Letters from Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott to his sister-in-law, April 1915 - December 1916 - Part 5

is just about all the news. As we left the
village where we were first billetted in France
the little lady there Miss Brunet snapshotted
the Brigade Major & myself & yesterday I got
a little letter from her sending me on the
photos & asking if I wanted more of them
to let her Know. I am enclosing them in
my letter to Mum. Its a very sad world
here Baaby dear. There are lovely homes & trees
all shot to bits & graves everywhere. I am
Very sad for poor Geoff M^cCrae & young
Andy Morrow. DO you remember Hugh
Morrow who used to Visit me in Drummond
Street. Andrew was his young brother.
He was such a dear wee chap when I first
Knew him just a little older than the wee
laddie. He was always so bright & cheery. He
led his men on magnificently until near the
German trench a piece of shell struck him in
the face and crushed it in fearfully. His men carried
him out & I was hopefull he would live though
he would have been badly disfigured & he was
Very handsome lad -- but he died next
day from shock. I am afraid it will
go very hard with his poor old mother 
 

He was her youngest boy & the apple of her eye.
She is a dear old body too. The Germans
are cruel beasts. There was one of our
wounded men lying near their trenches
& one of them came out & deliberately threw
a bomb at him & Killed him. This was
two days after the fight & nothing was doing at
the time. Perhaps he only intended to end
the poor fellows misery but it seemed dreadful
to us. Another man was lying there for
nearly a week & although we [[ ^{the boys} ]] repeatedly
tried to go to his rescue yet the germans
Kept up such a hot fire that we could
not approach. even at night they Keep
up sending up flares all round him
so that there was not a chance to go to him
even then & the poor fellow had to perish
slowly from exposure. We had several
Killed trying to reach men like this &
got in hundreds. Bye now Baaby dear
& God bless & Keep you . Love from
[[ yours ]] ever Dida 
 

France
3/8/16
My dear Baaby,
It seems strange to hear you talking
about cold weather in Australia but if I am 
much longer away I will have forgotten all
about the climate there. Here the weather is
delightful. Further South where the fighting
is going on still I believe they are suffering
badly from the heat but here though
a trifle muggy at times -- to us Australians
particularly after Egypt it is just
Heaven & the country is so green
& beautiful. Lyn's cousin from Heidelberg
was Killed on the 20^th. He and another boy
named Kerr were just going to have their
commission's granted & the one shell
got them both. Kerr was Killed outright
& poor Davies only lingered a few hours.
He had greatly distinguished himself
just as Kerr had done rescuing the
wounded [[ ^{all night} ]] & had gone right back to
have a rest when the shell came over &
caught them. It is strange that the morning
of his death his Colonel. Colonel Stewart
received a letter from Davie's father who is an
old friend of Stewarts telling him that 
 

his boy had joined his Battalion & to look
after him. Stewart did not Know that Davies
was the son of his friend but had picked him
out as a likely officer. It is a sad sad thing that
the best & bravest are taken. Poor Geoff M^cCrae
& his second in Command Major Elliott were
just splendid fellows. Elliott in particular
was only 22 a Duntroon Boy & already a Major
Had he lived he would have made a Kitchener
for us in Australia. Poor Andrew Morrow's brother
of the M [[ ^r ]] Morrow you Know he was splendid. He
was far out in front of his men making straight
into the Germans alone when a bullet [[ ^{piece of shell} ]] struck him in
the face & horribly disfigured him. His men managed to
get him in but he died, mercifully perhaps because
his face was almost blown away -- but there was never a
complaint & he tried to smile still when he was brought in
The Germans started out to Kill all the wounded as they lay
firing machine guns at them whenever they saw any
movement. We got in over 200 in spite of them
though we lost another 30 men Killed & wounded
getting them in. It was nearly 3 days before
we got the last in & they were dreadful to
look on then. We have to send out patrols
each night to see what the Germans are [[ -- doing ]]
 

up to & as thousands of dead lay [[ ^lie ]] out there they
have some dreadful experiences for the Germans
send up star shells & search lights & sometimes
they boys have to lay down for hours amongst the dead waiting
for a chance to get back safely. We have had a pretty
quiet time since the fight on the 19^th but every day some
poor fellow is caught. today a shell hit a signallers
dug out & Killed two & badly wounded others. What
queer little rubbishes the lad & Dhurach are. I wonder how
long they will be [[ ^remain ]] such little innocent things. Nana says
Gagy [[ Dhurach ]] is like a little fairy -- such a grown up little person
The face washer came all right; it was beautifully done. 
I saw in the Gazette that Jacky [[ ^Boy ]] had been made a
1^st Lieutenant. I hope he is all right. They
have been fighting down South but I dont
think their Division has had much of a bad time
as either my old Division or this new one.
Fancy out of Geoff M^cCraes Battalion of nearly
1000 men & 22 officers -- at Roll Call next day I
could only get 2 [[ 1 ]] officer & 106 men unwounded
& it turns out now that one of their officers was
a sperick & sneaked away & didn't go out when
he saw how dreadfully they were suffering. He
will be tried by Court Martial & severly punished 
 

