Egypt, 31/3/16

Dear Gwen,
I am enclosing half a dozen prints of photos which I was able to take when in Cairo at the beginning of the month. Please note that my address is now 6/1917, D.R. McLean, 2nd Company, N.Z. Machine Gun Corps, N.Z.E.F. in future it will be well to address everything thus as I am now quite apart from the Cant. Inf. Batn.
We made an early start this morning at at four o'clock and came back again at one this afternoon this finishes us for the day.
Egypt is now becoming very hot and the flies are troublesome but we are living in hopes of going to France soon.
I trust that you are all in good health. Love to all, your affectionate brother,
Rawei

Dear Elsie,
I received you letter of 6th July yesterday and was glad to learn that you were all in good health.
The heat and the flies are becoming a bit trying here in Egypt and we are in the hopes that we will be sent to France shortly. My new address in future will be No. 2 Coy, N.Z. Machine Gun Corps, N.Z.E.F. Letters addressed to Canty Inf. Batn are likely to be considerable delayed so please use my new address. It is really not much use sending any parcels as they very often go astray and in any case if we go into action again it will probably be in a place not many miles distant from of the world's biggest cities and where we will be supplied with all the things that have hitherto been luxuries.
Gordon McDonald is here looking well I see him occasionally. I ran across Stand Green when up in Cairo he has a base job at Kasr-el Nil Barracks. Well I will close now.
Love to all, your affectionate brother, Rawei

School of Instruction, Zeitoun, 21/3/16

Dear Dad,
I have been down here for about three weeks at the School of Instruction going through a course on the Machine Gun. We return to our units at Ismailia tomorrow. I have managed to get through the examinations here with an average of 95% this gives me an instructors certificate and I will probably have the opportunity of stopping as an instructor if I feel so inclined. It would be a soft job 3 weeks work and the one week's holiday but I don't think I will take it on as it would mean leaving my unit a thing I would not care to do after being with it for so long.
While I have been here I have been able to go out to the Pyramids and look around generally. We have had no N.Z. mail for over six weeks but there should be some letters for us in camp when we return.
I ran across Stanley Green in Cairo the other day. He was hit in the August advance and now has a job at the base here. Gordon when I saw him last was looking in great form.
Well, I trust this finds you all in good health, with love to all,
Your affectionate son,
Rawei

Zeitoun, 14th March 1916

Dear Dad,
I came down here a week ago to the school of instruction to go through a three weeks course on the machine gun. There are about a couple of dozen New Zealanders here at the school and seven or eight hundred men from other divisions. Scotch and English Regts., Australians, Canadians, Sth Africans, and even a West Indian Brigade have all got their representatives here. We have about seven and a half hours a day of instructional work, mostly lectures which have to be written up at night so that we fairly busy.
I am in good form again and feel just about as fit as when I left N.Z. I weigh 13 st 1 lb.
We do not think we will be in Egypt much longer but have not much idea where we will go.
The letters you wrote on your arrival at Wellington reached me alright but I have not recieved any later mail. This trip down here gives me an opportunity to have a look at the pyramids the Sphinx and the other wonders of the place.
Trusting that everything is going satisfactorily and that you are all in good health.
With love to all, Rawei

Belgium, 12/3/16

My Dear,
Just a line to let you know that I am still carrying on. We have had a good bit of snow and ice during the past few months but the weather seems to be turning warmer now and it should not be long before it clears up for the summer.
I trust things are going well with you in the central NZ. Rabbit seems to have a god market we see a lot of it over here in the canteens and shops, tinned. If you will understand what I mean by "Stopping at a farm".
Although we still have a few late frosts here Spring has arrived and we can now look forward to warmer weather and I suppose a month or so of mud. However, we are well enough provided for and neither the cold nor the mud causes us much inconvenience. I have not acome accross Gordon McDonald for some time but he is no doubt still going strong. Gwen is lucky to be able to stop at home for another year or so. Hope she did well with her exams.
It seems a lot of rot that they should be talking of strikes in NZ just now. They should send them out here, or send a few of us back with a gun to fix them.
A lot of the gift parcels have just arrived and for the past week we have been living on plum pudding, cakes and chocolate all of which were nonetheless acceptable for being a couple of months late.
Well I trust this finds you all in good health and spirits.
Love to all, your affectionate son, Rawei