Letters 22 to 25 from 2nd to 5th Nov 1942

Letter No 22

Aust No 34171 

LAC Cooney JF

No 3 Squadron RAAF

Middle East

2nd Nov ’42

Dear Mum,

Mail day again today. I received letters No. 12 & 13 from you & also one from without a number written on 16th of Sept. which I presume was No 11. Also received a ‘short story’ from Betty, a letter from Joan Pullen from Wagga, one from Peggy & two telegrams, one from yourself & one from Miss Wilmot.

There’s no way of telling how long a telegram is going to take to get over here because the last one I received took thirteen days while these only took three days

I have been writing very often this last month & if I can I will keep it up but as we won’t be getting any leave for a while & I naturally can’t talk about the happenings of the squadron. I’m afraid there will be very little news. Anyhow I will try & scratch out a couple of pages to yourself & Betty each week.

I’m still eating as well as ever but don’t worry about my clothes not fitting me because all I wear over here is a pair of shorts but lately I have had to put on a shirt in the early morning.

I can’t understand what could have happened to George Brissett but I suppose you have heard from him by this. As yet I have had no word from him, I hope Betty gave him my address.

In regards to saving money, I am still a long way ahead in my pay book & it is mounting up each week. As long as we don’t get leave I can last out on 150 pilasters (37/6) a pay. There is nothing to spend it on but cigarettes, tobacco, a few good things to eat from the canteen & an occasional bottle of beer.

I drew a couple of Gyppo pounds extra this pay so as to buy a case of beer for my 21st. “Putting on” a case of beer at one’s birthday is an unofficial squadron order so I had no choice of getting out of it.

From what you say Dad seems to be going “silly with the shovel” but still it’s a good idea to have plenty of green vegetables to eat. I only wish we could get a few more of them. We are lucky if we can get cabbage a couple of times a week. Occasionally we get fresh beans but the only other greens we get come out of a tin.

I suppose you have seen Micky Max’s mother & told her about Arthur Lee so next time you see her tell her that Arthur has been in hospital with a poisoned leg for the last two months & from what I hear it’s going to be quite a while before he’s up & about again.

In reference to that slip of paper, it has me puzzled. It was in your letter No 12 & the only references to an enclosure were the one about Ray Kays weddingn& that was there. The only other thing I can see that may have anything to do with it is when you mentioned about the ticket from my Comforts Fund parcel, which may have been misplaced by the censor.

I thought the crack you made about “keeping the cake for my birthday” was rather good because as you know it would have lasted as many minutes as it took to open the packages knowing how much I like cake & with four hungry mates to help me. Unfortunately, I haven’t received any of the parcels you mentioned in your last letters & if they don’t arrive with this mail I’m afraid I won’t get them at all.

I’m sorry you misunderstood the cable I sent in reference to the parcels I sent from B…… but I was worried about the one I sent to you than the one that Betty received. The parcel I sent to you was a box about 10” square & 4 1/2 inches deep & it contained a model of the Taj Mahal, the famous Indian Temple, made of solid marble, beautifully carved & coloured. I didn’t send it myself but leftist at the shop & they promised to send it for me. Rex Palmer did th same thing with three Taj Mahals & several other things & he has had word that they have all arrived. Anyhow I will write to the shop & see what can be done about it.

I hope the cross I sent to Aunty Molly arrives OK. but I know she will have a good howl as you mentioned.

My letters seem to travel quite a bit from what you tell me. I wrote to Aunty Lizzie & told her all about my trip to Palestine so if you sent it to her it will only be a waste of time.

Well, Mum, its getting too dark to write any more so I will close. I’m doubtful if I will be able to write any more for the next few days for reasons I can’t explain.

Give my love to Dad & Betty & tell Betty I’m writing as soon as possible

Tons of Love

Frank

Letter No. 23

Middle East

4th Nov ’42

Dear Boop,

I finished writing to Mum just on dark on Monday but I have been kept too busy yesterday & this morning to drop you wouldn’t lose ration tickets if I sent you the pyjamas & kimono that I bought but, unfortunately I sent them down to Cairo in my kit-bags with my surplus gear. However if I get a chance to go to CairoI will get them & send them to you. I will also get the filigree necklace etc. that I left at the pay office & send them to you some time this week.

