Letters from Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott to his family, May 1917 - December 1917 - Part 20

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but I wish they had not offered it to

me. To think I had only to say yes &

in a couple of months at the outside

be back home in that little house with

you. & see my dear wee sweet bairnies

& feel their little loving arms round me

& to see you my own dear sweetheart

wife again. It was a big temptation &

I could not help a sigh or two as I put

it away from me. I must think of

the boys first of all. Of course if I felt

that I really was breaking up it would 

be best for them too I suppose if I

gave up but as I have said I

have greatly improved & we are

likely to have a month & perhaps two

out of the line so that this improvement

should be maintained. The sharp cold

yesterday brought out a couple of small

blisters on my chin where the skin is

still very tender from the mustard

gas blisters but that should soon be

right again. We have had no

more letters for three long weeks

[*P.T.O.*]

 

4 - 5 -

now & we are very sad about it. I am living

in an old chateau here. It belonged to

the Baron de Bloisel but the family have

all been killed died out & there is only a widow

lady who owns it. The poor lady has been very

sad apparently for there the rooms are

all dark or black furniture with dark

curtains black n dark blue. it is

like being at a funeral all the time.

She has gone away & left us the house

as it stands. In a locked dresser in

the dining room you can see through

the glass door a dinner service with 

the family coat of arms sta on it &

upstairs in the Library there are

a number of family ancestral portraits with

their coat of arms on them. In the library

there is a marble bust of one of the officers

of Napoleon one of the family. The library

is large one & all the books have a book 

plate with the family coat of arms. It

must have cost a lot of money to fix them all

up & now everything is falling into ruin

No repairs are being done. I suppose the poor

old lady being alone has lost interest in everything

perhaps she is poor except for the land

 

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everything is scandalously dear

over here. Yesterday we got a couple

of dozen eggs at 6d each. You are

not supposed to give more than 3½

each but with everything else

so dear the farmers round prefer

to eat them themselves rather than

sell them at the price fixed by

law & you cannot blame them.

I see in the papers that as I feared

the Germans are expected to make

a tremendous attack upon us shortly

with all the men released from the

Russian frontier & the Austrians as

well. I wonder do the people in Australia

realize their folly in rejecting

conscription a year ago. I wonder

too how the Vote there will go

tomorrow. I am not at all sure

of the votes of the men here now either.

The men we have now have are not

the old men nor have they the spirit of

the old men. They have been through

some terrific fighting since & I have

heard it urged that if conscription

is not passed our Regiment will be

too weak to go into the line & we wl will be

employed in odd jobs out of the line. I

have even heard of one officer to vote in

for that reason. If that spirit spreads

we are beaten & will be beaten in the field

There is a lot of shirking in the British

Ranks & it is spreading to ours. The

holding out of the hope of being taken

[*P.T.O.*]

 

 

home on leave & then its ultimate

refusal has had a very bad effect

on the men & the Minister of Defence

out to be kicked out for encouraging

the thing in the first place. It

never was really practicable

having regard to the situation

in Europe & out ought never to have been

encouraged.

Well dear old Katie love. God

bless & keep you safe. I hope all

our trouble will soon pass away.

Try not to worry dearie love & kiss my

little pets for me

Millions of love & kisses from

your very own Dida Don.

 

[*DONATED RECORDS LIST

3297

3rd Series*]

 

France

24/12/17

My dear Laddie,

It's just too cold for anything

over here but Dida and his soldiers

are very lucky indeed. They have

sent us back for a rest & we live in

houses & not in the nasty old mud.

My word You would have fun here

though.  The little French boys have such

fun making slippy slidy places &

sliding gliding down them & they get sleighs

& slide down the hills on the snow & sometimes

they tipply-topply over & think it is

such great fun. But they look pretty cold

all the same. The leaves fall off all the

trees here in the winter because all the

trees are like those planted in the parks at

home which lose their leaves in the winter

& they have none of our gum trees & wattle which

keep their leaves all the year.

But when the snow falls it clings to

the tiny branches & stems of the trees for quite

some time until the wind blows it off. It

sparkles in the sun like diamonds

& is very pretty indeed. But it would

 

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be much nicer to be home with you

all & no frost & ice & snow but just the

nice warm bright sun & the "beach" to swim

in. Tell Mum I've still got the same two

horses that I took away with me from

Home so long ago. The One was very sick

in the cold weather last year but

this year she seems all right.

