Letters from Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott to his family January 1915 - May 1915 - Part 1

Mena Camp

Cairo 4.1.15

My dearest Wife,

I am afraid I have 

been neglecting you scandalous 14/12/14

since last Sunday but we have been

practising night work all night this

last week pretty well & I am pretty

cranky in the daytime as a result but

don't think I don't love you & think

of you always. My boys continue

to win good opinions from everyone

except your old man from myself who continues 

to post them scandalously. General

Bridges looked at them when they were

marching out the other morning & then

came over to me & said "You have

a very fine Regiment Colonel." I said

"Yes the boys are not bad on the

whole but there are about twenty

that I would like to drop into the

Nile for to the Alligators." It is

just scandalous exasperating to me the way a few are

going in getting us a very bad name

with everybody. They get on the drink

& go with women & get disease &

cheat the nigger cab drivers. I have been

sorting some of the bad eggs up here

There is a court martial on two or

three of them & sunless they mend

there are five or six more that

will go up next. I am out of

all patience with them. They

go down to Cairo & stay there piggis^hly

drunk for two or three days & we

have to send men for them & they

fight them & knock them about

scandalous shamefully. One mob of 25 N.S.W.

men went on into town. They would

order dinner for the lot at a

Restaurant & then of refuse to

pay & if they were molested

would wreck the place. We settled

most of these the other day by catching

them & putting them in the cells. 

They started shouting & cursing &

the military police turned the fire

hose on them & half drowned

them & they were left 24 hours

without tucker. They were much

milder when they were let out. One

of my men from Wangaratta O'Brien

is his name got drunk & slept

out in the Dew & as a result

is very bad with pneumonia

The Doctor says he will die. He has

two brothers in the Regiment & they are

nearly as bad as he for getting drunk

It is to be hoped they will learn the lesson

I enclose a copy of a letter from

General Birdwood to our own General.

in which you see some plain 'speaking.'

I found one good plan. If a man

is absent without leave, I won't

let any men of his section go into

Cairo while he is away & some

of the worst of the lott have had

a very rough time from their

comrades over it with very good

results.

There is some talk that we are

going to be sent to fight against

the Turks in about a months

time. Probably to capture Jerusalem

This will be rather interesting

wont it. .I am enclosing a few

stamps for the wee laddie &

also a picture of him from a the magazine

What do you think of it. Also I am

posting the little lady my box of

chocolate. You might save the 

Box as a memento. We had old

George Reid out here the other day.

He reviewed us & made a rather

good speech & we marched past tho

General Maxwell the big General

^in command of all the British forces here.

I am posting you a few more

picture postcards so that you

may have an idea of our surroundings

I have been very little in Cairo.

The English Hotels are very expensive

& the others are mostly pretty hot rough

shops. There are no liquor laws

here & you see men pushing a

barrow through the streets selling bottles

of Beer like anything else. Needless

to say that the Drink is much adulterated

& much of it is rank poison. Some of the

men have been quite mad for a time

with it. Some of the N. Zealanders had

to be strapped down to stop them

jumping out of the train owing to trying

native liquor on the journey from

Alexandria. Now dear old sweet

love I must close up. With millions

of love & Kisses to my sweet darling

wife & sweet wee Bairns from

Didda Donny

No letters yet. Isn't

it scandalous.

Mena Camp.

Cairo.

10/1/15

My own dearest wife.

I was delighted to get a big long

letter from you dated the 9th November December from No 21

Mitchell Street Northcote. This was the only

letter I had received later in date than the

one dated 3rd November which reached me at Port

Said. In this latter letter you told me that you would

be remaining at "Dalriada" some time so I was

quite surprised to hear of the little new home

You must get a little new name plate

with "Nirvana" - I will print it so you

wont make a mistake. "NIRVANA". It means

"the place of rest". and is the Hindoo word for Heaven.

& that is what it will be for me when I get back

to you [Omit] for always. Years & years ago the

other lady asked me what our house was to be

called. I thought a little & then told her "Nirvana"

& when I told her the meaning she thought it would

be a good name. Now she cheated herself didn't she

& little Katie lady got the job & I'm just 'dicklus

pleased about it & the Nirvana is a better Nirvana

with the little Katie lady in it than with the other

lady. I'm telling you all this history about the

name so if your jealous of the other lady you needn't

take it for a name but if you are just sure as

2

You see I am writing all in ink for you ^as you asked now dearest

but when y we go out on trek again you may not always

get an ink letter. But Fancy you wanting to read every

word. I'm sure that's a big heap lot of skits. isnt it.

especially when I write such a lot of nonsense. But you will

just have to forgive me Kit. 'Cause I love my littlest ladie &

my own darling bairnies & I take out their photo every

night & say goodnight to my sweet pets & read all over

the big fat letter every night & hope for another one

soon. This is little or no news to tell you dearest

We go out & dig trenches in the blessed old desert

& walk round in it & come home & go out & do it

some more next day. Some of the men go into

Cairo & get doing things they shouldn't & I sort

them Scandalous. I've given a dozen of them

28 days in jail for getting drunk & breaking out

of Camp. Two have been sentenced to 6 months

imprisonment for getting drunk & assaulting a

Sergent. Their names are McCasker two

brother from Footscray. After their six months 

is up they will be sent back to Australia

& discharged with disgrace - Another two are

awaiting trial for ^attempted desertion. One is a young

fellow name Gwynne. He is an Englishman but

joined us at Broadmeadows. He is a well educated

fellow & wanted a Commission but as he had

no experience I could not recommend him
[*Go to Back of P 1*]

4 3

He then volunteered as a private & I took him in

promised him promotion if he turned out well.

