[Editor: This postcard was sent by a soldier to his girlfriend, during the First World War (1914-1918). The postcard is dated 28 June 1917.]
“Christians awake!”
[Front of postcard]
“Christians awake!”
“Le rappel à la réalite!”
[Reverse of postcard]
[Handwritten text]
My address
16th Aust Field Amb
16th Brigade
6th Aust Division
Abroad 28/6/17
My Dearest girl,
I wrote to you a couple of days ago, so thought a card to my girl would do no harm.
Well, still at Salisbury & as this is an out of the way place, there is nothing to do, only write & sleep late.
I am with a fine lot of chaps & they are good sports, so things go along O.K.
Now darling, there is nothing exciting I can tell you. Things here are just the same.
I told you in my last letter that I took a lot of Photos on the march & they have turned out O.K. So will send you some along in my next letter, so you can see what things were like on the march.
How are the boys? Well, I hope, & that Ray’s sore face is better ere this. Boys will be boys. I laughed when I heard about him in your letter.
Oh well, sweetheart, I will have to cut out, as some of the boys are singing out for me to come & have a game of cricket, & after that I must shave for the morning, or else I will find myself up before the Major.
Oh well, bye bye sweetheart for the present. Lots of love & kisses to you & the boys.
Yours lovingly,
Chas
Yourself x x x x x x
Ray x x x x x x
Alb x x x x x x
[Manufacturer’s text]
Inter-Art Co., Florence House, Barnes, London, S.W.
“Comique” Series. No.1777.
British manufacture throughout.
Source:
Original document
Editor’s notes:
Dimensions (approximate): 140 mm. (width), 89 mm. (height).
The writer of this postcard is believed to be Charles Fell, of the 1st Australian Convalescent Depot, born in South Melbourne (Victoria) and who lived in Stanmore (New South Wales).
See: 1) “Private Charles Fell”, Australian War Memorial
2) “Fell Charles: SERN 14810”, Discovering Anzacs [a comparison of the abbreviated signature of “Chas” on the postcard, with that of his full signature “Charles” on his Attestation Paper, shows them to be the same handwriting]
3) “Fell, Charles”, Virtual War Memorial Australia
See also another postcard from Charles Fell:
Your loving Bro, Chas [First World War postcard, with photo of an Australian soldier, 28 August 1918]
16th Aust Field Amb = 16th Australian Field Ambulance
Alb = an abbreviation of the name “Albert”
Amb = an abbreviation of “Ambulance”
Aust = an abbreviation of “Australia” or “Australian”
Chas = an abbreviation of the name “Charles”
ere = (archaic) before (from the Middle English “er”, itself from the Old English “aer”, meaning early or soon)
le rappel à la réalite = (French) “the reality check”
Ray = an abbreviation of the name “Raymond”
Salisbury = Salisbury Plain: a large open plateau, approximately 775 square km (300 square miles) in size, located in the county of Wiltshire (in southern England); during the First World War, Australian troops were stationed at several training camps located on Salisbury Plain; in modern times, it is used by the British Army for training, with the Army owning approximately 390 square km (150 square miles) of the area; the ancient monument of Stonehenge is located on Salisbury Plain
x = a symbol for a kiss (depending on the circumstances, it may indicate a loving kiss, a familial kiss, or a friendly kiss)
[Editor: For ease of reading, the original text has been separated into paragraphs, and punctuation has been inserted as deemed appropriate.]
[Editor: Changed “this is a out” to “this is an out”; “a lot of Photo” to “a lot of Photos”; “by by” to “bye bye”.]
Hello Editor. I have left you alone for quite a while. Thanks for these postcards and their transcriptions. I have a quibble with your final ‘insertion’ in this transcription. You have inserted “[Thanks] …. for the present. I feel that this is not needed, and that it completely alters the meaning. On my reading, the author is saying: “by(e) by(e) for the present” — that is: good-bye for now/for the moment/until my next letter, etc. What do you think? Cheers. Raymond.
Hi Raymond, it’s great to have your input again!
Thanks so much for your observation.
It was assumed that a word was missing there, but no — you are absolutely correct. Yes, the text is saying “bye bye sweetheart for the present” (i.e. “bye bye sweetheart for now”).
Well spotted. So glad you’re here to spot mistakes.
(Of course, it would be far better if no errors were made in the first place, but these things happen, I suppose.)
How lovely to see a postcard from my great uncle to his wife Elsie and sons Raymond and Albert. A real joy and amazing that they have been preserved. Thank you
Pauline