Letters from Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott to his family, July - October 1916 - Part 11

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where men are more secure from shell

fire or more when better arrangements

have been made to cover the men

from wet and cold weather.

Certainly the boys have worked

splendidly.

I am very glad ^to say that I have done

my job all right, so far, dearie I was

very anxious at times. But a very

great deal has been done to my boys

& their officers for the way they have

worked. It is splendid.

You needn't mind 'pologising for telling

me you love me dearie. I'll want you to tell

me it about 20 times a day when I meet

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you again so as to make up what I've

missed this long time. I am anxious

to have the first news of Geordie & Lyn's 

wee Diamond. So far with us the first

arrival in the way of Grandchildren has been

a wee girlie I wonder if Geordie will change 

the succession. Oh! Fogi's letter seems to show

that Rory is sure enough to be wed.  He is
building a new house on that other farm

of his where he made the fire well last 

year. I wonder what the little Liz's

will be like. I wonder too if Fogi will

go & stay with them when they are wed

It would be the fun of the world if she

did. Millions of love & kisses dear darling

old pet. I had another wee note from Scanlan

He is now in England. Geordie must be nearly

there now. Millions of love & kisses to you & the

wee pets from Dida Don

 

France

24/9/16

My darling Katie,

I have just received

your wee note that you gave to Capt

Grills. He posted it on to me

from England. Geordie wrote

also. Tell the dear wee people I was

pleased with the messages they wrote

in the letter & the "tishes" they send

me. Dear wee baby hands. Isnt it lovely

to think they belong to us Katie dear

I'm so glad I'm Daddy Katie.  They are a

comfort to me though so far away. And oh

my own dear Katie I feel so loving towards

you when I think of them & that it was you

that gave them to me to be all my very own.

Wee tiny loving innocent things. I am

so glad they are loving & kind to people

& to you & each other. I hope they will always

be your comfort & consolation my poor

old darling. Geordie's news of you, &

they was quite cheering. He says Katie

"& the "nips" were in great form when I

"saw them last & Lyn & I could hardly

"get away from them when we left."

It is nice for them to be so fond of Geordie

& Lyn. What dear loving little pets they are

 

2 -

I had one officer killed yesterday through

foolishness. There was a german sniper

who kept firing away at our parapet

just grazing the crest so this boy Sutherland

said. I'd give the blighter something to

shoot at. So he took up a piece

of an old German Shell & hopped up

on the fire step to put it on the logs

of t he Parapet. In doing so he exposed

his head for a moment & was shot

stone dead. Some of the Germans are

splendid shots & have telescopic

rifles. We get some of them too occasionally

but they are very cunning & dont

expose themselves at all hardly. Your The boy

Sutherland who joined the 7th You'r

remember the boy in the tram when you

went to Berrick or when was it

just after your operation. He was

wounded pretty badly at Pozieres

Young Dickson & Goode are still

going strong. I have sent them to a

School to put themselves for Captains

Ronald Dickson has just got his

Captaincy. You did not say if you

 

knew him at Warnambool or not

Linton is all right & doing quite

well. I have sent Eric Walker to

School also. He is doing quite

well & Col Duigan is pleased

with him. You remember that at

Ismaila in Egypt we won the

Championship of the brigade for

Athletics. The Championship

Cup has just been today formally

presented to me on behalf of the

Brigade. I shall I think take it

to England with me when I go on

leave & send it out to you someone in Australia. I

intend that it shall be presented

ultimately to the 15th Brigade

in Victoria for perpetual competition

in Athletics between the 57th, 58th

59th & 60th Battalions there. The

Cup to be held by the winning Battn Battn

for one year & to be kept insured

against loss while in their custody

25/9/16 I have not heard from Jacky

boy since he was over here. The

High Commissioner for Australia

 

Mr Andrew Fisher is coming to

visit me xx tomorrow morning

with general Birdwood. Stewart

Duigan & Denchy will be there but

Bert Layh has gone arrd to London

on leave yesterday so he won't be

available. I don't know if he is

going to present me with my Order

or not. Will let you know in

my next letter what he is like

etc because the mail closes tomorrow

& this must be posted tonight

to catch it & take my love right

away over to you my darling old

sweetheart. I hope it cheers you

up good. The weather has been nice

& fine for three whole days now. I

went down to the baths & had a lovely

warm bath today & so feel nice &

clean. if you ever have any room for

news in your letter tell me all the

stories about the Bairnies. I never grow

tired of hearing about them. the dear wee mites

I am so sorry I can't be with them & watch them growing

up. Tell the wee Dhurach Dida will be

so pleased when she can write her first

 

 

letter all by her little self to Dida.

