Letters from Harold Edward Elliott to his family January 1916 - June 1916 - Part 5

Conflict:
First World War, 1914–18
Subject:
  • Documents and letters
Status:
Open for review
Accession number:
AWM2018.19.70
Difficulty:

Page 1 / 10

Loctor Gordon Rors at telal Kehi. I met Dr Fontor the afternon whileI was down for a riven. Renor hasd that if withing happens here by, te about the middle or end of narch we are all too to France but iti bard to ray what will happe gent wella lonon Kurlee isd fill lorpe a blore will ron t Wo wail get oI will clove thisus atite Iam unding a phots Major Lays gave to me. I will bnsfo m sagh that a got promited nquickly her na from Leeuterant. H pay is romuch more, 157 - a day more I have told lays tark he wifet tall on yo you can letther I regard sayt as th bt officer & I will do anything of all me t help him along. W ist por ca A much setter than coff gacken He has developed all any the live whilst Bta stod still & I tnk he lost agoole deal to th 22nd this herve sagh i 2 where Bol Smith was given Commend a place of broudh who was shelen
Malth but imprturately some one named row who appears iave inflirence in puriation for he never went tothe Keninonla at all has bee put up our Bot lead & is of course as Layt would gave nothing by the st he Tang ever lose by is going to stoy when he is idelighted in a rene that he is not leaving the rays he lis content. Also r ven old darting hate I hope you tink I am getting disbearien t dcteatt as cd althogh beei 2 I have had many disappointment the 3t although it has falle dill in ther from what it tevar is the Brigade M D. Brigade is sied the lest wth Sevevio Bigeno unitest tarling te dans truet fnes willing olov kis m kins my wel pe ame dear the tone& blether side toether mita Stt willer fore Wara & Bao intridg
8 Fet 1916 Fel. Cl. Rebi My darling Sor I wso delighted to get a whot hea 2of letter fom you. Far one dates 31 Augast dmn it to a long time fordi me. It telt se about Ro D Tremearne worrying you to hear my accomnt of the cald i. Yo we carlag not it be uded wher I apled y for putter Yor & . Perhaps had feer is the ram poonti I would have give it, also because I would bave liked to help kup along. to dont wonang n alout it dayngpest. Tell Mr Robert got your melsage at last & next tim I am in Cars O will send her a mements O Kate Would be wonderinng why 9a fimte eted frou the lock here. Well Im 1 poor old2 for ever I am afraid Bantry I am now in charge of the Brigade to your nowt letter wicl bet MCol H. Wlliott E.0. Infantry $ aic all N.S.W. mer Brigade. They but I like them already very much If I am only Temporary Brigodien will will but of nst as then 9
soon be promted Full Colonel 11 jur x colonel" & not Lrent lol & the herhaps lottan Brigadeer General with thet some time. Host you be mortanful wilh a General in your important her trbant old man Hle have Mis Courtnes hear then went you. The next after that is Major Fencral but I have toomory ahedd of me to ever hope for that in the wak also few Hentialion bor a got that There are however Majo Gever McCay who and whom Colonel lale Bugadie General &Rojor Generoe Legge &, Major General Chausel. The The May Fendals & Mr amy anc age Gglishi. The next hey is dieut General. No Austation has in become Lieut General yrs. Then then io wull Teneral & fivally Field Marshall to you ree I have a long bve way tog tget the top of the tce hiltthere are very very few te who ever Brigadier Seberal af my age oe se you nempns of this wllered mo nere t i what may happe and will go or you if God is goodsto me& h
i he unntutmne int a heged sll to Llgn kon Birn2 undyou welting like that Cad this dad hentand as is al Brigaden Mrs Fosoylk Pold General now. He is to same good old chap. home think he talk o lectures much - Mans Late ansone but I oling liked him. Hc has bad lusk as or Commander Chowvel drems Densing like him a bitI hear which mert be very dishearteniy tham I aligt not potcards for you dated 4 Agars anotherfor cand of the 9 ocat me next letter was dated 27 fept int a bito listes in it from Katis Dear tolet. I did wh ot the Snaer en story of the laddie caddle said he was at you rny with pas or him & itop saga fin strobig hrim. What a brette trick he months then solding I would love to ree+ hear tho socctore Hannels foo when the neves gecad ingarrenont there they iclaise Inease yoall ando queston sonde Bouldmt yihdd get on
