State Library of NSW
[Page 509]
GallipoliWednesday 6th Oct.
Dear Harry
Im glad to see that you have at last discovered a conscience I thought you were one of those lost soul without any, dont go backsliding but write every mail I have been hoping to see you over here shortly so have not written before my sister told me you were going to inlist.Never mind Harry this is not much of a place to come to. You ought to see its steep cliffs rising up one behind the other with covered with low scrub and deep winding gullies in between, we will never realize the tremenous job those first men tackled in getting here.We've been here 7 weeks and have made the aquantance of all the Turkish delights. it was'nt long before we knew all about shrapnel, the day after landing we had to sprint across a flat while they pumped it into us, there were no records broken we were carrying to much weight. loaded up like pack horses.Its something like this. First you hear it frizzling through the air, when everybody dashes for the nearest Dug-out, an explosion, a pretty white cloud in the sky, and lots of lead whizzling all round you.
We will all be expert navvies by the time we get back. Im sure we've used picks & shovels a great deal more than our rifles. and you somehow forget all about the government stoke when the bullets begin humming around
["Government stroke", Australian slang for the deliberately slow pace of work supposed to be typical of government workers.]
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