Letters from Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott to his family, July - October 1916 - Part 2

France
5/7/16
My dear old Katie,
I received your letter 5/7/16
(the xxxxxxxx one with three photos in it) dated the
8^th May two days ago but I have been pretty busy &
have not had time to write. Yesterday myself
& my Brigade Major were taken up to the
Front in a Motor Car to all the portion
of the line likely to be taken over by the Brigade
when we go in to it. The country is very
flat everywhere & xxxx cultivated practically
right up to the trenches It was a fine warm
day in the morning & the country looked
just a picture. The cherry trees are just
loaded with fruit which will be quite ripe
in about another week & the fruit looks
lovely. There is a good crop of apples &
pears on the trees but as yet they are very
small & unripe. The trenches are very different
to Gallipoli. There we used to digd right down
10 feet or deeper for protection. Here that cannot
be done owing to the water. The only thing to be
done is to pile up the dirt in front of you
in a long huge mound. The surface soil for
20 or 30 yards back is dug off & thrown out
in front. When our Australian boys look over
this parapet was only 3 feet thick so is quite

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good enough to keep out bullets but

no use against big high explosive shells

We are now engaged in thickening them

up to 20 feet through. Goodness knows what

will be the result. It may or may not keep out

the shells. They say is is quite good against

the ordinary occasional shell but when one of

these big straffs start nothing will keep them

out & the whole trench ^or barricade is spread out all

over the place. All along barricades are erected

too to protect the men from the fragment of shells

dropped ^just over at the back & which fly back

towards the barricade, I have had no news of

Jack since he left Egypt. I hear he is all

right but they were not in the part of the line

that I visited. I was delighted with the photos

they are lovely. Tell Baby that I will owe her

three pogues for them. The dear wee people look

such dainty wee pets. I showed them all to

Madame Brunet & she was quite excited over

them & wanted to know their names & all about

them. The children here are called Maxomiliene the

eldest girl, Jean who is fighting at Verdun Marie

Therese' who is about 13 or 14 & Pierre the little boy

we would call him Peter & Jean is pronounced exactly as

our John & is really the same name. Marie is

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the same as Mary & Therese' as Theresa
but Maximiliene is the femine of Maximilian &
I dont think we use either name. The little letter
got to me somehow before the other letter you said
you were going to write for the same mail. It is
funny isn't it the way the letters go. I am was sorry
to hear of poor Miss Imrie. I have had another letter
from Violet but there is not much news in it &
it is written before the last one but she addressed
it 15^th Division instead of 5^th Div & it seems to
have gone astray for a bit: The trenches that we
saw are about 400 or 500 yards apart & there
is very very little rifle fire & practically the only
wounds are from shell fire. We are all getting
iron helmets. They are very heavy & uncomfortable
but are a great protection to the head from shrapnel
bullets so they tell me: I saw General Birdwood
in the Trenches. He looks very well indeed He is
coming to see my boys at 3 oclock this afternoon.
My boys are behaving very well indeed all the
people here that I ask say they are very pleased
with them. Tonight however we get our first
pay since we have been in France & with every
house ^or rather shop selling wine at 2½ a glass it is not to be
greatly wondered at if some of them get on there
ear. The New Zealanders who were here before us
made rather a name for themselves this way. They

xxx xxxxx xxx xxxxx xx xxxx The British & French
are making a big attack along the Somme &
are having a big success so we hear. Oh I
nearly forgot to tell you. The local Mayor took
myself & the Brigade Major home to Dinner on
Monday & we had a very nice dinner about
6 courses with a different sort of wine to
each course finishing up with champagne
& Benedictine Liquer & Coffee. Quite a heap
of style. Well now this is tryly truly & really
all the news. We drove through a small Oak Forest
yesterday on the way to the Trenches & it was very
beautiful. In fact the whole place is a perfect picture
but it must be awful in the trenches in wet
weather. It poured coming home last night -
& one could only imagine what it would be like.
The fields are all slippery clay & it must be
just awful. Even in Midsummer there is water
in the bottom of all the trenches & they are floored with
wooden open floors ^called duck boards a foot or so above the bottom which
is full of water. Millions of love & kisses to you & the
dear wee darling pets. Tell ^the children them that I was delighted
with the photographs but I am not sure I like the wee
Dhurach with her hair combed tight down like that. Madame
said it is the latest Paris fashion for the ladies here &
laughed when she saw it. Bye dear darling lovey wifelet.
Tell Nana I got her letter & will reply soon. Million loves & kisses from your
very own Dida Don