In regards to those filigree serviette rings that you mentioned, I think I have seen them in at the Alexandria Fleet Club & I’ll see what I can do when I get some leave - if ever. I will also see about those other things that you mentioned.

You said you were terribly abashed to hear that I did not receive your first letter but I think the first letter you wrote contained your photo & copies of George Brisket’s letters & I received it alright as I wrote & told you. But maybe the letter I wrote to you got lost on the way. Next time you write please tell me what number letters you have not received. The letters I have from not received from Mum are 2, 4 & 10 from you the first three were not numbered so I called them 1,2 & 3, four was missing, five arrived on 11th October & the one I received yesterday was No.8 so that leaves 6 & 7 somewhere between home & here.

You said you were sending the Women’s Weekly over to me, I hope you keep it up, because there are more of them sent with each mail than any other paper & there is always lots of interesting reading in them.

Next time you see George Buxton tell him that I thought he had more sense than to join the A.I.F. also tell him I will be writing again shortly & will give him a piece of my mind.

Glad to hear that you received the copy of the A.I.F. News that I sent home. If the Christmas issue arrives please keep it because I want it for a souvenir & I can also explain about a lot of the places in the photo section if you haven’t already had them explained by Allan Kemmis.

In one of my letters I told you that I met some of the boys out of Allan’s unit & I spent one night roaming around Adelide trying to find him. I also met the manager of the bank at Cremorne Junction. He had just come back from over here & was going up to Darwin.

I suppose by now you are settled down in your new office so don’t forget to send me the address just in case I need it some time.

From your letter I take it that you don’t think much of my mo. well in another couple of weeks I will take a photo of it & send it to you & give you a bit of a shock because it is now about 3/4 of an inch long &, with the addition of a little soap or something like that I can twist the ends.

Well, Boop, no more for now but I will write again as soon as possible.

Give my love to Mum & Dad & give my regards to Leo

Lots of love

Frank

Letter N0.24

Aust. No34171

LAC Cooney JF

No 3 Squadron

R.A.A.F.

Middle East

5th Nov ’42

Dear Mum,

It was only yesterday that I wrote to Betty but as I have a little time to myself & a little news, I thought I had better drop you a few lines because I could tell from your letters that the more I write the happier you are so here goes!

Wrote to George Buxton yesterday & told him what I thought of him for joining the A.I.F. so I suppose I will get a rather saucy letter back from him.

The clocks were put back an hour on the first of the month. The days are a lot shorter than they were when we arrived. Before it used to be light at about 5am & we would still be going at eight at night but now we can’t see our way around until 7 o’clock & it’s dark again at 6 at night. We have to have tea at 5 & by the time we cover up the kites it’s dark. That leaves us about 13 hours for bed & as we can’t see or write in the dark we just lay on our beds & talk. It’s easy to see that the boys are getting a little homesick because hardly a day goes past unless one of us mentions something about “what we did before we left home” or  “what we will do when we get home again”. We received a very cruel blow a few days ago though, when an order came through from the Air Board in Aussie to the effect that we could not hope to be received until we had been away for at least 18 months & as it’s only seven months since we left home we still have quite a while to go. but still having plenty of fun & the only thing that worries me is mail so I suppose the time will go fats enough. It doesn’t seem nearly seven months since we were in Aussie.

Seeing as how I’m the chief cook in the tent I’ll have to get out of a few of my habits before I come home or I will make as big a mess of your kitchen as I do in the tent. I’ll now tell you how to make the best fried bread.

First of all you fry one side of the bread & then turn it over & cover it with cheese. By th time the other side is cooked the cheese is ready to. That’s my own recipe & all the boys think its pretty good because they get through two loaves of bread & a couple of tins of cheese each day. What do you think of it?

Now that things are starting to happen at the front we get the daily news put up in the mess & we can tell exactly what is happening. It’s just as well the men are the only ones that read it because its written in real 3 Squadron fashion & some of the phrases would hardly get past the censor, because of the language.

I have started to pack up the parcel of filigree jewellery for Betty but I won’t finish it until tomorrow. Tell her not to get a shock when she sees the size of the parcel but I made it big so that I could fit the address etc on it. If they arrive alright please mention the fact in a couple of letters because if you only mention it in one it may get lost & I won’t know what to think.

