Dear Bob (Kirby). I am getting on well, I have had the luck not to get hit by a Turk, but I put a few into them. Things are a bit quiet, but expect a big move shortly. There are only three of us left that came away from Broome together; there, were 16 of us and the rest have gone away sick or wounded, leaving S. Arundel, Ted Fishwick and myself with the Company. Bob Wilson came to see me today ; he looks a bit thin on it. He has joined the machine gun section; he has not got to the fighting line yet but will be going back with us when we finish our holidays, we have got two month’s spell, and they are going to refit us with new clothes. Met Jack Townsend ; he has just returned from Malta, and you would not know him, He looks well on it, and a different man ; there is no hump on him now, but is as straight as a whip. Poor Morrie Aarons got his head blown off You don’t know the minute you are going to be laid out, but you never think of getting hit because you get quite used to the shells flying about you. If you see any one doing a duck when a shell bursts we all start laughing at them— we think it great fun. If you see a wounded man going along on a stretcher you ask him where he’s been hit and if it is in the arm or leg we call him a lucky fellow— ‘There is a good trip for you ; I wish it was me.’ Charlie Wright arrived on the Peninsula but I think they will send him back ; he is in the hospital already with the mumps; he had a bad time coming over and will never stand the cold here. Last Sunday we had snow falling, and gee wasn’t it cold. Talk about the freezing chamber, it’s no name for it; it was down below zero, and you could not feel your hands or feet. They have sent Frank Bible back to Western Australia ; he went bang in his eyesight. If you meet Frank ask him about Lonesome Pine, and he will give you a good history of it. I am keeping in good health and cannot complain, they are treating us well, and that’s the main thing. — T. MAHER, Company D, Bat. 12. Regt. 3rd. ‘North West Echo, 22nd April 1917