Letters from Harold Edward Elliott to his family January 1916 - June 1916 - Part 10

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about how they got on for I did not Know
but I have heard since that they were
all quite as bad as Irving's lot & behaved
similarly. Mine would have been just the
same if I had left the Battalions to the
wasters they have given me to command them
but I did not I acted as Battalion Commander
in turn to three of the Battalions & put the
fear of the Lord upon some of them. A man
gave me cheek & refused to fall in one
day. I drew my pistol & pointed out
it at his head & swore I would blow
his brains out on the spot if he didn't obey
orders. The pistol wasn't loaded - but I
frowned at him & he concluded he'd
better march. He didn't Know there was
no bullets in it. One of the other Brigade
marched at night to avoid the heat but they
got lost & the men did as they liked.
Yet they make these men Brigadier
Generals over me because I tell them
the truth. After all who is Birdwood that
I should hesitate to differ from him & tell
him so. He is only a man & has not handled
Australians as long & I have & has not
studied them as I have done. You would 
 

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not have me afraid to tell him what I think
then to get promotion – would you. I do not
regret the loss myself one tiny bit for my
conscience tells me I am right & he is wrong
& I think my dear little loving wife will
approve of what I have done. Will you   [Yes – I can read what is under the ]
still say “pause” dear to me even if the          [ tape. Cheers! Ned.  ]             
result is that you wont be Lady Elliott            [* Omit *]
after the war after all & you would have had
a real good chance if I had been made Brigadier
General now. I suppose I would be pretty nearly
the youngest Brigadier General in the British Army
had it come off. & it would be better a million
times if there were dozens even younger for
the toil & mental strain is great. I was better
fit for the job when I left Australia than I 
am now even with the experience of nearly
a years fighting thrown in  But you must
just Keep on on praying for me that I
may find the right path always. Dear old
Kit Your advice is always good. It is one of my
faults ^perhaps to talk too & freely of what I think &
it reacts against me. but at least every
opinion I express is open & honest & I never
say behind a man's back what I am ashamed
to say to his face & I feel I have gained 
 

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the respect of all the men & officers who
have served under me. Mr Henderson from
Rupert & Allan's father sent me a cutting from
the Argus of M^r Ashmeades  Bartletts lecture
I am sending it along in case you did
not notice it. If you can get a copy of the
paper you might post it to Uncle Robert
He might like to see it. You could mark the
passage about the 7^th Battn. It is funny he
should mention the 5^th Battn. They lost about 30 or 40
men on Lone Pine & Le Maistre is cordially
hated by all who have had anything do with
him. His men say that he is a coward that
he got the tiniest graze on the cheek with a bullet
the first day which barely broke the skin yet
he went off to Alexandria & stayed away
nearly a month.  Just recently when the
break up took place & those of the old 5^th who
were being transferred to the 57^th Battn were
being marched away General Forsyth
addressed them. Three cheers were called
for ^for the General & they responded very heartily. There someone
called out three cheers for "Steak eye" that
is what they call "Le Maistre" (He has funny
sticking out eyes like a fish). And they hooted
vigorously. That will show you what they think
of Le Maistre & his good work. But it
 

 [Appears to be a page missing, by content. Ned.]
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l(  )e her not to be wed & have a pal too & yet
I wouldn't like her to be away & lost to us
either. Don't you feel like that.
We have had a quiet time since we came
to this Camp. Things are going smoothly
enough. I am still "sorting" people occasionally
I gave a lecture to the officers last night &
I made them all laugh by telling them my wife
said she had ^heard all sorts of stories about me
including one that I had developed a habit
of swearing at the men. That you had said
you didn't believe, it & hoped if it were
true I would stop it at once. That I had
thereupon written to assure you that having
been promoted to Command a Brigade I now
had 4 Battalion Commanders to do all the
swearing necessary & I would be able to be
good. That after the march from Tel el
Kebir unfortunately I had to write again
& confess that instead as in the 7^th swearing
for one only I found. I had to swear for 4
i e for the whole Brigade. This very much
amused them but I assured them I
was not a bit amused at the prospect &
they would have to do their job & relieve me
from the necessity for swearing at
their men by so training their men & officers 
 

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that no swearing would be necessary &
I then went on with my lecture on the
organization of their Commands. It is
a bit heartbreaking after all I have gone
through to make good men & officers to find
myself afflicted with two officers at least
who are only a shade better that Jim
Courtney in ability but ^though they have not I
think his meanness of spirit. I am
not too sure about one though.
The third man is pretty able but he never
paid much attention to his work in Australia
& so is painfully ignorant of a great many
thinks he ought to Know. I am afraid I gave
so much of my time to this military work
in Australia that I become very impatient
with those who had the same opportunities
as I had & yet failed to take make
the most of them. I guess you will have
more tales than ever reaching you now that
I have 4000 men under me who only had
1000 before & all are getting the Same
treatment. All are liable to be sorted- 
& yet I do every possible thing for their comfort that I can.
I had about 5 000 with me on the march
from Tel-el-Kebir the balance being Engineers
They ^the Engineers did just what they liked with their ^own officers
& finally I superceded the whole of these officers 
 

