Trp Bert Hutchinson (Lilydale), 4th Light Horse Regiment: In camp in Palestine. In a letter to his future wife, Jessie Mackenzie of Yalca, Vic – ‘My present home is by the sea in the fair land of Palestine and we spend most of our spare time bathing in the Mediterranean Sea. A few days before we came to this camp we were issued with ‘shorts’ and puttees and as the result a large number of us have sunburnt knees. My knees have felt the effect of the sun but they have not blistered so I shall be as brown as a berry in a few days. We have had our horses in swimming several times but it is rather rocky and some of the horses cut their legs.
Fresh water is plentiful all along the beach but inland water is very scarce. It has been a good season over here and many acres of wheat and oats are going to waste. It is a shame to see wheat going to waste when it is so dear. Peaches and apricots are ripe but they are small. We were camped in an orchard for a few days but the fruit was green then (worst luck). Figs are very plentiful but they are not nearly so nice as the figs we used to get at home.
Last week we did a little skirmishing but only a few shots were fired. It is fairly quiet out here at present. A few days ago we had to dig some trenches also put up barb wire in front of the trenches. This is fairly hard work but we did not work hard’.