I expect she had to get used to the

cold here. It is not nearly so cold wet

over here this year. Mum has been

telling me how hard you are working at

school & how good you have been to Gagy Dhurach

And I was so glad you told Dear

you didn't want Mum's face changed.

I wouldn't either dear laddie. It's

just the best face in all the world.

And I wouldn't change my little laddie

either. He's just the best boy in all the 

world for Dida. I am pleased with him

because he is so good & loving to Mum

a Dear. I am sorry I cannot send

your rifle out yet. I took it to

England in a box & scrubbed a lot of vasoline

on it so that it won't rust & some day

I'll bring it to you laddie. You see the

Germans have sunk a lot of our ships & so

those that are left have to take other things like

clothes & things to cut out to you before I can

send a rifle & it's too big to go by post,

[* Bye now dear little laddie. I hope I'll be back with you next Xmas

but if I am not my laddie I know you'll keep on being a comfort & blessing to his Mum

Heaps of tishes from Dida *]

 

France

24/12/17

Dear Little Dhusach,

Tomorrow will be Christmas

Day & my little pet & little laddie will be

so pleased to get their stockings from

Santa Claus. O my, wouldn't I just love to

be there with you & see all he brings for

you. They have sent Dida & his soldiers

right away from all the fighting to

have a good rest this time & they

are so far away they cannot even

hear the horrid old cannon going

off at all. Isn't that nice for them.

cause it is so Jack frosty bitey, cold

here dearie. All the ground is

covered white with snow about a foot

deep & in the roads the wind blows

it along & piles it up till it is up

to your knees in places & we have to

get the men to shovel it away so

the carts can get through & the

surface of the road gets so slippery

slidey that you can hardly walk

 

 

on them. So we are very very

glad little lady that we are

in houses & not up in the mud &

trenches & we are going to have a

Turkey for Christmas tomorrow & a

Plum Pudding. Is my little lady glad?

But if I could be home with my little

ones I would not mind having no dinner

at all. Now darling xxxx Dhusach

mummy has been telling me in her

letter what a good little lady you

are how you like going to school to

learn things & how nicely you wash

up the dishes & help mum & Dear

& that does make me so glad. It

is such a comfort to me to know

that you like to please dear little

mum. Dont you think she is just

the best mummy in all the world

Dhusach dear? I do.

I just wonder when I am going to

see my little pets again & I wonder if they

will know me. I wonder if they will be

too big to play games with Dida. Do

you remember how you used to come

in with the laddie & look for Dida in the

dark in the old Dining Room. And what fun we will

have on the Beach. Bye dearie pet. Heaps of tishes from

Dida

 

France

24/12/17

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My darling Kaite,

This is a very sad Xmas 

for us. We have had no mails

from you for nearly four weeks &

the last we got were dated away

back about the 17th October. It

is said that the big strike

at Home has prevented them

coming over. Today we saw

by the papers that the Conscription

Referendum in Australia has

failed again so those at home have

determined to leave us to our

fate. The 4th Division is to be broken

up I hear & sent to the other

Divisions as reinforcements & the

3rd Division needs them badly already.

We are pretty well up in strength again as we have

had no heavy fighting since September.

However we soon will as the Bosche

is sending hundreds of thousands

of men across from the Russian

front & as soon as it is dry

enough or perhaps before we are

in for terrific fighting. One

can hardly conceive of the madness

of people out there. If England

 

 

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is beaten they can count on 

Germany wanting most of

Australia handed over to her

And if the Germans got to

Australia those blighters who

are refusing to do anything now

would be the first to squeal

for help. No wonder the boys here

are losing heart for the fight.

Well darling pet it's no use

grumbling. We must just do

our little bit as best we can

One would almost despair.

though of doing any good with

all our efforts. It is certain

that we are in for a terrific

fight pretty soon.

I am feeling a good deal better

now. The climate here is biterly

cold but very bracing & when

one is well wrapped up one

does not feel it very much.

when the fresh snow lodges in

the limbs & leafless twigs as it falls it

has a wonderfully beautiful effect

The snow almost seems to take the place

of leaves it hangs so tightly & gracefully