Letter No. 85

AUST. No 34171 

LAC Cooney, JF 

No. 3 Squadron 

R.A.A.F. 

MIDDLE EAST

26^rd April ‘43

Dear Mum,

                                    I thought that I would be in XXXX by now but I managed to get well all of a sudden so missed a journey of about four thousand miles. There was a good chance that I wouldn’t have been able to get back to the squadron for a couple of months & in all probability I would not have been able to see Tunis. As it is now I should be back with the boys in about another week & by then Tunis should be in our hands.

At the present time I am at No.7 Convalescent Depot & as soon as I am Ok again I will be going back to the squadron. The Con Depot is about 20 miles from Tripoli & is situated in what used to be some Iti or Jerry garages. Our sleeping areas are buildings about 120 ft long, 40 ft wide & they hold about a hundred double decker beds. The worst thing of all is these beds. As the place was only opened recently they have not been able to get any mattresses yet  & hence we have to sleep with only one blanket underneath us. The frame of the beds are made of iron piping & between this there is a lattice frame with holes about four inch square in it, so you can see that it is pretty hard on the spine. To make matters worse we have just come from hospital & up there we had soft mattresses, sheets & pillows on our beds.

                  The tucker is good as we get plenty of fresh meat & vegetables but the trouble is that I never seem to be able to get enough to eat at each meal. These Englishmen seem to be able to exist on a darn sight less than it takes to satisfy my constitution. We get very little compared with what I was used to at the squadron.

 We have to get out of bed her at the unearthly hour of 6.30am & then have to shave before breakfast at 7.30. After breakfast we have a general parade which is something definitely new to me as I have only been on one parade since I got off the boat nearly twelve months ago.

 After roll call, fatigues are detailed but, as a rule, these are very easy & can be finished in an hour or so & from then till lunch time – or tiffin time as it is called here, we’re free.

 Out of about fifteen hundred men in the camp I think I am the only Australian & I think I have been asked about a hundred times what unit I’m with.

 Well, Mum, that’s all for now but I will write again soon. 

                Much love to all at home

                                                       Lovingly Yours,

                                                                            Frank