Letters from William James Gunn Murray to his family, 1916

Letters relating to the First World War service of 5147 Private William James Gunn Murray, 58th Battalion. In these letters to his family, Murray details the voyage from Australia to Egypt and the training that occupied their days once there. Training in the hot days and bitterly cold nights caused him to grow sick of Egypt very quickly. While in Egypt, Murray bids farewell to his brother George who had been sent to the Western Front in France, and soon after he too is sent to France. He considers France a far prettier country and details his arrival at Marseilles and journey north by rail through the countryside, writing of the beauty of the fields and flowers he observed. Murray writes of French farms and their farming practices and notes that due to the war only women and elderly men are available to perform the harvesting. He mentions in the letters that he writes to his brothers George and Leslie (also serving) every week but rarely hears from them. As winter approaches and after the 5th Division is sent to the lower Somme, Murray writes of the war-torn terrain and the bitter cold, mud and rain. The last letter he writes in 1916 leaves him on the Somme, having just come out of the trenches.
This file contains:
Letter from William James Gunn Murray to his sister Lena, [Australia], [January/February, 1916];
Letter from William James Gunn Murray to his family, "At sea", [censored] April [1916];
Letter from William James Gunn Murray to his family, "At Sea", [undated];
Letter from William James Gunn Murray to his family, Egypt, 9 May [1916];
Letter from William James Gunn Murray to his sister Bess, "Abroad", [Egypt], 14 May [1916];
Letter from William James Gun Murray to his family, [Egypt], 16 May [1916];
Letter from William James Gunn Murray to is sister Lena, "On Active Service", [Egypt], 24 May 1916;
Letter from William James Gunn Murray to his family, Egypt, 18 June 1916;
Letter from William James Gunn Murray to his family, France, 4 July 1916;
Letter from William James Gunn Murray to his sister Bess, France, 5 July 1916;
Letter from William James Gunn Murray to his sister Lena, France, 17 July 1916;
Letter from William James Gunn Murray to his family, France, 23 July 1916;
Letter from William James Gunn Murray to his family, France, 1 August 1916;
Letter from William James Gunn Murray to his sister Lena, France, 1 August 1916;
Letter from William James Gunn Murray to his sister Bess, France, 2 August 1916;
Letter from William James Gunn Murray to his family, France, 6 August 1916;
Letter from William James Gunn Murray to his sister Lena, France, 18 September 1916;
Letter from William James Gunn Murray to his family, France, 18 September 1916;
Letter from William James Gunn Murray to his family, France, 30 September 1916;
Letter from William James Gunn Murray to his family, France, 27 October 1916;
Letter from William James Gunn Murray to his family, France, 8 November 1916;
Letter from William James Gunn Murray to his sister Bess, France, 8 November 1916.