He wrote regular letters to his parents and his sister in Nelson, a small city in the South Island of New Zealand. The letters which have been kept by his family begin after the troopship left Wellington. We have permission to publish them in NZine. Alister turns twenty one on a fine day, but cold weather is setting in. He is among those given two weeks' spell, and they play football to keep warm.
Parcels are much appreciated.
Parcels, letters, magazines, money and tobacco are especially welcome. Alister is sent on a sanitation course and comments on the big effort to prevent disease in the summer. Alister has been a year away from New Zealand and is still in good health, but longs for good drinking water. The soldiers dig trenches in the mud for cables, trek for three days as part of training, but also play rugby games. Alister writes about trekking, the warmer temperatures, 'cross-eyed maidens selling chocolate', sleeping in a barn full of rats and smelling of the pig sty, being inspected by General Godley, seeing the Kiwis' stage show, the sky lighting up during gun battles at night, and the war in the air.