Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Letters from Christopher Kenneth Millar to his mother, 9 April-18 July 1915
MLMSS 7288/Item 5

9th April 1915
My dearest Mother
I am very sorry I cannot write you a long letter but our letters are being severely censored & anything that tells about our whereabouts numbers etc. is pounced upon. All the boys you know are well Ray & Rupert being exceptionally so. I am in the very best of health in fact never felt better in my life. Well mother dear as I haven't written to anyone else this time but you & don't know when I shall, please let all enquirers know I am OK etc. Give my love to Lizzie & Dave so as not to get this delayed or worse destroyed I will close with fondest love from
Your loving son
Ken

Kasr-el-Amy Hospital Cairo, 4th May 1915
My dearest mother
As our letters are still being censored I will have to be brief with this and give you full particulars later.
I have been wounded in both thighs and left fore-arm.
My left thigh is the worst wound, the curs were using "dum-dums" explosive bullets & one got me and made a mess of the fleshy part of thigh but luckily missed the bone. The wound in left forearm is a clean bullet wound in one side & out the other, also missing bone, I received these wounds at the one time backing up the old saying "it never rains but it pours" I also put my shoulder out when I fell which didn't make matters any brighter. The hit I received in other thigh was only a spent bullet which is in yet, it bowled me over when it hit me but didn't do any damage.
The wound in right thigh I received a little

after landing before I fired a shot, & the others two days later after I had fired a h-1 of a lot of shots. Our boys struck a pretty tough job and were knocked about a great deal.
I am in Egyptian Hospital was too late to get into our own as they were full up, we chaps who are here are real downhearted we expected to be nursed by our own nurses & doctors.
We were brought to Alexandria by boats from Dardanelles & here by special trains. Well Mother dear I will close now with fondest love to all don't forget Lizzie, I am,
your loving son
Ken

Kasr-el-Amy Hosp. 16th May 1915
My dear Mother,
I cabled to you today at least to Dave he will give you the cable. I couldn't do it before for the want of cash. No doubt the news of our attack would be in the Sydney papers by this and you will be anxious I know how much to know if I was hit or not, so to relieve your feelings cabled. Let Lizzie know as soon as possible how I am I cannot write much as I can't get in a position to do so, you can see by this writing how strained my position is, not that it hurts me but I can hardly move my thighs which anchors me completely.
My left arm is healed up now, it being only a clean bullet wound, in one side & out the other, & only for a certain numbness it is OK. The left thigh is doing alright, it is a nasty wound though & will take a while to heal up, they have a tube through it to drain off pus etc. They operated on my right thigh & took a bullet out,

it is pretty sore now, the X ray photo was interesting of this wound, you could see the bullet lying quite comfortable against the thighbone.
A clean bullet wound is absolutely nothing at all, it is only when a bone is shattered that trouble arises, or you get hit with an explosive bullet which makes a mess of things especially if it hits a bone.
I was extremely lucky not to get a bone touched, dozens here have broken bones which will never be right again, they all take it as a matter of course & very seldom you hear a groan of pain, it is only when the Doctors get amongst us you hear a murmur.
I am in a crook hospital, our own were filled up before I reached here & it was only the third day of our scrap that I got hit, it shows how many casualties we had on the first days. I wont go into details about the Hospital but it is a shame to put British soldiers in such a place, it is dirty & dirty natives are our orderlies, there is an Englishman

director & English women nurses too which makes it all the worse. The food is dead crook worse than our own cooks used to give us in camp, nothing to tempt a sick man at all. There are some cases they treat alright with food though, one chap in this ward comes in for a lot of good things & he only has a hit in the arm, it is broken I think, but there are men here worse than he, the darned place is a mystery to me, I wish to goodness I had been sent to our own Hospital, but as luck happened it was full.
I can't quote figures of wounded etc. or the letter will be "done in" by the censor.
To give you an idea of the heavy casualty list one Company had its Captain, & two Lieuts. killed & wounded & the other two are missing that is out of six officers, the men were knocked about in the same manner.
Our boys have made a name for Australia that will live in history. I sent you a local paper with an account of our landing I hope it reached you alright. Don't forget to let

Alick know I am doing alright.
Well mother I am afraid to give you an account of our landing as the censor might cut the whole letter up & I want this to reach you.
I will give you an account in next letter & chance it.
Well mother will close now with fondest love to all from your loving son
Ken

23.5.15
My dear mother
Just a line this week to let you know I am doing alright.
My wounds are doing fine, all except the dum dum hit on left thigh which will take a fair while to heal up, the Doctor is talking of grafting skin on to it shortly, when its finished discharging.
A lot of our chaps are being sent back as unfit for further service, they have broken legs etc.
Well mother a short note this time so ta-ta
With fondest love to all & self, from your loving son
Ken

Same old Hospital
29.5.15
My dear Mother
Only a short note this time to let you know I am doing OK. In fact I am 18 carat as Dave says & expect to be out of here in a week or so. I will then be sent to a convalescent camp & after that if I am fit - back to Gallipolli where things are a bit more reasonable now. The 1st 3 or 4 days it was simply murder & the man that pulled through without being hit was extremely lucky. The boys are doing real well there now. In the paper today it stated the Turks asked for an armistice to bury their dead in front of the Aust. & N.Z. trenches and they put over 3000 under the sod and in one place where it was thought there wouldnt be any they found

400 corpses in a space of 100 yds by 80 which all goes to show the Australians axe fine rifle shots & good cool fighters. If you could have only seen the lads climbing up the cliffs & landing on the beaches in the face of a murderous fire you would feel like I do proud to be an Australian bom.
Well Mother I am getting sentimental so will ring off with love to self from your loving son
Ken.

