We left there about a week ago after about 52 hours travelling from one place to another. We finally arrived at this place and I am within a coo-ee of where Aunt Clara lives. I have written a couple of notes to her and have received answers inviting me to spend any time might have with her but I don’t expect to have any of the said spare time. I have not received any mail since leaving Egypt about a month ago but should get some soon if all goes well.

France is a very beautiful country & the colour in the landscape is marvellous and a great contrast to Egypt. This is the spring time now and the grass and trees and wild flowers are at their best. It is a common sight to see as many as 4 different colours all jumbled up together in patches and the long grass including yellow, purple, blue and red poppies etc. so that the effect is beautiful. The paddocks are all well enclosed in stone green hedges except in the towns and when they are enclosed in the stone walls with narrow lanes between.

The French people were good to us while on our journey and seemed to consider us a great novelty especially when we opened up bully beef tins with dinner knives and drank beer out of bottles up to our mouths etc. The French soldiers are everywhere and they are great cigarette and bully beef cadgers. In fact they are all worse than we are in that respect. However they are very fine looking men physically and also great fighters & all have a quiet business look about them so that the position one gets to be safe in their hands.

In our camp the authorities drill us like blazes and in fact we are just beginning to realize that we are soldiers not tourists. We get plenty of bayonet fighting, bomb throwing and trench manoeuvres etc which is what we should have received long ago in Australia. The weather here is jolly cold and it is supposed to be the middle of summer and it takes us all we know to keep warm at night for it rains every day and is nearly always overcast. That muffler and balaclava are just the thing now and also that house wife you gave one and am nearly always sewing in my spare time. This is the place to see biplanes and aeroplanes etc as they often fly over us and make a noise like a motor car in the distance and look like eagle hawks in the air.

This place was bombed by Zeppelins on Anzac Day but they did no damage at all and caused the boys some excitement. They also passed about 10 miles off while I have been here one night but I did not see them.

We get good food here but it is horribly scarce for the average Australian appetite which is not small. So that we are more often hungry than not. They have not paid us more than a little school money for about 6 weeks so if you know anyone coming over tell them to bring some money or they will go short. I have written to Aunt Clara to send you �5 in case I get a chance to use it.

Well Mother there is not much I can tell you of this place as all I could write about is military information which I can’t disclose. I expect to be close to the firing line where our Battalion has done good work very shortly now and in fact I can’t say how soon it will be but will be sure to write again.

With love from your affectionate son

Walter