Pte Cliff Wardell (Lilydale), 31^st Battalion: In France. In a letter to his brother in Lilydale – ‘We have done fatigue in the trenches for a week. We are having wet weather here and it is very cold. It is only autumn; goodness knows what it will be like in winter. I think our furlough for England is knocked on the head. It was just about to start when we were shifted to another part of the line, a fair distance away.

I am here with the Lewis machine gun with the company all the time. It is alright. You can bet we give it to Fritz. We do not have to go on fatigue. Just started to write a letter and had to stop and shift places in the trench, as Fritz is putting a few shells over and they are landing too near to allow me to stop here. He has put plenty of shrapnel over this last half hour but he is getting tired and our guns are after him and aeroplanes shut him up. No more news. The same thing happens every day, can’t set one’s mind on writing when these whizz bangs are flying about’.