Handwritten Letter From Trooper Harold (Harry) Endrick MORLEY 2819, to his Mother

“Palestine / 24th Oct 1917 / My Dear Mother / The day we left / for the Wudi I received two / letters from you dated 2nd and / 10th Aug. That was last Wednesday /and I don’t know whether I have / answered them. Two came from / my little wife dated just about / the same as yours. / On Thursday we / did not do any work other than / to water the camels etc. / During the next / three days we were on outpost / and patrol work rising at / 3am and usually getting to / blankets again about 11pm so / were glad when it was over. / We were watching / the enemy movements and that / is all. / On Monday last we left / for a new outpost doing night work / there for two nights arriving / back to camp yesterday morning. / Whilst in the last post / nine Bedouins were brought in / by our patrols. They did look [sic] has made up of string bag / and cloth and never minded their / capturing in the least. I believe / they were liberated the following / day by the O.C. / Just before dusk the night / before last a couple of Bedouins / gave themselves up. We took them / up to the post with us giving them / a dhurra bag each. The man / slept in a half hunching curled / up position while the woman / was rolled up somehow with / her head on the mans ribs. / How the deuce they made / the bags cover them was a / problem for the dhurra bags / are only half the size of a / bran bag and the night was / bitterly cold. / The furniture these people / carried was a small sieve / made of gut interlaced and / a gown full of barley heads. / These people seem to exist / on the barley that they sieve / from the old plantations and / the grain they dig out of rat / holes. Of course further out the / Bedouins have flocks of sheep and / goats but I am only mentioning / those with whom I have come / into contact with. / If one goes to an old Bedouin / camp one will usually see some small / holes in the ground about / a foot to eighteen inches in / diameter. These holes are about / twelve feet deep sometimes more / or less for all the world on / the principal of a water bottle / made watertight with stones / and mud for the purpose / of storing grain. / One has to be careful in / going over these places as / sometimes they cover the holes / with straw making it / rather dangerous. / I am pleased that there / was another heifer calf born / on the farm and hope Milly / continues to give such good / milk and cream. / We get ideal milk / every two days but never butter. / The rations are not too bad / but the hard biscuits have broken three teeth off my / plate and spoiling my / natural ones. / When in camp we get fresh / meat and vegetables (potatoes / arriving some times marrows) every / day. Then there is oatmeal flour, / dates, raising and bacon at / different times. Sometimes lime juice / is issued also rice. We can buy / stuff from the canteens but / the price is terribly heavy. / My health is good generally / although my throat is very / sore today and I have a / big septic sore on my lip. / I trust everything is going / well at home and that Wallie / is alright again. / Love to all at home, Dad / and your dear self from / you loving son / Harry”