A Soldiers Letter – Ted Lennell

LETTER FROM LANCE-CORPORAL TED LENNELL

Mr. W. T Piper, of the Boulder Council staff, has received the following interesting letter from Lance-Corp Ted Lennel, son of  E. Lennell of Boulder who is with the Cyclists Battalion on training in England, he said  “We are now camped in Wiltshire, one of the southern counties of England. The surroundings are most beautiful. They consist of homesteads and farms, and everything is green. Wildflowers of all descriptions and colours are in full bloom.  One pretty sight to see here is the tall rich coloured poppy, growing amongst a crop of Wheat or Barley.  There are no fences for divisions, hedges take their place, which adds to the scenery, especially the Mayflower with its fine white blossom. I can tell you one does enjoy this place after that brute of a place, Egypt, with the sandy desert and the Arabs.

We left ‘Tel El Kobir’ at 11 p.m. in open trucks for Alexandra, took us six hours, slow travelling in the darkness. It was the coldest ride I ever felt. We embarked on a South African mail boat called the Briton and hung about until the next day. Then we set sail for somewhere, which turned out to be Plymouth, a trip of nine days. It was a most exciting time, as everybody had to wear a life belt in case of submarine attacks, which, thank the Lord, we missed, although only two days before we arrived at Gibraltar two ships were torpedoed. The crews boarded our ship to come home. It is a fine sight to see some of England’s greyhounds (destroyers) flying past you, looking for an enemy ship and keeping watch, We received the sad news of the death of our grand old soldier, Lord Kitchener, by wireless. It put a gloom over the whole ship.

Cprl Edward (Ted) S Lennell MM (Military Medal) and Private Victor O’Grady Boulder 1930

We passed wreckage floating past, sharks following everything, so we soon realised that something had happened. We left the troopship on June 8th at 12.30p.m, boarded a train and proceeded in a nice soft seated carriage to ride in, something new for us. The first station of size to stop was Exeter, where the Mayoress and committee received troops and distributed hot tea, cakes, and scones, which were enjoyed by everyone considering breakfast was at 5.30 in the morning.  It was now 4.20 p.m and we had nothing to eat or drink, so you can guess how the kindness of the Mayoress was received.

After an hour’s wait for a fresh engine, we were off again for our new camp. At Tidworth station, we were met by English soldiers, with wagons and mules harnessed up to convey our packs to camp. Marched off at 9:30, took the wrong road, and arrived at camp at 11,30, as all the lights were out and it was cold and miserable. We had some hot tea given us, it was the weakest tea I ever saw, tired out, all hands turned into bed, and that ended our glorious trip.

Every minute one gets we are out touring the villages seeing all the old relics. Close to here is a church which is 600 years old. Salisbury Cathedral is one finest sights I have seen. I can hardly explain it, but if ever you get a chance to see it, do. We are marching out of this camp tomorrow for a new one. We are going to be welcomed by the village people as we are the first Australians to arrive there. You will notice that I have got one stripe, or one step up the ladder of promotion and hope to have the second one by the time these lines reach you.  I don’t know when we will go to the front. We have a lot to learn before we are perfect. I do hope we will get a bang at those brutes of Germans. Our Anzac lads are shaking them up. It is wonderful the fuss the English people make of us.”

Edward ‘Ted’ Samuel Lennell was born in Adelaide South Australia in 1883, the son of Susannah (nee COAD) and Thomas Lennell of 69 King Street, Boulder.  He died on 18th Feb 1961 aged 79yrs and is buried in the Boulder Cemetery with his sister, Ruby Hilda Olive Lennell aged 81yrs in 1879.