Well Mum that’s about all for now but will write again shortly.

Give my love to Dad & Betty.

Lots of Love

Frank  XXX

LETTER No 25

Middle East 

5th Nov ’42

Dear Betty, I had just finished & posted a letter to you this morning when I received your letters number 6 & 7, also letter number 10 from Mum & a telegram from Dad. This just about fills up all the gaps in the mail that I mentioned in this mornings letter.

Sorry to hear that you have had another cold but I suppose I will be suffering from the same complaint as soon as the winter sets in properly.

I hope the parcels you sent to me arrive alright because I would hate to think that you put in all that work for nothing. To say nothing of the eats side of it. I will send a cable in a few days & let you know if they arrive or not.

Your trip to Penrith was rather a waste of time because after Aunty Emily telling me to write & remind her you surely didn’t think I would let an opportunity like that go astray. I wrote to Aunty Emily a couple of months ago & I should get an answer back in the next lot of mail.

One of the boys got a letter today & in it was a photo of his wife wearing a necklace the same as the one I sent to you. She was also wearing earrings to match. I didn’t see them when I bought the necklace or I would have certainly sent them as well.

The vegetables seem to be coming along quite well & that seems to be a good thing because in a few of the papers we have received lately the prices of vegetables are rather high especially the spuds.

I’m sending cables regularly enough now so I hope they are arriving alright.

As yet I haven’t seen Wally Sullivan but seeing as how he’s an air gunner he may be in any one of the many bomber squadrons stationed on this side of the world. Graham certainly has the art of writing letters if that paragraph is any indication. I only wish I could write an interesting letter but as I know I can’t I just scratch along & hope for the best. 

I don’t know whether you were listening to the radio last Friday but the German Radio made an announcement to the effect that Three Squadron was celebrating the shooting down of the two hundredth kite that night, but they would have the laugh shortly because they were going to give us one bomb for every kite we had shot down. If he doesn’t stop running shortly he won’t have a chance to bomb-up his kites let alone find us & carry out his threat. It’s marvellous how he found out we were going to have our party last Friday.

Well, Bet, that’s all for now. Give my love to Dad & Mum & regards to Leo. 

Next time you write to F/O Tom Williams send him my regards & the same to Cpt Dot Horton

Tons of Love

Frank

PS. Have finished packing the necklace etc will post them tomorrow .      F

Letter No 21 31.10.42

Letter No. 21

Middle East 

31.10.42

Dear Boop,

I wrote to Mum a couple of days ago & in the letter I told her that we had got our two-hundredth kite but I didn’t think we would have the celebrations for quite a while but I was wrong because we had our party last night.

Unfortunately we weren’t able to get into the Fleet Club & had to have it in a hut a few miles from our camp but just the same it was a good show.

We left camp at 17.15 & went by truck to the hall. We had to take our own eating gear & we filed past the tables & got our plates filled with half a chicken, two slices of ham, salad & a couple of bread rolls. At the end of the table we got the beer. After the chicken etc we had puff pastry savouries filled with asparagus, sardines etc, Next came a light sponge trifle & fruit salad with a big block of ice cream on top. on the tables were trays about two foot square & three inches deep filled with salted peanuts & these we picked up by the handful & put in our pockets.

Thirty cases of beer (1,440 bottles) may seem a lot but it didn’t last very long. As soon as we finished one bottle we just walked up & got another & with about 300 odd men this was an endless line waiting for the grog.

After we had finished eating & drinking a few bottles the C.O. got up & said a few words. When I say got up I mean he had no option because the boys just picked him up & dumped him on the table. During the scuffle the CO got the backside torn out of his pants but he took it all in good part & thought it was a great joke. After he said a few words he called on Flt/Lt Danny Boardman to get up & sing a couple of squadron songs that I will write out & send with this letter.

After this a couple of the officers, feeling a little the worse for the beer, got up & sang a couple of very dirty songs that  wouldn’t like to copy out.

The show finished about midnight & everyone had a jolly good time.

No more for now Give my love to Dad & Mum & regards to Leo

Tons of Love

Frank

Letter 18, 19 & 20 October '42

Letter No. 18

Middle East

21st Oct 1942

Dear Mum,

Just a few more lines to let you know how things are going over here. I am still feeling as well as ever & hoping that everyone else at home is the same.