would only have champagne & when they got
full up away they went to Camp with one
bottle in each hand & one under each arm
Well I think this is just about all the
news this time. Madame has some lovely
rhubarb in the garden & she asked me last
night if we ate it in Australia & I told her
"Yes". & she said she would give some to our
old cook to make for us. She also said I
could bring some of my officers to her drawing room
to play the piano. So tonight some are coming
The night before last her daughter ^Maximiliene played
& sang to us. She has a very small voice but
very sweet & she sang such a pretty little song
called in French "Le petit fleur de Bois."
what which we might translate as "The little flower
of the Forest". Of course it is speaking of little Violets
& things like that growing in the forest & now as our "Flowers
of the Forest" our old favourite lament for the men killed
on Flodden Field. I like Madame very much. she is very
kind. She is the Doctors Second Wife she told me &
only Pierre is her son. The elder children are those
of the first wife. She tells me she is 31. I took
her to be much older. She is pretty stout.
you Well dear old girlie Goodness Knows when this will
reach you. We haven't got a Censor appointed
here yet. & all letters are I hear being held up

FFrance
18/7/16
My dear old Katie love,
Have just received
a letter from Baaby dated the 29^th May but
none from you. We seem to be much
worse off for letters here than in Egypt
I suppose it takes a fortnight longer
to get them. No letter from you this
time. But 'spect I'll get one soon. My
poor boys are getting pretty badly knocked
about. Capt Mair who is was a Dentist in Melb
was killed yesterday his legs being blown
off by a shell & three other officers were wounded
and a number of men. Poor fellows some of them
were dreadful sights after the Bombardment
of the Trenches & I was able to get along. I saw
one huge hole made by a shell that you
could put the Kiddies play house in
being fully 15 feet deep & about the same
Square. So you may judge what a man
is like when one of these hits him
About 20 we could not find at all:
no doubt they are either buried up under
the ruins or utterly blown to bits. We
have been relieved from that part of the trench
now I am glad to say but any part of this line

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is just as bad as that when they concentrate
their artillery upon it for an hour of
so. The only satisfaction to us is to
watch our artillery pound their trenches
to fragments in turn as they sometimes
do. It is wicked to all the way these
guns have laid waste the beautiful
country here about & it is so fertile
& beautiful. I have not heard from
Jacky boy at all or from Johnny Avery
This is just a teeny tiny letter that
you know I am all right. I never can
write much of a letter unless I get one from
you to inspire me. Dear old girlie give me
a nice loving sweet kiss. I would like to feel that
dear old head on my arm again & call you my
own dear wife. & see your dear bright eyes again
I wonder when this old war will be over Katie
darling. Just think of peace being declared
& counting the days till we will be together
again. You are a dear old sweet loving
girlie. God bless & keep you for ever & ever
my darling Millions of love & kisses for you &
tghe wee pets from Dida Don

France
4 19/7/16
Dear little Wifie
I am writing this in the morning
& about 6'oclock this evening we will
start a battle. Nothing like what is going
on down on the Somme but in
other wars it would be a very considerable
Battle indeed. I have taken every
precaution that I can think of to
help my boys along & am now
awaiting the signal which will
launch so many of my poor boys
to their death. They are all eagerly
awaiting the signal & we hope
to so pound the enemys trenches
that we wontd have much loss at
all. Yesterday our artillery hit up
his trenches quite a lot & he was
very quiet last night compared
to what he was previously. I think
he had had a belly full And what
he got yesterday wont be the least
circumstances compared to what he
will commence to get in about an hours
time & will continue to get until
6 oclock tonight. Then our boys will

dash across with the Bayonet & we
hope to gain quite a good bit of the
front line. No one doubts that we will
succeed in taking it. The trouble they
all seem to say will be to hold it
when we have it won. I am going
up to watch the assault from our
front line. I cannot stay away
back here. If mischance comes I
can only say God bless & keep you
my our dear little true wife &
helpmate & ^may our little sweet pets ones
comfort you always. I seem to be
confident more so this time than
before that I will be all right. Perhaps
your own faith in this belief is helping
me.
Darling little lady you loved xxxxxxxx didn't you
even when I xxx sperriky & you will be always
my very own pal & comrade right for ever & ever
the dear little one that I can come & talk to & tell all
my troubles too. I should like the wee laddie to
have a chance to go to Duntroon Military College
some day. My will is in the Safe at the office marked
with my name & I think in a large envelope endorsed
Private Papers. Now bye good dear little old love lady
Heaps of love & kisses to you & my own dear little pets from
Dida Don
P.T.O.

P.S. Charlie has been under fire the
last few days & his Captain speaks
very highly of his courage & coolness.
I am sending a postcard to my wee Dhurach
[*2DRL/0513*]