Letters from Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott to his family, January 1918 - May 1918 - Part 18

a fine old Shrewd Scotts
Scot of the best type but
both his son & two daughters
all strike me as snobbish
They are heap rather pleased to be
pals friends with a General but
wouldn't have so much of him
if he were a Private soldier.
But I think uncle Jim ^himself
like Uncle Robert would
be the same always - I noticed
it too with Uncle Roberts
daughters. We had some
other Cousins relations more distant & they ^never did not
at all want to take me to see
them because they were
poor ^poorer people. So finally I went
out & found them with quite 
a nice little cottage as
well furnished as our own
home - not that that was much
dearie perhaps but home all the
same - the lady was my cousin relative.

Her husband was only an
Engine driver. He was away at
work & I could not wait
to see him but you could
tell from the way the wife spoke
that he was a nice good fellow
& she loved him good & they had
a dear little boy too. It
seemed a pity they were not
friendly. I got scandalous rather
offended with Her. bert Clarke
who married Minnie. He is
an Oxford University man
& very scientific He has a good
position in Armstrong's Cannon
Factory a wonderful place
where 50,000 people are now
employed - as many as all
the people in Ballarat - with
their new workmens railways
etc etc. He was a mad fanatical anti-conscriptionist
when I met
him first said it would

ruin England - that they would
have to close the works
down etc etc. However
conscription came in &
instead of the works closing
down they got bigger than
ever thousands of women
taking the place of the men.
He is a well built young fellow.
I fancy he only got wed so as
to dodge getting Conscripted
a bit longer - & he joined
the volunteers A.A.M.C for
another excuse & out of his
hours of work meets the
trains with wounded in
a Motor Car & drives them
to Hospitals. As his job is
so very important he has
so far dodged being called up
but I guess he is a bit shaky
now over this last man power.
Bill - I am sorry he got wed

they'd have sure had him out
only for that - The fool was one
of those who used to speak attack
against poor old Lord Roberts
& say he was mad for advocating
Compulsory training ^saying that as he said
it would be the very thing to
provoke the Germans as if the
blighters wanted any provocing
at all. I should love to see
the blighter dragged taken out & stuck
into the line all untrained
as he is to learn what death
looks like in the early morning
cold & wet.
I've quoted Kipling to him
to show him what its like
Kipling Kipling wrote after
the South African War -
"You pushed then raw to the Battle
"As you plucked them raw from the
"Street" 

And
"What did you look they
could Complist."
"War craft learned in a Breath"
"Knowledge unto occasion
"At the first near View of Death"
It is all too true- The men are
taken & pushed into the ranks
before they have have learned the
job under officers just as
ignorant as they are & as
full of fears.
The men are good enough in
fact we have rallied them dozens
of times & when ever a few of our
men are with them they fight
splendidly & never ^think of running
away - Left to themselves they
are as helpless as babies because
they haven't been taught the game.
& cannot like our men pick it up
for themselves. I don't think there
is anything more to tell

you dear old Katie love
Oh. I wrote to Johnny
Avery as soon as I knew
he was leaving for Australia
& asked him to get the
box with two rifles in it
one of which is for the laddie
(the little one) & two other
boxes with shell cases
all sizes which some day
we can have made into
nice ornaments such as I
have seen over here. I
intended getting them done
in London but the cost of
everything at present is appalling
& I am saving up good now arent
I lovie pet. Bye now dear
sweet love. Millions of love
& tishes from your very own
Dida Don.
P.S. The laddy will be pleased to have the
little rifle wont he? I do hope Johnny gets it out

[*Pages
1 & 2 omitted*]
France 20/5.18
Two nights ago a big
shell burst outside the
Chateau. It blew all the
windows in. It was about
midnight. I woke up with
fragments of glass blown over
me & the room full of fumes
of phospherous which all the
Bosche explosives have in them
I thought I was gassed again
for a minute. A lump of
steel the size of your fist
made a big hole in the wooden
shutters outside my windows
broke the windows to little
chips & made a hole ^by through
the ceiling. Downstairs
it made a wreck of our
office. It blew fragments of
glass all over the place
& flying fragments of metal
broke the lovely mirrors on

the walls & punctured
these & the ceiling till it
looks as if a huge charge
of shot as big as inkbottles
had been fired into it peppering
it all over. A curious old
inlaid table all wormeaten
like Fred Nana's spinning wheel at
home was crumped all to
bits. No one was seriously
hurt. There were two officers on
duty. Capt Salmon was sitting
at the table in the office & all
these things fragments went all
round him without touching
him though you could hardly
believe it possible to be there &
not ^be hit. Of course he was
scratched a bit with fragments
of falling glass. Lt Schroeder
my signal officer was there
also. A flying fragment
tore a big lump out of the sleeve
of his tunic & bruised his arm
pretty badly & made it bleed
a little but he is quite all
right. So we were very lucky

The poor old Chateau has
a few nasty scars. Did I
tell you that Bob Smith
had ben invalided to England.
I heard it was Ulcerated
Stomach. I now hear it
is Gastritis which is not so
serious. though it will keep
him quiet for a good bit He
will be very annoyed.
Col Daly who went away at
the same time as I did
but in Col Semmen's Bn
was Killed the other day.
Some of the 2^nd Div the
night before last taking
pattern from my attack
of the 25^th April surrounded
a little town by night &
bagged all the Huns in
it which was very good
work indeed.
Old Genl Birdwood came to see
me & was ^apparently very friendly
with me. I wonder how long
it will last. Mostly I am here
to rile him pretty soon.

I had a litter from little
Mrs Brunet. When I was
up there she said the
other photo I gave her was
of me when I was a Colonel
& they would like one of me
as a General. So last week
I sent her rather one of the
Elliott & Fry one. They
seem very pleased with
it. Poor girl ^she is very sad.
Her eldest brother after
serving all through the war
was Killed just close
to where I am. He was
badly wounded & sent to hospital
where he died a few hours
later. Like you all she
says she cannot believe he
is dead. He seems to have
been a splendid fellow very
good looking - quite fair
with curly hair & blue eyes.
The people there about are not
of course real French but
Norman or Dutch much
more like English than French