Letters from Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott to his family January 1915 - May 1915 - Part 5

12
once some of us were allowed ashore.
The same thing happened to them of
course & Col. Beck Courtney told his men
I am told that it was because
we had misbehaved there that they
were not being allowed ashore. They
are a beautiful crowd.
But enough of that: Let me talk
about myself own dear self. I trust you
got my letter telling you that your
Xmas present came along to hand
& that it was very acceptable indeed.
Dear old lady If you thank me so much
for the little things I sent you at Xmas
you will make me want to spend
all my pocket money on pretty things.
for you. 'cause I'm going to charge you
Kisses for them now & tell let them
[*omit*] pile up interest all the time I am
away so what a big heap lot I
will have to collect when I come
back again. You will have to get the
wee ones to help you pay them off.
I am longing to hear what the bairnies
thought of their picture books. I
ought to soon hear of that now.
 

13.
Little sweetheart do you want to know if
I love you. Well I love you - just every bit
of you from your wee little toes up to the
[*Omit*]little curly black curls up on the very top of your
head. I love you little bright sunshine face
& every feature of it. The sweet little mouth
that tells me she loves me so & the little white
teeth & the smile that fits its so well & the
bright eyes that shine for me - for me. & the Little
loving hands thats write to me such long
loving letters. You are very good to me
little wife. I was delighted to get
the Photos it brings them all in
near to me. The wee Laddie seems
to be getting quite a big chap. There
does not seem such a great
change in the Dhusach! Do you
still call he the Dhusach Vech.
& the Laddie. Gillie Bag.
I think this is all the news
Dearie. I am enclosing some
snap photos of little Marjory Milne
that her uncle took of her with
her wee black dollie. It is funny
that although she wont have anything
to do with the natives & tells them
to "Imshi" if the come near her
 

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she likes her little black dollie
best of all & sleeps with it tucked
in with her.
She has a great big Teddy Bear
also that squeaks out loud
when you pinch it & also a goat
that gives quite a good "Baa" when
you squeeze it." She is a funny little
thing & very good.
How I wish I had my two xxxx
wee Bairnies here with me to see
all the wonderful sights. At Ismalia
Ismailia we saw a string of four
miles of Camels. I heard that there
were 1500 of them but cannot say
as to how many there were & as for
my poor old horse he thought he had
met the Ark or something & nearly
went out of his wits at first but
long before the last went by all the
horses has got accustomed to them for the
time being but next day they were he was as bad
as ever. They are just terrified
of Camels.
Well darling Kit. God bless &
keep you my love & my wee
bairnies till I see you again
 

15
I like the look of the little home
Do not worry that I will like it
[*omit*] or not. I will love it if you do - It
will be our "Nirvana" Our Place of
Rest. Our Heaven my loved one &
we must try & save up & buy it for
our very own. So just go on making
it beautiful for Dida Donny. I will
send you along a few pretty things for it from
time to time.
Well my pet. What more can I write to keep
up our chat till the afternoon slips buy or
our lat my paper gives out. You see I haven't
the wee bairnies to give me news to send
to my old lady. All my officers are
quite well again but a fair number
^of the men some forty or so are in Hospital with
various complaints mostly pneumonia
& pleurisy. Six have been sent home,
with various complaints, one
Consumptive & ^the others various ailments
We had bad luck while we were away
& nobody expecting back & wild
rumors circulating through Camp
that we had been all cut up to pieces
more or less someone came down
& stole the wooden floor we put in
 

16
our Mess tent & we are now back in
the Sand once more. It cost us £5
too. Well dear love I will add a few more
words tomorrow before I post this. I am
happier than when I have started for this
little talk to you, has brought you
nearer to me. Goodbye for the present
my darling. Millions of kisses & love
for you & my darling pets from Dida Donny
Sunday Night. 14/2/15
Well dearie here I am again. We have
had a very quiet day settling down
We have got all our tents up & I have
got new matting to keep the Sand in
its proper place & we are generally settling
down to our previous state of comfort
Latest accounts from the Canal appear to
show that the Turkish army are
still running for their lives & are
now some 60 miles away from the
Canal & still going strong. So I
expect we will in a week or two
be moved over to Germany & see a bit of real
war. Goodbye then my darling &
a million blessing be upon you for
all your love. Give a kiss each to my
dear little ones from Dida & tell them he loves them
good. Goodbye little Wife & God keep you safe Love Dida Donny
[*P.S. Ken is quite well & happy. I showed
him the photos.*]
 

