War Letters Tell Stories of the First ‘ANZACs’

War Letters from the Boy from Timaru Tell Stories of the First ‘ANZACs’

By Ben Mercer, Content Director at family history website Ancestry

On 1 November 1914, a joint force of New Zealand and Australian troops left Albany, Western Australia, destined to become legends. This weekend marks exactly one hundred years since New Zealand and Australian troops first came together as ANZACs - in all but name.

The convoy of 38 troopships that left Albany harbour on that historic Sunday included ten New Zealand vessels, carrying 30,000 men heading for battle - almost a third of whom (8,500) were volunteers - and 7,500 horses. They were escorted by seven warships, including one from the UK, one from Japan, two from Australia and three from New Zealand.

What the soldiers didn’t know at the time was that they would soon combine into a single fighting force – the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, or ‘ANZAC’ for short. Under this banner, they would earn glory. To quote the Auckland Star of 3 September 1915, reporting on Gallipoli: “The Anzacs fought like lions and accomplished a feat of arms almost without parallel.”

Boy from Timaru
On board the convoy was a young Kiwi soldier Cecil Malthus, whose many letters sent home during the conflict give fascinating insight into the experience of the soldiers of the 1st New Zealand Expeditionary Force at the time.

Records on Ancestry reveal details about Malthus’ life and travels. In 1911, the New Zealand Electoral Roll listed Cecil as a student in the in the Timaru district, however by the time war broke out he was teaching at a Boys College in Nelson, according to his New Zealand Army WWI Nominal Roll.

Malthus’ literary gift is demonstrated in his letters. In one, dated 13 November 1914, he reveals his first impression of Australians he had seen on the wharf in Albany. “One could notice that they were a distinctly different type, bred of the great heat and poverty of the country.”

Like his comrades, Malthus had great expectations of this venture that were not always met. “I am disappointed in the tropics. They are so like anywhere else,” he writes. “Even the heat is not up to expectations.”

A stopover in Sri Lanka at least, did excite the young soldier. He says the harbour at Colombo “was teeming with shipping and presented an animated scene, but it was the shore that attracted our attention. There were the domes and towers and temples and slums, the bright red tiles and cliffs, the dark clustering palms and the tender green of banana gardens – the splendour and the squalor of the East.”

The Yemeni city of Aden also seemed appealing, though the troops did not get shore leave to experience the city close up. “It was the more disappointing, as the town had a very strange and interesting appearance from the distance, and the few Arabs who came out in boats were very picturesque fellows.” Later he notes: “It is one of the few compensations of this war – its great educational value.”

Being part of such a large Imperial force did make an impression on the Kiwis. “Coming among these other troops, and hearing of the great events occurring every day, gave us handful of New Zealanders a notion of our own insignificance, but it gave us also a thrilling sense of getting into the midst of things, a quickening interest and a keen perception of grim reality.”

After arriving in Egypt, the New Zealanders found out that they were to remain in the Middle East. In a letter written in Cairo on 12 December, Malthus admits: “I hardly need to say that we were horribly disappointed when we found our destination was Egypt. Right up to Suez we were quite positive that we were going to Europe.”

Months of training followed, a time rife with rumour. On 28 February 1915 Malthus writes: “There is another rumour today that we are going to the Dardanelles, but I don’t believe it.”

The rumour proved correct though, and the seeds for the ANZAC legend had been planted. On 4 March 1915 Malthus writes: “Our NZ division now consists of all the NZ troops, two battalions of Australian infantry and a whole brigade of Australian Light Horse.”

So the New Zealand and Australian troops who had left Albany together four months earlier became ANZACs – even if the name only entered common use in the Gallipoli campaign.

Home from war
And as for Cecil? After fighting in the Middle East and the Somme, he was discharged with the rank of sergeant on 5 April 1917 on account of wounds received in action. Having served abroad for two years and 144 days, he returned from war to marry the girl that he had been writing to - Jessie Hazel Annandale Watters.

A troopship stop-off in Tasmania in 1914 must have made a strong impression on the young soldier, because in 1928 this is where he was living with his wife, according to the Australia Electoral Rolls 1903-1980. In 1935 he was back in New Zealand, as a university professor in Canterbury.

Malthus wrote two books on his war experiences: Armentieres and the Somme and Anzac: A Retrospect. Cecil Malthus passed away in 1976.

Ancestry has millions of historical records available online where you can check if any of your ancestors were part of the first contingent to leave for World War One. Visit www.ancestry.com.au to find out more.

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