Letters from Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott to his cousin Emily Edwards, July 1916 - December 1918 - Part 4

each couch & chair appeared to have
a landscape painting in colors upon
it - the color shade of the whole
room was creamy white & rose
The Breakfast room had nothing
of note except some little ivory carvings
The drawing room had some beautiful
marble statuettes & dainty Sevres
china ornaments & vases.
The smoking room however above
all took my fancy. - There was the
most wonderful collection of arms
& armour Japanese swords -
Saracen helmet & Shield & sword
beautifully damascened in gold.
Turkish divans & Persian Carpets.
In the Billiard Room ranged round
the walls from floor to ceiling in cabinets
of beautifully polished walnut was
the most wonderful collection of gorgeous
Butterflies I have ever seen.
Also in ^about 20 little separate Stands each
fitted with a pair of glasses. were the most
wonderful series of Microscopic Views 
I have ever seen. Every year the owners
appear to have made a trip to India
Italy China Japan & all over the world
P.T.O. 

in fact & taken Photos of all the
places of interest with a stereoscopic
Camera & had them mounted in this
most ingenious way so that one could
seat himself in a chair - adjust the focus
of the glasses & by merely turning a Knob
witness the whole course of their holiday
including the casting off of the ship
until their return. Many of them were
reproduced in color & were very
exquisite
In the garden a wonderful collection
of Tulips were just coming into flower
I was so impressed with the beauty
& value of the furniture etc that I
wrote to the French Govt & suggested
the removal of the furniture before it
was destroyed by shell fire & I
believe this is to be done soon
Whilst I was there it had some
very narrow escapes as the shells
burst just outside the Wall &
scattered fragments all through
the lawns but without breaking a
single pane of glass.
With all good wishes
Yours very sincerely
H.E. Elliott
 

France
13/4/18
Dear Milly,
All well still. Herewith
some more papers that I want you
to keep for me please. I may
lose them in this sort of war if I
Keep them by me so I hope
you wont mind me worrying
you with them.
I have been relieved from the front
line. I am now in an old Chateau dated
1677.. It has a lot of interesting old
furniture in it. It is owned by
Mademoiselle Ida de Septenville
at present living in Versailles. It was
rented by the British Army as a
School or something. It has a lovely
situation- Very busy entrench
line after line before the Bosche
but very short of Barbed Wire I
guess the Bosche must have
captured our whole stock.
Kindest regards
Yours very sincerely
H.E. Elliott.
P.S.J. Capt Salmon is back on
my Staff now & doing well. Tell
Patty. - the man Miss Griffiths is engaged
to is Capt Stanley Walker late of our Artillery
[*but recently transferred to the Flying Corps. He went
to the same School with me - he was a very little boy then. His
Father with whom he is in partnership is one of our largest shopkeepers &
said to be [[?]] & reputed to be very wealthy but very sharp.*]
P.PS. I enclose cutting from current College Report which may interest you

France
19/4/18
Dear Milly,
Many thanks for your
brave & cheery letter which has
just reached me. Thanks very
much for sending the cable - ELSTERNWICK.
was quite right thanks very
much. Please let me know how
much it cost & I will send it
along. They are just terribly
anxious at home just now they
get so little news. I had letters
yesterday dated 15^th Feb. Their
papers were full of the gigantic
German preparations & they could
not but think of us every moment.
I enclose herewith another letter
I have received from a British Officer
He had Command of a Squadron
of Mounted Machine Gunners &
they fought most magnificently
whilst others fled & being in for two
days to help us turn the tide
though nearly absolutely exhausted.
My boys were so delighted with
them that to give them a chance
of rest they supplied the Guards
on the guns during the periods of
rest & carried ammunition &

supplied them with hot food & drink
from their own pots & cookers & when
they were finally relieved by our
own gunners coming up they
saw them off & gave them a cheer
as they went.
I wrote to Capt Reid & personally
expressed my appreciation of
his & his men's success. & this was
in reply. We shall hear their name
in mind always as true soldiers &
gallant comrades.
I cannot tell you where we are - but think
of what the Bosche most aimed for & plant
my Brigade right across the path.
It is a great honor I feel to be placed
there right in the lion's path as formerly
we pressed him the hardest when he
had to retire. You make me long to
see the Daffodils - here in the garden
of Mmlle de Septenville they have a
nice lot of double scrambled eggs sorts
but none of the single ones - the narcissi
which I love. The little woods in the
park here are alive with shy little
primroses & violets - Speaking of the
latter reminds me that my wee
girlie has told me with great pride