As I expected the storm blew itself out on Saturday night & since then the days have been very warm but now the nights are tarting to get a bit cooler & we have to have a blanket over us.

Yesterday morning all the boys in the tent woke with very big heads because the night before Ivan Hansen, one of my tent mates had his 23rd birthday party & he put on the four dozen bottles of beer according to the squadron regulations. We sat around talking & drinking until about twelve o’clock  & then went to bed. Hence the very big heads yesterday.

When we arrived in the desert we had to pack all our surplus gear into two of our kit bags & they were sent to the kit store. Yesterday morning we got them back again so as to pack away our summer gear & get out our woollen clothing for the winter.

One of my bags had been dropped in a pool of water & all the clothing in it was soaking.  Worst of all was my blue & drab uniforms & my overcoat. I had to leave them in the sun all day & let them dry out properly. The bags went back to Cairo this morning.

It starts to get rather cold from about 4 o’clock of an afternoon now & we have to wear a pullover & at night we now have blankets over us.

We now have supper in the tent each night before we go to bed & yesterday we got a dixie of dripping & some roast spuds that were left over from tea & about 10 o’clock we had fried bread & hot roast spuds. A very good drop I can tell you. Fried bread is the favourite dish of everyone in the tent & we have it for morning & afternoon tea.

The wet weather brought around the mosquitoes & right now we have to sleep under mosquito nets that fix on the tent & cover all of the bed or else we get eaten alive.

Got some work to do now so I will close & get to it.

Give my love to Dad & Betty       Lovingly Yours

Frank

Letter No. 19

Aust No.34171

LAC Cooney JF

No3 Squadron 

RAAF

Middle Easr

25th Oct ’42

Dear Boop,

Just a few lines to let you know that Stork arrived back from Palestine & that he bought the things for me that I mentioned in my last letter to you. I packed up the evening jacket & posted it to you yesterday afternoon because if I leave it in my kit bag & take it up the desert with me it is liable to get spoilt. Please send me a cable as soon as it arrives. To me the jacket seems a bit small but it is only supposed to be a bolero so I expect it will fit you OK. I don’t know whether to call it a birthday, engagement or Christmas present so you can call it whatever you like because I have still got the pyjamas & the bracelet, necklace & a brooch for the other days.

I put the pyjamas & linens in my kit-bag that went to the kit store at Cairo but the bracelet etc I left in the safe at the pay station because a fivers worth of jewellery is not the thing to leave in a kit while I am away from the tent.

I expected to be going on leave a few days ago but all leave was cancelled in both Cairo & Alexandria. The reason you probably guess if you read the papers. I drew out some money to buy a present to send to Mum & Dad but for the next few months the chances of leave are very remote indeed.

Once we start to move up I won’t be able to write very often or give you any idea where I am but if you have a look at the war map each day you will be able to tell how far up the desert we are.

There’s still no sign of the parcels you mentioned & I am beginning to fear the worst about my “Christmas” cake. It looks like you will have to send two next time to make up for it.

I went to the pictures again last Friday night but I had seen the show before & I only went to fill in the evening. The show was “Mutiny in the Big House” with Carlton McLane - not much of a show.

Hope you will excuse the scribble but the pen is not working too good.

No more for now but will write as soon as possible. Give my love to Dad & Betty & regards to Leo

Tons of Love

Frank

Letter No. 20

Middle East

29th Oct ’42

Dear Mum,

I’ve got a few minutes to spare before tea so I am panning you these lines to let you know the events of the last few days.

Yesterday was a day that everyone will long remember because the Commanding Officer Squadron Leader Gibbs D.F.C. shot down another enemy aircraft bringing the squadron score to two hundred.

Today the camp has been alive with newsreel photographers & they took a movie film of the C.O. & the pilots so I suppose you will see it on the screen at home very shortly.

We also had a visit from the public relations officer & Sqd/Ldr Gibbs made a recording giving a brief history of the squadron etc & this will be broadcast over Australian radio stations.

Unfortunately we were unable to have the celebrations we were promised because now that things have started to move at the front we are kept rather busy & cannot be released for a few days. However after things slacken off a bit we may have he party.

