Letter No. 94
30th May ’43
Dear Mum,
Well, Mum,
the mail situation is getting a bit better because this morning I received
another lot of letters & a few bundles of papers. Unfortunately there is
still no sign of the parcels & if they don’t turn up shortly I’m afraid I
will be giving them up for lost. Amongst the letters I received were No’s 46 to
51 from you & No’s 23 & 24 from Betty.
In a few days we will be starting on our fifteen months overseas,
but, as you say, it doesn’t seem that long at all. If the next few months go as
quickly as the last few have I will be home before I know it.
I haven’t had any word yet from either George Buxton or George
Brissett. As a matter of fact the only ones I have heard from are Bill Alfonso,
Fred Lowe & Bert Ritchie. So now I will wait until they write before I drop
them a few lines again.
I had a tin here to pack a few things in but what I had would not
fit init so I will wait for a day or two & see if any parcels arrive. If I
don’t get a decent tin myself I may be able to scrounge one from one of the
other boys.
I’m sorry to hear that Betty got such a shock when she had to sign
for the telegram but I don’t think you need ever have any fear of receiving a
casualty telegram. I spend most of my time seeing that nothing happens to yours
truly.
Col Elliott is almost certain to have arrived home with the 9th
Division, because the Air Force is now the only Aussie Force in this part of
the globe.
Fancy my letters 1,2 & 4 turning up after all this time. I
thought it rather strange that he did not send them to you because some of the
other boys gave him letters & they got answers to them about six months
ago. By the way, the fellow I gave those
letters to was Jack Mollane, not Mullins.
There is plenty of tea & sugar over here, at least there is
for the troops & as we are on Aust. Ration Scale we get more than the
others & so the cooks always keep us supplied with enough for our tent. Not
that tea or sugar worries me very much. The wogs around Sfax or anywhere past
Gabes would pay two pounds fifteen for a pound of tea & the way they jumped
at it you would think they were getting a bargain.
I have been
keeping my eye open for any sort of clothing for Dad, Betty or yourself but so
far all I have been able to get was those couple of pieces the other day. If I
can get to Tunis again I may be able to get something. Otherwise I will have to
wait until I get into Italy or some other place.
You were saying that Dad & Uncle Jim went fishing. Well,
yesterday a few of us went fishing & we got as many in half an hour as I
have got in a day at home. Our method of fishing is rather unorthodox as none
of us had hooks, line or bait. What we did was to stand on the rocks in our
birthday suits & wait until we saw a school of mullet in about ten feet of
water. Next we hurled two or three hand grenades into the water & after
four seconds they explode & the concussion kills all the fish. All we did
then was dive in & get them. This method of fishing is very simple &
quite effective & is practiced by nearly everyone in this part of the
world.
Well, Ma, that’s all for now but I will write again soon.
Much love
to Dad & Betty
Lovingly
Yours
Frank
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