Letter and Envelope, Percy R Manson
Maker
Manson, Percy Robert
Production date
1917
Object detail
Brief Description
Letter and envelope from Percy R Manson
a) Letter from Percy R Manson to his sister Mabel. Written while on active service in Palestine and dated 31 August 1917. The letter reads:
Dear Mabel,
Just received one of your most & ever welcome letter dated 19 June. Very pleased to see that you have all been keeping in the best of health. Well May I am still in the land of the Jews so I suppose we will all be like Jews when we get back to old NZ. The weather is about the same, still fairly hot. I have not noticed the heat this summer as last. I think I am getting climatised now. Our bivvies are about a couple of hundred yds from the sea so we indulge in swimming a great deal. I see by your letter that Walter has left NZ for the seat of war. I had a letter from him & he was saying he had the misfortune to sprain his ankle. I don’t suppose I will see him as he will be going to England to finish his training, & then to France. I would not mind going to England to. They seem to get a fair amount of leave over there so I daresay one would be able to have a good look round. I see that you have been having very wet weather in HB & that some of the farmers lost a lot of stock (did your farmer husband lose any sheep). I thought that horse of yours might have got into difficulties as I don’t think he could stand much. We have started getting leave again. It is about time as it is nearly eight months since my last leave. One wants a change for a few days so that you can get some decent tucker without any sand & flies. The prices in Egypt are much dearer that NZ but sometimes you can beat them down, it is all Piastres here, the value of a Piastre is about 2/2. Bert Houghton is still in the Auckland regiment. He is about the same size as when he was in Tiko. I was talking to Billy Flynn, he is a great lad is Billy, he was saying that his old man was still alive. By jove he must be very old, and also that old cove that use to life next door to him. I see they are going to call up the married men soon. I don’t suppose Fred will be able to get away with that finger of his off. The war does not look like if it is coming to an end yet. There has been very heavy fighting in France this last two months. The Italians have been doing very good work. I wonder how Alfie Walker is getting on. I always use to feel sorry for Alfie because being like one of Wills brothers who could not of been popular by the way Mrs Walker use to talk about him. I suppose Charles is still in the Army, he is such a good boy. I suppose you have read a lot about Palestine. The towns which we have only seen on paper don’t look bad, such as Gaza, Jaffa, & Damascus Jeruselean (sic). I don’t think it will be many month before we might have the pleasure of seeing them. We have come across old ruined cities which I suppose were there before Christ. Some of the chaps use to go and pick up curious(sic) such as old Roman coins, of course they are very hard to find & one is very lucky if he comes across some. Well May, I think I will have to come to an end now. Hoping these few lines will find you and Fred and Viv in the best of health as it leaves me at present.
I am Your loving brother
Percy R Manson.
b) Military issue envelope for use on Active Service. Addressed to Mrs Fr Millin care of Mrs S Manson.
a) Letter from Percy R Manson to his sister Mabel. Written while on active service in Palestine and dated 31 August 1917. The letter reads:
Dear Mabel,
Just received one of your most & ever welcome letter dated 19 June. Very pleased to see that you have all been keeping in the best of health. Well May I am still in the land of the Jews so I suppose we will all be like Jews when we get back to old NZ. The weather is about the same, still fairly hot. I have not noticed the heat this summer as last. I think I am getting climatised now. Our bivvies are about a couple of hundred yds from the sea so we indulge in swimming a great deal. I see by your letter that Walter has left NZ for the seat of war. I had a letter from him & he was saying he had the misfortune to sprain his ankle. I don’t suppose I will see him as he will be going to England to finish his training, & then to France. I would not mind going to England to. They seem to get a fair amount of leave over there so I daresay one would be able to have a good look round. I see that you have been having very wet weather in HB & that some of the farmers lost a lot of stock (did your farmer husband lose any sheep). I thought that horse of yours might have got into difficulties as I don’t think he could stand much. We have started getting leave again. It is about time as it is nearly eight months since my last leave. One wants a change for a few days so that you can get some decent tucker without any sand & flies. The prices in Egypt are much dearer that NZ but sometimes you can beat them down, it is all Piastres here, the value of a Piastre is about 2/2. Bert Houghton is still in the Auckland regiment. He is about the same size as when he was in Tiko. I was talking to Billy Flynn, he is a great lad is Billy, he was saying that his old man was still alive. By jove he must be very old, and also that old cove that use to life next door to him. I see they are going to call up the married men soon. I don’t suppose Fred will be able to get away with that finger of his off. The war does not look like if it is coming to an end yet. There has been very heavy fighting in France this last two months. The Italians have been doing very good work. I wonder how Alfie Walker is getting on. I always use to feel sorry for Alfie because being like one of Wills brothers who could not of been popular by the way Mrs Walker use to talk about him. I suppose Charles is still in the Army, he is such a good boy. I suppose you have read a lot about Palestine. The towns which we have only seen on paper don’t look bad, such as Gaza, Jaffa, & Damascus Jeruselean (sic). I don’t think it will be many month before we might have the pleasure of seeing them. We have come across old ruined cities which I suppose were there before Christ. Some of the chaps use to go and pick up curious(sic) such as old Roman coins, of course they are very hard to find & one is very lucky if he comes across some. Well May, I think I will have to come to an end now. Hoping these few lines will find you and Fred and Viv in the best of health as it leaves me at present.
I am Your loving brother
Percy R Manson.
b) Military issue envelope for use on Active Service. Addressed to Mrs Fr Millin care of Mrs S Manson.
Collection
Production date
1917
Production place
Production period
Production technique
Media/Materials description
a) Handwritten in pencil on lined paper.
b) Printed in green ink on white paper with handwriting in blue and black ink. Black ink stamps.
b) Printed in green ink on white paper with handwriting in blue and black ink. Black ink stamps.
Media/Materials
Measurements
Height x Width: 260 x 199mm
Height x Width: 108 x 145mm
Height x Width: 108 x 145mm
Signature/Inscription
Tpr P R Manson, Inscription, Handwritten
Mounted Brigade Field Post Office / 1 September, Stamp, Stamped
Mrs Fr Millin c/o Mrs S Manson at Napier Terrace, Napier, Inscription, Handwritten
Mounted Brigade Field Post Office / 1 September, Stamp, Stamped
Mrs Fr Millin c/o Mrs S Manson at Napier Terrace, Napier, Inscription, Handwritten
Classification terms
Subject person
Subject period
Subject date
31 Aug 1917
Credit line
from the Viv Millin Collection
Other number(s)
m2002/25/447, 70254
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