Letters from the troops: ANZAC pens

This year's ANZAC Day will be unlike any other with public gatherings, not to mention marches out of the question. Of course this won’t prevent our widespread remembrance and respect paid to past and present serving men and women.

We have reported on other ways that these sentiments are expressed, in particular the pens turned by members of woodworking clubs around Australia and coordinated by Gippsland Woodcraft Group member Mik Lawrence.

Club members have in return received many letters of thanks, some samples of which are below:

G'day Mik and the Gippsland Woodworkers,

My name is Connor and I'm a Lance Corporal mechanic in the Australian Army, currently deployed in Afghanistan. I have just received a .303 pen made by you and i personally wanted to thank you. I feel honored and privileged and cannot thank you enough for taking the time and effort in making this pen. If I'm ever in Gippsland, i'll be sure to come round and have a few beers with you guys. Thank you again for the pen.

Cheers
Connor

 

Hello Mik,
My name is Daniel XXX and I am a current member of the ADF deployed in the Middle East area of Operations. I am writing to thank you for the amazing pen I received from you. We all really appreciate the time and sacrifice made by you to craft such a fine pen and send it to us. I love the .303 round and the maple capping, you’re truly talented. Thanks again Mik and I hope you have a great ANZAC day.

 

G’day Mik,

I’m writing you to express my thanks for your contribution of ‘Pens for the Troops’ initiative. I’ve received one of your pens with a .303 cartridge and Queensland maple – I find them both ironic as I’ve done most of my soldiering in Queensland and at one stage went to school at Lithgow, home of the .303s from both World Wars and supplying the rifles we use today. The pens have added a much appreciated boost to morale given the current climate of uncertainty occurring from COVID-19 and the nature of things here in Afghanistan. I hope you’re well and I look forward to using your pen.

Kind regards
Aaron

 

G’day Mik,

I am currently on deployment, flying C-130s in the Middle East and have just received a pen with your card attached. As you can imagine with the current COVID-19 restrictions and the strained international relationships in this part of the world we are enduring quite a stressful work environment at the moment.

It was however, a great gift to receive this fine artisan made pen and a great reminder of the past sacrifices of ANZACs that have come before. A sobering reminder that despite the hardships we face over here, these pale in comparison to the conditions faced in conflicts past. Thank you very much for taking the time out to craft these gifts, I for one can guarantee that mine will remain cherished for many years to come.

All the very best,
TWO-EY

 

Dear Mr Lawrence

I am writing to you to say a very big thank you for the beautiful handcrafted pen I received today whilst serving on deployment in the Middle East. I must say as soon as I saw your connection to Gippsland Woodworks on your card, I thought what a coincidence, my Mum lives in Yarram, making it all the more special.

I have been deployed to the Middle East (Bahrain) for the past 4 months and due back to Australia in July (COVID travel restrictions dependent of course!) with a husband and two boys aged 18 and 16, that are keen to have me home.

I am currently serving as a XXX at the US Navy Base in Bahrain as part of the International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC). The IMSC headquarters is made up of over 90 personnel from US, UK, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and 5 fellow Aussies. I am qualified Maritime Trade Operations officer and my role within IMSC is as the Maritime Trade operations lead. Our task is to provide reassurance to merchant vessels and ensure the flow of global trade continues through the strategic chokepoints of the Strait of Hormuz and Bab El Mandeb. It’s an extremely busy position but a great opportunity to represent Australia and serve with some amazing people and foreign defence forces.

There is only a small group of Aussies here in Bahrain so we are a tight group of mates, often having a chat about home and reflecting on what’s happening and wonder how everyone is coping with the craziness of the COVID world at the moment. And then out of the blue we each receive a pen from Australia!

Again, I sincerely thank you for taking the time to create such a unique gift, know that I will absolutely treasure it.
Best wishes to you and your family.

 

Good Afternoon Mik,

Just writing to you to thank you for the awesome pen I have received here in Kabul, Afghanistan. It’s always great to receive gifts from people especially when they can be extremely utilised day to day. Once again thank you very much for these gifts.

Thank you,
Kind regards,
Jordan