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an( ) put picked men of my own in Charge
& they soon brought them to their
bearings. One day they started to hoot
& jeer at me telling me to get off my
horse & come & carry a b----  pack
myself. I rode right in among them
& dared one of them say it to my face
& not a man did. Then I got
hold of their officer & didnt I sort him
up for letting them behave like that
There was no more of it – from either
officers or men. I am rather glad it
happened because it is necessary to be 
master with these men of ours & the
sooner they find it out the better. I told
you how delighted General M^cCay was
with the way our Brigade marched in
as compared with General Irvings.
Ours was quite as good as the old Brigade
could have done I feel sure of that.
I feel proud of the fact myself for General
Irving is a Permanent soldier & had been
giving himself considerable airs over me at
Tel el Kebir. Moreover his Brigade had been
formed & in training nearly a month before mine
all the time in fact that I was in charge of the 1^st
Brigade & mine was not formed till after I came
back the 2^nd time owing to the 2^nd Brigade being 
 

-7-
down on the Canal when the expansion took
place. So you see dearie I will want to win
your good opinion your admiration ^& your respect &
best of all your dear sweet love. You will pray
good too dear that I may have skill & courage
given to me worthy of my station so that I may not
betray these 4000 poor boys whose lives rest on my
judgment. A man is a mighty puny thing in
the face of that dearie. I am glad I do not drink
or smoke & such brain as is given me is clear &
unclouded by anything of that sort. You will tell
Baaby to pray good for me because I shall need much
help now darling & I must do well so that you
& my wee boy & girl will continue to be proud of their
Dida Donny & though you are proud of me you will
always know & recognize that it is not just myself
alone that is doing it. I feel sometimes I am
the instrument of the Lord & doing his work in
my own little way to end this dreadful war
& so I do not ^cannot consider men's feelings at all.
If I see the best- man for a post I try to get
him & put him into it regardless of the
feelings of those passed over or displaced. As I said
to the officers in the lecture last night – We are here to
win the war – not to find enough Stable jobs for officers
They have to recognize that they have no inalienable right to
promotion or power but the best men must be chosen & brought
to the Front. Now dear darling love send me loves & tishes
& I'll send you in return just all my heart & love & millions of tishes for
you & my sweet bairnies from Dida Don
 

1
Egypt
17^th April 1916
Dearest Katie love,
I have just received a letter
from my cousin Mrs Edwards which I enclose. There's not
much of interest to tell you dearie. We have march^ed another
10 miles out into the desert from where we were before & are
now occupying what passes for the Front ^Line out in this
direction. So far as we can make out there are no Turks
withing 60 or 70 miles of here but we have to be prepared.
One of my old Essendon officers Capt Scott now Major
Scott of the 9^th Light Horse was in a nice little Scrap ^fight
out in Front of our lines. Our Aeroplane
reported a party of Turks at a Well in the Desert
some distance out so Major Scott was sent out
with 100 men to Stir them up. When near the
place a tremendous dust storm sprang up so
our boys took advantage of it & rushed the
place. One of our men was Killed - Two only of the Turks got
away being on Horseback & making a bolt for it in the dust.
Six Turks were Killed & 34 surrendered. Four were
wounded & one died on the way back. The leader was an
Austrian Lieutenant of Engineers. It was rather a Smart
little job wasnt it. You might tell M^r Henderson
of Essendon as Major Scott was one of the Essendon
Rifles officers like M^r Lt Tubb. Major Scott had charge
of the Essendon Rifle Boys at Wangaratta & of
course will transfer over to the 57^th Infantry when 
 

they get going up there as they will this
year. All those people up the Goulburn
Valley were only really attached for training to
the Essendon Rifles until they had enough.
men to start a Regiment of their own going
Our march out was very good not one man fell
out although the day was hot and the going
pretty heavy with sand. Major General
M^cCay was again very pleased with my
boys. When I see them getting on so well even
under the officers I have got it makes me mad
to think what might have been done with them
had I got the officers that I wanted. Every time
I go away even only for a day or two they
fall off & I have to sort someone when
I get back. Fortunately just as I had a
Splendid Adjutant in Capt Finlayson
so now I have a Splendid Brigade
Major. Major Wicks a Queenslander & a
good Staff Captain a little Duntroon Boy
a funny little rubbish but ^whom I like him
Very much. He got a Military Cross on
the Peninsula for good work & both of them
are a great help. They sort people up for
me which is a very great relief. to all
concerned. All the time we were at Tel-el-Kebir 
 

we ran a School for young officers & Non Coms
& we got them on Well. The other day
Genl M^cCay sent his Staff Officers along
& asked to see the Class & put them
through a long examination. They said
the boys turned out splendidly &
were very complimentary on the work we
must have put in on them. But, I am
still not a Brigadier General ? Katie. Queer
isn’t it ? I had two long rides yesterday &
today right along the line my boys are holding
examining everything & seeing where we
could be attacked from & wondering what I
should do if Abdul does this that or the
other. I dont think there is any fear about
whe him coming at all but one must be
always prepared for anything & Abdul
may be angry ^now about our catching some of his
men & try to pay us back by capturing ^one of our
posts. I've warned them all to watch out for
him especially when there is a Dust Storm
on. You never saw anything like the dust
here when we get a South Wind. You ought to be
glad you dont live here. My books are frequently buried
on my table with fine dust after a few hours blow
Today however is, although pretty warm, really delightful