This post looks at letters sent to people in Iona from three Great War soldiers -
Robert Bruce Forsyth (1892-1980), William Clarkin (1894-1916) and James Gully (1882-1931)Robert Bruce Forsyth (1892-1980)
On April 15, 1915 Bruce Forsyth, of Iona, wrote a letter from Cairo to his parents. Robert Bruce Forsyth was born in Bunyip in 1892 to William and Naomi (nee Bull) Forsyth. Bruce (SN 203) was a 23 year farmer when he enlisted on August 18, 1914. Captain Forsyth was twice Mentioned in Despatches and was also awarded the Military Cross. He Returned to Australia November 6, 1918 and took up a Soldier Settler farm near Alexandra. He married Amy Williams in 1920 and died in 1980, aged 88.
On April 15, 1915 Bruce Forsyth, of Iona, wrote a letter from Cairo to his parents. Robert Bruce Forsyth was born in Bunyip in 1892 to William and Naomi (nee Bull) Forsyth. Bruce (SN 203) was a 23 year farmer when he enlisted on August 18, 1914. Captain Forsyth was twice Mentioned in Despatches and was also awarded the Military Cross. He Returned to Australia November 6, 1918 and took up a Soldier Settler farm near Alexandra. He married Amy Williams in 1920 and died in 1980, aged 88.
The Bunyip Free Press of May 27 1915, (see here) published Bruce's letter.
The following letter has just been received by Mr. and Mrs. W. Forsyth, of Iona, from their son Bruce, who is in Egypt with the First Expeditionary Force: -
Mena Camp, Cairo,
15th April, 1915.
Dear Mother and Father
I received your over-welcome letters yesterday, dated 16th March, and was glad to hear you were all well. You said you heard the first contingent had left Egypt. Well, the infantry and one squad of light horse have gone but we don't know where to. There are only A and B squadrons of the light horse left here now. We are, unluckily, the last ones to shift.
Last Tuesday my mate and I took a trip to the Citadel and also went all through the Mosques, they are marvellous places. We had a guide to show us through them. There are several Mosques around the Citadel all fixed up inside as places of worship. The brother, sister and parents of the present Sultan, also the man who built the Mosque, are buried in them, and they have lovely tombs. We had to put on a pair of slippers they gave us before we were allowed to enter, as they say it is holy ground.
There were natives kneeling around every where, rubbing their noses on the ground; and going through all kinds of forms. There are large fountains inside where the people have to wash three times before they pray. It was here Napoleon fired on those mosques from the citadel, and there are great lumps of masonry knocked out of the walls, and also one big cannon ball still wedged in the wall where it struck. There are also holes in the door going up to the citadel. One door in one of these places cost half a million pounds, and is made of gold and silver.
The Citadel is full of wounded Indian soldiers from the front. We went in and saw them. Now that the others are gone we get a very easy time of it, mostly just exercising our horses, and we are getting quite lazy.
The following letter has just been received by Mr. and Mrs. W. Forsyth, of Iona, from their son Bruce, who is in Egypt with the First Expeditionary Force: -
Mena Camp, Cairo,
15th April, 1915.
Dear Mother and Father
I received your over-welcome letters yesterday, dated 16th March, and was glad to hear you were all well. You said you heard the first contingent had left Egypt. Well, the infantry and one squad of light horse have gone but we don't know where to. There are only A and B squadrons of the light horse left here now. We are, unluckily, the last ones to shift.
Last Tuesday my mate and I took a trip to the Citadel and also went all through the Mosques, they are marvellous places. We had a guide to show us through them. There are several Mosques around the Citadel all fixed up inside as places of worship. The brother, sister and parents of the present Sultan, also the man who built the Mosque, are buried in them, and they have lovely tombs. We had to put on a pair of slippers they gave us before we were allowed to enter, as they say it is holy ground.
There were natives kneeling around every where, rubbing their noses on the ground; and going through all kinds of forms. There are large fountains inside where the people have to wash three times before they pray. It was here Napoleon fired on those mosques from the citadel, and there are great lumps of masonry knocked out of the walls, and also one big cannon ball still wedged in the wall where it struck. There are also holes in the door going up to the citadel. One door in one of these places cost half a million pounds, and is made of gold and silver.
The Citadel is full of wounded Indian soldiers from the front. We went in and saw them. Now that the others are gone we get a very easy time of it, mostly just exercising our horses, and we are getting quite lazy.
All the chaplains have gone with the infantry, so our Colonel holds the service on Sunday mornings. He is a good speaker and is well liked. Well, I think I've told you all the news for this time. Remember me to all my friends. I was very sorry to hear of "Bill " Sullivan's death."