Same old Hosp.
Cairo
5.6.15
My dear Mother
Another brief note to let you know I am still in bed but the Doctor told me today I would soon be able to make an effort to walk. I am anxious for my left leg to get healed up to see if I can walk on it without stiffness. Hope so anyway. I don't want to go back branded unfit "for further service" which happens to a man when he cannot for the reason stated above go back to the front. I am enclosing a photo one of our nurses

took of us two weeks ago. The chap nearest the camera is one of my best friends you met him in Kensington his name is Sgt Heydon. Well mother dear I will close now with fondest love to all from your loving son
Ken

Dear Lizzie
I got your letter this afternoon and another this morning from Ken. I am copying it for you. I got a photo of him in bed in the hospital & others & a nice looking nurse with them taken by a nurse. I daresay you got one. I am going to give it to a photographer to get enlargements. I can't go over tomorrow as I am getting a young woman in to clean up and will be with her. I am glad to hear he is in that hospital in Heliopolis. I daresay Ida had a finger in it - her brother is enlisting. Arty & Alicks old girl Weanie has gone, good luck to them.
Loving-----in —

This letter from Kasr-el-amy H.
2 Batt. C Coy
25.6.15
My Dear Mother
The usual weekly letter to let you know I am getting on well. My leg is nearly alright now. I can get along OK on crutches expect to be able to walk with the aid of a stick in a weeks time. As you will see by the heading on top the good old Y.M.C.A. are again on the scene. They have built a big straw matting hut with 4 long tables with writing material & a piano for the convenience of the wounded "twaddies" they deserve a lot more credit & mention from the Aust Daily papers etc. than they do. I really dont know what we would do if they were not so considerate it is much easier to write on a table than on your knee. If it wasn't for the said tables a lot of letters would be postponed indefinitely. The only mail I have received for 3 months I had yesterday 2 from Lizzie & 2 from Ulmarra dated in March. I am anxiously waiting for a big bundle which will turn up some of these days. Well mother dear I will close now with fondest love from your loving son
Ken

Luna Park Hosp.
Y.M.C.A. Association with
H.M. Mediterranean Force in Egypt
1.7.15
From C K Millar Corp 2nd Batt C Coy
My dear Mother
As you will see by the above I have changed my residence. We were all shifted from the other Hosp. last Monday - this is the 1st Aust. General Hospital there is a deuce of a lot of soldiers here the place is like an ant heap we have two big two storied buildings full up. I havent received my much looked for mail yet there will be a deuce of a lot when it does come three months is a long while to wait for a letter isnt it. Well mother I will close now with fondest love from
your loving son
Ken
PS. Address my letters without putting the name of any hospital on as I will be leaving here shortly for convalescent. I was nearly forgetting to tell you. You cabled Dibs Garven about me she had left for home so Miss Gould the Principal Matron opened it & called to see me & is going to write to you.
Ken
got this today & the other yesterday

Luna Park Hosp.
Cairo
18th July 15
My dear Mother
Just the usual weekly note to keep you aware of the fact that I am up to the 18 carat standard. My wounds are now absolutely healed up & nicely too. I have massage treatment now on my left thigh I walk with a big limp & am pretty crook on walking up stairs etc. They gave me a very nasty wound there the marks will never leave. I expect to be sent convalescent any day now & when I am good on my feet again back to the boys at the front. My section has been badly knocked about the younger Stafford is missing poor beggar you know what missing means against any enemy like ours. The whole battalion is new now the huge gaps filled with reinforcements. It will hurt a chap to go back to see all new faces & miss the old ones. We were a fine crowd "Braunds Boys". When we left here I suppose its all in the game. It is a sad business this.

I started this in the YMCA hut, & will finish it in bed so excuse pencil. The said YMCA to us. They supply paper pen & ink etc. and all sorts of games & a piano wherever they can put one. They are a fine body & do a lot of washing for the soldiers wounded or otherwise. I sent you a cable a few days ago just to ease your feelings they are too expensive to send often. I gave yours & Daves address to a particular friend of mine who is being invalided home his name is Serg. Heydon & is a very fine chap who fought well at Gallipolli & took his medicine like a man. So give him your best for my sake. Well mother I will close with fondest love to all from
your loving son
Ken