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First World War Letter of Condolence for Sapper John DENNEY, 142

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1st Australian Division

1915

Overview

First World War typed letter of condolence for Sapper John DENNEY, 142 sent to his mother. Letter is mounted on card and shows signatures of “Boys of the Section”, in black ink at the bottom. Top right corner is a black & white photograph of John. (head & shoulders) in uniform.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-12-2025.6.13

Item type

Letters

Themes

War and Conflict > World War 1

Material

Cardboard

Printing Paper

Width

198 mm

Height or length

337 mm

Weight

76 g

Inscriptions and markings

At top of letter is and a black & white photograph of John with “1st Australian Division / GALLIPOLI / 9th June 1915 / Mrs Denny, / Seventh Avenue, Maylands. / Dear Madam, / It is our sand and mournful duty to confirm the news of / your son's death - which we take it has been previously cabled - / and to try to convey some consolation by giving particulars of his / end. / Of course in times like these one man's life is of / little moment, and the best we can wish for is a swift, sudden, and / painless surrender when the time comes. It may console you to / know that al these the poor boy had, and it seemed as if the dread / Messenger specially came for him that morning. / It was on the Tuesday after landing when the enemy put / a shell plump into the centre of us at Brigade Headquarters, mortal- / ly injuring Jack and severely wounding Captain Wallis and Sergeant / Thorpe. Jack never spoke and death was instantaneous. We trust / that it may in some way lighten your sorrow to know this, and also / that he always tried conscientously to carry out his duties and give / the best that was in him. Of course being together so long, we were like / a large family and this our first loss was felt very grievously by us / all. The Boys of the section desire to express their sincere sympathy / with you and all the family in your sad loss; and trust that knowing / the manner of his end, will in a small way help to lighten your / grief. Of course we need not mention that proper burial was / given, Sergeant Tuskett reading the service at 2 am, the great guns / of the British Navy firing overhead serving as a fitting salute. We are Yours truly:”. In black ink at the bottom of the letter is the signatures of the boys of the section.

Contextual information

This First World War letter of condolence was sent to the mother of Sapper John ‘Jack’ DENNEY, 142, 1st Divisional Signal Company, AIF. Jack enlisted on 25 August1914 at Blackboy Hill, Western Australia and was killed in action at the Dardanelles on the 27 April 1915, aged 20 years. The letter dated the 9 June 1915 has attached a black & white photograph of Jack and 24 signatures of soldiers in his Division.

Keywords

Letter of Condolence

WW1

Killed In Action

1st Australian Division

Place made

Egypt

Year

1915

Primary significance criteria

Artistic or aesthetic significance

Historic significance