France 2

Pictorial record of Ned Dwyer's time in France with the AIF Page 2

France 24-4-17 Dear Kate, Still fit and well. Trust the same at home. I got a letter from B. Fullerton a bit ago and will answer it this mail while I have the chance. So Joe has taken to flying. Well, he won’t find it dull to fly here I can tell you. I got the papers all right this time. Remember me to all. Love, Sonny.

France 11-5-17 Dear Mother, Still well and at present enjoying a real holiday in a farming district where we have hens and other feathered stuff and not whizzbangs, minnies, H.E.’s, coal boxes or pineapples. It is a real change after five months of the trenches. I met W. Allan just after we came out of the trenches the last time. When he saw me he nearly dropped. He had heard that old tale that I had died of wounds in 1915. He is in the Engineers. It is a real fine place and some fine views of the farm land and villages around. Of course, this will not last long. We will soon have to get back to work. Will is still with us and not too bad. Love, Sonny.

France 3-6-17 Dear Kate, How is everything at home? Trust Mother, Clara, Fred and Bill is keeping well. You can put me down as fit as usual. I met some of my old mates in the old Battalion, but I did not see Whitestyles though I believe that he is not far away. P.D. Alcorn got wounded about a week ago. A piece of pineapple hit him. I think that he is in for a trip to Blighty. The weather here is fine, one could not wish for better. Will is still with us and keeping well. Did you go to Q’s at Easter? What sort of a time did you have? Don’t forget to keep writing even if I only send whizbangs (field cards). I will write every chance I get. Love, Sonny.

France 3-6-17 Dear Mother, Still well and fit. Trust that you are keeping well and that everything is going well. Things are noisy here like a tremendous thunderstorm, except that the sun is shining and the weather beautiful, and that thunder keeps on, sometimes a bit louder then sometimes it eases a bit. I am glad to hear that Billie is doing so well. I have not seen Merv Reece for a long time. You see they are a long way back and do not get into the lines. Remember me to all. Love, Sonny.

France 16-6-17 Dear Mother, Hope that all is well at home. I know that it is some time since I wrote last, but that could not be helped. We have been busy pushing Fritz back. Up to the present I am still fit and unscratched, so is Will. How is Fred, Clara and Bill getting on? Trust that they are doing all right. The weather here is as hot – or it feels as hot as anything we got in the Tropics. I got some beads for you but have not been able to send them before. It may add to their value to know that I carried them in the last push. Love to Kate and yourself. Sonny.

France 31-8-17 Dear Kate, Glad to hear that all is well at home. I seem to be getting the mail all right again. I wish that I had been able to get something for Bill and you before this but better late than never. I will not forget. I pity Father Tighe if he was badly shell shocked. It is awful. I had one of my fellows shocked alongside me at Messines and I was between the shell and him, but he will never be fit for the line again. One only has to make a noise like a shell coming and he will shake like a man with ague. He cannot help it. Of course he will never see another fight. The leaflet is from a little book on Aussies that I picked up. Love to Mother and remember me to all. Tell Mary Grace to write. Love, Sonny.

France 1-9-17 Dear Mother, I am keeping A1. Still hope that everything is all right at home. I am sending a prayer book taken from a Fritz who surrendered. We took things from them whether they surrendered or not, if they fell into our hands. He was a Bavarian. They are not bad fighters but the shell fire shakes their nerves and then they will not face the bayonet for long. I used to think that this was only talk until we proved it true. They can stand us shooting at them but not with the bayonet. Fritz cannot understand the difference between the Aussie fighting and when there is no fight on. English speaking prisoners have said it was impossible to imagine that these careless fellows were the same brigands that they met in the fight if they had not seen them. Love to all, Sonny.