Letters from Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott to his family, June - December 1915 - Part 13

(4)
that of the Alphabet that
I can be given. Wanliss
too has been given the
"C.M.G.". He says he has
had enough too. We feel
too old to stand any
more. He is in London.
well dearie won't
speak of then any
more but about your
own dear self. & your
most loving letter that

I was so pleased  &
delighted with.
You will be glad to know

that I at last got one
 

(5)

of your parcels. I had
a pair of Socks, two or
three Khaki handkerchiefs

a toothbrush in a little
case & some soap.
It was just lovely
to get them. Tell the wee
people that Dida loves
them both good & that
he is very very pleased
that they are such good
little people & don't make
mum offended with them
at all. I will send
you a cable as soon as
I know definitely when
I am leaving for
Egypt.  There is a
 

(6) 

rumor going round that the old 1^st division
is being brought back  to Egypt for the winter
but I have my doubts about its
correctness. Tell me again that you love me
still my own pet & will love me always  I
wish I could reward you for letting me my one
dear wee mother. Oh if only I were coming home
to you o Sunday Kit instead of going back
to the  old war again. I could easily have been
sent home to you dearie had I chosen to make
the most of my sickness as some are doing but
I knew my patio you would not be pleased
with me as if she you knew that I went back
as soon as ever I could & I value my dear your
little wife's love & respect too much to sacrifice
even a teeny tiny bit & get the pleasure of
seeing her you & the wee ones thrown in. So you & the
wee pets must just pray for your old man me
& trust he I will come will come safe back to you
 

[* By now dear loved one. Million
kisses for you & my wee sweet pets
Kiss them for me & tell  them Dida loves them
he is pleased with them
your very own husband
Dida Donny*]
(7)
at the end. He Your man is pretty
scared sometimes dearie
so you must pray hard
darling that he will
always do his duty at
any cost & whatever happens
you will know that he
loved you & desired your 
love better than everything
in all the world.
Tell Baaly she is a darling
to look after you & my wee
pets as she is doing & I
will love her always & ever
for her goodness & will
give her a million [[pognes?]]
I haven't found anyone
 

(8)

amongst all my relatives
that I have seen here
who are as nice & good
as she is though the
does [[rost?]] me occasionally.
I am in sorry I missed
seeing Jack. Did I tell
you my cousin Charlie
is out there somewhere
He came with the
reinforcement for the
11th Battalion. I shall
look him out when
I get there again
Well my dear old pet
I want to kiss you all

over. Your dear eyes

 

(9)

&cheeks & chin & sweet loving lips & everything
Can you shut your eyes tight & imagine your old
man is holding you tight up against him & kissing
them all over & over again. Dear wee darling loving
wife God Bless & keep you always for ever &
ever. I find that I forgot to put in one
of the things that I mentioned viz "the contract
from an old letter. I will put it with this
if I can find it. Now my own meet pet
let me say goodbye once more. There never was
& never could be anyone I could love as I love
you - for you are just my own dear wife the mother
of my own sweet wee bairnies- Little dear one can you feel
my arm round you & all my love coming out to you dear
wee curly head just in my arm -  little sweet face so near my
own- I love you dearest Katie. my own wee angel wife. The perfect& &
sweetest darling woman in all the world. Katie dearie
I am is glad you wedded me - you dear little comforter to
think that you belong to om for always that I have made you my very own -  made you give me the two dearest pets of Bairnies
in all the world makes me so happy dear, one that I hardly feel the separation
you mine always & that knowledge is happiness complete.

[* You will always love me - I will be your dear old crotchety
man won't I Kit You won't get [[?]] & sad when I'm scaly

next time. But you will know however scaly I look that under it all
I love you Kit. Oh so much & I know you are the only possible wife for
me so could make me as happy. was old lady tell you your lot and glad
because you wedded me. *]

Monty t
Weymouth
13 Nov 1915

(1)
My dearest Katie
Today a big tin box arrived with
a lot of Almonds & some bags of camphor & lots
of hankies  clo ths & also a parcel of
note paper from Dear. You are a good
lovey old sweet darling to think of me
Of yes there was a tooth brush too - As I
got one in the last parcel I am now very
well provided with them. All the things will
come in very nicely or the train journey
tomorrow for I am off again at 9.30 am
We go to LiverpooI believe. There will be
some 300 men & 10 officers. I suppose
we will have a lively time will them
as they will be probably more or less
tight .part of them at least.
Well dearie pet glancing through your
long letter again i find I havent half
answered it
Don't worry about not helping us my darling pet.
you help us splendidly by your brave loving spirit
& your dear sweet love to bear anything. I
am longing for my homecoming but I fear
you have been sadly disappointed. At
one time I thought that we had the
Turks badly beaten but then they seemed
 

(2)

[*to*] scrape up more men from somewhere &
it Victory seems almost as for off as ever & so
many men must die before we can begin
to see Victory in sight
I was greatly impressed to learn
that Violet was at Toccemwal with her 
babies. I expect you will tell me all about
it Judith in your next letter. I hardly ever get
a letter from Tocumwal. Yesterday I
had a little try to a place called Heres[[behe?]]
to see a lady named Carter. She is a sister
of Mrs Edwards & her husband was an Admiral
She has three children - one is in the Navy
in the North Sea. Another is in India. The
Navy one is married t his cousin Madge
Woolhouse who is also a 2^nd Cousin - No
whose father is also a 2^nd Cousin. I am
sending you a slip which Mrs Edwards
gave me showing all these peoples
addresses. There is a daughter of Mrs Carter
named Martha. Her husband is Major
Hammersley who is in the Army Service
Corps. She is very nice. She is living with
her mother at present & has one wee girlie
who is just as shy as our wee girlie used to
be wouldn't make friends with me a bit
 

(3)
I am sorry to hear that you are still so poorly
& I hope you will be real strong & well when I do
come H home & see you. My teeth are behaving
very well indeed dearie so don't worry about them
I have bought a lot of lovely warm new clothes
uniforms & all but they are scandalously very

dear here.  I wanted Katie with me to see
they didnt cheat me I think.  I did see
something about the War [[Census?]]  cards but
dont know much about them. I am sad sorry that
you were worried so over them my pet. I love to
hear about the wee pets little ones.  Fancy little Dhuract wanting
to knit socks for Dida. Tell her Dida is pleased with
his wee girlie & tell Nini Laddie that Dida loves him too just as
much as Dhurach for posting things to me him. Ill be watching
out for that Christmas cake. What a pity if it lost
or drowned. With reference to Mrs Greig & her
son. If it is the same Greig that I mentioned
to you dearie then I wrote a full account of 
it to his uncle who is a minister at Coburg
I think, so she will know all about it long ago.
I shall be interested to know if it is the same
[[erat?]]  -you a dear darling little saving lady
to be able to pay off some debt &  help Dida. I
hope you have been able to buy some pretty things
for your little wee home. Tell me dearie are
you still pleased with it. Well dear
 P.T.O.

sweet darling lovey pet I must just stop now &  go to
beddy bye dee.  I must be up early. It is very cold
& bleak at the camp too. I shall be glad to be out
of it. Bye my own  dear love & millions of love & kisses
to you dear love &  my own precious wee pets  from Dida Don