First World War Letter from Captain William John RAE

Envelope: “O.A.S / Mrs. N. J. Rae / “Pinehurst” / Grey St / Albany / West Australia”. Printed Stamps “FIELD POST OFFICE / + / 4 4 17 MR / M I / PASSED / CENSOR / No 3478 / W J Rae”
Letter Page 1 right side: “Sunday 25 Feb darling I posted / to you on Thursday but have / had no letters lately. Our / Friday things went on as us - / ual. Yesterday after lunch / I went to the beach (where the / railway station is) to the can / teen I had not been there since I arrived 92 days before / I was surprised at the dif / ference - tents everywhere. / There is a big Army Corps / here now Did I tell you / the dodge they have for / making the sand easier to march over? They pegged / down wire netting – 4 strips / abreast & it makes quite / a good road for infantry / marching in fours The / Turks had a successful / similar dodge, they made a small snowshoe ar / rangement – an oval”
Reverse Page 1: “wire frame about 15 inches long by / 7 wide & wire gauze stretched to it / One was strapped to each foot & seems / to make the walking much easier. / I took a few photos of El Arish. / The guide book says it has a population / of 17000. I do not believe it. It is about / ½ a mile long & nearly as deep but / the houses are not plastered together / in the swallows nest style of the / Nile country but appear to mostly / have courtyards attached. The mil / itary authorities are making the / natives keep it very clean & it is out / of bounds to troops. The building of / the line goes merrily on but I do not / know how far it is. My cold is / progressing & has not gone to my / chest. Dyspepsia or indigestion / has not troubled me very much / lately I ams glad to say. I am going to dine at No7 Coy (Scottish Horse) / tomorrow night. I have my full / compliment of officers now (5) the / last having arrived from hospit / -al yesterday. I am only 4 men / short in men but in camels – oh / law!!! 45 no less!!”
Page 1 left side: “they appear very hard to / get. I think the nights have / been a shade warmer lately / & the days are lovely. I wish / they were not so fine & clear / It reminds me more of the best / april weather in Albany / & makes it seem very / lonely. I wonder & wonder / how you got on on your / return journey home & / how you found things / at Pinehurst. How the time / does drag. Its 508 days today / since I left you Darling / nearly a year 7 5 months / I feel sure the war will end / before the winter though / I think we will have / hundreds – even thousands / of tanks in France.”
Page 2 front right side: “2 / when the next push starts / in a few weeks. It is 9 / so I must turn out the / light so good night my / beloved / Tuesday My Sweetheart / I got a letter from you / on Sunday Also one / from Florence (?), Dora Needham & the widow of / the late o/c no 2 Coy. / She asked information / of the death of her husband / - which was of course sent / to her long ago by the / Subs of the company / Monday went a little bit / differently to most days”
Page 2 back left side: “Most of the camels in the / Brigade have mange & we / have been dressing them / with oil & sulphur. Well / yesterday I took my camels / to the beach & washed them. / The beach is only 3 miles / away - down the Wadi & / we passed through a / pretty palm grove & passed / the Headquarters of the / General Officer command- / ing EAST FORCE (Sir Chas / Dobell) Today we had the / usual affairs before / lunch & after had a pre / liminary march past/ as some one is to Review / us tomorrow. It looks / very like rain tonight.”
