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These are a series of postcards from my Great Uncle Pte Michael Joseph Barritt (57th Battalion AIF) from France during World War One to his family back in Numurkah, Victoria, Australia.

The text of this card is as follows:

France,
4/8/17
Dear Mum, Just a card to convey my fondest move & best wishes to you when your birthday comes round. I am in the best of health & spirits and we are in comfortable quarters. There are some beautiful wayside shrines around here & there is a splendid old church in the town. I was in there to confession this evening. God bless and keep you & Dad till we meet again. From your loving son, Mick

Amazingly, l was intrigued with the reference to the church and the town. I wondered is there was a 57th Battalion unit diary on the internet and of course there is!
It's at : www.awm.gov.au/collection/records/awm4/23/74/awm4-23-74-1...

On the 4 of August 1917 the entry in the battalion diary refers to the "RCs (Roman Catholics - which Uncle Mick was) Mass at 11.30am in the Parish Church, Steenbecque"

Steenbecque is in Nord, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France. The Church in question is the Paroisse Saint Pierre.

Here is some information about the town, the church and the many shrines that still can be seen throughout the town (as mentioned in the postcard):

translate.google.com.au/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=h...

In common with other AA sites Quarantine (command post) had a lookout tower standing about six metres tall. It was built of timber and was complete with a built-in ladder, trapdoor and spotters’ chair. (Des Lambert, former gunner at the ‘Quarantine’)
This command post was the nerve centre of the Quarantine Battery. A Vickers Predictor MkIII and Mk IV Height and Range Finder were mounted above the underground room and its plotting table. Communications was maintained by telephone. During enemy raids the post, or CP, was a hive of activity and a jumble of voices as each member performed his own specialised duties.
Action began with the enemy raiders picked up by radar and the plots passed to Fighter Sector at Berrimah. The information was then relayed to the fighter squadrons, the anti aircraft operations room, and on to the gun and searchlight batteries around Darwin.
The crews were then brought to action stations. Personnel raced to their guns while those in the CP operated the Gun Laying set and plotted the enemy range and height. The Preditor laid the projected path of the enemy, direction of the guns and fuzing of the projectiles. Once the guns had all this information they were fired. The sequence was repeated while enemy aircraft were in range. The spotter in his seat on the lookout tower provided a running commentary on the action.

Above text is taken from the sign on the site. Needless to say, the 'enemy' as so often referred to was the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (Japanese: 大日本帝國海軍航空隊, Dai-Nippon Teikoku Kaigun Koukuu-tai). Many of the sites around Darwin only refer to 'the enemy' and not to specifically who the enemy was.

In common with other AA sites Quarantine (command post) had a lookout tower standing about six metres tall. It was built of timber and was complete with a built-in ladder, trapdoor and spotters’ chair. (Des Lambert, former gunner at the ‘Quarantine’)
This command post was the nerve centre of the Quarantine Battery. A Vickers Predictor MkIII and Mk IV Height and Range Finder were mounted above the underground room and its plotting table. Communications was maintained by telephone. During enemy raids the post, or CP, was a hive of activity and a jumble of voices as each member performed his own specialised duties.
Action began with the enemy raiders picked up by radar and the plots passed to Fighter Sector at Berrimah. The information was then relayed to the fighter squadrons, the anti aircraft operations room, and on to the gun and searchlight batteries around Darwin.
The crews were then brought to action stations. Personnel raced to their guns while those in the CP operated the Gun Laying set and plotted the enemy range and height. The Preditor laid the projected path of the enemy, direction of the guns and fuzing of the projectiles. Once the guns had all this information they were fired. The sequence was repeated while enemy aircraft were in range. The spotter in his seat on the lookout tower provided a running commentary on the action.

Above text is taken from the sign on the site. Needless to say, the 'enemy' as so often referred to was the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (Japanese: 大日本帝國海軍航空隊, Dai-Nippon Teikoku Kaigun Koukuu-tai). Many of the sites around Darwin only refer to 'the enemy' and not to specifically who the enemy was.

In common with other AA sites Quarantine (command post) had a lookout tower standing about six metres tall. It was built of timber and was complete with a built-in ladder, trapdoor and spotters’ chair. (Des Lambert, former gunner at the ‘Quarantine’)
This command post was the nerve centre of the Quarantine Battery. A Vickers Predictor MkIII and Mk IV Height and Range Finder were mounted above the underground room and its plotting table. Communications was maintained by telephone. During enemy raids the post, or CP, was a hive of activity and a jumble of voices as each member performed his own specialised duties.
Action began with the enemy raiders picked up by radar and the plots passed to Fighter Sector at Berrimah. The information was then relayed to the fighter squadrons, the anti aircraft operations room, and on to the gun and searchlight batteries around Darwin.
The crews were then brought to action stations. Personnel raced to their guns while those in the CP operated the Gun Laying set and plotted the enemy range and height. The Preditor laid the projected path of the enemy, direction of the guns and fuzing of the projectiles. Once the guns had all this information they were fired. The sequence was repeated while enemy aircraft were in range. The spotter in his seat on the lookout tower provided a running commentary on the action.

Above text is taken from the sign on the site. Needless to say, the 'enemy' as so often referred to was the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (Japanese: 大日本帝國海軍航空隊, Dai-Nippon Teikoku Kaigun Koukuu-tai). Many of the sites around Darwin only refer to 'the enemy' and not to specifically who the enemy was.