Letter written to English Aunts after Wal’s arrival back in Australia-

Wal’s home pip pip !!

Dear Aunt,

We’ve got loads to tell you, don’t know where to start. Well, as you see by the headline, our Warrigal is really in Aussie once more. He arrived in on Sunday 20th and we went to meet him but by hard luck could not speak to him as he did not see us and we lost him in the deuce crowds. However, I’m not telling it very clearly am I.

Well we had plenty of notice about his arrival as we saw charts showing the transports positions every day in a paper so could follow him all the way nearly after getting into wireless touch. Then we got a notice from the Military and tickets to the rendezvous when landing and we also had lists of the men on board the troopships. So it was no surprise. Well only two tickets were given to relations to the Buffet where one meets him.

Poor Mother made so many preparations for him the day before that she got very ill that night and had to stay in bed instead of going to meet him, a bitter disappointment of course, she had waited so long seemed cruel she could not have that pleasure, but she could not have stood for hours in the sun in heat and crush as we did.

So I had her ticket and went into the Buffet with Father. This is an enclosure where the soldiers meet their next of kin and get a leave pass and refreshments, etc. So after the V.A.D.s gave us tea we left and joined Lily and Hilda and our Uncle Will and Aunt Evie who were waiting outside. They had stood beside the barricades for hours and also saw him and though he looked almost beside them and nodded to some one, he did not see any of them. They were too excited to call out to him and only having Australian Flags with Welcome Home on them and not green and white, (his colours, which were 1/- each,) had nothing to attract his attention. I stood alongside red rails in front of the Registrar General’s leading to big gates (where we had to show our tickets) a long time while Pa waited at an exit outside to see if he came out.

Saw all Madia men go out and pass on the other side along iron railings of the Domain and cross over to go away dodging cars and bringing Beltana men up the slope past St. Mary’s to the buffet. Cars came and went very quickly, hardly yards apart and going on to Woolloomooloo Bay often nearly running into ones coming up from W. Bay. Cars the same as were used yesterday in the Peace procession, all decorated.

Great annoyance when men in closed ambulance or lorry ones but Wal was in open one, grey. Men mostly unconcerned, though a man beside me said he’d been through it ten days ago (in civvies, but had returned with his badge on) and said no one knew what it was like till they had been through it. You felt so excited (and Wal said men nearly went mad when they saw Sydney.) We laughed when two girls rushed at a man at the corner of railings turning down past St. St. Mary’s (where chimes were going all the time, it being 10 o’clock) both sprang on him and his and their hats were knocked off as they hugged and kissed him.

Another amusing thing was a man and woman along St. Mary’s with a huge green and brown flag the woman held, a big banner affair, couldn’t miss them or it. Crowds each side all waving flags and shouting out to the boys, and it looked pretty in the bright sunshine and the Peace decorations where a platform and arch had been built at the end opposite the Registrar General’s building. I wished I could get on one of a pile of boxes there, as I was tired of standing.

One lot of women got on one car against the rules but a good tempered policeman let them alone and people said “Our constable’s a sport” to other people on the other side and one girl whispered a way to get into the buffet or something to girls near me and away they to do it. Another girl I saw with a soldier afterwards in Fairfield cried because her brother was in a closed car and to whom she called out. People kept dodging cars and running from one side to another all the time. After waiting till nearly 12, I went up to the railway (had to stand it was so crowded). Saw one soldier with his Ma and Pa and another girl stand in a row in front of Registrar General’s steps and get photographed, and other men nearby had tripods for photos too.

It was nice seeing people going off in cars or walking arm in arm with their soldier and every Officer I saw I imagined was Wal and got several disappointments when I saw men like him. When I got on the station, it was decorated. We waited about for him and I watched the ticket office and chased after several men buying at the Southern window but nothing of him. So all but Papa went home at 1o’clock awfully disappointed and sore. When we got to Fairfield, I was first going up the steps and heard Mr. Oakes say “Oh, here’s Edie, “where are the others. Didn’t your brother come or something.” No I said, “he didn’t come” and he told Mr. Headwind and we went along the bridge (all decorated with his colours among the flags.

(EGF- l think this letter was a draft, and it is not finished. lt was never mailed.)

THE END