These are letters written by my grandfather Wilfred (Bill) Charles Cundell Satchell while serving in the 2nd Division, 5th Brigade, 19th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during World War 1. He was a prolific writer, there are over fifty letters here to his mother, father and younger brother Ron, and mention is made to many letters written to other friends and family members.
He joined the Army on the 10th May 1915 as a private at Liverpool in Sydney aged 20. The 19th battalion left Australia on 25th June 1915, trained in Egypt from late July until mid-August, and on 21st August landed at Anzac Cove. He served in Gallipoli until the evacuation in December 1915. He then served on the Western Front in France and Belgium until returning home as a lieutenant in June 1919. He was awarded the Military Cross for action near Amiens in August 1918.
He married his wartime sweetheart and my grandmother, Una Brown, in 1922. He was the manager of the Commonwealth Bank in Coonabarabran New South Wales during the 1930s and then in Dee Why from 1941 until 1960 when he retired. He died in 1972.
He joined the Army on the 10th May 1915 as a private at Liverpool in Sydney aged 20. The 19th battalion left Australia on 25th June 1915, trained in Egypt from late July until mid-August, and on 21st August landed at Anzac Cove. He served in Gallipoli until the evacuation in December 1915. He then served on the Western Front in France and Belgium until returning home as a lieutenant in June 1919. He was awarded the Military Cross for action near Amiens in August 1918.
He married his wartime sweetheart and my grandmother, Una Brown, in 1922. He was the manager of the Commonwealth Bank in Coonabarabran New South Wales during the 1930s and then in Dee Why from 1941 until 1960 when he retired. He died in 1972.
The story of how I came across these letters is fascinating in it's own right. It started with a random act of kindness from a complete stranger in April 2013, who was calling all the Satchells in the Sydney phone book. He directed me to a letter for sale on eBay by a Canadian collector. Unfortunately this sale had just closed. About a month later another phone call and another letter was up for sale. This time I was able to bid on the auction and I was successful. When the seller saw my name, he asked if I was related. When I replied I was his grandson, he said that this was the last of the letters he had, but he had scanned images of all the others and would be happy to give copies of these to me. He also said he had seen letters written by Bill's brother Roy, who is mentioned many times, but he had never owned any.
The transcriptions were done by me. I have tried to keep the spelling as originally written. There are a few places where the writing is indecipherable, and I have either put in a comment or guessed at what the missing letters or word are. All other errors are mine.
Glenn Satchell, Sydney, Australia, [email protected]
Glenn Satchell, Sydney, Australia, [email protected]