The original idea for the party was that two hundred pounds was to be drawn from the canteen funds & it was to be held at the Alexandria Fleets Club. There was going to be enough beer for everyone to get merry & the only orders were that before one passed out he was to make arrangements with his mates to lift him back on the truck. If on the other hand, one was still on his feet at the finish he was to assist with the loading of the trucks. It was to be a typical three squadron party. but we don’t look like having it for some time, as I said before.

i don’t look like getting any more leave for quite a while so you had better do as I suggested & take some money from the allotment & buy the presents.

We have now got a tent in the camp occupied by Wogs & it is called the Dhobi. Here they do washing, ironing, boot repairs, tailoring & also cut hair. You can’t beat the dogs for system because when I was down there yesterday I happened to watch one of them doing the ironing & instead of dampening the clothes in the usual way he got a mouthful of water & blew it out in a fine spray over the clothes. Very nice & clean  - I don’t think!

Still I suppose it’s not much use complaining because we get eight articles washed each week free. The squadron foots the bill.

Received another Comforts parcel a few days ago consisting of tobacco, cigarettes, papers, tooth paste, razor blades, soap & another pair of underpants made by the Christian Science Committee at Mosman. The last pair I used to wrap up the little parcel I sent home about a month or more ago containing the cross for Aunty Molly.

I think that the most useful thing we have in the tent is the primus. Now that it is a bit cool at night we have a bit of supper before retiring. Last night for instance we sat up until about 10.30 & then decided to make some supper so we looked in the yaffill box (tucker box) to see what we could find. To start with we made toast & then fried three eggs each after eating this we were still peckish so we heated up three 14oz tins of baked beans & made two slices of fried bread. I must admit that this sounds like a good bit for four of us but we are about the best eaters in the camp so it was only just enough.

The canteen has now got a supply of American tinned food & we often have a tin of cream of mushroom soup for supper. Sounds rather good for the desert doesn’t it?

One of the boys just came back from the canteen with a cable for me. It is the one that was sent by Betty on the 16th. The cable office must be busy because that’s thirteen days it took to get here. Usually it’s only a few days.

Would you ask Betty to get some of those Penguin books & send them over. One of the boys received about 6 of them in the last mail & since then they have been read by nearly everyone in the squadron.

That’s about all for now but I will write again in a few days if I’m not too busy.

Give my love to Dad & Betty & my regards to Leo. Also wish everyone I know a Merry Christmas etc for me.

Lovingly Yours

Frank

Letter No.17, 17.10.42 The Sandstorm

Letter No. 17

Middle East

17.10.42

Dear Mum,

I finished writing a letter to you yesterday afternoon in a bit of a hurry because as I mentioned there was a bit of a sand-storm blowing. Well that sand-storm developed into by far the worst we have ever experienced.

About half an hour after I finished the letter the wind & sand came up properly & in a few minutes we could not see more than about 10 yards. The dust came into the tent in waves & it wasn’t long before it was an inch thick & we just had to sit there & let it come. At half past three it was so dark that we had to light a hurricane lamp to see our way round the tent.

To give you some idea of how thick it was, one of the boys left the tent to go to his aircraft & see if it was covered up properly. The kite was parked not more than a hundred yards from the tent & he set out in a straight line for it. Anyhow after wandering around aimlessly around the desert for an hour & three quarters he finally managed to find the tent again but he had not seen his aircraft. As he wanted to find out definitely if it was OK one of the lads went with him on his second trip to show him ‘how to find his way in the dust’. They arrived back at tea-time but whether the kite was covered or not was still a mystery. One of the lads then suggested that it would have been moved over to workshops & we left it at that. Anyhow when we woke up this morning it was still in its usual place. That’s how good the sand-storm was. Incidentally the kite was covered all the time.

Naturally we had no hope of finding our way to the mess & even if we could the books had no hope of cooking anything for us so the corporal in the tent next to us went down in a truck & brought back rations for each tent. They consisted of a tin of bully, large tin of herrings in sauce, tin of sardines, bread, butter & cheese. As the bread is made out of very crook tasting flour (brown) we never eat it as it is but make toasts of it. Of course, a primus is not a good toaster & as I was elected the tent cook & being the only one with a few brains I put the tin of butter in a dixie & we made several slices of fried bread. Very good too?