Your ever affectionate son,
R. B. FORSYTH.
(The letter is edited, you can read the original, here.)
William Clarkin (1894-1916)
The Bunyip Free Press of July 22, 1915 (see here) published these letters from local soldiers, Will Clarkin and James Gully.
Your ever affectionate son,
R. B. FORSYTH.
(The letter is edited, you can read the original, here.)
The Citadel in Cairo, as Bruce would have seen it.
Image dated c. 1914-1918. State Library of Victoria Image H99.166/305
William Clarkin (1894-1916)
The Bunyip Free Press of July 22, 1915 (see here) published these letters from local soldiers, Will Clarkin and James Gully.
William Clarkin (SN 1522) was born in 1894, enlisted at Tynong on December 7, 1914 at the age of 21. He died of wounds in France on August 26, 1916. William is listed on the Cora Lynn War Memorial, see here, (where I have more information about the Clarkin family); the Iona Honor Board, see here, and the Bunyip War Memorial, see here.
Letters from Will ClarkinMr. William Clarkin, who some time ago was wounded at the Dardanelles, has sent the following letters to his relatives at Iona : -
No. 17 General Hospital, Alexandria.
I suppose you are wondering why I have not written lately. Well, you you see, two days after I wrote my last letter we were ordered off to the Dardanelles. We had to land under fire, but we got there alright. I was about a fortnight in the trenches when I had the misfortune to get bowled over. I have been in the hospital for about three weeks, but I will soon be out again. We were ordered to take a good position that the Turks held, so about 1 o'clock in the morning our company, along with three more, were ordered out to do it.
The night was fairly dark, so we could not see the enemy too well. Anyway, it settled into a hand-to-hand go. I don't know exactly what happened, but a Turk must have got home on me with the butt end of his rifle, for I don't remember any more until I was picked up about 5 o'clock in the morning. My head felt as if it had been drawn (dragged) through a six-inch pipe, but I am getting as right as rain again. What makes it worse is that I went as deaf as a post. One of the drums of my car is broken but I can hear alright out of the other one.
I suppose you get all the news over there. The Turks are a treacherous lot. They take no prisoners, nor do they respect the Red Cross. But never mind, the war will soon be over, for news has just come that Italy will soon be into it. We get treated like kings over here - chicken for dinner every day and plenty of cigarettes. When we are discharged from hospital we are sent to a rest camp, where we pick our selves together again.
Luna Park Convalescent Home, Heliopolis, 30/5/15.
Convalescent Camp, 4/6/15.
As we have not got to do anything here but keep our tents clean, I can write a bit more often; I was shifted out into the open-air tents to-day. It is far better in the tents. It is terribly hot in Egypt now; the hottest I have ever been in. It is no place to send wounded men. The wounds will not heal up, only on the inside; only a dry scab comes over the outside. An eye and ear specialist attends me; but I am afraid he can do nothing with my ear. My other one is about as right as can be. It affected my eyes, too, but they are as right as rain. The haze that rises from the sand in the hot weather affects everybody's eyes, and my eyes were a bit weak when I left for the Peninsula. The first batch of wounded men who were fixed up left for the front again last Wednesday week, I think we will be going back again on Wednesday. But don't worry about me; I will get through alright. You might not believe me, but there is a certain fascination about the firing line, although I am not too anxious to hear the shells all around a fellow, and he has got to sit as he can get. But, cheer up; I think next 'Xmas is going to be a real happy one.
James Gully (1882-1931)
James Gully (SN 1167). James, born in 1882, to Harry and Henrietta (nee Robinson) Gully enlisted on September 28, 1914 at the age of 32. James Returned to Australia December 3, 1918, for 'Special Leave' and was discharged on medical grounds in March 1919 - having been wounded with a gun shot in the shoulder and later wounded in the left thigh. He died in July 1931 at the Repatriation Hospital in Caulfield, and is buried at the Fawkner Cemetery.
No. 17 General Hospital, Alexandria.
I suppose you are wondering why I have not written lately. Well, you you see, two days after I wrote my last letter we were ordered off to the Dardanelles. We had to land under fire, but we got there alright. I was about a fortnight in the trenches when I had the misfortune to get bowled over. I have been in the hospital for about three weeks, but I will soon be out again. We were ordered to take a good position that the Turks held, so about 1 o'clock in the morning our company, along with three more, were ordered out to do it.
