Letters from Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott to his family, July - October 1916 - Part 7

named Sutherland carried in a captured
machine gun all the way across no mans land      
to our line where he handed it in to an
officer without saying a word he ran
back to pick up a wounded man lying
out there. & was instantly killed.
Another man the other day was in the front
trench when a shell hit the front parapet
& exploded. He seemed to get such a fright
that he jumped up & ran outside behind
the trench. Had he stopped where he was
he would have been perfectly safe but he ran
directly under a huge falling piece of the Shell
which crushed his head like an egg shell
killing him instantly. It seems very hard
that men like poor Geoff McCrae & Liddelow
have to come back again & again to be hit
until they are killed at last while others
stay at home loafing.
I got a piece of my cousin Minnie's
wedding cake. They were wed on the 9^th
of the month. In my last letter I told
you I got a parcel from Miss Rogers later
I got a letter from her letting me she had 

given you the socks to put in So the other
things must have been from you, you dear
old thing & I didn't know. Million pogues
dearest pet for them. Yesterday I got another
parcel with some very nice paper & envelopes
which I am using now. By the writing & the
careful way it was wrapped up I think Baaby Belle
must have sent it although there was
nothing written upon it. ^except the address. Tell her I will owe her
a pogue for that too. Charlie has just been made
a 1^st Lieut. I believe his mother is terribly
worried about him. I was speaking to a
friend of Geoff McCrae yesterday. He said
he thought the news would just about Kill
Geoff's Sister as she thought the
world of him. & they were great mates.
Well darling Katie, I think this is all
If you show the McCrae's the cutting I sent
last letter it will give them an xxx idea where
Geoff is buried. They can find it out through the
official records also but we are not allowed
to tell at present where we are. There is just
a little wooden cross up now with a tiny
aluminium name plate on it. I hope to get 

a better one put up but we are not
allowed to put up a proper tombstone
yet, as the Shells constantly destroy
them. The little ones are easily restored & a
stock of them is kept & a couple of men told
off to keep the graves nicely in order & the crosses renewed
until the end of the war when more permanent memorials
may be xxxx erected. Every day these cemeteries
grow bigger & bigger.
Well dear old sweetheart wont you come & sit
on my knee. Soon I think I wont have a pal
in all the world except you & the wee pets. All
my dear old officers are gradually getting
killed & those who turn out ^badly Sperriks
I have no manner of use for. So I shall
want you to love me very very much.
Some of my younger boys are turning out excellently.
A boy named Scurry one one of my latest Essendon
Rifles officers came over as a private. He is
now a Captain & doing splendid work in charge
of a Trench Mortar Battery. Like Bastern he has
a real genius for soldiering. I only hope they
both survive this war. Sweetheart love give me a beaut
sweet loving Kiss just the nicest kiss you have about the [[?]] [[?]]
me ever since you love me good, & that you will still pray good
& hard for me. So far as I can see your old man
[*has done his job quite good well. Everyone seems perfectly satisfied
so far but you never know when one can make a slip. I am
learning good every day though something that will help my
boys in the future. Million loves & kisses for you & the two wee darlings.
from Dida Don *]

[*Pages 1 & 2 omitted*]
France
22.8.16
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to live. I wont be doing any more soldiering
I think that will take me out as it
used to do ^before the War. Of course I have been paid
back a hundredfold for the pains I spent
on the boys. It has made all the difference
but I dont think I could go back to it
all again. If only some of them the Hendersons
McCrae & one or two more could have come
through it all right but it is terrible
to have the good ones go one after another &
not see any really good ones yet in
sight. I wrote to Jack some days ago but
have not yet had any reply. Tell Nana
whe we have no Presbyterian Chaplain.
We have a Methodist named "Bromley"

from New South Wales. A Church of England
Chaplain named Stott an Englishman
but who was in Sydney for some years
before the war. Another Church of England
parson named WIlliams a Ballarat
man & finally an R.C. Chaplain
named Gilbert who did best of all
the day of the fight tending the wounded
& dying without any regard to his own
safety at all. Just please yourself 

