Letters from Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott to his family, January 1917 - April 1917 - Part 9

Conflict:
First World War, 1914–18
Subject:
  • Documents and letters
Status:
Open for review
Accession number:
AWM2018.19.75
Difficulty:

Page 1 / 10

28/3/17 my devier nate I am afraid I bar her oodly neglectiry you thes lost treck. But & have ben fighting & marching all the wextt long my fo sarhe Haking a name to themseloss They lad out reached the Britert & aver the Aurtilian & fo threy while day ere ever absolutlly pridder tadvance one step further to allow the other to catet up or east side of us Every day then was some new explrst that brought cinatuti to badtate o throther Bert Layt & Henast will east get th .M.S.I thonk & tench will get the D. I the dont the gure solly well ought to wer the t Commander s Si yough who it is good is the g reatest fighte n pance & who uldo proms dryone actually came Mory restridgy to see usd senve days before in nent ine nattapt
lapt Pierce t lake note of my mithto attock which will simply sparolygen the lt Booch. Capt Nea yu Communuct not Reported came alonalis& vade conon notes about all on perfornances is you should near all about it lave before this ceaches you. Numbers off t 197 has done waredousl bave thergs for me Lester o this We had taten a Vellage. The Broche made an altacy &got wind it We had an oppeci mme with b mchiree giv in a ruined prom then. They got cut off ta part 1f 10 of the eninp picke oer whe got leteree them & us The officer just a loddee he is no Her called on his men tollow him & let them rightent the Brocher shorting otty right & cott. The party had one eas &ore wvinded p got then on a way rakly no ws earl athe morning sephr daw that daes two
Leadtorn 2917
boocher got into a mied house woinded oof on over myingfon a blecy t will. Frod Gransmen wrere bit its duk Heran gota rifle shayolt bn crentout alont get thed pooe hes in reverge. He ceanle upto the house & peped in the door. te mr on sorche pust withher with at his shoulder ready t motthther standng neve with thei lacks to hem Iaking careful am be shot the Dorchey who was giving the sefle through the sead Killerken St deadnt other got a terubl fright & jumped on a mined wall & startedd sa home erv then done an our empty gun & neged that of the dead Boscke & shot the escaping me deadalss Then be rearched wl t bodie brogh in come very viluable paper from the pirt one without other Borches ppo mnall about the place eng him anthat mast 8 an endey his nam i forthS I do hope be sits it. We cantied retan bu ave heve gav t 8
light & a trenchmortar. Thus Seneh bad t direction affares or the occasin Kewart Layh oDenenhy have ke imply pleaid I an sor not I not doran drarshall awoitth school as he would bave dont ppludedly here as hnmer would follow hem anywhere The Borches one playng, all porte flow don tricks. They have som up every hor except mhen & thn nearlyall thee have clockwosk tok hidde any wewher them the town lale at Bayon left gent good & the P.M.P.A. people toote itm a a conting. Then oneday it weat Bang & turied about 3men. Iwhilst Bob toueth mer were gute then sut a guad of Sernar pur payred by. Ohe was met a wolther he guinned at om men whe were carryng out the poor crurted wretite & called out some jury In a mon all the oner dipped then wrrk x maged roud them D anther n minutertheyd rall all be
thaw tree left in hanging Banpaume fist la pol Sith toppered to be on the Spot & got the oner to lef ther off ganen the might scarld lot of Bosces in that party & n more geering fom them. We lave been getting Fran conratulation letely dene t ate o will lave bedt $ o kaybe nn Ithing to likely IlltPB ot of the lot hereby be sot more fighting yet. To you must kegpan proning your old yon will have wiodocouge worthy hi isl to for I lavent d a mgl theng wrone & taken all -all & everyore go astousted at the mleren of the lan with which ire ear accomplised is much to ae not a igleoffer las ben killes thongs m was rather ladly wouded & thiee a ou other ightly wouded. I suppose about 60 mer have been reccled & alout 300 wonder for over a creeks fighting & lare at lime th erna
ben imply dreadful. I one beap i a mke ond when on wechigges caught then then 10 dead pele a o each othe th ercape from the plan of Bullet We lave had about 26 presomn After oe attack the Bosche made lpatillage at las gagned we got ompresn He ase im if to thought his Regiment with come again. He said in Bornan no theyse had a norfull This is a ser expyersin gralent tout Bellsull Bat thaugh I give ml noshence a what semthe sene eltdemcual Diga es to have a rest in surday becel write & tell tem now he hay soldies yo pusted dow tlast of tt wll & clair thold trnon for muile Killedl a lat & they dieed to stophd a little new wale the ad biild & Sidai loys kn en it don okilld tome
France My dess peolon 9/311- I renover lad asip chance of writing to you in eeply to your letter of the B1s Gar what I woo put delighted sccd a breek or so ago. ad neeoneetp We arelack lavers a yitte nst today we mnisted by lgst nght Iitoned dearly hare lored to tare purted or & siptade to otpe hetl Vellages fom the exery, I ad all th poor a ready itt toyere so peed out rad sone it ppladidly that thate Densenal senpal Mend Dlate inout I nised in Hjedio I am more pleased than u now because the gain is jout coming downir sheets & although here all the dellage an jent cnly mens for the Bophe ke b all at before we lift yet in sts of it att throm car my uy slling amongs the remt Reothen
pretty dry & bast is guit impomill closts of the enery. Butevenve is deighted tb any portd & plart of the druckeb. &uther one ly cgaratuely carly rec a Beet tle. The gras is Popin py& it is wile te alle to cante all over the helds. The old Brocke cnnud fight very well is thoope & my boy were ping it out &a he leand eaper for the sob. It is et e them fight. Tey outosif tey were songta hrade nevl a check or galt & then see the do Brocher ping out & in forthen live we igit a pe hundred youd poo them & om gous oft upon the a mark then as they net to cover. M of the world. we as just the ir for camnatter sare had a gro wank po stell fin The Borche tt thot re the guita ther be as noot a a dinch. We are collectiry quit a mce lotg hophen to nill home machene
Yous, drench mostar & tarh lighty I hope they whow thenin t depos i the peoplecan se tut then boys hare done m nothing of gucky I fear they are likeen our a spell panyde e oery tome alon t redine.I ran Geordee day before yesterday He is very well. Tanrem a pot le wheve als3 same out. One of my doctor me was killef this teme while we ever inthe pont. I am glad mrs geaker got the oews of her boy all right Poor lady it is nary red. Ido hope yur faiell gave ruply. I got a ty shiny black leather Serno Bilmet with all ports of the ban spikes & soden over it This is bng sent orme to blard by a officer who is gond ovr thete in ado or ten Henill put it in a box & reginted at & send it out the saddie sont lethen bi soldier lat is coming etil it come the