I must have mirsed a litter feeden is the me you tell me that Mr o tungout M Frase sent usgo see you but Hatterwbit lett her ungther has not arrived Fram is my Regimentat Largeans Major at Ewador te canbt with The af R.S.M. W was promoted tob 2a It but wos ladly thot w th Ruthen clarge as no dont be blo you. Dyon ben no, Sf Fosm eve heas por citter lttent there was ante can dated 1 Less. Poor old Geof McPrae is dill ill. It is very haid luck as very many promotions are being made Iahn Very every tohave left my foys Iuonder will than nex b yamil like me as well as thold wee did Io apsaid you wrnt like me wont hear io much of me now that I am away groon then. I shall always drof along & see them whenever sca though wish there old letters I go troe ones. One daled te9 garan Gannary Ro another dated the 16
t compretty will by tdat but I thera one about ths ou marth morsing bt May be not. You tell Mrs Finlaymon that I have quit meaning now I am a any foor the 2t Brigadlies & that was the only way I cold that hupc old man of ber & th other atnorded I'll wit her in when I see him neve for telling tate yyou me. I was very interested to hear about year McGod lan you give me her address. Now. I will lark & look him is Aemenber Rf I dot know were the Hore Ligh pregade are 5 the 8t are with them I thenk they are riles can imclle delighted t hear you praisy hme I suppose Se Gribble will be rainngth rentor ou next up he rain tho priced shuriet his place. Tell that I was delytecy thedean to hear that she know fer letter ittet He will be quite a grow i butt cad whe her Doddy come home the will beguite a biltopoe like ka you Dr Ghrtterdge har gove lack to Chistiation marked c pt pther snnce Ithe
hs heart is affected very moush pom his illness I cold you in aplerions letter about weeting R.D. Mr Leod. lapt De kain has gove back & Dustialio, als Lt Symns who got his .6 at lone Rinewill me capt tuth also is going have I believes perhaps Major Warrns Lomons & Iuils arl come lack but I dont thens Mas wice fro neres are boulting him I hear, I should like you toweet hymon & full. If you hea of thei arrival you can diof then anote I shall try i Call pask them stick at out as long as my nealth drings larts & you must pray that I shall be bave & wise enough ott what is lest for my new loys as for did bclore for the ls old for though ther als not my loys so mut Aoy Hild they have loong nes athome waitiry forther &your old man Dived may mean like irdeath to 2000 of them. It is a dreat of canforerespnt I hope I shall be worthhy of it. I told you that I brought lharled over NN 20 the very last thing I did fefoce I left then was to wake her a tergeant & lave a recommedationnn th Made
He has had an excellenteducation Hetis coigor Very as a Dr Leeuberart & is pretty nne to get a com in hra t exeayng You Jockest commension as I rangert officer the would do well I am ture wt chagge of the horses & It wont be so mery danlaas as with the hachno our peter sit is very important work all the same You must seme att me when I amuong come back all the c io lates My loye have lold you i you have heard. Hey are driffic me I think that bapoy mer lerat tere I am notvee Butly Kanede we mnolter Sanl sy oo as if demont saied it reen edtooh I hest you hould send me of my Bundon Rifle copladges to Mrs Milne Vila Pattache Whulra hess. She is little Mayor's mother & admired then very much. She was very kined toe when I war io caise. of you have none Mr Denoult get for one foralort 1600 is. Wans the thardet dear bill guit no to bal tancy ha beng all to wrech deution sell ogn
I wall be Relighted when Seroes Docon writened bitt letternced herself a ever writ te name o me one a the dearece laddie to. Geve in lve to Mrs Lyne Lletther I am guit intiprl mokingI would gue it with the nasbe I an our all tobe lack with you at my can puuside Whata shome that the poor little thewel wee trope are already starting tdecag but will o came I suppose new one Now qutte old will the see fat be on th7 waich, Is it give or nx, in sine I frget. I got letter for Basly dar too dwill tr Banneth tomorrow, don darl dae dat its gettinng very oI have the up with the pparints is you pack of to you bed that me go t me cy of san wany tgt gavn tus song met what heef ce nlet anything Itry o myoer time the tose fd ble Beyr you him all larn witen of lore Relmes bym & the mee nreet pet te ant Baaty Lyn & Seoe dedat &gll of