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about the Depot dearie. Perhaps Mrs Duigan
as representing you would run it for
you but I doubt if she is much stronger
than you dearie. She had a bad time for
a long time after her last baby. Dear little
home lady. That is truly your place & you
make it just the brightest happiest place in
all the world. It will always be "Nirvana"
the place of rest from weariness & care wherever
you may be my onliest sweetheart. I've
never met Mrs Deighton & from what you
tell me don't want to. She must be a fearsome
lady. I do hope [["?" ? "?]] but I
fear it won't All round the guns are roaring
& booming without a moments pause. Here
I am just sitting & writing. It is marvellous
how war accustoms one to this sort of thing.
The boys are making headway with the girls just
as if we were in Northcote or anywhere & yet
any minute a shell might just drop in the
lot & no one seems to care very much. Of course
when a man like poor Geoff goes we are all
very sad but there is so much to do that
one has little time to dwell upon it except
for a few minutes. Tell Mr Henderson I 

got an envelope from him with a copy of newspaper
cuttings about promotions but no letter with it
I am wondering if he left it out by mistake.
it looks as it you would have to get
conscription in these to make up for all
our losses here. There is some rumor that
the xxx 3^rd Division will have to send us a
lot of their men for reinforcements. I
wonder did you get the Anzac ANZAC Book. I've not
heard from Jackie Rontre Violet for some time.
I told you about our little fight on the 19^th
didn't I when fifty of our men stole over into
the German lines & captured xxx a machine
Gun from them but two of the officers with
them were killed as well as 6 others &
12 wounded. The General was very pleased
with that little job. Tell Baaby Belle that her's
was a "sperrick" of a letter & I won't answer
it for a long while & serve her. She tells me
the wee laddie is getting more like an Elliott every
day & that the wee lady is very like me particularly
the eyes. Now what do you think Katie? I am
wondering if Dhursach will know me in that
photo which was taken of me back in
the first French village we camped in
 

It is such a nuisance not being able to
tell you where we are or send you
picture post cards of the places we are
at. But I suppose it is all done for
the best. There is a rumor that we will
be taken out of the Trenches for a spell
in about a fortnights time. Col Duigan
& Layh are both well & happy. I am glad
I was able to help them both xx & it is
lovely splendid to have them. I am not too sure
of Denehy. I wish I could have kept
Geoff or had Bob Smith. Then I would
have been perfectly happy. But he will
no doubt do quite well shortly.
This is all the news darling pet. Millions
of love & kisses for you & the wee Bairnies
from your xxx very own Dida Don
Love to Nana & Baaby.
 

France
26/8/16
My dearest Katie,
I feel very lonely for you today
for some reason or another. Its a drefful long
long while since I saw my pet you. Wouldn't it be lovely
if I could hop on an aeroplane or something
& sail right away to you. Dear little
sweetheart pal. Weren't you a loving savvy little
girl to pay off all that money. But you must
be careful not to stint yourself of things you
really need. Remember I need you most of
everything & if you get short of clothes or
proper food for your dear old self I mightn't
find any dear old pal when I come home & that
would be worst of all. The one thought that
shapes itself in my mind now as the happiest
of all is that of a holiday in the country
where everything is quiet & Katie you & I are
walking along holding each others hands
& telling each other all the news. So do you
be mine & be there or Dida I would be very very
sad. Yesterday by way of a change from the trenches
I had a motor car trip about 50 miles back
into the country. It was lovely to get away for
a little. We went over really to see an
Army School where they are training some of our
 

2
boys to be officers in place of those killed. It
is an ancient monastery which the Government
closed about 15 years ago. It has a lovely
situation right on top of a hill with
lovely beautiful woods all round. The boys go there
for a month's training & they all appear to
enjoy it very much indeed. I told you
in my last letter about the King visiting
us. I now enclose some newspaper
cutting of him. The one where he is smiling
is very like him. He is going grey
slightly in his Beard. In the other
pictures he is standing alongside Genl
McCay watching some of our boys
practicing advancing up a trench. You
can tell the Prince of Wales also by his light
coloured breeches. Now see if you can find
Dida me. When you wed your old man wedded me you never
expected to see his my picture with the King did you?
It's a queer world dearie love. But never mind I have
Katie's love & that's best of all. if I have any luck
at all I might get a decoration of some kind out of this
last fight of ours. I mean the big one on the 19th July not the
little raid on the 19^th Aug. Although everyone was satisfied
with the arrangements in this also. Still I learnt
 

-3-
something from the last one which I hope
will assist the boys if we have to carry out
another one.
Had to stop ^this for three or four hours
Kit. Genl McCay came round ^to ask me to go with
him round the trenches. He has just
gone home again. He told me he had
recommended me for a foreign decoration
but of course didn't know if I could
get it. He didn't say what it was
I expect it will be the French Legion
of Honor of one grade or another
I'm just telling you so you won't be
'sprised like if it comes off but you
needn't say anything to anyone but
belle about it in case some one else
sneaks in ahead of me like they did
before. And as I've got used to this
it won't disappoint me any I
know. All I want is my dear wifelet
& Bairnies love. They are just the best &
clearest things in all the world. I saw in
todays paper that a lot of ladies who were
in a hurry to get wed again after their men
were reported killed in the war