Letter from Roy Bruce to Maud Bruce

At last we have come into
our own and had a fight mounted.
Certainly it was not much of a fight, there
were only two men wounded in the Brigade,
but still it was a fight, and we had our
horses and were happy.

The preparations were the most
strenuous part of it. We left our camp at
9.30 one evening and rode for 9 hours when
we bivowacked for the day. At 9 that
evening we got into the saddle again & rode
till we struck the Turks at day break,
strafed them for a couple of hours and then
started back for camp which we reached
at 11.30 that night. Heavy going for men
& horses, everyone was very tired as you can
well imagine.

The following morning at 6am
we were all peacefully sleeping off the effects
when we were rudely awakened by a German
aeroplane dropping bombs - but we tumbled
grabbed the horses off the lines & scattered.

They didn't do us any damage, but an
Australian Light Horse camp close to us suffered
more or less severely, mostly in horses. It
was a Roland for our Oliver.

I don't like being bombed. You stand
still and watch these beastly machines
circling round you and don't know in the
least where the next bomb is going to drop,
and can do absolutely nothing. It is a
most helpless feeling.

I don't suppose we shall be doing
much more now that the hot weather
is beginning, unless we go to another
scene of operations. We are sort of settling
down in this place, Bir et Maler , (You
may find it on the map). We are fairly
comfortable, are getting double tents for the
sun, and manage to get a few luxuries
in the way of provisions from Port Said ,
at a price, one has to pay through the
nose for everything in Egypt now.

Am sorry to hear you have not

received the long letter I wrote from Anzac
shortly before we left. I am sure it was
the longest letter I ever wrote in my life,
and to think it may have been torpedoed!
Kismit!

There are some wild rumours going
round about efforts being made to allow
officers and men who have completed two
years service in the field, 3 months leave of
absence to visit either England or N.Z. I
am afraid however it is & will remain
only a rumour, and that the wish is
father to the expressed thought - Personally
I could do very well with 3 months leave.

Thank you very much for two parcels
which arrived yesterday; one containing
batteries and the other cocoa, coffee, socks &
drawers. Don't send any more drawers please.
I have plenty & seldom wear them. An
occasional thin undervest is very useful.
Eatables at present are very acceptable, particularly
boiled sweets, one gets a craving for sweet things,
and they are very necessary for health. Cakes
sent in sealed tins arrive here in excellent
preservation - Tobacco or cigarettes are not
necessary, it is like sending coals to Newcastle .

Don't send milk or jam, we nearly always
get it.

I suppose you are well into the
golf season now. How are you getting on,
are you playing much - I tried a swing
with a stick the other day but it was
rather a failure.

Am quite lost without old Andrews here
to yarn to sometimes, we had no secrets from
each other - I find Blakeney the most con-
genial bird in this lot.

Hope Col Findlay 's photo arrives alright,
it was sent with in one parcel with some
others, and will probably reach you from
Waimate .

Good bye for the present, hope to get a
recent letter brining news up to date, before long.

Much love to you both
Roy