The night was fairly dark, so we could not see the enemy too well. Anyway, it settled into a hand-to-hand go. I don't know exactly what happened, but a Turk must have got home on me with the butt end of his rifle, for I don't remember any more until I was picked up about 5 o'clock in the morning. My head felt as if it had been drawn (dragged) through a six-inch pipe, but I am getting as right as rain again. What makes it worse is that I went as deaf as a post. One of the drums of my car is broken but I can hear alright out of the other one.
I suppose you get all the news over there. The Turks are a treacherous lot. They take no prisoners, nor do they respect the Red Cross. But never mind, the war will soon be over, for news has just come that Italy will soon be into it. We get treated like kings over here - chicken for dinner every day and plenty of cigarettes. When we are discharged from hospital we are sent to a rest camp, where we pick our selves together again.
Part of the 17th General Hospital, Alexandria - where William Clarkin was treated.
Tented accommodation of 17th British General Hospital established for treatment of casualties with serious wounds.
Australian War Memorial Image H00871
Luna Park Convalescent Home, Heliopolis, 30/5/15.
Since I last wrote I have been shifted again, this time to a convalescent home about four miles out of Cairo. I don't know whether I will be sent to a rest camp or back to the front when I leave here; but I hope they will send me somewhere, for I am sick and tired of bed. Of course, I can walk about as good as ever, but you see, we are not allowed to leave the hospital. I suppose you hear all the war news. I wonder do they publish the casualty list; it must be a pretty big one. The Turks got home on our officers; there are only a few of them left.
The Convalescent Hospital in Heliopolis, where William Clarkin also received treatment.
It was called the 'Luna Park Convalescent Hospital' as it was located in the Palace Hotel at Heliopolis and an amusement park, called Luna Park, had been established in the grounds in 1911.
Australian War Memorial P00229.007
As we have not got to do anything here but keep our tents clean, I can write a bit more often; I was shifted out into the open-air tents to-day. It is far better in the tents. It is terribly hot in Egypt now; the hottest I have ever been in. It is no place to send wounded men. The wounds will not heal up, only on the inside; only a dry scab comes over the outside. An eye and ear specialist attends me; but I am afraid he can do nothing with my ear. My other one is about as right as can be. It affected my eyes, too, but they are as right as rain. The haze that rises from the sand in the hot weather affects everybody's eyes, and my eyes were a bit weak when I left for the Peninsula. The first batch of wounded men who were fixed up left for the front again last Wednesday week, I think we will be going back again on Wednesday. But don't worry about me; I will get through alright. You might not believe me, but there is a certain fascination about the firing line, although I am not too anxious to hear the shells all around a fellow, and he has got to sit as he can get. But, cheer up; I think next 'Xmas is going to be a real happy one.
James Gully (1882-1931)
James Gully (SN 1167). James, born in 1882, to Harry and Henrietta (nee Robinson) Gully enlisted on September 28, 1914 at the age of 32. James Returned to Australia December 3, 1918, for 'Special Leave' and was discharged on medical grounds in March 1919 - having been wounded with a gun shot in the shoulder and later wounded in the left thigh. He died in July 1931 at the Repatriation Hospital in Caulfield, and is buried at the Fawkner Cemetery.
James' death notice
The Age, July 2, 1931 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article203033276
The Bunyip Free Press of July 22, 1915 (see here) published this report of the letter.
Mr. Gully, of Iona, received a short letter last Thursday from his son (Private James Gully), who was recently wounded at the Dardanelles. Writing from the Base Hospital, Private Gully did not (or perhaps could not) state the extent of his injuries. He was eleven days in the firing line before he was wounded, and must have remained where he fell for some time, as afterwards he contracted pneumonia. Mr. Gully is anxiously awaiting another letter from Jim, whose younger brother has enlisted for active service, and is now in camp at Seymour.
Mr. Gully, of Iona, received a short letter last Thursday from his son (Private James Gully), who was recently wounded at the Dardanelles. Writing from the Base Hospital, Private Gully did not (or perhaps could not) state the extent of his injuries. He was eleven days in the firing line before he was wounded, and must have remained where he fell for some time, as afterwards he contracted pneumonia. Mr. Gully is anxiously awaiting another letter from Jim, whose younger brother has enlisted for active service, and is now in camp at Seymour.
James' younger brother was John Harry Gully (SN 607) who enlisted in June 1915 and Returned to Australia May 1919.
Sources
Indexes to the Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages; First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920 at the National Archives of Australia.
A version of this post first appeared on my work blog - Casey Cardinia Commemorates: Our War Years https://caseycardinia1914-1918.blogspot.com/
