Letters from Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliot to his family, November 1918 - February 1919 - Part 6

-6-
He is to come out to Australia
after the war. I believe & you
needn't be in the least shy.
of him for he is shy himself
ever yet but talks to you in
a real friendly way without
the faintest sign of affectation
or side. Well dea After that
we had the men march in one
at a time by a side door &
after they had got their medals
they went but by the main
door. just like it is done at
Buckingham Palace when
I got my medals there
Genl Hobbs was quite
delighted with this little
show - it looked well. Well
dearie pet there's nothing more
to write about. Did I tell you
JCMC Campbell sent us a
lovely big box of Heather
Honey in the comb for Xmas
It missed Xmas but came as
a present on 'Versary day next day
so that was good wasn't it. I
enclose a letter from one of
my boys out in Persia
whom I told you went off on
some mysterious job last
year. You will see their
mission failed in its main
objective but did good in
other ways. Persia seems
a pretty beastly place with
[*a pretty wretched set of people in it
With millions of loves & tishes to you &
the wee people from your very own
Dida Don.*]
[*2DRL/0513*]

Dourlers
France
29/12/18
Dearest Katie,
I havent any news for you
today but I am enclosing a post
card showing a view of this little
Village. It just stops short of the
Doctors house where I used to live.
You can just see the corner of the iron
fence of their house. The poor lady was
very sad today. It is just a month
since her old man husband died & I suppose
seeing everyone preparing for new
year has brought it home to her.
Also their rations hadn't come &
they had only had potatoes to eat
for some two or three days. I
am going to send her something.
Her boy "Jean" gave me the post
card & has written on it
"Please receive this souvenir
"with my best wishes & those of my
Mother & brother".
That's a nice little message for the
laddie. Jean can read English
very well & understands it perfectly
but is very shy about speaking it
as he does not pronounce it well.
Also he is no doubt shy about
talking to a "General.".
You must buy a nice postcard

2
and get the laddie to write on it a
little message of in English thanking him
for the souvenir. It will help the
laddie to take an interest in the
French language & when he has
learnt a little perhaps he can
write to Jean in French &
if we are ever able to send him
on a little trip perhaps he will
come & see them. The old lady
said if ever you come with me to
France you must come & stay
with her. I'm sure you'd love her
good she is so kindhearted &
cheerful in spite of all her
troubles.
I am enclosing the last letter I
got from Bob Salmon. I think he has
now sailed from England. He is
going to go & see you. He is a splendid
boy & the kiddies especially will like
him. He loves kiddies himself. I wish
you could know him really well. His
father was a Dr in Ballarat but died.
His brother Wilf^red was killed fighting
about twenty germans on his own
in an aeroplane & Jack ^another brother has
his right arm torn off at the
shoulder. Bob was I think one of
the most popular officers we ever
[*D.R.L. 3297 (3rds)*]

had in the Brigade. He has a little
humerous way with him very like
Rory in a way that makes him
loved xxxx by all ranks.
You can see though that he is not too
fond of the English.
Well dearie pet. It is a nasty
stormy old day all about the
place wind & rain like a hurricane
Isn't it lovely that it is an
armistice & we can all live
warm & in comfort & not in the
trenches. It is strange that we
have had nothing to compare
with that first winter in the
Somme since then. It was
a terrible initiation that &
I wonder any of us really
lived through it.
Million loves & pogues
from your old Dida Don.

2.
Dourlers
31/12/18
I am enclosing a letter from my Cousin
Martha Tottenham. She writes very nice
letters. The poor lady has been an invalid for
years but is slowly getting better. I enclose
the photo she sent me of Dartmoor near where
she lives. I have told her in reply that it
looks almost as dreary & disolate as the
French Battlefields. I sent you a
picture of those as a new year card
last week. I hope you get them - they are
very good views. We had a very big cross
country race for the boys yesterday. About
250 started & ran nearly 3 miles.
About 190 finished the other 60 knocked
up on the way which as the ground was
pretty soft after all the rain & they ran
in the heavy ammunition boots was
not altogether surprising. I'd have
died I think if I had run half
way. General Tivey came to see the
race. He told me that it was now
quite certain that we should not be
going to Germany at all but would
remain in this district for another
two months at least & therefore we should
do all in our power to make
the men as comfortable as
possible. He promised to try &
get us a Motor lorry so as to
run trips to Mons Charlerois
Waterloo & Brussels. The men

.3. 2
have to be warned against the girls of
these towns for the Germans have left
them all diseased with whom they
associated. We were to have had
a reunion dinner tonight New years
Eve but it has fallen through. We sent
an officer to Paris & he got the provisions
to safely on the truck but so far
the truck has not arrived at the
siding near here which it was supposed
to reach last night. Today not being
able to get any tidings of it we have
had to dispatch another officer to
Paris to ascertain the cause of the
delay. It is very sad as the
geese & other things may go bad or be
stolen on us before we get it here. We
however have insured it for full
value so it should not be a total loss to
us. Oh Katie I told the people Hutton &
Coy to pack the linen into two parcels 
also one holding about £10 worth so you
should only have to pay duty on the
other parcel. I hope they won't charge
you too much duty dearest. If I
could have fixed it I should have
paid it for you over here. Perhaps
the people will write & let me know how
much it is in which case I will pay
and let you know. From our previous
experience it will likely be some time before

4.
the parcels reach you. Dear old lady It
is very sad that you couldn't come over here
before. What a lovely Versary Anniversary we might
have had if only you could have slipped
away over when I sent you the cable &
£50 in October - but I suppose it was not
to be. I haven't heard yet whether you
got - this yet But I expect you did. There
is a sort of rumor that letters have
been received dated so late as 15 [[?]]
So far however I have got none later than
26^th Oct & the news seems ever good to be
true. Still we should get another mail
very soon now & with the cessation of
submarineing the ships should come
across ever so much quicker than
they had during the war period. Of
course we are all longing for the letters

to come to us. We get hardly any
English newspapers since the Armistice.
During the war we were getting quite
a good lot that the Newspapers Coys sent
over free but now they don't come
We are not near any shops to buy
any & the French papers from Paris are
four days old when they get here.
 

France
3/1/19
My dear Pet Laddie
I have not written
to thank you yet for your post card
with the pretty heath on it that
you sent to me. Isn't it lovely
to know that the war is over
& that I will see you again
soon. Such a stranger as
you will be - you were only
a wee baby laddie as big as
wee Jacquelyn when I left you
Tell me do you remember me
the very least bit laddie boy.
Perhaps you may remember
in the park with all the
Solders where mum & my wee pets
came to see me & the little
rogues pulled grass & threw
it all over me.
And now you are grown
a big strong laddie & have
learnt all sorts of things
at school & can write
 

better than Dida. And the
old Kaiser boy had to give
up & say he has had
enough of fighting. And
all the little Belgian girls
& boys are coming back home
& bringing their cows & all
the little things they have not
lost back with them. And
we are telling the Germans who
are prisoners that before they
can go home & see their
little ones they have to build
up all the houses & mend 
all the fences & railings
that the broke & burned
in the old time when they
were naughty. Soon all will
be as it was before all but the
men who have gone from us
to Heaven to save us all
from ruin. You must always
remember Uncle Geordie &
Jacky Boy dear wee laddie
 

It is very cold here now but
as the war has ended we are
living in houses & have beds
but a lot of the beds are only
straw ones & not very soft &
the men all want to get
back to Australia out of the
cold & the rain to our own
bright sun & to all our little
pet people so we can see them
again & tell them we love them
& feel their little soft arms again.
Goodbye dear little laddie.
Heaps of love from you own Dida