Letters from Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott to his family, January 1917 - April 1917 - Part 2

a picture of some of the mg shell holes.
In the dark the men frequently
walk right into them & have to be
hauled out by their mates.  The
water is all mud colored & you
simply cannot see it in the
pitch dark & even when it is light
if the snow is over it.  Some one gave
me today one of your Comfort Funds
badges. The 58^th Colors purple & red
dont show out too well. I suppose
there are no purple, to be had these days
Otherwise it is very neat & nice.
My cousin Charlie had to go to Hospital
again. - I forgot if I told you - & is pretty
seriously ill. His legs are all swollen
up & he cannot walk. It is like ^as if he had chilblains 
right up to the thighs ^the result of trench feet. Ask Baaby what
it would feel like. Geordie is all
right ^still. I havent seen Eric Walker for
some days but he is all right. So is 
Layh, Denehy (who is on leave in London), Stewart
& Duigan. I got the latter to write to
Mrs Duigan to get me my new ribbons

I will have to start the 2^nd row if I
get any more after this. Three of
Fogies Floreys parcels have arrived. I gave one
to Col Duigan for young Bray. I gave
one to Col Layh to give to a boy in his
Battn & the third to a boy named
Hall in Col Stewarts Bn who is an
orphan. The fourth hasn't arrived
yet. I guess some one else has got
it. But it may turn up yet, Ill
keep this ^one for a day or so to see if any
more letters from you turn up. There
ought to be one from Baaby Belle too somewhere
Do you hear in Australia any thing about
the latest German Scheme. There are more
than a million Germans Killed & so many
German women cannot get husbands so the
Kaiser has ordered all the girls to have babies
whether they get married or not to keep up the
population & men home on leave have to
attend to this. One can hardly believe
it is true but Americans who have
been in Germany ^recently say that this is perfectly
true. We are seeing queer things in the

12/1/17

old world these days ar'ent we.
I am enclosing a copy of a little French
paper which is run for the benefit of the
Boys & to keep them cheered up.
12/1/17
No more letters yet. No more
news either. We are still having
scandalous bitterly cold weather here
but while in this house I am
very comfortable as there is a nice
little stove in the bedroom -. a wee little
closed in affair that projects right
out ^nearly into the middle of the room
& keeps it nice & very warm
without burning much fuel at
all. But we will soon be miving moving
Bye now dearest sweetest darling
love God bless & keep you & the dear
wee pets safe & sound.
Millions of love & kisses from your
Very own Dida Don.

France
18/1/17
My dearest Katie,
Here we are
back in the front lines again - got
here ten days ago. The very first
night it came on to snow very
heavily & it is still continuing.
There is nearly a foot over all
the ground now & it is wonderfully
beautiful, but terribly confusing
for all landmarks being shot down
by the shelling it was even before the
snow fell very difficult to find your
way about - now with all the tracks
we used to follow deep in the snow
it is the very dickens of a job. Several
of the men got lost the first night &
nearly died out in the snow. We will
have to get sticks stuck in along
the tracks as a guide. A german came
in & surrendered yesterday. He said
he was "fed up". They had only got dry
bread & tea for the last few days as
rations & he would not stand it any
longer. I hope they are all feeling that

way. You would smile to see the figures
the boys cut when the come out of the line
if you didn't cry. They do four days
up there ^now as they cannot shave they
all have whiskers or & ^are covered in mud from
head to foot. Just like a horse that has
rolled in the mud. I haven't got any
more Australian mail yet but I
believe more has come along & may reach
me before I post this. I have had a
lot of congratulatory letters on the C.M.G.
I met Jacky boy. the other day. He
is looking just the picture of health.
Of course his job keep him right
out of the front line & the worst discomforts
but he is getting pretty senior
in his Company & if he becomes
Captain he will have to take over
a front line job again. He congratulated
me & said I only wanted a "K" before
it now. This of course is a Knighthood
one of the orders of Knighthood being "K.C.M.G.
Others ar K.C..B. & so on.. - Perhaps it
may come at the end of the war. How
would you fancy yourself as "Lady". Guess

"Lyn" would cheek you a lot then
wouldn't she. Geordie is worrying
about her ^Lyn as he has not got a cable
from her yet. about the wee one.
Bob Smith got his D.S.O. all right
I told you about Bert Layhs & Stewart.
didnt I? Bert looks the picture of
health. He now has the 5^th Brigade &
is quite certain to be Brig Genl before
long. I think he is making a mistake
though. He is taking pals friends of his own
over from his old Brigade & putting them
over N.S.W Battalions in his new one.
I would never do that & I feel sure
it is a mistake & will certainly
'cause him to be accused of favouritism.
I hear that old "Davis" whom I thought
I had got rid of for good & who
went back to Australia from Egypt
has returned. If they try to force him
on to me again there will be a [[douse?]]
of a fuss. The worst of it is that Hobbs
our new Divisional Commander is a
West Australian & ^"Davis" is said to be a pal of Hobbs.

But never mind Kit if you keep on
praying for me I'll defy the 'Devil' & all
his works.
Bert Layh has had bad luck he
was jumping a trench or some simple
thing like that & cause a slight rupture
of his bingy & I will have to get him leave
pretty soon so that he can get a proper
bandage or it will get worse & cause
him to be sent to hospital for an operation
& it might be months before he returns

to us again in that case. & this
would be a ^sure chance for that blighter Davis
to be pushed back upon me.- but I
have entrenched myself pretty well. I got
[[Marn?]] made a Tempory Lieut Col with
a view to the fact that if any of my
Bn Commanders got hit I could
ask for him to take the job. He is
running a School for young officers
at present. Ronald Dicken is
still very ill in England & is likely
to be sent back to Australia. Russell
Goode is away again also. I think his
nerves have gone completely & so

he will be no use in the field any
more. Col Jackson whom you knew
as Capt Jackson married an English
girl (he got acquainted with) the
other day. He lost his nerve too &
I sent him away to a base job. I
told you I think that Norman Marshall
is at Aldershot doing a School to fit
himself for Lieut Col. Scurry came
back looking very fit with his Military
Cross Ribbon up. He had a good time
in Hospital & the Queen of Spain used
to look after him. She is acting as a 
nurse in England. She presented him
with his D.C.M. It isn't as pretty
as mine for the front obverse of it has only
the Kings head & not the collection of
Cannons & guns etc like mine.. It is the new
issue. The Military Cross is very pretty.
too. I have not seen the C.M.G but I
believe it is very pretty indeed being a
gold & enamel cross & a gold brooch
where it fastens to the Coat. It has a white blue
ribbon with a Maroon Band in the centre
The Military Cross has a white ribbon with a blue centre

band. I was in a decent sized French
Town the other day. I rode there from Rest
Billits. I looked round to see if I could
get anything for the dear little people
but could not see any thing very nice
The shops mostly have small windows &
you cannot see the stock like you can in
Melbourne or London. & other English Towns
without going in.