Postage stamp - see original document
 

Mena Camp
Cairo,
22/2/15
My Dearest Wife.
I am afraid this wont
be much of a letter. I am pretty busy
during the week & usually leave
my letter until Sunday. I did that
this week & when Sunday came
a party of the officers arranged to be
taken through the Cairo Museum
& they asked me to go with them.
I went accordingly. My you pets got
neglected accordinlgly. I am
therefore left to writing a hurried few
lines to catch the mail. After we
left the Museum we went into
town & had tea then went
to the Seating rink which is
in the open air in the park &
listened to the Band until nearly
nine o'clock at which time
the theatres etc open here. We
then went to the Picture show
got out about 12. On our way
back to the Tanicut stand we
looked in at one of the Music halls
& watched the dancing for a few
minutes. Then home almost 1. am
Quite a giddy day for me. One can
 

I am sorry now though that
I didnt say no & write to my you
pet so can she you feel neglected.
the poor old lovey darling. Forgive
me this time I'll be real good in
future I badly wanted to see the
Museum which is wonderfully
interesting & when the others
proposed to go on I did not like to
spoil their holiday by insisting on
coming home. There was nothing to tell
you really though dear we have had
a dull week at training every
day. There are rumors that we
are leaving for France this day month
but nothing definite. There have been
a few cases of small pox out here but
not amongst the Victorians. Well
Darling I must hasten off after the
regiment which has gone out to Drill
Forgive me my dearest one in out you
this time. Goodbye & a million loves
& kisses to you & my darling pets.
God Bless & keep you all from
Dida Donny
 

Mena Camp
Egypt
23/2/15
My dearest wife,
I must have had a very guilty
conscience all day yesterday for writing
you such a short letter. However that may
be it punished me severely last night
by keeping me awake thinking of you. Never
since I left you have I felt so lonely for
you darling Kit. My heart was just calling out
for you all the time & my arm was aching for the
dear little curly head that should have been
resting there. Dear as my bairnies are to me
they have not yet taken the place of my own
sweetheart wife. It is you I miss more than
they. It was lovely getting I was delighted to get the snap shots from
Geordie. They did have a loan of him apparantly
when he tried to take them the cheeky little
monkeys. P.T.O. I like the little house too Katie
dearest. You need not have been afraid of
me not liking it.  With all my treasures
inside it does not matter what the casket
is like. Little sweet love - I love you just about
a million - my own little Sunshine Lady
What a lovely time we will have when we are back
together. We wont wait for our anniversary this
time to have our dinner together.
We will just imagine we are single again & I
am taking you out for a real good time. But
 

2
let me see. Well we imagine we are single again. On
second thoughts I don't think we will - Aren't we
happier married as we are my little one. I think
we are. So let us just think we are single again
lest we miss a moment of our precious wedded happiness
I wish I could have you here for a new honeymoon
& see all the wonderful sights in the town. The/ People's
hair would stand on end in Melbourne did
even a single act of the kind which occur nightly
here in the north quarter of the town ^happen there. Can
you imagine women sunk so low as to allow dogs or it
is said donkeys to connect with them for exhibition. Yet
if you go in certain quarters of the city great bloated
hack hags run after you & ask you to come see Donkey
& girl etc & leer at you. Can you imagine the police of any
civilized place permitting such things. A black fellow
followed me half a mile the other night wanting to take me
to women - the let I told him I had no need for them
Then he said you like see small boy with de girl.
I believe this is one of the common exhibitions at the better class
place I refused - He then became confidential. You
not afraid Captain English soldier see you - I tek you
nice quiet place - nobody see you -  nice French girl.
I had to wallop him with my stick to get rid of
him.  I am glad to say the majority of the men
are quite disgusted with the niggers here now
they have learned things & keep them at their proper
distance.
But I must not horrify you with any more of
these things. There are all the wonderful things in
the shops. Wonderful carpets worked in gold thread some
hundreds of years old & old embroideries of silk &
gold ^of a dark age but looking fresh & bright still.
Every time I see these things I am tempted
to buy more & more of them. I have bought you a
couple of vases to match your little bowl