that she was duly promoted when school
resumed to the higher class & after the
first day went to the top of her class & was
still there when she wrote. - So the little
lady is doing her "bit" mainly I think
to cheer me, than of her own ambition.
The situation is bad indeed - breaks
one's heart to know that Polygon Wood
& Broedsinde & all are gone again that
so many of our boys died to gain & Messines
& Paschendale - but thank God we
will hold him yet You must tell every
one to keep their spirits up - this
is no time for softness & yielding
Everywoman's word now to her
man must be that of the Spartan
Mother - "Return with your shield
or upon it" "Return in Honor or
return no more." There is far to much
shirking - too much eagerness
to let some other chap shoulder
the Burden - It is the fault of
our old system of relying on our
old Armies instead of everyone
schooling themselves before hand
Kiplings lines written after
South Africa continually recurr

to me. "Ye pushed them raw to the Battle
As Ye plucked them raw from the
Street
And again
"What did ye look they could "complists
'Warcraft learned in a breath
"Knowledge unto occasion
"At the first rear View of death"
They drenched us with 12000 gas
shells the day before yesterday
for hours & we lost some men
but certainly lost no heart
& the boys are longing for him to
come on that they may even the odds
against them. We know that now
he is feeling the resistance hardening
in the north he is rushing up guns
& ammunition here in masses
to renew the attack here on
a gigantic scale at a very
early date - but the more we see of
him as a soldier the more contemptuous
of him do we become. - his strategy
& his tactics appear alike to have
been copied from the locusts that
devaste our fields at home on
occasion - The come on like a
moving mass miles in depth. You
dig a deep trench & millions fall into it

you set them on fire & burn them by
millions Millions more come on &
literally put the fires out with their
bodies - & so it goes on until you are
worn out & they get across - this is
when they are in the hopper stage -
Well the whole military ability of the
Teutonic race has advanced. No plan
beyond that germinated ^in the brain by the instinct
of an infant grasshopper - In spots
he must gain by such means a transient
success but will he win the war
never - If our hearts are stout &
our brains cool & our arms ready
to take advantage of opportunity.
Treachery in Ireland in South Africa
& in Australia may stab us deeply
in the Back - We must steel
ourselves to a Cromwell's Vengeance
if they do, & let them know - these
wriggling snakes that such a
fate will before befall them if they dare
to rise - Oh for a new Cromwell
I doubt that there will be no chance
of leave even if I should care to ask
for it - now whilst this strain is
on - I must just stick it out like
my boys - Our backs to the wall

but our faces & our hearts undaunted
still - facing the foe. He is shelling
my Chateau this very moment with
a nasty vicious sounding long range
naval gun - Confound him - & I may
have to stop & take myself to the
Cellar - but so far he is going over
a hundred yards into the lake - there
is a fairly steep hill on his side of us which
makes it fairly hard for him to do
more than lift the slates with a flat
trajectory gun. If he gets a Howitzer
on to it we must move "toot sweet"
as the boy's say & "the tooter the sweeter".
Yes the Boche is a delightful
person, but at times one envies him
his power of dealing with slackers
& traiters & the Knaves & fools in & out
of Politics.
Again Thanking you for your
Kindness about the Cable - &
never fear the ultimate result.
Goodbye & God be with you
yours very sincerely
H.E. Elliott.

France
22/4/18
Dear Milly,
Thanks for your cheery letter
of the 17^th Inst. I am glad the letters
enclosed with mine reached you safely -
I think the General's name is "Mullins"
not Williams. Anyhow he is the Major
Genl Commanding the 1^st Cavalry
Division - If you have an Army list
handy you could look him up & make sure
I had another General Man - Genl
Bulter commanding the xth British Div
I have been building a Defensive line
& swelling out my chest quite a lot - Its
the first one left to me entirely to choose
site & fortify & no one to come in &
worry with suggestion & as much wire
& everything as I liked - Mostly my
defensive lines At in the past have sited
themselves - where the high tide mark
of the attack left then dug at night
in pitch darkness in Morning rain
or under in a wildness of shell fire
torn moorass - So it was a relief
to settle down just beyond field
gun range & only troubled occasionally
by a stray long range gun or a beautiful
green turf with a gentle glacis
towards the enemy & dig measure