The Goulburn Evening Penny Post of 1915 had no journos of its own at the front but didn't need them while Goulburn locals were passing on graphic letters home from their fighting boys.
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One hundred years ago this week, the Post ran, "LETTER FROM YPRES. DR. PARKER'S THRILLING EXPERIENCES."
"Lieutenant Parker writing to his parents, the Rev. T. and Mrs. Parker of Goulburn, says, 'It is impossible to attempt to sleep, so I thought I would occupy the time in sending you a few lines. The huge battle is still in progress.'
" 'The Germans have been bombarding Ypres with a 17in. shell. I wonder if you can imagine what a projectile of this size means. The shell weighs over a ton. When it strikes the ground it makes a crater 30 feet by 40 feet across and 15 to 20 feet deep. Five-storeyed buildings are demolished in a flash, the explosion sending debris, etc., 150 feet high. Early last week one of our majors was badly shaken [by a shell's explosion]. He managed to get back to his company's bivouac but in an awful state of mind. Generally he is a most composed individual in any sort of danger, but this seemed to have completely unnerved him.'
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