Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Letters received by Hugh Venables Vernon from soldiers in Belgium, 1919
MLMSS 5176/Box 8/Folder 20

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Biesmeree
Belgium
20/2,19.

Dear Colonel
Your letter of 24th Dec to hand & I can assure you it filled me with the greatest of pleasure to receive a letter from you. I am pleased to hear that your & yours were well when writing & I hope the receipt of this will find you all in the very best of health. So glad you found time to spare to run out to my home for I am sure Mrs G. would be greatly bucked up & delighted to hear of me from you who had left me & could give absolutely first hand information as to my health etc. & I thank you heartily for being so kind. I am more than pleased to hear from you that my family were all so well. I quite follow regarding the fiancée. Getting pretty old eh? seeing one of the family is running a fiancée - & I understand he means business. No the boy had not caught up to me prior to you leaving & did not arrive until about the 13th December so is really enjoying a cook’s tour seeing the world & being paid for it but still it is not the lad’s fault he came as soon as he could. I quite agree with you in your opinion regarding Mrs G not being in good health all the time but I cannot say for certain for some of them at home would let me know the real state of things but I am very much relieved & pleased to hear through you that she was well & cheery the afternoon you spent there. I hope that gave you a good welcome one similar to that which I would give you, for the many favours you done for me & your kindly & ever forbearing manner towards me on all occasions. I quite understand you feeling Colonel & am not surprised that "A" & "Ax" are still flashing through your mind & that the sound of s "Donk’s" chuckle & the

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whine of an aeroplane engine would be sweet music to your ears now & the extreme quiet of the air & surroundings would be felt by you. But still Colonel it is much the same here now no "A" or "Ax" no planes & things very quiet & above all lights – yes would you believe it Electric lights are shining out brightly nightly in the village where we are located. Glad to hear Geo Lee is still Commandant & hope he continues in the job for years to come. Thanks very much for words of praise uttered to friends at V.B. regarding my work here but if I have satisfied you & I hope I did that really is worth a lot to me for after all you were the one I worked for as you were my C.O. & one I will always be proud to work under any time. Yes Rooney came to H.Q. at last & still smiles as large as ever but I am afraid we are going to loose him on the 23rd as he is due for return to Aussie in next draft. Regarding the Rhine I am sure you would be just a little disappointed like most of us were & are if you were here as we have not got as far as the Rhine nor is there any chance of us doing so we are in Belgium & are being demobilized from here and as a unit are practically finished. I hope you enjoyed your furlough of 60 days but expect you found it rather tame over there being away from the old show. So Sutton, Hall & others have arrived back in Sydney how do they like the change? See by the papers that Influenza is bad in Sydney hope you escaped free of it: wish one had some of the heat you write of it has been fairly cold lately

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but is getting much better now in fact think all the cold weather has gone for the year, hope so anyway. Fancy meeting McSwaine on the ship. Have given your best wishes to all old hands & they all - too many to mention individually – send best wishes to you. I will now give a little news of the old unit from the time you left as t may be interesting to you. left Soyecourt (where you left us) on 24/9/18 & camped in Bois De Boire – near Tincourt same night. Next day was attached to 27th American Div which had 33rd American Div on its right & prepared for an attack on the Hindenburg Line the Americans going first & the 3rd & 5th Aussies leapfrogging through them. The attack came off on 29th Sept & the Americans got through alright but forgot to wipe up result many Huns in behind Americans who were badly organized. This [indecipherable] things [indecipherable] in a mess & held up everything for a while but the 3rd Div got to work & cut their way through to the Americans & it was some fight not one German being taken prisoner. On 29th we moved to Saulcourt Woods the Artillery continuing to cover a front near Bellicourt & after some hard fighting got through to Busigny successfully. The old Unit had some casualties during the stunts. Left Saulcourt on 7th Oct & proceeded to Hargicourt from there worked up to Busigny & as the same lot of Americans had failed in an attack the Unit got into a very heavy barrage loosing a few animals & one wagon but by good luck no personnel – my little black Jenny was hit at this place & I have not seen her since. I was on leave at this period. Joined unit at Busigny left that place on 29.10. 10/11/18 for Le Cateau. The Div Arty including D.A.C. were the last of the Aussie Divisions in action all others being out at rear. The last