5
Doctor Gordon Ross at Tel el Kebir.
& I met Dr Forster this afternoon while I
was down for a swim. Rumor has it
that if nothing happens here up ^to till
about the middle or end of march
we are all to go to France but it is
hard to say what will happen
Cousin Charlie is doing quite well a
a L. Corpl & will soon be full Corpl.
[* 8 Jan *] No mail yet. so I will close this up.
I am sending a photo of Major Layh ^which he gave
to me. It will be nice for Mrs Layh that
her man has got promoted so quickly
from Lieutenant. His pay is so much
more, 15/- a day more. I have told
Layh to ask his wife to Call on you.
You can tell her I regard Layh as the best
of all my officers & I will do anything I
possibly can to help him along. He is Such
much ^stronger in Character better than Alf Jackson - He has
developed all along the line whilst Alf has
stood still & I think he lost a good deal
of his nerve.  Layh was going to the 22nd
where 'Bob Smith was ^to be given Command
over in place of Crouch who was sacked 
 

 

6
but unfortunately some one named Norris
who appears to have influence in
Australia for he never went to the
Peninsula at all has been put up
over Bob's head & so of course as
Layh would gain nothing by the
Transfer or& even lose by it he
is going to stop where he is. I
am delighted in a sense that he
is not leaving & he says he is
Also so we are both content.
Dear old darling Katie. I hope you
wont think I am getting disheartened.
I am ^actually cheering up real good although
I have had many disappointments.
The 7th although it has fallen off
from what it was is still the best
Battn in the Brigade & the 2nd Brigade
is still the best in the Division
Bye now sweetest darling tenderest &
truest of wifes.
Millions of love & Kisses my
own dear love. Kiss my wee pets
for me & tell them Dida loves them just a
million. Love to Nana & Baaby & Mum
from Dida Don 
 

 

18th Feb 1916
Tel. el. Kebir
My darling love,
I was delighted to get a
whole heap of letters from you. First
one dated 31st August. Hasn’t it been
a long time finding me. It tells me about
Ruff Tremearne worrying you to hear
my account of the landing  You were a
darling not to be ‘fended when I sorted
you up for publishing it. Perhaps had I
been in the same possition I would have given
it also because I would have liked to
help Ruff along. So don't worry any more
about it darling pet. Tell Mrs Roberts
I got your message at last & next time
I am in Cairo I will send her a memento
Oh Katie You'll  be wondering why I am
back here. Well I'm sacked from ^finished with the
poor old 7th for ever I am afraid.
I am now in charge of the 1st Infantry
Brigade. So your next letter will be to
Lt Col H. E. Elliott. C:O: 1st Infantry
Brigade. They are all N.S.W. men
but I like them already Very much
If I am only "Temporary Brigadier"
but if I suit (as I think I will) I will 
 

 

-2-
soon be promoted Full Colonel  i e just
"Colonel" & not "Lieut Col" & then
"Brigadier General" ^or perhaps both at
the same time. Wont You ^will be most awful
im’portant person with a "General" for your
old man ^husband wont you. You'll have Mrs Courtney beat
then won’t you. The Next after that
is "Major General" but I have too many
ahead of me to ever hope for that in
this war.  Also few Australians have
ever got that ^rank. There are however (1) Major General
McCay who used to be our Colonel &
later (Brigadier General). (2) Major General
Legge & ^(3) Major General Chauvel. The other
Major Generals in our Army are all
Englishmen. The next Step is Lieut
General. No Australian has ever
become Lieut General yet. Then there
is full "General" & finally "Field
Marshall". So you see I have a long
long way to go to get the top of the Tree
Still there are very very few to be who
are even Brigadier Generals at my age
so you never Know If this silly old
war will go on ^you never know & on what may happen
if God is good to me & you, I ’spect 
 

 


you'll be wanting to move into a bigger
home wont you & you'll be calling on     [* Omit *]
the Governor General & sending your
Card to his lady or something like that.
Mrs Forsyth's old man ^husband is a Brigadier
General now. He is the same good old
chap. Some think he talks or lectures too
much - I think Katie was one but I always
liked him. He has bad luck as our
Divisional Commander Chauvel doesn’t
like him a bit, I hear, which must be
Very disheartening to him. I also got
two postcards from you dated 4th August &
another postcard of the 9th Sept.
The next letter was dated 27th Sept with
a lot of tishes in it from Katie & Dear
& laddie & Violet. I did laugh at the
story of the laddie & Gagy ^Dhusach when the
laddie said he was a "Tom Ussy with               [This is a toddler saying ]
feas on him” to stop Gaga from stroking  [“Tom Pussy with fleas on him”.]
him. What a little "trick” he must be                         [Cheers! Ned.]
I would love to see & hear ^them talking the wee loves
There will be great fun when the next
one arrives won't there. They will ask
you all sorts of questions I ‘specks
You'll wish you had got it over sooner then 
 

 

