Portland Guardian (Vic. : 1876 - 1953)(about) |
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Monday 28 August 1916
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1 correction by jamah - Show corrections
On Active Service. The Mayor has received the following letter from Corporal W. H. J. Baker: France,. July 2,. 1916. To Mr. J. L. Wyatt. Dear Sir,--Just a line to pass the time away. No doubt you will be pleased to hear from any Portland chaps. D. Beames and I are still together. We are just be hind the firing line here, and we expect to hop right into action at any moment as there is a big move on now. France is fairly trembling from the vibration of big guns. We are having a spell to-day as it is Sunday here. I can tell you we would be glad of a rest as we have trained very hard and have had a very willing time of it. But notwithstanding that, we are anxious to get into it and do our bit to get it over. France is a lovely place. We had a train journey of 800 miles right up through France. I am not allowed to tell you where we are, but it will be sufficient for you to know we are on the front. France can beat us in Australia in some things, but I am inclined to think we can show them many points. I don't wish to go into any details at present, but we are further advanced in most things, excepting our land settlement, which of course is the backbone of any country. No wonder Germany wants this beautiful country. It would make your heart bleed to see the women and girls working on the beauti ful farms, orchards and vineyards from daylight till dark while their husbands and brothers and sweethearts are fighting for their lives. No doubt those women and children have done well, and France, al- though hard at war, looks a veritable garden of Eden. We will have a trip to England when we get our furlough. I suppose you know that we went to Egypt. I can tell you we had a warm time of it over there. There are certain parts of Egypt that are specially adapted for irri- gation, which impressed me greatly, and which should have a great future, as there is abundance of water. Well, Mr Wyatt, I think I will ring off' as there is not much that I can tell you , considering we are not allowed to detail or say anything about what is doing here, so with best wishes to yourself and family, I remain yours truly, CORP. W. H. J. BAKER,