OUR SOLDIERS
The following was received by Mr. Smith, of 58 Lorne street, Moonee Ponds, from his son, Private John A Smith :
Zeitoun, 29/11/15.
Dear Dad, Just a line to let you know I'm still doing well - plenty of clothes and plenty to eat. The authorities look after us pretty well here. Big Jack McLeod* is here in the next company to me. He is a sergeant-major and is looking real well; in fact, I go 13 stone myself, so soldiering is agreeing with me. I am putting down a few impressions of the trip, so far as it has gone with us, with some generalities, in the hope that they may prove of interest to my friends at home. We very seldom think of writing. Where there is so much to be picked up, there is little time to spare for sightseeing, etc.
We landed here about five weeks ago and have been training hard on the desert, which isn't a very inviting spot at all; but if we strike nothing worse, there is no cause for complaint. The climate is very hot, but we get over that difficulty by starting work earlier in the morning, from 6.30 a.m. to 8 a.m., 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., 3 p.m. to.5.30 p.m. We do a fair amount of night work, and are kept at it all the time. We have been camped her five weeks (with four days' shooting at Abbaseah - that's the finishing touch before you go to the front), but I think we'll leave any minute now. Everything is pointing to an exciting time, and plenty doing. I won't waste much time on talking of this part of the world, as it would take up too much space.
Our camp is in the desert at Zeitoun, ten minutes walk from Heliopolis, which is a suburb of Cairo. Cairo is. a very nice city from a tourist's point of view, and there is plenty of life to be seen there. Heliopolis is its fashion able suburb, and is very nice. I believe it is very gay during the tourists' season. The place was built by a big Belgian Co., I understand. They bought a few miles of desert, and started to build an attraction, on Monte Carlo lines; but the necessary licence was not procurable. One hotel, which is now being used as an Australian hospital, is one of the finest buildings I have ever soon. It has 1400 rooms. The worst part is the feeding. You can never trust those niggers, and it is impossible to get the real thing in goods. I regret that I cannot talk as fully as I would like to, or send you all I know, as you're not supposed to, and you must play the game.
The fact stands out that our troops have played their part well on the battlefield. Cairo and Heliopolis are full of wounded, and one doesn't want more than one walk around the hospitals. We are keen on our work, and all anxious to get into it. It makes one feel that it is good to be alive, and doing something to help the cause along. If all goes well, I hope to be across there shortly, and ere you get this note we will have had a taste of it. Our men know the almost insurmountable difficulties to be coped with at the present stage of the conflict, and they know by conversation with the hundreds of wounded soldiers what has happened to the men who came there before them. They are all as cheerful as ever, and I'm confident will serve up something hot when 'they get moving. I cannot go into figures, but the odds against us as regards numbers are tremendous. I understand from the wounded that the Turks are good, game and fair fighters. They like a scrap, but don't relish bayonet charges. Our Australians are great fighters; but this is not an all Australian affair, for the British and French have done wonders, and, after all, we are only a fleabite over there. The longer we stop here the more curious we get; but we hope to be off in a few days. There appears to be all Ascot Vale and Moonee Ponds here. You meet fresh faces from there every day, and I hope to be there again when this ghastly war is over, as I'm sure the Australians will come out on top.
OUR SOLDIERS. (1916, February 3). The Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter (Moonee Ponds, Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 6 Edition: Morning.. Retrieved January 23, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74591740
* This probably refers to 2348 Acting Sergeant John Crawle McLeod, 22 Inf Bn, a 29 year old line foreman of Surrey Hills, formerly West Brunswick. Given Smith's occupation, they had probably worked together.
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