Letters from Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott to his sister-in-law, January 1917 - April 1919 - Part 15

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always avoiding getting in to a
fight whenever he could dodge
it. Now the Brass Hats above
us can see just what his
popularity is worth to him in
a real emergency. It will
be a lesson to them & I hope to
him but that is almost too much
to hope for. I am delighted that
Cam Stewart came out all right
Norman Marshall had a great
deal to do with fixing that up
I feel sure. He is very popular
with the men & is a splendid officer
always in the thick of the fighting too.
I am delighted that he got
another bar to his D.S.O. for the
Peronne stunt. He has two Bars
on his D.S.O. now. This shows
that he has actually won the D.S.O.
three times & each time for Bravery
which is a very great reward
I hope to give him a C.M.G. soon.
I have recommended Bert Layh
for the C.M.G. & hope he gets it. I
have recommended Denehy for
the Belgian Croix de Guerre &
Scanlon for the French Legion of
Honor. I dont Know if they
will get it ^them of course. Did Katie
tell you I have been given a new 

Decoration - the French Croix de
Guerre. I am enclosing a bit
of Ribbon for her. My 2nd row of
Ribbons are growing now. I have
six ^on the top. the C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O.
D.C.M. & the Queen's South African.
Then in the 2nd Row I have the King's
South African & the French Croix de
Guerre. Soon I will have the Gallipoli
Star. I believe the Ribbon for it is on
View but it is not yet authorised
for wear. I hear the Ribbon is ^a very
pretty one. How are the wee people.
I haven't had any stories about them
for a long time. I ’specs ^expect as they
grow older & more grown uppish
there won’t be so much to tell about
them. All the talk at present
is of Peace but I dont think it
is nearly as near as people think.
The Hun is scooting back to his
own country where he will be still
a hard nut to crack for us &
I suppose recruits will be harder
to get than ever.
Do you remember Eric Connelly.
He was a very nice fine old 7^th Boy wounded
on Gallipoli & went home to Australia.
He then came back with Genl M^cNichol
He became Major & D.S.O. He wedded
whilst in Australia just before coming 

away this last time – a very nice
girl I heard. The poor chap was
Killed a little while ago by an
aeroplane bomb dropped near
his camp. He was dreadfully
injured & died soon after. His
poor little wife is on the voyage
from Australia to England. Won’t
it be ^a dreadful shock to her on
her arrival away from home &
friends & everything. Eric was
a splendid fellow like all my
old 7^th boys. I had two of them
Killed in our last fight. Capt
Stan Neale the Univ. footballer
a pal of Geordie's & Capt Hornby
I was very sad indeed about them
Jack Gray is now with the 58^th
Bn as Medical officer & Robertson
an Ormond man with the 57^th
The latter dig did great work at
Bellicourt near St Quentin were
we had very hard fighting.
We thought we had found a
Corpse factory a place where we
had found the German’s boil down
their dead to make fat for exposives
There were a lot of dead neatly
arranged at the side & two
big coppers. In one of them floating
in oily stuff was a man’s head 

freshly severed from the body.
Some of the Bodies had their
legs or arms cut off by a Knife
& were lying by the bodies. The
evidence looked complete but
afterwards some of the German
prisoners told us it was only a
Cookhouse. When they found
they could not stop us they
sent some engineers to set a trap
for us in the Cookhouse by mining
it & fixing a fuse under the copper
so that if we lit a fire under the
copper the fuse would light up &
blow up the Cookhouse & all in it
Well they were just fixing it up
nicely when it went off & Killed the lot
One man's head being blown into the soup
so no one wanted any of it. & that was
the greasy mix we saw. Then a doctor
was sent in & he tried to save some
of the men by cutting their damaged
legs & arms off & that accounted
for the other peculiarities we had
noticed. I didn't go & see it
myself but sent young Moor the
V.C boy to make a report & he said
he thought the Bosches story was
correct. But it was a very
awful sight - & the smell was
dreadful so he could not 

stay there too long to be quite sure
Oh Baaby ^I have just got a sperriky ^little
letter of yours this minute dated
28^th July. I got one from Katie
date 1^st August nearly a week
ago so I wonder where this sperrik ^one
got too.
Don't you go wanting to Kiss Bertie
Layh. Lots of girls over here & England
felt that way too & I'm afraid he
developed into a bit of a flirt
& didn't write to his wife till I
sorted him & teased him in
front of all the other officers the
Sperrik. .That’s what comes of wanting
to Kiss other people's husbands.
If you want to Kiss anyone what
about me ? I belong most to you.
don’t I ? Specially when you nearly
loved me once from Katie.
I hope Katie does come here
over soon. I'm very lonely for you
all with Layh & Denehy & all
the old Boys going off home to their
people & others Killed. It is
very sad to be left alone.
Bye Baaby dear & about a million
pogues to you & the Bairnie’s
from Dida. 

