Bertie begins the New Year with a bonus of £25 and a pay rise of £50 pa and will be jointly running his office for the next 3 months following the dismissal of a couple of colleagues.

There are no letters in the file between 11 January and 2 March, with no explanation. Bertie's letters home were kept by his mother and must have been returned to him some years later, and then safely stored in a metal deed box which eventually came to his daughter towards the end of the 1990s.15 years after his death.

Even in the March letters there is not much news of how things are going in the office of Booth & Co.  Bertie recounts a round of picnics, surfing, dances, films  and parties, occasional head colds and one short bout of pleurisy.

The letter of 6 April 1926 describes an Easter camping holiday with 3 friends over the Blue Mountains (see photos on next page).  Other photos indicate another trip to the south coast towards the end of April.

On 3 May he writes "We have lots of work to do in the office.... with not very much business resulting so far".

His letter to his mother on 31 May outlines a business trip to Brisbane and Rockhampton, Queensland for Opossum Sales leaving on 5 June.

On 6 June he describes the first part of the journey by sea from Sydney to Brisbane. He's travelling with a new manager from USA, Montgomery "really a very nice fellow".

On 14 June he continues to describe the trip Brisbane to Rockhampton by sleeper train where they "saw people". He was glad not to live there! Back to Brisbane and time spent inspecting and valuing Opossum skins.  The journey back was in stages by train.  Only the week before there had been a bad train crash of the Sydney to Brisbane Express.

Bertie sends a newscutting to his father with his letter of 11 July describing another rail accident which delays his own return journey on this Express to Brisbane because of a derailment. These events are described again in his letter to his mother on 19 July.  His purpose for going to Brisbane was to buy kangaroo skins, but he has time for a day trip to Tambourine Mountain to see sub-tropical countryside.

On August 9 Betie talks of sailing on the Mongolia to the UK leaving in early November. This would be due in London on 18 December.

There are no further letters dated 1926, but an account of calling at Colombo on SS Mongolia and visiting Kandy in November.