More pleased with it than he was even

with hte little face washer she sent me

& that was such a lot. Tell the little

pets that I like such a lot to hear all about

them & how good they are were to poor old Mr

Trowbridge who had no dear little girlie

& dear wee laddie of his own to love him

& who would be solonely if the laddie & Gagy

didn't love him good & be nice to him

always when he comes to see  them.

Do you love me Katie pet? xxxx me

Katie sunshine Lady? God bless & keep you

always. I wish this silly old war

would end soon. There is splendid

news of a new Advance down on the

Somme the British having driven

the enemy back another mile or more

It is just splendid. What a pity we

did not get a chance there. it was only

that we lost so many in the hopeless

attack here that stopped us going but

we inflicted such loss on the 6th Barasion

Division in front of us that they have not

been able to go either although most of the

 

Divisions around them have been

withdrawn & replaced by other

units Knocked about in the Somme

fighting for of course the German in

playing the same game as we are. He

pushes in a division or two gets them

cut up. he has other fresh ones waiting

pushes them in & while they are fighting

the first ones slip off up the line to a

quiet place to wait for recruits just

as we do & so the circulation goes

on. It is a weary long job making

an impression upon him but we

are getting such a big dinge in his

line at the Somme that he will run

a big risk soon of us getting behind a

big lump of his line & cutting them

off & any day there we may expect

a big retirement to straighten his

line out That will be a great blessing

but the war won't be by any means

over even then though France may

be freed from the Enemy. By dear

old sweet Katie love - Millions of Love

& Kisses to you & wee pets from Dida Don

 

France

27/9/16

My dearest Katie.

I have just got your letter

dated 20th August. it was lovely to get

one so late but I must have missed one

or two before that as the last one was dated

the 8th August I think, & you speak in this

one of Baaby Belle being away from home. This

was the first news I had had of that. But

I expect the missing letters will turn

up all right some day. what a pile

of my letters must be held up somewhere

dearie waiting for you. You'll be just

about snowed up with them by the time

you get them you poor old darling. If I

had known I should have sent 

you a cable. I asked Violet to

send one for me early in July but you

don't mention it at all so I suppose

it was delayed too. As you will find in

one of my letters to you I was expecting

old Gribble would raise the rent next.

I expect the trouble is this. The old chap

is pretty sure to have a mortgage or the

house & the mortgage owing to the Scarcity

of money through all this war

loans is raising the interest

 

 

and like everybody else he has to pass it on

or he will be ruined. I saw in

yesterdays paper that Mr Hughes

is going to pass a law stopping the

raising of rents during the war

I suppose the next thing will be the

fixing of interest at a low rate also.

But these things never achieve anything

for people wont lend at all then but

risk investments elsewhere & then

the whole trouble starts all over again

because without loans people cannot

build houses I hope dearie you do not

knock yourself up & that you get a nice

pretty little house to cheer you up again

I have been asked by General McCay to

take my leave tomorrow the 28th until

8th Oct. I had a letter from Geordie

yesterday. he is in No 2 General Hospital

near Boulogne. I shall try to see him

either going or coming. Tell Gagy Dhurach

I was very pleased with her really & truly

letter. it is lovely to hear about the dear little

pets from you. One can understand now

about then wanting to hear stories "bout Dida"?

am never tired of hearing of them & their little

 

way. Isn't it lovely to have sweet little darlings

for our very very own. Don't you wish sometimes

you had more of them dearie pet? Have you

decided when to send Gagy Dhurach to school. I suppose not

in view of your move coming so soon.

Tell them I am so pleased they say "Grace"

now before their meals. Dida would like them to

say it always. I was so sorry to hear that the

laddie had lost the little dog that Nana gave

him. He will be sad about it. There is more

splendid news from the Somme. Surely the

old Boche will begin to go back with a

run soon. I hear he is building very 

strong lines some 12 miles in

rear of where he is now evidently

in preparation for a retirement.

He does not seem to have much

notion in front of us if retiring as he

keeps on building his works up.

stronger than ever. But he seems very

short of artillery these days. He

never fires at all except when we

peg away at him & get him annoyed.

Sometimes our trench mortars

fire 100 rounds into his lines & we

never get one shot in reply. When