France
6/11/18
My dear Baaby,
It is very wet
& miserable here today. Mud
& dripping trees. There is only one
consolation we are not up in the
front line in the mud & slush
but have cover over our heads
I guess you will all be rejoicing
at home today with the news
that Austria has thrown up
the Sponge  Personally I expect
a deal of hard fighting from the
Germans yet in a desperate
effort to turn the tide. Probably
the Fleet will come out for one
last fight rather than be caught
like rats in a trap & have
to surrender in the end
I enclose some little things
that may interest you particularly
the copy of the French Army
Order giving me the Croix de
Guerre for my work at Villers-Brettonneux
The British have never given me
anything for that action yet.
though at all the British Schools
our methods of attack etc
are now being taught & cracked
up to the Skies. 

We never see anything of Birdwood
now & a good thing too. We
have never had such a splendid
run of success as since we
got rid of him. General Monash
is worth a dozen of him as
a soldier & as a man there
is no comparison. at all.
Birdwood is as mean spirited
as any Uriah Heep. The latest
manifestation of this spirit is
in an order just published about
the officers gone to Australia on 1914
leave. He never had the manliness
to deal with any of them that
shewed incompetence in the
field but now that he has let
them go on leave any ones that
he doesn't like are to be quietly
put on the shelf & will not be
allowed to return & this
after four years constant fighting.
Well Baaby as we are not
fighting I haven't much news
to tell you this time. I hope
you will send me lots of stories
about the wee people soon. I
am never tired of hearing
of them. I enclose a letter
from Cousin Nellie telling 

about her wee pets ^little ones. Little Alick
is a splendid little fellow. I can
imagine him thinking only of his
mother when the teapot burst
on them.. Tell the laddie about
him. With heaps of love
& wishes for a Happy Xmas
& New Year. I cabled out £ 50
quidlets the other day to the
my Old Lady. I hope she gets it
all right. Bye & pogues for the
wee pets. Dida. 

P.S. I had a letter from Grandma
She says our pets ^little ones are growing up
such bonnie children & very
snart. She is sure I will be proud
of them when I see them. Fogie ^She says
that the laddie has the Bonniest
Complection far too good for a boy
My name will be mud with Fogie
again. I have given her such a
sorting for making Mother
& Lyn & Wik Miserable with
her tantrums - & told her I
never want her near my house again
She’d be turning Katie & the
Children against me with
that poisonous tongue of hers 

France
15/11/18
My dear Baaby,
Many thanks for your
letter of the 12^th Sept which you
said was going to be a sperrik ^little one
but spread over 8 pages before you
finished. That’s the sort of  “Sperrik” ^“little” one
I like. The cheek of you saying you
had about a million letters & things
in the mail which had just arrived
& wanting "more". And you write
me a "sperrik" ^“little one” about once a month.
I am so glad the Dhusach's
little bottle of Perfume arrived
all right for the wee pet. Isn't
it strange how long it takes to get
the kits out to Australia. It took
a long long time for Jack’s ^Geordies to get
out & my uncle Jim went to
the Head Quarters Depot & hurried
them up. Look Baaby I am
getting him to send out by one
of the transports several boxes ^of things
of shells ^cases the laddie’s rifle & other
things to be delivered to the Naval
& Military Institute in Queens
Street. If they arrive whilst
you Katie is away will you
let the people there have my
your new address. I gave them
the Elsternwick one & I think 

it will be too late now
to change it. as they have
probably gone off. I am sorry
for poor Hugo. But I dont think
that in Civilian life one realizes
how gradually we come over here
to regard death almost with
contempt. There were so many
of our pals gone before that it
seemed little more than a step in the
darkness to join them. Of course
one instinctively shrank from the
awful mutilation which was so
often the accompaniment of death
in the field but often it was so
quick & merciful far more so
than any death at home would
be when one can count the slow
& merciless approach of death.
Yes I think the girl at the Counter
of Sear's Shop is Miss Sears all
right. I liked the little Stories
about the lad & Gagy ^Dhusach Knowing
places again  – I want some more
stories about the "nips". So Hurry
up with them. I am so glad
the wee ^our little people like little wee
Jacquelyn. Even if we don't like ^care for
Lyn we must see that Geordie's
wee Bairnie does not suffer because
he died for us. I was Scandalous