Trp Bert Hutchinson (Lilydale), 4th Light Horse Regiment: In camp in Palestine. In a letter to his future wife, Jessie Mackenzie of Yalca, Vic – ‘We have not arrived at the beach yet but we have shifted our camp in that direction and I suppose we shall get there when we shift next time. One morning when we were drilling we found a water melon plot and so we visit this place every night to gather a few melons. These melons are very nice but not as good as the melons we used to get when we were home. Needless to say this melon plot is visited by many soldiers every day, also Bedouins come from the surrounding villages and collect melons and tomatoes for their own use but the owners of these gardens are far away, fighting against us, so I suppose I shall have to pay for the melons with lead if I get the chance. You see I do not want to steal their melons but I cannot pay them in cash.
We have shifted again and our home is on the beach, oh, it is lovely by the seaside. We play football in the water and this is a very exciting pastime especially if our officers are about. The weather is nice over here just now but some days it is rather too warm, very often it is windy in the afternoon. This is supposed to be the warmest part of the year over here. Last summer it was very hot in July but I was in Egypt then’.
Pte Sydney Shore (Mooroolbark), 8th Battalion: Arrives in Australia from Europe on the HT Ayrshire, to be discharged as medically unfit as a result of developing a dilated action of the heart.
Pte Clyde Richardson (Lilydale), 23rd Battalion: Arrives in Australia from Europe on the HT Ayrshire to be discharged as medically unfit as a result of contracting dysentery.
Pte Arthur Orenshaw (Seville), 59th Battalion: Arrives in Australia from Europe on the HT Ayrshire to be discharged as medically unfit as a result of wounds he’d received at Fromelles the year before.
Charles White (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a clerk to enlist in the AIF, he is 20 years old.