France
28/3/17
My dearest Katie
I am afraid I have

been sadly neglecting you this last

week. But I have been just fighting

& marching all the week long.

My xxxx Katie My boys have been

making a name for themselves

They far outreached the British

& even the Australians & for three 

whole days we were absolutely

forbidden to advance one step

further to allow the others to

catch up on each side of us.

Every day there was some new

exploit that brought congratulations

one to one Battalion or the other

Bert Layh & Stewart will each

get the C.M.G. I think & Denehy

will get the D.S.O. if they dont they

just jolly well ought to.Even
the Army Commander Lieut Genl Sir. -

Gough who it is said is the

greatest fighter in France & who seldom

praises anyone actually came

along yesterday to see us & several

days before he sent his Staff Capt

 

 

Capt Pierce to take notes of my
methods of attack which were
simply paralyzing the old

Bosche. Capt Bean the Commonwealth

Govt Reporter came along also &

made copious notes about all

our performances so you should

hear all about it long before this

reaches you. Numbers of the boys

have done marvellously brave

things for me. Listen to this.

We had taken a village. The Bosche

made an attack & got round it

we had an officer Freeman & six men with

a machine gun in a ruined

home there. They got cut off by a

party of 120 of the enemys picked

men who got between them & us.

The officer just a laddie he is named

[[?]] called on his men to follow

xxxx him & led them right into

the Bosches shooting & bayoneting

right and left. The party had one killed

& one wounded, but got their gun

away safely. This was early in the

morning before dawn. That day two
 

 

March 28th 17

DONATED RECORDS LIST

3297

3rd Series
 March 3rd 1917

 


Bosches got into a ruined house &

wounded 10 of our men surprising from

a hole in the wall. Two of Meran's men

were hit. At dusk Meran got a

rifle & bayonet xx went out alone to

get these Bosches in revenge. He crawled

up to the house & peeped in the door. He

saw one Bosche just with his rifle at

his shoulder ready to fire & the other

standing near with their backs to him.

Taking careful aim he shot the

Bosche who was aiming the rifle through

the head killing him stone dead. The

other got a terrible fright & jumped over

a ruined wall & started to run home

Meran threw down his own empty

gun & seized that of the dead Bosche

& shot the escaping one dead also.

Then he searched both bodies & brought

in some very valuable papers from

the first one without the other Bosches

who were all about the place seeing
him. Wasn't that smart of him. I

am sending his name in for the D.S.O.

I do hope he gets it. We captured

yesterday two machine guns two search
 

 

lights & a trench mortar. Chris Denehy

had the direction of affairs on this

occasion. Stewart Layh & Denehy have

been simply splendid. I am sorry

now I sent Norman Marshall

away to the School as he would have

done splendidly here as his men

would follow him anywhere.

