Moascar
12/11/17
Dear Lottie
I daresay you will all be wondering if I am taking part in the operation at present being carried out in Palestine. Well a glance at the headline will at once show you that I am still at the base here so you see the big pust has come off & quite successful without my assistance. In fact if what is said here-abouts is correct I will not even be in time to give them a helping hand towards the capture of Jerusalem. The papers over there will give you glowing accounts of what is going on here at present & if they don’t tell you more than we know at the base then you don’t get much. The fall of Gaza will by this time be old reading but it would be more interesting to know just what has been doing since then & beyond the positions taken. It is galling to be here & learn that our boys are, if not in Jerusalem, well knocking at the gates of that city. Apart from interesting & exciting work of the advance there is the opportunity of seeing the country that is also missed because one will not see it to the same extent again as he would do by going through with a fighting unit. This is what one misses through being away & it does not require a great deal of imagination on your part to know what it feels like to be here. However there is no use fretting over it as that won’t help matters will it.
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At present I am away from our own camp doing a guard at the Australian Hospital and when I say that this letter writing is the hardest part of the days work you can readily judge how strenuous the work is, the hardest part is the march here & back to camp. If I could tell you the number of trains that go past during the day I am sure you would be satisfied but when I say there is a continual stream going in both directions it should enlighten you to some extent. Needless to say that they are not all of the same character but very mixed such as they all are at this troublesome time. I suppose by the time you get this note you will have left Dunedin again, I hope your long looked for trip comes off & that you will get a good hearing when you again take up your duties. There is great conjecture here at present as to where we will spend Xmas, won’t it be great if we have it near the Holy City itself. Anyhow we can look forward to having something better than the desert around us unless we are to be disappointed and not get away from here before then. The boys that left here yesterday should if they get a good run be in time for Xmas yet, if they miss by only a day or two it will be hard luck won’t it. There is absolutely nothing to write about that one can possibly do so without thinking someone will be down on it & in that case it is better left unsaid. I
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received the other day your tin of tobacco & it arrived all safe in good order. With regard to those parcels you speak of going astray it is certainly quite common for some boys to get word that parcels have been sent perhaps weeks before & they may not get them for some weeks following the letter saying they have been sent, but in most cases they eventually arrive, although we are all unfortunate enough in that respect at times. For my part I cannot complain as very few of mine have missed especially lately. Now I think I will have to ring off as all I can think of at the present time has been said & for all it is was hardly worth the writing. Will enclose this in your own envelope as you said you wished to make sure. Hoping this finds you enjoying a change of climate & in the best of form, believing me to be the same & expecting a move in another direction any day.
Your Brother
Charlie.
15/11/17 Here it is three days late & I have not posted this so will add a little more & get it away tonight. As I was enjoying a little sleep after dinner today I was rudely awakened but was exceedingly pleased when it turned out to be some mails for me. It included one from yourself & one from each of Balamona & Rothie all being
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written on the same day practically. The two southern ones been 9/9/17 the while the other was the tenth Sept. All bear evidence that Tom has been called up lately although I had not received word of it before but I am sure there has been a skip again in the letters. By jove it is pretty hard if they take him away even though we know he is as prepared to do his duty as anyone that has not the responsibility that he has. When I think of the unjust system they have for working the ballot over there it makes me mad, there seems to be something rotten about the working of it somewhere. Of course we know that few if any could bring forward the reasons for being exempt that he can if appealing, as he certainly should do, some cases that have been turned down were not worthy a hearing. However we know how difficult his position is & that his judgement will be the right direction. Last night was the Aniversary of my landing in Moascar & although in many ways it seems ages in others it just seems as though it were yesterday. Quite the best concert I have heard for a long period, certainly not since journey the army, was held in Ismailia last night, commencing at nine PM we had an enjoyable entertainment lasting just long enough to allow of us being in camp by mid-night. You evidentially are anxious to be away from Dunedin by this time I suppose you will be free of the place I hope you enjoy your holidays where-ever you spend them.
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There is another draft going out to the front within the next day or so but I am not going with them. I certainly want to be away but don’t want the trip out going as these fellows are with horses it is bad enough by yourself let alone having them to look after. Now I think this will suffice for the present hoping it reaches you safely & in good time.
Affect Your Brother
Charlie.