I like the way the little laddie speaks of Mr Trowbridge
He must be a dear wee chap. Tell me what the bairnies look like
when you write again. Is the wee laddie much changed &
is Gaga [[ ^Dhurach ]] going to be a pretty little lady when she grows up
Lyn says she is lovely & what will the laddie be like do
you think. Will he be more like Rory or Me or Jacky
boy. I had a letter today from Jarrie Cruickshank 
Cruickshank. She says Andrew her
Brother is in the Pioneer Battalion. I
expect he has been playing up & has been put
in there. They don't have to fight except
in absolute desperate emergencies & are
used to make roads & trenches etc.
They are therefore not [[ ^ordinarily ]] in such danger as
the ordinary infantry but are liable to have a shell
dropped upon them any time. Janey says the
wee lady is the image of me & the wee laddie is getting
Very like me. What do you think? We had some
news today which seems to indicate that the Germans are
going to try to attack us soon. We only hope it may
be true as we are confident of giving them something
to go on with. Well Baaby dear this is just about all the
news. Tell me how are you going to reward me when you get me
back with you  Katie says she won’t let anybody wed me ‘cept herself
no matter what the law may be. Do you think this cheating. But you [[ ? ]]
me good all the same & I want you to Dear old Baaby. You are just 
 

the best in the world to do what you have done for us
all & we will love you always. I like the little poem 
about Dida being here that you put in your letter.
Where does Baaby come in though the poem doesnt say.
But I’m looking forward to some real making love Kisses
from you Baaby dear & not cheating me like you mostly give me
give me but like me I will always remember because it was
the nicest that anyone ever gave me in all the world & made me
think you could have loved me greatly if you had felt free to
you dear old unselfish lady. But Katie is a darling
good old girlie [[ ? ]] De dearest I must not be [[ ? ]] to her. She's
just the best wife in all the world I think though I never got a Kiss
from her which felt quite like your one. Do you think I’dd be a
drefful person if I wanted you too? You are both so much alike
so good & unselfish & I dont want anybody to lure you away from us &
yet I don’t want you to be cheated out of the true happiness of having a
man of your own & wee neat bairnies. Tell me what you think Baaby
dear.
Bye now dear old lady & God bless & Keep you all. Million loves
& Pogues from Dida. 
 

France
13/8/16
My dear old Baaby,
Heap [[ ^very ]] delighted me today. [[ A ]] Letter
from you & a long one form Katie & [[ ^some ]] little hankies from
you. But you dear old lady you mustn't be
spending your money like this on me. The hankies
are just lovely but I have already such a lot [[ ^number ]]
that you & my old lady have sent me before that it
really is waste to send them to me. So not another
thing must you send me till Xmas. & if it is you
want me to pay you back with pogues for them
when I come home just put in your letter that
you wan't to send something to me. I'll just
take the will for the deed (& pay you just the
same. So now you be 'bedient too. With me
it is different. I've such a lot to make up to
you Baaby dear for sacrificing yourself for
Katie & the dear wee things. You are a darling
to do all that for us & that is what I love you for
& want you to Know how much I Love & admire you
for it all. Besides I promised to send a black silk
for you dearie & I must try to redeem my
promise [[ true ]] like [[ ^as ]] I always [[ ^{like to} ]] do [[ ^{with my} ]] to the boys.
Baaby dear you were talking about a scarf
one time. Wont you tell me exactly the Kind 
 

 
you but I wan't to do something more for you than
that. Dear old lady. Neither you or my dear old
lady or Nana have had very much of a time &
I'd like to give you some pleasure in this way &
though I Know your saving old soul you are
still enough of a woman to like pretty clothes. I'd
love to see the wee laddie in his tarbush. Katie
will be getting quite a 'portant [[ ^{an important} ]] person if she gets [[ ^joins ]]
up that 15^th Brigade Depot she is talking 
about. Why didn't you address your letter Brig --
General Baaby instead of Colonel. Katie will  
tell you about that funny old Chaplain we
had on the Peninsula. His great saying was
"the name of Jasus Christ was niver mint for
plastering the Gullies of Gallipoli". There was
an officer named M^cGlinn on the Peninsula
who Kept very close to his dug out. Father Power
said one day "Sure 'tis a Great Soldier
"is Paddy M^cGlinn" (then a pause) wid a pin.
"Sure if ye want to bid him good mornin, ye
"Must type write it". Now that I'm a
Brigadier there's no need to swear so you [[ ^{& Katie} ]] can
be reassured. I never did it except on parade
& I'm never really on parade now. Fancy Dida 
 

I have done all right at my job [[ of ]]
getting set upon a Roll of Honor. [[ ^but ]] I'm afraid
I'll have a big fall one of these days. You must pray
good & hard that I shall have wisdom & courage
worthy of my [[ ^position ]] job. I can honestly say that
in this last attack I neglected nothing that
I can think of to aid my boys & that
the attack failed was no fault of mine. It
would worry me to death if it had. In both
the other Brigades one bad mistake was
made, a lot of hand grenades were sent up
without detonators & fuses & they might as
well have been stones. I foresaw the possibility
of this mistake & told off an officer to examine
every box as it was taken from the Magazine
& see that it was properly fused. But I'm not
feeling too perky about it. There's such a
lot to be thought of every time. Of course
every fight we are in helps me by giving me
experience & one is less likely to forget essential
things but I have a dreadful lot to learn. Two
at least of the Generals of the British Division
next us who did so badly have been sacked
& one of ours too. I am sorry for him. He did
well in the fight but next day it is said he was