A SOLDIER'S LETTER

Southland Times, Issue 17633, 18 January 1916, Page 2

A SOLDIER'S LETTER

WORD FROM PRIVATE D. PORTER. •Mr A. R. Porter, of Esk street, hn.s revolved a letter from his son, Private •'Dour." Porter, who was in Australia when the war broke out, and joined the main body of the Australian Expeditionary Force. After serving for IS weeks in tlie trenches lie was invalided to England. We have been permitted to make the following extracts from the letter:— Military Hospital, 161. Vauxhall Bridge Road, London, B.W. November 20th, 1313. Yon will see by the above address that I am back in hospital again, this time with a rold. bnt I will be hark again in camp at Wry month in a cnnple of days, I have had a month's furlough. t went to Glasgow, Edinburgh, and also over to Ireland, while in Glasgow I was staying with Mr Peter Dawson, of Dawson's whisky fame. Three of ns stayed with him for a few days. He gave us a great time. He used to take us for motor drives, to shooting parties and also out hunting round Loch Lomond. Nearly every night we had a box seat at the theatre. When we left he gave us a big dinner party. (Who says the Scotch are canny?) I have seen pretty nearly everything in London worth seeing. 1 have been through Westminster Abbey, Oxford University Madame Tausard's, Dirky Dick's, Rotten Row in Hyde Park, and also Petticoat Lane. A.mong other things 1 addressed a recruiting meeting off the steps of Nelson's Monument in Trafalgar Square. I also spoke at a recruiting meeting in lre.la.nd. The people here in England cannot do enough for the Australians. Life is one round of motor drives, shooting parties, dinners and theatres, I would need a year's furlough if 1 stayed with all the people who have asked me to their places. We had special invitation to the Zoo’ here. It is a marvellous sight, every animal being there that you can mention. Five of us were going through Hyde Park one dav, when an old gentleman came up to us and asked us if we would like the us° of his car for the day. Of course we said "Not ’a.rf,” so we had the use of his car all day and the driver drove us to the. gentleman's place where we had dinner, and the old gentleman took us to the theatre afterwards. That is only one case of many• similar. The Australians are all in the same camp at Weymouth. I met a lot of the Invercargill hoys there. Most of them look prettv fit. 1 have been in two Zeppelin raids here. They arc pretty exciting while they last, what with tlie bombs and the shells from the air-craft gnus falling all around. Luring the last raid I was only a matter of a couple of hundred yards away from where the-bombs landed. Gee, T thought someone bad bit me over the head with a clap of thunder! It would have been pretty hard cheese if I had stopped^one, after coming through IS weeks of Gallipoli. ' 1 had a couple of days' racing at Newmarket, and won £6 3s. so I did not do SO badly. I suppose by the time you, get this I will b° hack again "chewing bullets." T am not ton anxious to get into it. again this winter as 1 am a bit afraid of my lung, and I don't think the Gallipoli winter is ton pleasant. They will never force the Dardanelles, so they may as well chuck it up now. There has been enough pood blond spilt there and nothing gained. X should not be surprised if wc are sent to Serbia. I hope so any w-a.y. I have not met. an Australian here in England yet who can heat my record of IS -weeks on the Peninsula. When I went into camp at Weymouth the officers asked me how long t was at Anzac. When I said IS months, they told me I should take a, ticket in Tatfs. It seems pretty hard that a chap has to, go back for a second dose, where there are over a couple of million men in England here who have never been out to the front at all, and some of them have had Hi months’ training. I am just saying what all the Colonial troops here say. It’s not: playing the game. 1 must say T'v had the time of my life here in England; it’s been worth while going through the mill for it. Even in hospital here, you can go out if you are well enough every day to either a sports’ party, a. tea party, or a theatre party, and as for cigarettes, fruit and sweets we arc absolutely swamped with them. 1 have in my locker now over three boxes of cigars (goqd ones, too; no penny "stinkers” about them). I am sending photo with this mail I had taken in London. It is not a good one, and I will get taken again before I leave England, if T get the opportunity. I suppose you are receiving my letters all right. I -wrote from Endell street hospital the first time: then from Scotland and Weymouth.