Letters from Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliot to his family, November 1918 - February 1919 - Part 7

France

3/1/19
My dearest pet Dhusach
Soon I'll be coming
home to ^see you my little pet lady. Now
that the war is over I'm counting
every day till I see you. I was
glad to get your photo & the post
card. Are you pleased dida
is coming home to ask you who is
Dida's pet? What a wonderful
day that will be when I see
my little Dhusach again! Such
a long long time since I came
away from you. But I think
my Sagy Dhurash will remember me a little
when she sees me come home.
Lots & Lots of the French Soldiers   
are coming back & seeing their
wives now but lots more of the poor
ladies are only learning now
that their husbands or their sons
were killed long ago.
The Germans were all
over this part of the country 

and so no body could come
& tell them about things
& the Germans wouldn't

I am pleased with all that people
tell me about my two wee pets
It is nice to hear that they
are so well behaved and not a
bit cheeky. or nasty. And I'm
so glad that my Sagy my Dhusach likes helping
Mum & Dear in the house.
My wee pet is just the best
wee girl in all the world I
think.
Good Bye now my dear little pet
I am always thinking of you
& mum & the laddie & wishing
oneI was back home with
you every minute. But there
is a lot to do here yet. All
the poor people have to be brought
back again & the houses that
were burnt down built up
again - but very soon my darling
pet I'll be with you. Lots of
Tishes from Dida till then.

Dourlers
France
5/1/19
My darling Katie
It is Sunday 
again & once more it is very
wet & miserable - I say once
more because we did have
one fine day yesterday. Not really
fine even then but what counts
for fine here. General Birdwood
called round to see us today
It was a sort of farewell visit
as I imagine he is taking up
his Head Quarters in London
almost immediately.
He was the same as ever - full
of a pretended affability that
he imagines decieves us. He is
aiming at being Governor
General of Australia at some
time or other - a great man -
I don't think!
Well Katie dear there is not
a scrap of news for you at
all. We had a reunion
dinner the other the night & got 

2
all the officers of the Brigade & also
General Stewart and all other
former officers of the Brigade to
come together again for "Auld Lang
Syne". It was to have been on
New Years eve but the provisions
which were just in a truck
down in Paris got side tracked
somehow and failed to put in an
appearance until we sent off 
an officer & recovered them
However everyone appeared
to enjoy themselves very much
Genl Stewart brought me
over a very good photo of
himself. I will pack it &
send it to you as soon as
possible but as it is a very
big one I dont quite know
how I am to send it without
having it damaged. It is just
as bad to keep it if we move.
I enclose a photo of Capt Oates
D.S.O. one of my old  7^thBoys 

3
now in India where tho photo
was taken. I enclose also the
Menu Card of our dinner. The
design was made by one of the
boys here. You will xxx notice
that while Billy Hughes &
others are quarrelling amongst
themselves down below the men
up above are agitating to be sent
home & there is no doubt I think
that we shall all be sent home
now as sooner that any of us
expected. In point of fact we
will likely be ^nearly all home before Peace
is formally declared. I think
Hughes has made up his mind to
save money & get us home &
chance whether the war starts
again or not. Quite how much
of this is due to patriotism &
how much because Lloyd George
has put upon him & kept him
out of the Peace Conferences I
suppose we shall never quite 

4
know. The old lady - the Doctors
Widow heard me say that I was
going to buy a pair of wooden
Shoes "Sabots" and they call them
"Salbows" they "Sabbows" they pronounce
it, to take home as a curio.
People here all wear them in
the wet weather out of doors. The
place is so muddy. When they
came inside they slip them off.
They wear a sort of inside slipper
so that the Sabots are actually
a sort of galoshes - Well they
slip off the Sabots & leave them
with the mud at the door. It 
is the only way to keep the floors
anyway clean at all:- They
then wear the slipper part in
the house.
Well today her son Jean came
along & presented me with
two pairs of little Sabots for
laddie & Dhusach to wear
at the Seaside or to keep as
souvenirs.

5
I wonder what the little people
will say when they see them
They make such a clatter on
the stones when the people
walk in them & they cannot lift
their feet really high but sort of
shuffle along in them.
The poorer people put straw
in the sabot in cold weather. This
serves the double purpose of keeping
their feet warmer in them than
otherwise would be the case
& also keeps then wedged
on firmly. It is funny to
hear then all clumping
about. The streets in the
Villages are all paved with
rough cobbles stones & this
helps to make more noise than
ever.
I think this is all I can write
today. Norman Marshall is over
in London on leave still. I
fancy he is to have an operation

6
on his nose or something of that
sort before he comes back.
His ship sails very soon now
today or tomorrow I believe.
I enclose a letter I got from
Mrs Ronald Dickson. It came
too late, for me to reply but
as it happened I had sent
previously a letter to her to thank
her for a Christmas Card she
sent me & in that note I had
given her your address &
asked her to call. That
letter she had not got
evidently when she wrote
but I hope it reached her before
she sailed. In any case, no
doubt you will meet her. Lt
Seaward told me he met you
in Australia. Did you know that
he was Lea Seaward's brother. He
just came up here to us
again last night as he saw
no more fighting since he met
you & his trip was in vain

7.
as far as assisting us further
was concerned. Col Denehy &
his & their Commanders are 
all very well indeed.
Though the weather is most
miserable the men are well
honed and pretty well fed.
We got a cable from the Comforts
fund with  £100 remittance
which I am having distributed
amongst the Battalions Nary
which will help them buy
vegetables & little extras of
that kind which will help them.
Well Katie love I send you
all my tishes & loves for you
& the wee pets from your
very own Dida Don. 

Dourlers
France
5/1/19
My dearest Katie,
I found three
letters waiting for me tonight
when I got home all from
you. One dated 27^th Oct. another
dated 29^th Oct & a third dated
3^rd November. In the last one I you
mention that you had just received
the cable I sent off to you about
a fortnight before. It is a
scandal that it took so long
to reach you but I suppose
there were hundreds trying
to cable at the same time
on similar subjects. I suppose
it will be even worse now
because all the thousands
of men who are sailing home
now will be trying to cable at
once. There were I believe 17000
sent home in December and it is
expected that 30,000 more
will be going off in January