We finished tea about 7.30 & shortly after the dust eased off a bit & we thought it was going to stop but about 8.30 the wind came up again at about 50 miles an hour & with it came the rain. We were just about getting into bed when it hit us & as you can imagine the tent & us nearly parted company & we had to get out in the driving rain & try to peg the tent down properly. After getting wet through we had it pegged & the rain & the wind was not driving so hard. When we went back in the tent & the fly had been touching & the rain had streamed down on top of our beds & gear. More trouble. Anyhow the rain finally ceased & we got into bed, wet & all as they were. A light rain fell all right & most of the morning but we kept reasonably dry.

We are a lot better off than some of the boys because, firstly the ground our tent is on is high & the water drains off & secondly, our tent is a new one. Some of the tents had water three to four inches deep in them & their gear was all wet through. Quite a few were blown down & the occupants had a rather wet night.

The C.O. was one of the unfortunate ones.

Between showers this morning we managed to move our gear outside & we got about half a ton of fine sand off the mat.

Things seem to be clearing up a bit now & I think it will all be over by to-night. Such is life in the desert.

Pictures were naturally put off so we may have a show tomorrow night.

As I mentioned in one of my other letters our 200th kite celebrations are not far off. As a matter of fact, the war correspondent for the Syd Morning Herald is here now waiting to interview the pilot who has the honour of shooting down number two hundred & I suppose he will get a big write up in the paper.

That’s about all for now but will write again when I have some news.

Give my love to Dad & Betty & regards to Leo

Lovingly Yours
Frank

PS. Excuse writing but I am penning these lines under extreme difficulties      -F.

Letters 15 & 16, 13th & 16th Oct '42

Letter No. 15

Aust. No34171

LAC Cooney JF

No3 Squadron 

RAAF

Middle East

13.10.42

Dear Boop,

I wrote to Mum yesterday afternoon & your letter No 5 arrived this morning & this is a few lines in answer to it.

Very glad to hear that you have sent another parcel as they are very handy & we can always do with a few extra eats.

In the last batch of mail one of the boys in my tent received a tin of home-made biscuits & they lasted about as long as it took to get the lid off the tin. If you can get a kerosene tin from somewhere & if you can persuade Mum to make some of those beaut shortbread biscuits & send them over then I will be able to let the boys see what real shortbread should taste like.

I might as well add that cakes are more welcome than anything else in the eats line so if it is not too much trouble & you have the time to spare you can make me one after work each night &two on Sundays & holidays & your brother may be able to find a present of some sort to send you next time he goes up to Palestine.

As a matter of fact two of the boys in the tent are going up to Palestine in a week or so for their seven days leave because they missed out when we went up there a couple of months ago & I am going to get one of them, “Stork” by name, to get you a bracelet, brooch & necklace all to match. There is also a rather nice evening jacket that I had my eye on so if you behave yourself, I may let my head go & get it for you too.

Don’t forget to leave a space in your hope chest for these pyjamas etc that I have already bought & if you can think of anything else you need to fill it be sure & let me know what it is & I will see if I can get it for you.

From the description you gave of Jack Deeves he must have been in the same mood as I was when I gave him your address. That accounts for the scribble on the “beautiful” piece of paper. Just the same you received the message so that’s the main thing.

The picture you mentioned “Keep ‘em Flying” is showing in Alexandria at the present time so I may go in to see it tomorrow or the next day. We still get leave each week but I have just about seen enough of Alex & Cairo so haven’t bothered about going in for a couple of weeks but I may go in next week because there are a few things that I want to get. The trouble with Alex is that there is hardly anything to do except spend all day at the bar & as we can get all the beer we want at the camp its hardly worth the trouble of going to town.

I am still keeping the diary going but some days i can only get one or two lines because there is nothing to write about but each time we move or anything happens I put it down so I will have plenty of reading in it especially if those letters I wrote about our trip over do not arrive.

There seems to be a lull in the war over here lately & we have had very little to do & now the boys have gone silly with the exercise & each night after tea we get out & race around the desert till even the dogs think we have gone mad.

Well, Boop, I think that’s all for the present but I will write again next week.

