Letters from Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott to his family June 1918 - October 1918 - Part 11

France

14/10/18
My dearest Katie.

I have received two

dear letters from you - one a ^long one big

put me spread over all the end

of July & finished up on 6th August

the other & little one dated the

1st August just a last word with

one for the mail closing 2nd August

I got them only two days ago

so you will see what a time

it takes now for your letters

to get to me.

I sent you a cable the

other day to come along as

early as you can as I

will be entitled this

winter to 75 days leave

in England instead of

going to Australia. Col.

Denehy hasnt gone yet

but expects to leave in a few

2

days time. I have £50 saved

up in my book for you

I am wondering if I should

cable it out to you or keep

it until you come in. We

are out this time I think

for a good long rest. I posted

you some views of a town not

far away last week. It is

very pretty about here &

we are far out of the reach

of shell or from the sound

of guns. It has been very

wet - but the men are all

pretty comfortable. Col

Denehy has a delightful

house to live in. Its owner is

a Count & a French Naval

Captain & it has all sorts

of nice things in it - inlaid

furniture & rare carvings also.

We are in a comfortable house

here but nothing grand about

3

it at all. I am delighted to

hear that everyone thinks our

wee Bairnies are so healthy

& strong. Poor old Katie love I

did not know before how sad

you felt over poor old Geoff

McCraes death. He was a splendid

fellow there is no doubt.

Katie I am glad to say that

Norman Marshall fixed up

the meeting in the 14^th Brigade

over the break up of the 54th

Battalion. He has wonderful

influence with all the

Boys. I am very glad now

that I gave handed him [[?]]

Stewart for that alone. Alot

of people thought I was foolish

to give up such a splendid

officer but I knew Stewart

would need a helper or two

& so it has turned out & after

all it is the country we are

4

serving & not merely our

own Brigade or Battalion.

The war news is very good

these days but people out

there are sure to go to the other

extreme now & fancy the war

is won & that we dont need

any recruits at all. &

that is just what Germany

is aiming at getting us

to believe. Before I forget I must

in this letter wish you just  a

million Happy Xmasas & new

years eve if you haven't dxxx me

with you darling - But all

the same I hope you are with

me spending our anniversary together

in England by then. I had a letter

from Col [[?]] he said he &

his lady think our laddie is

the image of me. What do

you think of that?

Pages 5 & 6 omitted   7

and Jacquelyn too. I am sorry

for poor Loris. It must be very

hard for her to know what to

do for the best.  Genl. Stewart

& Marshall are quite well.

If Genl Stewart goes away at

all Col Marshall will act for him

I had that in mind when I let

him go over there as there were

a number senior to him here.

I saw Col Mason over here

today. He is very well indeed

I think he is getting a job at

Genl Monash's Head Quarters

as Provost Marshall i.e.

head of the Military Police

but I am not quite sure

if that is so or not.

I think you will easily have

enough money in hand to

do the trip home. If necessary

I can draw 25% of my

deferred pay for you

Whilst you are over here

That will be about £150 

I think. I'm afraid I am

hopeless in the matter of offending

people who do wrong Katie.

They have just got to be told

I cannot afford to con myself

respect. I would do that

if I submitted to the things

that go on. I xxxx if very I

think I have got them pretty

scared of me & I don't think

they will come to pass muster

again dearie.  I am glad the wee

people love their little cousins. I

would like to see them great

mates. You will know by now

that I did go to England Katie & saw

your cousins & that I liked them.

They were great country xxxx folk. I had a

letter from old Mr Cameron from

Edinburgh. Nanas father. When

I was there he asked me for a photo

9

and I got one  & sent it to him

He wrote me a very nice letter

back & asked me to come there

& make that my home when next

in England.

I wrote & told him that I thought

you would be coming over about

Xmas & I would take you to

see Edinburgh & that we would

go & stay with them. So mind &

know all about Nana  his daughter & her two

babies & everything. He says

they are over in Paramatta

now. I am enclosing you a

bit of my Croix de Guerre

(which means War Cross) Ribbon

for you to see. To show the Class

2^nd I wear on this ribbon a tiny

Gilt Bar.The 1st class had a

Bronze palm leaf - there are

several other  each with

a distinctive sign.