France 14/7/1917

Dear Mother,

At the present moment I am in charge of a fairly large fatigue job which has lasted for a couple of days so that I have a good chance to write you my usual letter.

I did not say very much about my Blighty leave when I last wrote because I did not have much time and was hustling from one place to another. I didn’t stop anywhere for more than a day. When I arrived I went straight from Victoria railway station to Putney and at once made friends with Uncle George and got introduced to the remaining members of his family. His wife I have a great dislike for, not that she means harm but she is so fussy that a fellow can’t get five minutes peace and quiet from her silly questions. Being an architect he has a very up-to-date house in one of the best quarters. It is fitted with air/heating apparatus, a billiard room, nicely elevated staircase one with which one can walk up without feeling any strain.

The inside of the house which is 3 storeys high with cellars not included and all painted white. His furniture is beautiful and expensive and I was much struck with his lawns and gardens. Uncle George acted as my city guide and with him I had a look at London and Waterloo Bridges, House of Parliament, Guide Hall and Council Chambers where Lord Kitchener and others deliver the big speeches on the occasion. The mansion house, St Paul’s Cathedral where I listened to a service and the stone of London I saw in the afternoon. Next day we inspected the Law Courts, Somerset House, the Temples including the Inner Temple and the Outer Temple and the other remains of King School, also a couple of Christopher Wren. On another occasion I saw the zoo with the Aunts C &E Westminster Abbey which interested me most of all.

I got the impression that many people were buried here and were not Greakek and only had the influence of nobility. Among other interesting places I saw were Leicester Square, Regent Street, Cheapside, Piccadilly, the Strand ? where fools ride at a walk on crotchety horses for a swank, Marble Arch and St James’s Palace which isn’t a place at all.

I also saw all the National Art Gallery another big Art Gallery and a museum but I can’t remember the names of them. Art galleries and museums are not interesting now on account of the best exhibits being stored away underground owing to the danger of air raids. I could not find an opportunity of seeing the Tower of London although I would have liked to have done so. I did see the window and house out of which King Charles 1 went to his scaffold. That is opposite the Horse Guards. These Horse Guards made me burst out laughing the first time I saw them. There they are straight on the motionless horse with all their pretty clothes and armour on sitting up like a piece wedding cake for three or four hours on and. They appeared absolutely ridiculous to me being a bit of bushwacked and unable to see sense in useless things. In fact I’m afraid a lot of old customers and other things I saw in and around London made me burst out laughter because I believe above all things I am practicable and I hate swank and show no reason. I do like to see a good smart military guard turned out but not a lot of old fools sitting on horses like mummies.

London streets are dirty and not as clean as Sydney streets. The trams can’t compare with Sydney trams but I think Sydney trams are liable to be congested near railway stations, are all ? and if anyone walks wants to know the name of a station he sees nothing but good “Bovril” or Shell benzine or ? while the name of the station is now in little letters among the notices.

I saw Harold Mitchell one morning while he was in bed. He did not seem too well and he suffered a great deal of pain but is on the mend now. I heard from him yesterday and he is up and potters about the ward. Aunt Emily went to see him and thought it very good of her to do so.

I told you about going to Essher in Suffolk to see cousin Gladys and also about going to Dover to see Vivian so now you know that I have seen the whole bunch of the English relatives. I candidly confessed that for all their money and swank I would not change one of my sisters for the whole dashed lot so that you can rest assured that I am opinion you have reared a family of the best.

They don’t know want it means to be a poor devil who is fighting it and they don’t know what it means to be up against a debt with the result that if sugar is scarce the world is coming to an end.

They talk about Hylton being brave because an aeroplane bomb fell 1/4 of a mile away and he was not scared. Us poor blighters get 12″ shells almost on top of us which would bury us with the earth thrown up and then we just laugh about it. We have to sit in a trench while German gunners set the range by degrees of our trench and we wait expecting the Huns to get a bull’s-eye. One shall that just fell on our parapit buried Mitchell and six others one day and we all had to dig them out so as to save them from smothering. Well I am not going to growl too much in this letter as we have made up our minds we will see it through and give more that we get every time until the Lid in Hell is lifted and we can go home to those we have learnt to love and cherished through our sacrifice while on active service.

As you may know by this I am a sergeant with a permanent rank and draw 10/- a day 2/- deferred pay 3/- are allotted and 5/- drawn so if I get skittled you will know what to claim. This dates from April 5.

With kindest regards to all I will conclude

From your affectionate son

Walter 14/7/17