Letters from Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott to his family, November 1916 - December 1916 - Part 5

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way. Whether the Bosche will let

us get their dug in the last 500

yards which are on a hill slope

facing towards him I don't

know. Eric Walker sprinted got

away back from hospital but looks very

far from being well. I have given

him a job in camp which I

hope will allow him to build

up a bit before he has to go into the

line. Did I tell you in my last

letter that I met Jacky boy

again. He came to see me in

camp. He has cut shaved off his

moustach again. He looks

much better I think and how with 

it. He is looking pretty well

He has been pretty busy looking after

his mules & horses. This is a terrible country

for them. So wet & cold.

It is terrible how callous one gets

to death. Today I went up for a 

walk to visit part of my line (not

the front one) On the top of a ridge there

 

 

is a trench occupied by Australians

not my boys. I was passing by a 

group of them when Fritz sent

up a salvo of heavy high

explosive shells. One landed

right into the group & scatered

them in all directions & tore

off legs & arms & heads. I crossed

the ridge & went about 100 yards &

there was a man with his head

gone. & he had fallen & a immense

pool of blood had formed right across

the little path. I could hardly believe

that one man could have bled so much

Every drop of blood I think in his body

must have spurted out of the arteries. 

What a shock one would get to see

a sight like that at home. Yet I

can now pass them by like this daily

& it has no effect upon me at all

nor does it seem to occur to one that

every step may carry you into the

track of the next mortar shell

 

 

that you can hear by the dozen

whistling through the air. I think

if it did one must go mad

here. There is an old Tank

just near our headquarters.

It has gone bung & we had a

look at it. When it went bung

in the fight the Germans must

have crowded round & tried to

take it for all around it is

dozens & dozens of Germans unburied.

It is what is called nicknamed

a "male Tank" i.e. it has small

artillery 8 pounder guns in it as

well as maxims. The female is

smaller & has only maxim machine

guns. Well this old tank had indently

waited until the Germans crowded

right up to it & then started

using its guns & they were simply

torn to pieces by the shells.

I only hope the Germans wont

get any this war. I am sure

 

 

if I saw one coming I would not

know in the least what to do to

protect ourselves from it. No wonder

the Germans hate them. They would

absolutely end the war for us only

they have an unfortunate habit of

going "Bung" I've no doubt however

that improved ones will be made

rapidly & if we keep ahead of

them we must win. I wish we had

had them early in this year. It is this

shocking mud that puts an

enormous strain on their

working parts that does the mischief

I think. They remind one of an

enormous slug moving so slowly

along over anything at all trees, wire

trenches even steep embankments.

You can judge of the enormous strain

put upon the parts. Buy now darling

Bye. Million love & yxx

Kisses from your very own Dida Don

P.T.O.

 

P.S. Have opened your this letter

again to tell you my Xmas

cake has just arrived. I m

glad to see a pair of Nanas

old speckly socks. I am glad

in two ways. It was only the

other day that I said to myself

I must tell Nana that her old

speckly socks are lovely the come

right up to your my knees nearly

& haven't a sign of a hole in them

yet & keep me lovely & warm.

Then I went & forgot about telling

her & that is why Im glad to be

reminded of this & get another

lovely pair of socks at the same

time. So don't forget to tell Nana

& thank her very much. My cold

is much better now but is not

quite gone. I am sending you

a photo of Charlie I've just 

received.

Thansk dreadful much darling

for all the nice things. Million loves

dear old sweetheart lady

France 27.11.16   Pages 1,2 omitted

later

(3)

has to be carried up for miles

to the front & [[?inne?]] the parties

get lost because you cannot

go up in daylight at all &

then the men drink the water in the

check holes & frequently this

is contaminated by dead

who are lying everywhere.

I had seven men killed by one

shell yesterday. A lot are

been wounded too. Major Mason

as well as Major Grills & Lt Scanlar

have been with me. Mason I have

found a good job for during the

winter months. It is to run a

School for junior officers. He will

have a lovely old house to live

in miles away from shells & xxx & mud &

all the other horrors. This is very

necessary as a lot of  our officers

are sick. I am very worried

about it all. I have tried to work

out ways of sending hot food

 

(4)

up to the line. I had a letter

from Dick Carter by this mail also

and one from Capt Stephen so I

did pretty well. I have so much

upon my mind that I am afraid

I cannot write much of a letter

to you. It is dreadful that these poor

boys have to suffer like this. Fancy

a six foot trench half full of muddy

slush in which you have to live for

three days at a time. During all

that time you cannot lay down

to rest. You can only snatch a little

sleep by cutting a nick in  the bank

& sitting in it with your feet propped

up as best you can. it is either

raining or freezing every night

How they remain alive even I can

hardly make out. Major Mason

& Scanlar look simply splendid

I am glad to have them back

Jacky Boy will I think come

in to this area when we

have finished our turn. He

 

 

France 

2/12/16

My darling Katie,

We are just

back out of the Trenches for a few

days & filling in time meantime

by making and mending roads

It is dreadfully cold & frosty

Ice an inch thick but that is

infinitely preferable to the dreadful

rain & the accompanying slush

& mud. The frost [[?]] the

ground wonderfully but the

men in the front trenches suffer

shockingly from Trench feet when

their feet get frozen & gangrene

sets in. It is so far back

to the ambulance & it takes

as long to get them from the front

line that they are too far gone

when they reach the ambulance

to have their feet saved. In many

cases of course where the officers

have really had these mens

welfare at heart the worst have

 

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been presented but in other the

officers simply let the men

slide and then the worst results

happened. It is extremely difficult

to get the men to take their boots

off & rub each others feet

with whale oil. At first a lot

too much oil was used & not

properly rubbed in & this scalded

the feet made them sore & tender 

& put the men off using it

Whereas the merest smear

should have been used & well

rubbed in. When I got out I

found a whole million lot of letters

from you & others waiting for

me but although usually this

would cheer me up I feel

for dreadfully sad about their

poor feet now to cheer me up yet.

We are going into the trenches

again in a very few days &

I must devise some scheme

 

 

to stop this dreadful waste of

good men. So forgive me if my

thoughts wander [[?]] [[?]] you &

my wee darlings for a few

days. I am afraid I have caught

a fresh cold but so far it is only

a cold. I am glad the dear wee

pets are so well. I am a bit mixed

about the wee doggie. A long time

ago you mentioned he had run away

& the little people missed him. Rory in

his letter to me which I've just got

mentions that he was there when

he was there so you must have

got him back again or got another

Now you mention that he is gone. Perhaps

I didn't get the letter telling that

he came back again. I am glad

wee Gagy Dhurach likes pets. & is so gentle

with them. Have you still got

the dear wee little "Joey" as well as the

canary you caught. You haven't

mentioned the wee Joey for ages & ages