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"Mayfield"
21st July 1920
My beloved Em,
Aye full well this is a week of anniversaries. In addition to the wonderful days of me homecoming it is also the 4th anniversary of the days a hundred thousand of us Digger soldiers first smelt war's gunpowder & received our baptism of fire. Last Monday the 19th was the anniversary of the Battle of Fromelles when the 5th Division got so horribly cut up: then tomorrow the 22nd , 4 years ago saw the big stunt of Pozieres launched. Shall I ever forget this night then, --- the eve of the battle. We were – the stretcher-bearers, mobilised in a village about 7 miles behind the line. Darkness fell, & each man was ordered to stand by to be ready to move off at a moments notice. The preliminary bombardment had already started & we could hear the shattering roar of the big guns posted in the rear not far, from where we were. After 'standing to', till mid-night, the welcome order came to move forward – welcome only because it meant action, the awful waiting & period of inaction at such times is the thing that tries one's nerves. At daybreak we had reached the area immediately behind the front trenches & were at once in the thick of it. The next few hours I have only a nightmarish remembrance of- I was helping poor chaps with their awful wounds (we hadn't got used to them then)& getting them back into comparative safety then back again for others. About 10 o'clock I met Tony. We were in different units then & hadn't seen each other for weeks. Shall I ever forget that meeting. The rivulsion of fooling at seeing a dear familiar face so unexpectedly & under such conditions knocked me completely of my perch & I blubbered like a kid. I was ashamed but it did me the world of good, the nervous tension was broken, & ever after through all the stunt if the next 3 days, I was right as a trivet & felt not the strain at all. I wrote to the old cobber last night. Do you wonder how I love him? Little did we think it possible that 4 years hence we'd be safely back in the homeland writing by a cosy fire with nothing more terrifying than the crackling sparks to remind us of former fireworks. Then the homecoming last year. Though it was sadly clouded, there was that bright single ray, when followed brought me to you. Hope burned within me from the time it was illuminated during the period of our correspondence, & the first sight of your dear face on that Monday afternoon, set the glow of ever, As long as life lasts & in the hereafter Yes, my beloved I thank God for all His goodness. 'His mercies endueth forever'. I loved your last letter, Em It breathed the pure tender purpose of a high ideal, & together we will strive to attain that lofty plane of true & perfect Love. When I revisit the past twelve months my heart overflows in a paen of happy rejoicing. It has given me you, the gentlest, sweetest truest & best lassie man can be blest with. May I ever be worthy of my great possession. I'll write no day by day news this time dear. Will reserve till our next. Good night my love, may sweet sleep give you all his rest. Ever yours Chas.
P.S. Mary arrived home safely yesterday.
[Transcribed by Helen Monaghan for the State Library of New South Wales]