Give my love to Dad & Mum & my regards to Leo       Lots of Love

Frank

Letter No. 16

Middle East

16th Oct. 1942

Dear Mum,

You will probably be thinking that I have gone a bit sand-happy seeing as how I have written about six letters in the last ten days but this afternoon there is a hell of a sand storm blowing & I suppose you like to receive a letter as much as I do. The sand-storm naturally suspends Flying operations in these conditions so that we can’t see more than about 25 yards & flying in these conditions would be rather difficult.

As yet the parcels you mentioned in the last mail have not arrived. I only hope that the cake gets here & that it is not at the bottom of the the sea, As a roulette parcels arrive a few days after the letters but now nearly a week has gone past & still no sign of them. Maybe there wasn’t enough room on the boat. At least that is what I am hoping.

The only thing I have received since the letters is the copy of  “Man Annual” so please thank Betty for same.

I have now been elected the chief cook of the tent because yesterday afternoon we were all feeling a bit hungry seeing as how we had not had much of a meal for nearly two & a half hours, so I dragged out those soup cubes that you sent in the last parcel & made a billy of soup & even if I do say so myself it was pretty good. I know soup is hardly the thing to eat in the heat of the afternoon but the mob in my tent are not at all particular what they eat anytime, anywhere.

With regards to Christmas presents I think that, rather than take the risk in sending stuff home It would be better for you to take what you need out of my allotment & buy something for Betty, Dad & anyone else that you think  is eligible forgone. A couple of the lads out of the tent are up in Palestine on leave now & you can tell Betty that I let my head go & bought the things that I mentioned in my last letter to her. When I say I ave bought them I mean that I gave ‘Stork’ the money to get them & I hope he gets them & doesn’t buy 10pounds worth of beer with the cash. Anyhow I will let you know what happens in my next letter.

I had nothing to do last Wednesday afternoon so I started reading through some old letters prior to burning them & I came to one that you sent while I was at I.E.D. & in it you told me about your new neighbours. The daughter part interested me very much so seeing as how I am in the black book with Betty Nelson. It might be a good idea if you would establish a connection with the best of the daughters for me.

Went all religious last Monday night & went to church at the camp. It was held in one of the tents & the service was given by an English Squadron Leader, Padre

This week has been rather important from a social point of view as we have had visits from two of the top Air Force Chiefs. The first visit was last Wednesday afternoon from Air Vice Marshal Sir Charles Conningham & he spoke to us all about the situation of the war in the desert & what is going to happen in the next few months. Sir Charles Cunningham is Air Officer Commanding of the Air Force in the Middle East.

Our second visitor arrived this morning & he was Air Chief Marshal Lord Trenchard & he just congratulated us on the work we have done & told us to keep it up etc, etc. Lord Trenchard is very old he is known as the ‘Grandpa of the Air Force’ & next to the king he is in command of us all.

Yesterday afternoon an English Entertainment Party was here & they gave a concert in  a building near the camp. Naturally enough it was rather rough & everyone enjoyed it.

to night is picture night again & we are going to see Irene Dunne in ‘Penny Serenade’. I only hope the sand & the wind dies down a bit or the whole show may be put off.

I’m still waiting on the letters from Aunty Lizzie. They should have been here a few days ago.

I don’t remember whether I mentioned it before but Rex Palmer asked me to congratulate Betty on her engagement. I sent Betty a cable on the 10th so I hope it arrived in time for her birthday.

I sent Vivi & Maureen a Christmas card the same as I sent you so let me know if they receive it.

Well, Mum that’s about all for now so I will close  Give my love to Dad & Betty & my regards to Leo.

Lots of Love         Frank

Letters 13&14, 10th Oct, 12th Oct '42

Letter No. 13

Middle East

10.10.42

Dear Mum,

It is only a few days since I wrote last but your parcel & Betty’s arrived last night so I am just penning a few lines to let you know they arrived alright.

As soon as I started to open your parcel I knew you had put some powder in it because the inside of the paper was covered with it. Hence we had “Johnson’s Baby Powder” with everything. It even found its way into the sultanas. Needless to say everything was eaten & after all that powder doesn’t taste too bad. Next time you send a parcel you needn't bother about sending any tinned fruit because we can always get as much as we want from the canteen. As for the soup cubes, we have soup for tea every night & if we want to we can take a tin full back to the tent & warm it up on the primus for supper. You can fill any spare space in future with chocolates, lollies or tinned milk. Betty’s parcel arrived quite alright & was not knocked about at all.