The Bosches are playing all sorts of low 

down tricks. They have blown up every

house except one here & there & nearly all

them have clockwork bombs hidden

away somewhere in them. The town hall

at Baupaume was left quite good

& the Y.M.C.A. people took it over

as a Canteen. Then one day it went

off Bang & buried about 30 men.

Whilst Bob Smith's men were getting

them out a squad of German prisoners

passed by. One was such a fool that
he grinned at our men who were

carrying out the poor crushed wretches

& called out some jeering ^remark. In a moment

all the men dropped their work &

surged round them. In another

few minutes they'd have all been

 

 


hanging in the few trees left in

Baupaume but old Bob Smith

happened to be on the spot & got the

men to let them off. I guess there was

a mighty scared lot of Bosches

in that party & no more jeering from

them. We have been getting so very many

congratulations lately dearie that I

think you will have hard work soon

to escape being "Lady Elliott" I think it

likely I will get a "C.B." out of this lot &

there'll be lots more fighting yet.

So you must keep on praying your

old man will have wisdom & courage

worthy of his job. So for I haven't done

a single thing wrong & taking all

in all & everyone is astonished

at the smallness of the loss with

which we have accomplished so

much. So far not a single officer

has been killed through one was

rather badly wounded & three or

four others slightly wounded. I suppose

about 60 men have been killed & about

300 wounded for over a weeks fighting &

the German losses have at times
 

 

been simply dreadful. In one heap in a
sunken road where our machine guns
caught them there were 15 dead piled 
on top of each other as they tried to
escape from the stream of Bullets.
We have had about 20 prisoners.
After one attack the Bosche made
upon a village we had gained
we got one prisoner. We asked him if he
thought his Regiment will would come on
again. He said in German "No they've
had a "nosefull". This is a German
expression equivalent to our "Bellyfull"
But though I get all the horrors in the world
nothing will be so sweet to me as the
love of my own dear wee sunshine lady
& her kisses & the feel of her loving arms
round me. Tell the dear little pets
Dida is to have a rest in two days &
he will write & tell them how his brave
soldier boys pushed down the last
of the wall & chased the old Germans
for miles & killed a lot & they tried
to stop behind a little new wall they
had built & Dida's boys knocked
it down & killed some more
 

 


France
29/3/17
My dearest Katie love,
I've never had a proper
chance of writing to you in reply
to your letter of the 21st January
which I was just delighted to get
a week or so ago. It was a dear
sweet loving letter my own sweet pet.
We are back having a little rest
today. We finished up last night.
I would dearly have loved to have
pushed on & captured two other little
villages from the enemy. I had all the
plans ready but the men my poor
boys were too tired out & had done
so splendidly that when the Division
Divisional General offered to take
us out I raised no objection. I
am more pleased than ever now
because the rain is just coming
down in sheets & although
all the villages ^here are just simply
ruins for the Bosches blew them
all up before he left yet in spite
of it all the men can rig up shelters
amongst the ruins which keep them
 

 


pretty dry & that is quite impossible
close to the enemy. But everyone
is delighted to be away from the mud
& slush of the trenches. Out here
one only comparatively rarely sees
a shell hole. The grass is springing
up & it is lovely to be able to canter
all over the fields. The old Bosche
cannot fight very well in the open
& my boys have found it out & are
eager for the job. It is lovely beautiful to
see them fight. They go out as if
they were going to a parade never
a check or halt & then ^as [[we fire?]] to see
the old Bosche jump out & run
for their lives when we get a few
hundred yards from them & our
guns ^then open upon them & smash
them as they scoot flee to cover. It

is just the fun of the world. We
have had a good few casualties
mainly from shell fire. The Bosche

seem to be quite a poor rotten shot

when he is not in a Trench. We

are collecting quite a nice lot of

trophies to send home. Machine

 

 

Guns, Trench Mortars & Search 

lights. I hope they show them in

the depot so the people can see

what their boys have done.

I have seen nothing of Jacky

Boy. I hear they are like us

now out for a spell So any day

he may come along to see me. I

saw Geordie the day before yesterday

He is very well. They were moving 

up to the front line however when I

came out. One of my doctor men

was killed this time while we were

in the front. I am glad Mrs Jenkins

got the news of her boy all right.

Poor lady it is very sad. I do

hope your parcel came safely. I got

a lovely shiny black leather German

Helmet with all sorts of shiny brass

spikes & badges over it - This is being

sent home to England by an officer

who is going over their in a day

or two. He will put it in a box

& register it & send it out to the

laddie. Dont tell him his "soldiers

hat" is coming until it comes. Then

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Kimberley Hayes Kimberley Hayes
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