Volunteers of Essendon and Flemington, 1914-1918

Goldsmith A V    Pte    5022    Alfred Victor              23 Inf Bn    27    Horse trainer    Married    C of E       

Address:    Moonee Ponds, Argyle St, 41, “Leige”   

Next of Kin:    Goldsmith, Winifred Louisa, Mrs, wife, “Leige”, Argyle St, Moonee Ponds   

Enlisted:    17 Feb 1916       

Embarked:     A26 Armadale 19 Jul 1916   

RAGTIME OVERSEAS ARMY
SEES ONLY WAY TO PEACE
ADVICE GIVEN TO PACIFISTS
"Before starting to write to you I must thank God for saving my
life to do so, for since I wrote last I've been through hell itself," writes
Private Alfred V. Goldsmith, under date May 5 to his wue, Mrs A. V.
Goldsmith of "Liege," Argyle street, Moonee Ponds.

"I joined the battalion again," he says, "the night before they went into
line. The Germans were retiring, so we had to follow them and we had
some very hard marches and some sleepless nights. We took a very strong
position— Bapaume. The 6th Brigade was the first in. The Germans shelled
the town to the ground so we had not only to put up with the shellings but
with the buildings falling all round us. We did not have very many hurt.

"WE ADVANCED TOO FAST."
"We followed up and they made a stand in a village about two miles

further on, and that is where we got tickled up. We advanced too fast and got
ahead of the big guns which were slow to come up on account of the Huns
blowing big craters in the roads. But the order came that we had to take
the village. Of course we got knocked back, but we tackled it again and got another
knock back. It was absolutely raining bullets and pieces of shell, and how any
of us got out is a marvel. Through it all Camey and I were as cool as a
block of ice. We had to lay down in gutters full of mud for about an hour,
with a machine gun pouring bullets all round us. Camey said to me "I'll sell
out for a packet of Capstans.' I said "No, old fellow, we'll canter out,' and
so we did, but not without a lot of trouble.

WILL STICK IT THROUGH.
"I feel pretty lonely now that all my mates have gone to hospital. I got
cracked through the heel of my boot. It was only a slight shock, but quite
near enough. We are supposed to be spelling, but it is not much of a spell
we get. We are soon back again, for there's plenty to do, and if I have to
stick it out for ten years I'll do it if God spares me, sooner than be under
the cursed Huns.

FALSE PROPHETS OF PEACE
"I was sorry to see by an Australian paper that certain people are

crying out for peace. Let them come here and put their weight against the

Ger man lines, that's the only way they'll get peace. We all want peace, but
while they are crying out for it, we Australians are going into the lines
under strength. Never mind! We will do our bit. We are going into the lines
again, I think on a different front. The Germans have been pushed right off
the Somme front. That's where the Australians were during the winter. It's
a marvel how they stood It.

NOT A PICNIC
"You ask if I've been to Paris? By Jove, we are not here on a picnic party.
We very rarely see a village that is not blown to pieces, so there's not much
chance of seeing a city like Paris. I'm not very anxious to see any more of
France. All I want is to finish this war and get back to dear old Australia. But
there is a lot of hard work to be done yet.

NOT ONE FLINCHED
"It is not only to meet the foe and fight him. You have to march for miles
in all sorts of weather, and dig trenches under heavy fire, but the thing
that hurts most is no sleep. All the battalion has been put In different sec-
tions, some Lewis gunners, some bayonet men, some rifle men, and some

bombers. I'm in the latter. It is wonderful what tight corners you get out of.
Our captain said that the last 'go' we had was the tightest corner he had been
in. When we came out of the lines he thanked us all for the way we had be-
haved. Every man of us knew it was almost certain death, and not one
flinched. Yes, it's a great army— this ragtime Australian army! They have
a great name as fighters, even among the Germans."

RAGTIME OVERSEAS ARMY SEES ONLY WAY TO PEACE (1917, September 1). The Herald

(Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), p. 9. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article242482581

War Service Commemorated