Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of Mrs W Kerr, Burrum, Queensland

LETTERS FROM THE FRONT
Mr. and Mrs. W. Kerr, of Kent street, have received the following letter from their son Corporal James Kerr, who is still somewhere in France:—
"We are resting back at Fricourt We never go any further back now so see very little of French villages and habitations. Everything round here is very desolate looking, being all captured territory, and it has had very severe handling. Yesterday I went for a walk to Pozieres and renewed acquaintances with some of the positions I was in. It has altered wonderfully. Most of the shell holes have been filled in, and roads and rail ways are running through it. I could hardly recognise it at first. Everywhere is the evidence of the heavy  toll in lives the capture of it cost. In many cases there are no crosses on the graves, and on others there is a cross in loving memory of an unknown Australian soldier. Large  wooden crosses have been erected to the memory of different battalions. These look very nice. Everything possible has been done to try and fix the graves. The weather has been very changeable lately. Some days snows, then rains and next freezes, and it is not hard to put up with now we are used to it. I think the worst of the winter is over, but I won't  be sorry when the spring comes. Everything seems to be going very well with us now. The enemy is retiring gradually from the front, and we have just heard that  esterday our troops entered Baghdad, which is very good, news."