Letters from Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott to his family June 1918 - October 1918 - Part 10

How did you Know it was me I that
Mr Cutlack meant dearie? He
doesnt say it was me. It will
be lovely for you to have Miss Collier
with you on the Voyage darling. It seems
a long time to wait but & I shall
be counting all the days now.
The worst will be when I Know
you have started. But about
the time you arrive I will be
entitled to a whole months leave
& won't we just have a really ^time
truly 'Versary together darling
May God bless & Keep you safe
always my own true darling, my
sweetest loving pal & wife. Just
the best & sweetest thing you are in
all this world my own
dear darling girl. There never
was or could be a more perfect
little sweetheart & wife than you
Millions of love & Kisses from your
very own waiting Dida Don 
 

[* Per Lt. Money *]
France
23^rd Sept 1918
My dearest Katie,
^The Bearer Lt Money of the 57^th Bn is ^going away
home on leave at present so I am going to
get him to take you home another box of shell
cartridges. The long ones are German. The
two short fatter ones are our Anti Aircraft
cases called "Archies" the small narrow
one are the cases from the light guns which
our Heavy tanks carry. They fire a 6 lb
Shell. In the box I am sending you
two copies of a report I drew up on
the Villars-Brettoneux Attack. One you
will Keep. The other you will give to
Col Duigan telling him that it
is for his own perusal & information
alone & not for circulation ^or publication though he
is at liberty to show the or tell the
relatives of officers & men who did
well the accounts at the end of
their splendid deeds. & he may if
he likes give those parts only to the
Depot people to read. All the rest
is for him alone.
I have been away at a 6 days school
on Tanks at a place called Fontainbleau
about 40 miles the other side of Paris &
had a very pleasant time there. I will
write & tell you all about it as Lt Money
hasn't much time. Bye darling pet. Love
from your very own Dida Don 
 

France
23/9/18
My dear Katie Pet,
I am afraid you've been
Scandalously neglected of late. I was
sent off last Monday in a terrible hurry
to go to a senior officers School on
Tanks etc at a place called Fontainbleau
about 40 miles beyond Paris towards Marseilles
We went to Paris by car & thence by train
the Same day to Fontainbleau. I am
posting you some Views of the Forest
which is one of the largest in France & the
town is in the middle of it. It was
the great hunting Seat of the French
Kings. There are some lovely drives
all through the Forest in every direction
The city is a nice clean place mostly
modern built – a great tourist resort
in the Summer. The principal sight 
is the old French Royal Palace called
the Chateau of Fontainbleau. The Views
will show you how wonderfully it
is furnished. It must have been
lovely in the old times & even now
it is magnificent. Much of the best
furniture & the wonderful Tapestry
Pictures are stored away owing to
the danger of Air Raids but the
painted panels & ceilings remain
and are wonderfully fine & seem as
fresh as when painted. Some of the coloring
is very very fine wonderful. We had not to work 
 

2
very hard but I was feeling very tired
out & so could not enjoy going out
as I would have liked to do.
I came back on Saturday. Genl Hobbs
is away & old Genl Tivey ^is running the
Show. Yesterday he came round to
ask if I would take a job in
England at the Base. It appears
they are not satisfied with the Training
& Discipline of the Camps over there.
Poor old M^cCay suffers very much
from illness & cannot get about, & he has
mostly "died"  Colonels who have proved
no good over here in charge & the men
Know it & have no respect for them
& discipline suffers. So they wanted
two Brigadiers to go over & help things
along – bring the training up to date
& straighten up discipline. I was
very tempted to take on the job for I
am very tired & could do with a
Rest. Moreover if you came to England
at Xmas. I would be living over there on
your arrival. But I am so distrustful
of that old Birdwood that I darent take
the offer up or he'd shelve me there
for ever & I am determined not to be
quietly shelved in that way. If they want
to get rid of me they must fight me 
 

(3)
in the open & to the end.
Ronald Dickson is back here now looking
very well. At Lt Money who distinguished
himself very much at Villers Brettoneux
has gone back to Australia today. So I asked
him to take home a wooden box with some
German Shell cases cartridges in it for you. Let me
know Katie dear if you don’t like
them so I need not send any more.
We could get them nickelled to Save
polishing & they would make Umberella
Stands etc all right I think. People
make Gongs of them two. If you have
too many you can give some or at any
rate offer some to Fogey Flory & Lyn & Rory when
you see them. I have a few over in
England for you too. I have one very long
fellow here still that I will try to get
out to you by the next lot of Soldiers
going to Australia. It is lovely fine to see
how pleased all the old boys ^are to be going back
but they all seem sorry to leave at the
very last & ^Knowing the Brigade will go into
action without them. All the same it
is a Big Mistake and ought never
to have been allowed. It shows the
absolute folly of allowing Politicians
like Hughes to meddle with the
Army. Those 7 thousand men are
the regular Backbone of the Army.
If this sort of thing goes on I shall
have ^to send all my best & most trustworthy 
 