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ammo delivered by D.A.C. & fired by Btys was on 4/11/18 when attacking Landercies & as you know the Armistice came into operation on 11.11.18. I never experienced a quieter day in France not the least bit of excitement over the matter. We left La Cateau for La Groise on 21.11.18 Marched to Cartnignies 27th Semeries on 28th rested here til 13/12/18 when we marched to Rance 14th to Philipville and 15th to Bresmeree where we still are. people here a quite good & give one a much better impression of the Belgiums than the people up round the North where we put in so much time. The lads are very well satisfied here & are well dug in among the people. A great many of the old hands have gone home among them McMahon, McKenzie O’Neill & Dye never came back to the unit was kept in Belford Hospital. Baker is working in AIF London. Of the officers & C J Turner have gone home Darcy is at Harve in a job. The old officers with the unit are Major Ford C.O. Capt McKeown still temporary & with No 2 Sect. Cramp still [indecipherable] with S.A.A. Mein still No 2 no dump for him now & myself. There are many young officers here. Nottage, Blake, Raper, Burns, Raleigh, Withersden, Gibson are recently gazetted from cadet school. Hoskin, Croft & Stuckey got their Coms. are with Brigades. Nearly all the equipment has been sent back in fact Nos 1 & 2 are today returning all they have except Mules, & Harness. S.A.A. have returned nothing. One officer (N.H. Turner) and 86 O.R. are going in a draft for home in a few days. You might convey to the Comfort Funds people the thanks of all hands for many parcels recently received all the articles being highly appreciated. Yourself please accept the best wishes of many old hands & Major Ford & Capt McKeown & Mr Mein send the very best wishes as also do I. Thanks for your letter & kindness in visiting my family. Your old comrade J. Gleeson

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Joncret
Belgium
18.4.18

My dear Colonel,
Your welcome letter of Dec 24th received by me a few days ago & was pleased to see you had reached "the land of sun" safely. I can quite imagine your disappointment at not being with us when the end came. Since then we have had a very easy time & have been billeted in villages near Chaleroi. The show is nearly finished now & my commands consist of Cramp & two 2/Lts, 50 men (1918 enlistment) & 9 horses. The whole Div. expects to be clear of here by the middle of May. Gleeson went to HQ London a few days ago & Mac Keown on draft. I leave here with the next draft & and expect to embark from England for home about the middle of May. We were very disappointed in not sending a force to garrison the Rhine, as we considered we had earned a place there. I have just arrived back from a 16 days tour to there & northern Belgium. As the account of it is so long I had it typed & am enclosing a copy for you. A few days ago I wrote to the Comforts Depot thanking them for

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the fine work they have done for the Unit since I took them over. Am sorry I have not a D.A.C. order to bestow on them for their grand work. I sent them some of our Div Art souvenir cards, which I am sure they will appreciate. Hope some day to meet some of them & thank them personally. We are just about fed up with the country & people here. The latter resemble those around Reninghelst, so that an explanation is not necessary. It has rained here for ten days & it makes one feel glad that Aussie is in sight. Well Colonel this is about all the "oil", so will close with kind regards & best wishes for the future from Cramp & myself
From
Yours sincerely
Alf. S. Ford
P.S. Should you visit Victoria I am in Melbourne & would like to see you any time. This address finds me
A.S.F. Jnr
"Wanda"
Portsea
Vic

[Transcriber’s note:
The first letter is signed J. Gleeson. His full name is James Gleeson
The second letter is signed Alf. S. Ford. His full name is Alfred Sandle Ford]

[Transcribed by Colin Smith for the State Library of New South Wales]