“Dear parents ... I am not afraid of death.”
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
So starts a letter home from Corporal Stephen Flett, who was shot and killed 100 years ago last Monday on a Frence battle field during the height of World War One.
On Sunday Corporal Flett’s family gathered at his old school in Woodvale to remember him.
The school is now the town’s public hall and bears a tribute to Corporal Flett and other locals killed in action.
Great-nephew Stephen Kirkpatrick said about 30 family members came, three of whom were in their 90s and traveled up from Melbourne.
As well as speeches on stories they had heard about the soldier, family members also read out letters home from the front.
“I was surprised to find myself getting quite emotional when reading the letter out loud. A few of us were getting emotional even though we never knew him,” Mr Kirkpatrick said.
Letters paint picture of loss
The letters, some of which were published in the Bendigo Advertiser during World War One, have been stored in the inside cover of the family’s Bible for years.
In what is thought to be the last letter he wrote home to his family, Corporal Flett talked of heavy fighting and expectations of another imminent battle.
“You could never realise what modern warfare is like. But every cloud has a silver lining, and we all realise that our foe must be beaten at all costs,” he wrote.
Two weeks later he was shot dead while acting as a sniper. A fellow soldier who witnessed the death wrote home to Corporal Flett’s mother.
“Poor old chap, he never spoke. Death was instantaneous. The bullet hit him on the left cheek and came out behind the ear,” the soldier wrote.
“It’s hard to write you these sad tidings, Mrs Flett. I know you would like to know if he was decently buried.
“My own pal was killed on the same day. His grave has since been seen with a neat cross over it. Therefore I’m certain Corporal Flett has been buried likewise.”