A BOOK on the letters sent by an Anzac soldier who spent time in Weymouth has been published by his niece, Anne McCosker, a professional historian who lives in Weymouth, published the book after transcribing letters sent by Lieutenant Frederick Martin during his service in the Australian Infantry force between 1914 and 1917.
Ms McCosker was given a bundle of letters sent by Lt. Martin during the war by her aunt in the 1970s, but decided against reading them and placed them into storage.
It wasn't until nearly 40 years later when Ms McCosker moved to Weymouth with her husband Dr Richard Buckley that they read the letters and started to transcribe them.
It was then that they noticed the Westham postage stamp on the letters, and realised that Lt. Martin had been based at Weymouth.
Ms McCosker, originally from Queensland in Australia, said: “It was quite astonishing to find that my uncle had lived in Weymouth and that I could see the camp from my bedroom window.
“He fought at Gallipoli and during that period, he caught typhoid and was sent to the camps in Weymouth to recover.
“He was based at the Westham camp and spent eight months in Weymouth recovering from the illness from January until August 1916. He was in Weymouth longer than at any other base he was deployed, and he had a great attachment to the place.
“We think he came back here in 1917 when he was on leave, shortly before he was killed in action.”
The letters, plus other material such as maps of the camp at Westham and exerts from the Australian newspaper published on camp during the war and supplied by Fred Larcombe, were compiled to produce the book which is called “Lieutenant Martin's Letters: F.W.S Martin, M.M, An Anzac in the Great War.”
It is now set to become the focus of a new permanent exhibition at the Nothe Fort which is dedicated to the First World War and will feature the Anzac soldiers who spent time recovering from war wounds and illnesses in Weymouth during the war. The exhibition is scheduled to open sometime in August this year.
The book can be purchased from the Nothe Fort or from Books Afloat, and for more information on Mrs McCosker or to get in touch, visit annemccosker.com
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