Page 2 back right: “I must turn in now dear / I have been in talking to Connick & Moore. nice / fellows. Goodnight. Love / Wednesday 13.15. Just back / from the review Lassie / We marched past the / Commander & Chief / Sir Archibald Murray / & are now awaiting the / service after lunch. Your / letter to date Jan 24 & I was delighted to get it. / I think the girls missed 2 / filigree brooches when / they unpacked the parcel. / I am certain I put them / in with the stockings etc. / I am sorry *** **** of / swords has not turned / up. I will not write”Page 2 front left: “to the P.O. about it and see if I / get your next letter as it / may still come. So the / *****was **** dear / was it Lassie / Thursday 1.3.17 Sweetheart / the weather is lovely but / I cannot enjoy it as I / am lonely & homesick. / Yesterday morning we were / reviewed by the C &.C. & / after lunch had to stand / by in case he came out / & visited the bivouac. / After dinner (or tea) the / C.O. of this Battalion came / in & stayed until near / by "lights out". This morn/ ing I had the usual C / routine affairs & here / I am. I borrowed a re / cent Western Mail & I”
Page 3 front right: “3 / saw a speech of Prem’s in / which he said that Pat Camm / is to be D. S. of Bridgetown / I wonder if the other offices / are to be opened. / I am very glad you had / a run to Perth Darling though / it was too hurried to be en- / joyable. You didn’t say where / you stayed. So old G. has / gained 10 lbs eh?. That is / very good indeed. I’ll / bet the boys thoroughly / enjoyed the farm & the / little girls—did they / enjoy it too—I don’t sup- / pose they did to the same / extent. How I wish I could / see you all again. A year / & five months since I said /
goodbye—but Lassie”
Page 3 back left: “I am GLAD I came I / would not be one of the stay / at homes for anything even / though I have seen no fight / ing. We have just heard of / the capture of Kul el amara / and the advance in France / I think it is likely that I / will not see any. I just / received a parcel “from / Thos cook & sons (Egypt) Ltd CAIRO” / a tin of asparagus & one / of peaches I do not know / who sent it. Cooks wrote a / few days ago saying that / they had received a parcel / of gifts from Messers Rudders / of Sydney & asking where / I’d like it sent. I suppose / Rudders obviously are sent / parcels for Cooks to distrib / ute. We get really good”
Page 3 back right: “rations here. The beef is / excellent – so is the bacon / (You need not hesitate to / give me plain bacon for / breakfast when I get home / lassie I am used to it / now and have it every morn / ing- there are plenty of / canteens (Exped Force, AIF / & YMCA) within reach or / we can buy all sorts of / things. We hear that the / Turks have evacuated / EL AUJA – a place about / East from here & I think / that they will evacuate / SHELLAL (near Beersheba) / plus shringer position with / little or no fighting I / cannot tell you about / the army we have here”
Page 3 front left: “I think its too good for the / Turks. I am sorry the stock/ ings are too small. The/
man said I ought to get / larger ones but your foot / is short & I thought I / knew best. The **** are / 30/- I think. Surely that / was not awfully dear / or was it only imitation / silver? / Lassie - jump at Stephen’s / offer. As his **** is / at fixed deposit he is / getting 4 per cent for it / & so he gains 3 per cent / & so do we. In order to pay / off the mortgage it is / necessary to give notice / (6 months) to Appleyard / & at the end of that time pay / the £400 with any unpaid / interest & get the mortgage”
Page 4 front right: “4 / I enclose a notice / you can send if you have / not already done so but / I think W. Whichell had / better do it for you. I will / write to him. Of course a / new mortgage will be need / ed for Steve but he will / see to that. Perhaps he / has already advised you / to give appleyard notice./ Mar 16 would have been / a good date. We could pay / him (off) on Sep 16 then. I / wish you had sent me / a copy of that Power of / Attorney so I could get / it amended but never / mind. It will be alright / I wonder what sort of”
Page 4 back left: “condition you found our / place in —not a very safe *****, one i expect. I / expect I will see Jack Court -/ hope as the 10th are not far / away. By Jove it as high / time he came. I cannot / understand how these fel / lows have the hide to / stay. Cameron, Rowan & / all such—surely it is / their duty to come. Bertie / Johnson—although Jamie / his brother came. Dora says George enlisted / in Oct. but the Auditor Gen. / will not let him come un / til his work is finished. / By Jove I'd like to have the / marching in of some of those / fellows. I see that”
Page 4 back right: “ex co **** J.T. Cowan of / Albany is engaged to be / married at the **** / —if I only had these with / full packs up—on the des / ert—I wonder when it will / be over—I think before / August but one never knows / I shouldn't be surprised / if it ended in May or even / earlier. I think that Jack Turk / is on his last legs anyhow & / so is Austria. I wonder if / you will get the £10 I sent / last week. I will be able to / send it periodically now, I hope / 1/1/- per week / I want to be made a / Major now — if I were I'd / want to be made a Lt-Col. / If I were in the Light Horse / I would be a Major as all / Squadron commanders are”
Page 4 front left: “Majors in a Camel Company / is a much bigger command / than a L. H. Squadron — / 30 more men + 3 machine / guns. The L.H. are treated very / well in that respect & they / have Captains 2nd in Command / of squadrons. We have no 2nd / in command — except of Bats./ I must stop now Love. I do / not think your long for me / more than I for you & the / kids — not as much for I / long for 5 of you & you for / only 1 of me. What!!! / We seem to be a fixture here / but I suppose we will go / somewhere someday. You need / not worry Darling as soon /
as I get near the enemy / fighting stops. Gallipoli, Senussi - El arish. Au / revoir God bless you Your Jack / XXXXXXXX”