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WWI letters bring families together

WARTIME letters from a Wahroonga soldier to his future wife lay undisturbed for more than half a century, tightly bound in a handmade wooden box at the back of a linen cupboard.

Portrait of Ben Champion in uniform.
Portrait of Ben Champion in uniform.

WARTIME letters from a Wahroonga soldier to his future wife lay undisturbed for more than half a century, tightly bound in a handmade wooden box at the back of a linen cupboard.

Now his words from Gallipoli and France will see the light of day again as the centrepiece of a book commemorating 100 years since the end of World War One.

It will be launched next week in a remembrance service at St Johns Uniting Church attended by families of some of the 400 Diggers mentioned in the letters and diaries of Lt Ben Champion, who lived for almost 20 years in Stuart St, Wahroonga.

When his granddaughter Penny Ferguson found the letters at her mother’s house in Coffs Harbour she felt “intimidated” because they were so fragile. But she had no doubt they should be published.

“I think he meant to write this book (Ben And His Mates) himself and he would be very pleased to know he and all his mates are being remembered,” she said.

The young soldier wrote prolifically – every day or two - to his sweetheart back at home, Francis (Frank) Niland.

“He writes of the songs they were singing and the books he was reading in the trenches. He wrote, too, of the changing perceptions he had of the enemy. He knew he was on the battlefields of ancient armies. He writes of how homesick he is for his family and friends back home and how desperate he is for their letters,” said the author.

“It references life and attitudes of the time, Ben’s relationships with his peers, his experiences as he embarks to Egypt, life in the trenches and then life back home, learning to assimilate back into society.”

Cover photo from the new book Ben And His Mates dedicated to the letters and diaries of World War One soldier Ben Champion.
Cover photo from the new book Ben And His Mates dedicated to the letters and diaries of World War One soldier Ben Champion.

His words resonate through the succeeding generations, striking a chord with Penny’s daughter Claudia Liebenberg, who named her two-year-old son Ben after her great grandfather.

“It has taken a long time for the story to come out,” she said.

“It’s not just a war story; it’s a love story. You can sense his fears and anxieties. Does she feel the same way? Is she waiting for me? The feelings they had 100 years ago we feel today. War is not just the names of dead men on a cenotaph.”

Claudia Liebenberg at the war memorial with her son Benjamin, who was named after her great grandfather, Lt Ben Champion. Picture: AAP/Adam Yip.
Claudia Liebenberg at the war memorial with her son Benjamin, who was named after her great grandfather, Lt Ben Champion. Picture: AAP/Adam Yip.

The book also serves as a social commentary. A letter from Frank after the Armistice on November 11, 1918, relates: “We had great news at 8pm last night and we nearly went dotty. Father, Marjorie, Dot, Tom and myself started parading the Wahroonga streets and after that quite a number of people came out. I whistled so hard, nearly blew out my teeth. Marjorie took out our potato tin and mother’s porridge ladle. Dot had a copper bowl. We made an unholy row. About 10 boys on bikes riding along with an empty kerosene tin trailing behind, kicked up dust and a row. But isn’t the news glorious.”

Ben lost a leg at Pradelles on the western front in April, 1918, and two days later his best mate Art from Wahroonga at nearby Strazeele.

When he returned from war as an amputee he studied at Sydney University, became a dentist and married Francis. They went to live in Newcastle and had two daughters. He died in 1978, aged 82.

*Ben And His Mates RRP $64.95 www.echobooks.com.au/military All profits to Trojan’s Trek, Veterans Helping Veterans.

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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/north-shore/wwi-letters-bring-families-together/news-story/59847c6496e2600728cf407a46210809