Trooper Frank Smart, 7th Australian Light Horse, July/August 1916

The Henty Observer 

and Culcairn Shire Register (NSW)

12 August 1916

In a letter from Trooper Frank Smart, he says: 

"We seem to be settled in the desert for the duration of the war. As long as we are on the desert we will see very little fighting. However a chap might just as well be here as anywhere else; somebody has got to do the work here. I have got a bonza little pony now and hope to be able to keep it. 

This morning we saw the start of a duel in the air between two aeroplanes. Our chap seemed to be putting in good work and the last that we could see of it, our man seemed to be chasing the enemy plane out to sea. It was a great sight. Enemy planes come over this way nearly every day, but this is the first time we have seen them meet. Our planes are doing great work about this front. We are about 30 or 40 miles from the Turkish lines. I was speaking to Harry Robrich to day; he is looking exceptionally well.

Soldier Identified: Trooper Frank Smart, Service No. 1769, 7th Australian Light Horse Regiment, A.I.F. Returned to Australia, 22 July 1918.

An aeroplane dropping a message at the headquarters at Salmana, Sinai, just prior to the attack on El Mazaar, September 1916. (Courtesy: Australian War Memorial)

Sources:

1. From our Soldiers (1916, August 12). The Henty Observer and Culcairn Shire Register (NSW : 1914 - 1950), p. 2. 
2. An aeroplane dropping a message at the headquarters at Salmana, Sinai, just prior to the attack on El Mazaar, September 1916. Australian War Memorial