-3.
wont you. I must have missed a letter
because in this one you tell me that Mr 
Dent was going to bring out Mr Fraser
to see you but the letter which tells of
him being there has not arrived
Fraser was my Regimental Sergeant
Major at Essendon. He came out with
me as R.S.M. He was promoted to be
2nd Lt but was badly shot in the Krithia
Charge as no doubt he told you. Do you
ever hear from him now. Oh I've missed
one letter now. There was another one ^letter came
dated 1st Sept. . Poor old Geoff McCrae
is still ill. It is very hard luck as very
many promotions are being made
I am very sorry to have left my boys.
I wonder will this New big family
like me as well as the old ones did.
I'm afraid you wont like me won't
hear so much of me now that I am
away from them. I shall always
drop along & see them whenever I can
though
With these old letters I got two new
Ones. One dated the 9th of January
& another dated the 16th January so I 
 

 

-4-
am pretty well up to date but I think
one about the 1st Jan must be missing but may
be not. You Tell Mrs Finlayson that
I have quit swearing now I am a
Brigadier & am away from the 7th
– That was the only way I could Keep that
old man of hers & the other brats ^rascals in order.
I'll "sort" him up when I see him next
for telling tales upon me. I was very
interested to hear about Jean McLeod. Can
you give me her address. Now. I will
remember Lt Clark & look him up
I don't Know where the 3rd Light Horse
Brigade are - The 8th are with them - I
think they are still in Cairo. I am delighted
to hear your praise of the wee ^your little home
I suppose old ^Mr Gribble will be raising the
rent on you next when he raises the price of
his place. Tell Gaga ^Dhusach that I was delighted
to hear that she knows her letters ^now. The dear
little wee pet. She will be quite a grown up
little lady when, her Daddy, comes home. She
will be quite a 'little pal' like Katie you
Dr Gutteridge has gone back to Australia
marked "unfit for further service". I believe 
 

 

-5-
his heart is affected Very seriously from
his illness I told you in a previous
letter about meeting R. D. McLeod. Capt
De Rain has gone back to Australia, also
Lt Symons who got his V.C at Lone Pine with
me. Capt Tubb also is going home I believe &
perhaps Major Mason. Symons & Tubb will
Come back but I dont think Mason will
His nerves are troubling him I hear. I should
like you to meet Symons & Tubb. If you hear
of their arrival you can drop them a note
& ask them to call. I shall try to
stick it out as long as my health & Strength
lasts & you must pray that I shall be brave
& wise enough to do what is best for my new boys
just as you did before for the boys old
boys for though these are not "my boys" so much
still they have loving ones at home waiting for them
& your old man's word may mean life or death
to 4000 of them. It is a great & fearful responsiblity
I hope I shall be worthy of it.. I told you
that I brought Charlie over to the 7th The
very last thing I did before I left there
was to make him a Sergeant & leave
a recommendation for him to be Made 
 

 


a 2nd Lieutenant. He ^He has had an excellent education & is coming on Very well
& is pretty sure to get a Commission.
I am trying to get Your Jacky boy ^should get a
Commission as Transport Officer He
would do well I am sure in charge of the
horses. & It won't be so very dangerous
as with the Machine Gun Section & it
is very important work all the Same
You must remember to tell me when I
I come back all the amusing ^amusing tales my boys
have told you or you have heard. "They are
drefful skites I think those boys of mine
like my Katie I think". I am not Very
brave dearie, Pretty Scared me sometimes
dearie but I try to go on as if I wasnt Scared
& it seems to get easier. Oh I wish you would
send one of my Essendon Rifle Cap badges
to Mrs Milne "Villa Pallache" Shubra
Cairo. She is little Marjory's mother. &
admired them Very much. She was very
Kind to me when I was in Cairo. If you
have none Mr Dent will get you one for about
1/6 or so. Wasn't the Dhusach a dear little
girl not to rub. Fancy her being able to
spell Argus. I will be delighted when 
 

 


she ^ I shall be delighted when Dhusach can write me a little letter all by
herself or even write her name for me to see
And the dear wee laddie too.. Give my
love to Mrs Lyne & tell her I am quite satisfied
with the name I am making & would give it
all to be back with you at my own ^ain fireside
What a shame shame that the poor little Dhusach's
wee "toofies" are already starting to decay but
I suppose new ones will soon come good ^soon. How
old will the wee pet ^girlie be on the 1st March. Is it
five or six, I'm sure I forget. I got letters from
Baaby dear too & will try to answer them
tomorrow. Now darling dearest
loviest its getting very late & I have to be
up with the Sparrows so you pack off
to your bed & let me go to mine. My pet if I
gain any name or anything it is just
to your loving sweetness which helps me
accomplish anything I try to do
My own true sweet love God bless &
Keep you from all harm. Millions
of love & Kisses to you & the wee sweet
pets. Love to Nana & Baaby & Lyn & Geordie
& all of you from Dida Don 
 

 
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