He turned out to be a man with little ballast

& incapable of handling men. However I gave him one

stripe. On arrival here he got mixed up with a little

French girl very pretty but very bad - It is said

he was going to marry her. However whatever the

cause he cleared out with another man &

they got rid of their uniforms & went up to

Port Said in plain clothes & tried to get away

on a Ship to England. As they did not have

a passport they were arrested on suspicion

& brought back. On the way however they escaped

& were away altogether 19 days when they were

again captured. They stand a big risk of

being shot particularly Gwynne who was

the ringleader. It will be a dreadful thing

for his people who are well connected. In any case

he is pretty certain of a good long term of

imprisonment & he deserves it although I cannot

help feeling sorry for him as he is only about 20 years 

old.

I don't know what more news to tell you dearie

All my officers are well again & all of the boys

who had measles etc. but some who have been

Visiting ladies are still laid up. About 25 of

them altogether now. But I hope no more.

will come along. Well now old lady

God bless & keep you safe till I come

[*Go to back of p. 2  Go to Back*]

(5) (4)

back to you all safe & sound & won't I

just about cuddle you to death you 

dear old sweet girlie.  You & my own wee

sweet pets in our own wee home. I am

just delighted to hear that you love the little

house. I have always felt sorry that you

could not take a pride in the other house.

You must make it very nice Kit  Get all

the garden looking nice for Dida & nice lot of

pot plants in your conservatory & creepers

& bougainvillea over the wee play house
& some nice furniture in the wee house

itself. You don't say if you are drawing 

any money from the old Defence Department

I hope they are paying you all right

Some of the men complain that their

wives can't get any money from the

Department. Be sure & pay off the

money to Nana & get Baaby to work

out the interest on it for the five years

we had the use of it. It will be

another couple of pounds & say

thank you 'dicklus to Nana for the

loan of it (when you pay it back)

from Dida. I hope she ^your mother will like the

Shawl I sent her. And now

Kit old girl just come close up

4 5

some sort of dear wee rascal with his funny

little sayings & ways & I love him for his little

gentle ways like his mother & his wanting the pals

now appeals to me the poor wee darling laddie. So you

tell them Didda loves them best dicklas & he's away

Tell the children that I am away -
fighting the Spanky old Germans who want to

burn down our nice little house & throw my

wife & bairnies into it. -Katie Can you imagine

civilized men however bad doing such a thing
Whatever their provocation & cutting babies hands off

because their parents & or brothers fired at the 

Germans. We get lots of papers here with all the

news & the most awful thing is that the leaders

of the German people in their Parliament

not only do not condemn these things but stand

up for them as necessary in order to

reduce the people to subjection & then

to go & shell a defenceless place like

Scarborough as they did the other day. Fancy

a poor wee thing two years old than having its head

knocked off by a shell & to shell a girls school

& the poor wee kids had to run three miles to get

away from the rain of shells. Oh we'll reckon it up with

them one of these days but I hope not by murdering

their babies. We expect to leave here in about

six weeks time at latest for France or Syria

we don't know which. The opinion is gaining

P.T.O.

 

- 6 - - 6 -

ground that the Turks are not game to come

there & attack Egypt now. & that we must go

after them into Syria. It would be queer if the

Australians had to go on a new Crusade to

rescue Jerusalem from the Turks & that is what

some of the Rumours state is our next destination

But it is impossible to say what will happen. I

hear that the 2^nd Contingent Division are due here about the

end of this month (January). We hear ^also this is an

awful place for the dust in the summer &

we can well believe it after a tun turn we had

of some two days this week. It was awful

However we got a little rain & it is lovely again.

We went over a few of the Ancient tombs near the

Pyramids on Thursday afternoon last. (We get

a half holiday every Thursday) & found them

very interesting. Our guide Dr Reissler Reissner an

American who is in charge of the Harvard

University Excavation fund here took

us over & explained things for us. I will

tell you about it all when I come home. The

place he showed us seems to have been a sort

of Westminster Abbey in the old times. The King

laid out a ^sewing great tomb which he built with enough

stones let in regular lines with streets like great

cities each with its little offertory & all & presented them

to his great men & princes leaving them to finish them

off with fine stone & beautify them in various ways.

Some have done so & finished them with beautiful

carvings & ornamentation in fine white limestone. Others

apparently got stony broke only half finished &

some even had to resort to old mud bricks to finish

them off. Well darling Kit I must end now & do

some work for some one is always after your old man me

Both my thoughts & my love are always with you &

my my sweet wee bairnies. Don't forget to write often & tell Grandma

at Tfke all the news for I have but little time left to write

to her after I have written to you. God bless & keep

[* you my own wife. My sweet darling pet. A million

Kisses to you all. Love to Baabyy & Nana & all

God keep you all safe for me 
Your own

Didda Donny*]