(4)
^officers away during the next few months
including all three Colonels - Col
Watson being the only one ^who has not been out
since the Beginning. All the Majors too
are entitled to go & all the best of the non
Coms too as well. We will be ^pretty well crippled for the next
twelve months. If Mr Hughes
had been in the pay of the Germans
he could not have dealt us a more
parayl paralysing stroke. Certainly
they will be away in the winter but the
troops have to be trained & we cannot
train them without officers
And one never Knows what may happen
From all accounts the Germans are moving
heaven & earth to turn out Hundreds
of Tanks & Anti Tank guns. Unless
we press on with the war at once whilst
they are more or less crippled we may
very well find they have invented a new
& better tank than ours or some other new
devilment that may change the whole
face of the war. It is like Nero fiddling
whilst Rome was burning. I had a letter
from Mrs Edwards. Her son was just home
on leave from Italy & she was rejoicing
thereat. She is going to write to you she
said. The p.card which I enclose is of a very
nice house in which I was Billetted on my
return from England. It was one of the most
comfortable we were ever in.. Millions of love &
Tishes from your very own Dida Don 
 

France
26/9/18
My dearest Katie,
I am Very sad me to day. The
Poor old 60^th Bn has had to be broken
up because Australia wouldn't send
reinforcements. Just as well Col Layh
has gone away on leave or he would
be out of a job now.
Norman Marshall's new Battalion
has had to be broken up too but
he has gone to one of the remaining
Battalions the 56^th as they were still
short of a Colonel.
The men feel it Very much. In
most Brigades there have been serious
trouble over it. In the 14^th Brigade & in
the 10^th Brigade  M^cNichols  things are
Very unsettled and men have been
threatening to mutiny over the whole
thing.
I hope the men will remember
when they get back to Australia who
were the real authors of their
humiliation & that they'll hang.
to the nearest lamp post - those
Scoundrels & Traitors Mannix. Tudor
& the rest of them.
We are still in rest area
amidst the old Battlefields. About
10 men were wounded yesterday by 
 

a german trap. They had fastened
the bombs at intervals to a piece of
wire – The bombs were buried & the wire
placed in a piece of long grass. These
men were drilling in the area & one
man caught his foot in the wire &
this set the bombs off at once causing
all these men to be wounded
I went for a Motor Car ride up
towards the Town of St Quentin & looked
at the Country with much interest.
It was a lovely day yesterday but
today it is wet & sloppy again
There is not much news here
but isnt it Splendid news from Palestine
Katie now & from Salonika. I guess
old Hindenberg has a lot on his mind
these days.
Well Katie love. There is nothing
more to Say. Col Denehy & Col Scanlon are
still away on leave but due back now
any day. Col Watson is with us & well.
I have 3 "micks" Catholics for Colonels now
isnt that funny but ^but they are all good men.
Col Stewart was very well indeed
when I saw him yesterday but upset about the
trouble with his Brigade of course. Norman
Marshall is well. Millions of love & Tishes
from your very own Dida Don 
 

France
3/10/18
My darling Katie
We have had
another three days dreadful
fighting. 29^th & 30^th Sept & 1^st Oct.
We are out of the line again
now. I enclose two telegrams
which will show you how
splendidly the boys did but
the poor old Brigade is cut
to pieces. Two of my old 7^th 
Boys Capts Neale & Hornby were
Killed. Neale had been right
through from the very beginning
& had never had a scratch or
been ill at all. He was to
go to Australia in a few days.
He missed the last batch to
go somehow & now all is
over for him.
Poor Mrs Somers. Her boy too
is gone. I sent him to a School
where he did very well indeed 
 

I nominated him to go to
the Cambridge School & told
the Bn they were not to take him
up to the line this time.
But somehow he managed to get
up & one of our our shells
burst prematurely & Killed
him. It seems that there is
no avoiding our fate, however
hard we may try to do so.
I am very sad as you may guess
at the loss of so very many
of my brave boys
Col Marshall did Very well
as usual Genl Stewart is well
also Col. Denehy Watson & Scanlon.
All did splendid work for me
Million of love & Kisses from your
very own Dida Don who is counting
all the days till you come darling.
pet.