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Letters From World War 1
Part 1
Alister Robison - 23/02/01
A young soldier writes to his family
Many young New Zealand men left their home country to fight in support of
Great Britain in what was known as the Great War 1914-1918. We now speak
of it as World War 1.
Alister Robison trained as a signaller. He wrote regular letters to his
parents and his sister in Nelson, a small city in the South Island of New
Zealand. The letters which have been kept by his family begin after the
troopship left Wellington. We have permission to publish them in NZine.
This article contains the first instalment.
There are no letters covering the period of his training in New Zealand,
but G. F. Neligan has left photos taken during his military training for a
medical unit. These can give us some idea of what was involved.
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Building a dugout
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Digging a trench and sandbagging
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On a route march
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Practising bandaging
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Alister's letters
Letter 1
At Sea
Troop ship (name censored)
Date deduced as 5 April 1916
Dear Mother Father & Nancy,
This is our third day out & so far it has been absolutely calm. At times
you would hardly believe the ship was out of sight of land. At present
she's rolling a bit but nothing startling.
I suppose you got my letter from the boat before it left Wellington. It
was only a letter card and there wasn't much in it but all was well.
We left Wellington at about 1 pm on Sunday 2nd & left the other boat behind
in the stream - as every one in Wellington knows.
We have a splendid cabin & there's plenty of room - in most places there
isn't room to swing a cat. The only trouble is that it is over the stern,
but so far as it hasn't been rough it hasn't mattered.
The signallers started with their watch on the bridge as soon as the boat
started. My turn came from 8 till 12 at night. I saw the last flash of
the lighthouse on Cape Farewell - the last of NZ for some time. I thought
the four hours would never end & it was all I could do to keep awake. I
slept in most of the day so haven't much to record.
Today we started off with a bit of drill but were hurriedly interrupted by
the O.C. coming in to our cabin & finding it dirty.
The doctors & the Captain of the ship have an inspection every day & are
most horribly strict. The cabins have to be scrubbed out every day. We
have to scrub under the bottom bed though it is only 4 inches above the
floor. However the floor of the bed has to come up.
The doctors have torches (electric) & look in all the places where there
may be a speck of dirt & grumble & rouse if there happens to be some.
They only opened the canteen about an hour ago & so the rush on it is
terrific. You buy at one door a book of coupons worth 2d each & 2/- a book
& so the rest is just like a club.
Tobacco is only 5d a tin which isn't too bad. Of course cigarettes are
strictly prohibited & any poor devil caught smoking one gets 21 days pay
stopped - which is serious considering we only get 1/- per day on boat.
As we are not accompanied by the other transport there is no signalling to
be done so at present there is only one on bridge & he does 3 hours instead
of four. As soon as there is something to signal to there will be 3 men on
again.
So far I haven't missed a meal & have smoked all the time too. When I say
I smoke all the time I mean there are certain hours in which we may smoke &
have been able to enjoy one every time. The tucker on board is splendid so
far. I hope it keeps up the same standard.
The reason writing this so early is to make sure it gets through the censor
- will get off at Albany. I will write another later on & as I know one
of the censors I think I can get it through.
I am in splendid health & am enjoying trip as its so smooth.
I saw Seymour yesterday & had a yarn with him - Also Ken Allen.
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The Robison family
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Well good-bye
best love
Alister
Letter 2
At Sea
(close to the Australian Bight)
Dear Mother Father & Nancy,
When I wrote last I said the sea was nice and smooth, but it has changed
considerably since then, though not enough to be very serious to me. There
is a big swell on today & the boat is rolling & pitching a treat. I think
if I can eat a meal during this I can go through anything now. We saw land
& some lighthouses last night but can only guess as to our whereabouts.
I didn't open your tuck-box till after a few days, as I was eating up all
the spare bits I had given me. By Jove! Mother it is a beauty & I am no
end of a popular fellow now in the cabin as all the rest of the boys have
had all theirs eaten up. It's marvellous how hungry one gets on sea
air.
We have been having a horribly easy time ever since we
have been aboard only doing a little signalling each day & rest is taken up
in eating & sleeping.
This afternoon some of us were signalling on top of the wireless room & it
was a great sight watching the boat dip & roll & you wonder what it must be
like to be in the same place when it is really rough.
I have just come in from tea & all the things on the table started to do
the cake walk & if one wasn't particularly observant one found that one was
eating from someone else's plate. It was a good tea however & no one
minded.
Its rotten having to wash in salt water as the soap won't lather in the
slightest although it is supposed to be salt water soap.
I got that other parcel alright when I got the tuck-box Mother.
As you know from your experience on ships there is very little to tell, so
I'll draw this epistle to a close.
Bye the bye, I'll number each letter in future as then you can tell if
there's any missing. This one is the second letter.
Well good-bye to you all. I am in splendid health & am enjoying myself O.K.
With best love
Alister
I suppose you saw Uncle Ted In Wgtn. AHR
Click to read Letters from World War 1 - Part 2
Watch for more in this series.
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