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War Memorial
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Letter published in the Bendigonian newspaper on January 25 1917 a full two and half months after Private B. Alfred Freestone was killed. The letter was written 9 days before Alfred was killed on November 7 1916 in the Flers & Gueudecourt Battle. Published with Photo advising of his death. 

KILLED AT THE FRONT.
A PATHETIC LETTER.
THOUGHTS OF CHRISTMAS.
The following letter, dated 29th October (nine days before he was killed), was sent from Private B. Alfred Freestone (whose photo. appears in this issue) to his mother, Mrs. J. Freestone, of Bendigo:
"You wiil see by the address'that we are back in France again. We have been on the move for more than a week now, and are still going - We have travelled about a lot since being in France and Belgium, and
have been fighting on different fronts. We are now allowed to tell you that muich.
When we came to France first we went into
the firing line at a place called Feurbaix.
the next time at Armentieres (where we had
it pretty hot) and then at Pozieres, on
the Somme. We werethere twice, about a month altogether, and took part in two charges. We lost pretty heavily there, but the Germans lost twice as many or more.
I have seen them piled up in dug outs and
spread around dead in hundreds. It is simply slaughter with the big artillery, and the Germans are only too glaid to give themselves up when they get a chance.
After a charge when we take their first line of trenches they generally deliver three or four counteraittacks during the day, and come at us in massed formation.
We just wait, and simply mow them down.
You will see them come within at hundred
yards of our trench, and hundreds of them will throw down their hand bombs, put thleir hands up, and cry, 'Mercy kamarade,' and surrender. lf the German
machine gunners notice them, they turn
their guns on them and slaughter them.
They seemed afraid of the Australians at first when they came in, but when they see we don't harm them they are as happy as kids. Some of them won't take a drink at first; they think we will poison them.
It is funny to see some of our boys going through their pockets for souvenirs. We get them carrying wounded, and as some of them are Red Cross men, we have them bandaging our own as well as their men.
They are good at bandages. One thing, the
Germans never fire on the stretcher-bearers.
Of course, it applies both ways. We could fire on theirs, but we have been right up against their trench carrying, and never had a shot fired at us. It is terribly hard work carrying wounded; sometimes we have
to carry them two or three miles, and mud
up to our knees.
After we left the Somme front we went
up into the firing line at Ypres, in Belgiuim. Whilst there 15 of us were detailed on a special job. We went into the trenches every morning early, and came out in the evening. We had to walk about four miles
both ways. Ypres, the town where we were
billeted, is a mass of ruins. Where we
stayed used to be a flash hotel, now all the
top is ruins, but underneath was good.
There are underground bedrooms there, and
plenty of beds. We had a big fireplace and
a cook, and got plenty of vegetables on the
road home from work, where houses used to
be, so we enjoyed ourselves pretty well, hav
ing no boss for a while and a big fire, there
being plenty of wood from the ruins. Now
we are in France again, and going into it once more. Of course, you will know before this reaches you where we will be fighting, but it is somewhere in France.
The weather is awfully cold, and it is raining nearly every day. I don't know how we will get on about Christmas time; it will be the middle of winter then. They say January and February are the worst. I
am still in good health, and my mates also.
Some of the boys have been to England, and they say the people almost worship Australians there. I hope to get a trip across there some day. I hope I get your
Christmas box alright, but if I don't I expect someone else will. It was sad last time for a month or two after we came out of the trenches-parcels, etc., coming for
the poor chaps who were not here. They divided them up, of course, but we have to get used to hard things at this game. If we are not hardened we will never beat the brutes.

Published in the Bendigonion Newspaper Jan 25 1917 

Aged 33 years, Pte Freestone enlisted on 16 July 1915 and embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT Moldavia on 5 October 1915. He was killed in action on 7 November 1916 at Flers, France.

His brother-in-law, 3867 Sergeant Arthur Strahan MM, A Company, 57th Battalion, was killed in action on 20 July 1916.

Souce: AWM