We had a shower of rain yesterday & this was the first rain we had seen since we left Ceylon. It only rained for about 15 mins & then it was just as hot as ever.

A few days ago I saw a picture of some of our planes in the Egyptian Mail & in front of the planes was yours truly. If I can get one of the papers I will send it home. You probably won’t be able to recognise me but you can take my word for it. Take note of the noble looking beard.

If you have any newspapers at home will you make a parcel of them & send them over because reading matter is very scarce & the only home news we get is in the A.I.F. news. Most important of all send the Sunday Sun & Truth so that I can get all the scandal of the week.. As yet I have had no word from Aunty Lizzie but I suppose the letters will get here eventually.

If you ever go up to Miss Wilmots give her my address so that she can drop me a line because letters from home are always welcome. She may even send me a Christmas cake or something. Cakes are just as welcome as letters.

I was telling one of the mates the other day that you came from Maryborough & he said that you would probably know his Granmother, Mrs Bofill as she had lived at Dunally for about fifty years. He also knew the Ravens who had the general store in Maryborough for about the same time.

Every  night we have a musical session in the tent with two jazz trumpets & a guitar. It helps pass the time away & relive the monotony of going to bed as soon as it gets dark.

I told Rex Palmer that Betty was engaged & he asked me to send his congratulations to her.

I am afraid that is about all for now & I will write again in a weeks time.

Give my love to Dad & Betty.

Lovingly Yours

Frank

Letter No. 14

Middle East 

12.10.42

Dear Mum,

It’s only a couple of days since I wrote last but your letters no’s 8 & 9 arrived a few minutes ago so I am answering them while I have a bit of time to myself.

These letters arrived in record time & if the parcels are on board the same ship I will be celebrating my birthday about a month too soon. One of the other lads in the tent is celebrating his birthday in about a weeks time so I may eat the cake then & hope that I get one from Aunty Lizzie in time for mine.

We have always got a case of beer (4 dozen) for next weeks party so it should be a good show & a rather wet one.

There is still a chance that letters number 1,2 & 4 will arrive because I sent them home with one of the lads that we relieved in the hope that they would get there sooner, but I have heard that most of the lads going home were searched & all mail taken off them.

I don’t like being away from home for my 21st any more than you do but we will celebrate it when I come home as well as having a bit of a party out here. I can’t say that I like that crack about doing some good hard work & I may  be home before my 22nd because our term overseas is from twelve to eighteen months & as I have done nearly seven of it all ready I hope to be home a long, long time before I’m twenty two.

From what you say it look as though my letter did quite a bit of travelling after it got home. I hope letters no 1 & 2 arrive OK because there were about 32 pages in them all about from the time we left Aussie to our arrival in Libya.

I suppose that by now Bert Ritchie has received my letter because I wrote to him on the twelfth

of July. I have also written to George Buxton, Bill Alfonso, Nuggett Byrnes, Fred Lowe & a dozen or so girls in Wagga & Sydney.

I can just imagine how Mills would feel being shoved up into N.T. somewhere in amongst the sand & flys. It will give hime some idea of what it is like over here.

The weather is getting a little better now & with a shower of rain now & again some of the boys have started wearing shirts with their shorts but I think it will be a long while before it gets cold enough for me to do that.

Tell Betty to be sure & send me her new address in Castlereigh St because there may be someone going home that I can give a message to.

Last (CENSORED) as usual was picture night again & this time we saw Ruth Hussey & Melvyn Douglas in “Our Wife” a rather good show. So far I haven’t struck a show that I saw at home although they were all in Sydney before I left there.

All the boys are looking forward to a big party that the squadron is going to put on as soon as we get our 200th enemy kite.

So far we have 199 confirmed & the pilots are going all out to try to get the honours for the kite that will start the party going.

At the rate we are getting them now it should only be a day or so before we all get drunk.

That’s about all for the present & I will write in a week or so.

Give my love to Dad & Betty & regards to Leo

Lovingly Yours.

Frank