Kereru Write Letters Home from War

 We have been learning about ANZAC(Australia New Zealand Army Corps) Day and its meanings. We also learned about Gallipoli and Chunuk Bair the hill that the Anzacs captured. We learned about this because quite a few people don’t know about the true meaning of Anzac Day. We made our own letter to our parents about what happened when we were in the war.  

This is my Letter. 

Corporal Liam Cuff

Dear Mum                         86 Kaniere Road                   19/12/1915

I hope you are well and not worrying. I have been on the battlefield for 7 weeks now and I have ranked up to the position of Corporal. On the boat, we had boxing matches and did a lot of training. What I didn’t know was that we were actually heading to Cairo. 

It was December 21st when we got there. All we did was walk and train, and walk and train. In between, we also played cricket but it was too bloody hot. We hated it, all we wanted to do was go out to war. Finally, after 4 long months, we set the course to Gallipoli. 

It was April 25th when we got there. It was like nothing I had ever imagined. There were bullets raining down like hailstones and men falling left and right. I felt the adrenaline rush through me so I ran for my life, then we all realized the fools had sent us to the wrong side of the island. This one had a big steep slope. We had to dig a trench to get away from the bullets. When we got into the trench I went looking for my friend James but then one of the other soldiers told me he got caught in the crossfire. 

We stayed in the trenches for ages. It smelled of sweat and vomit and the sea was crimson red from the blood of our comrades that died. We wanted to give up because we lost so many soldiers on the first day during the crossfire. But we went on to claim the hill Chunuk Bair. We had the high ground for a while but the Turks came back and outnumbered us. While on Chunuk Bair my Comrades and I shot about 9,200 Turks but we don’t know how many died. We also had around 2,500 of our soldiers hit and around 800 of them died, sadly one of the losses was my other friend William.

After they outnumbered us we went out to a new trench and set up some guns that randomly fired using water, buckets, and string. While they were going off the Turks were distracted so we ran away. They didn’t know we were gone for quite some time. 

After you have read this please share it with the rest of our family.

I thought it was pretty cool getting to make a letter about the war. I learned a lot of things about what happened to the Anzacs, why they wanted to go to war and where they went, and what they did.
 

Do you have any relation that went to war or fought for their country?