Letters from Norman Griffiths Ellsworth to his Mother, 1914-1915, Part 2 of 27

[*Tell Jack that the
first Motor Car I saw
in Colombo was a Ford*]
4^th letter

Troopship "A" 9
S.S. Shropshire
Near Aden
Sunday 22^nd Nov

Dear Mother & all at home.
I have been wondering how you
are all getting on, and I hope for the best. Did
you get my previous letter from Colombo?. We
were only allowed to write one letter & they censor
all our letters before sending. We were not allowed
to land there, but by the sight we all saw
from our anchorage, it is a beautiful place.
All the natives in different coloured garbs & English
people in white, & Rickshaws everywhere. All the
houses are without chimneys & they are very large
& look like "Paying Guest" houses. Lawns & Palm trees
& Cocoa nut trees predominate. Natives in funny
boats made out of a couple of planks came out to
us & dive for money, they wont dive for coppers
only silver, but we used to wrap half pennies up
in silver paper & throw it in & then to see the
fight as they dived for it, & then the bad language
as they discoverd the fraud, they can stay under
water for a very long time. We stayed for 4 days
there whilst we took in water. Did I describe the
fight the Sydney had with the Emden? I think I did.
We still have a lot of battleships with us, but
there is no danger now as all the Enemy are

[*Give my kindest regards to Miss Taylor
& that I hope she is well*] 

2
are accounted for. The other night, our Japanese warboat
signalled to the cruiser "Melbourne" that these was a
light out on the horizon & was going out to see, & altho'
the Melbourne was right on the other side of us, she came
tearing through between us & the next boat behind us at
30 knots an hour & raced the Jap out to it, but there
was nothing doing because they were both back in 10 minutes.
Now for the most exciting part of the voyage.
Don't be frightened. We have been in a collision with
the Steamer "Ascanius" at 4 o'clock yesterday morning
The Ascanius was sailing 500 yards in rear of us
& the boat in front of us stopped & we stopped & signalled
to the back boats, but she didn't see our signal & ran
into our stern & then up alonside of us & gave us another
bash in the side. We were all in bed, of course, but I was
awake, & heard our engines stop, & afterwards came the bump.
All the horses on deck nearly all fell, & of course we wondered
what had happened, & I knew that it wasn't much of a bump,
but shortly afterwards the second bash came, & then the
alarm bell sounded, I grabbed my life belt & got my pants
on & got on deck & there was the Ascanius right alongside &
one could have jumped aboard. It is a peculiar feeling because
one doesn't realise what has happened, & our whistle was
blowing furiously & we were sending up Rockets. Every body
fell in in their proper positions with life belts on. Then came
the warships tearing down to us at full speed & with their
searchlights on us & made everything as light as day; Our
damage was only slight & above the water line so we were 

3
able to go on. The Captain was that pleased with our
conduct that he has reported it to the Higher Authorities
5 of our boats have left the main division & gone on
to Aden at 14 knots per hour, the others are only
doing 10 knots. We expect to arrive in Southampton
on 18 of December & go into Barracks for 6 months.
Everybody is getting sick of the voyage & will be
glad to get off the boat as it stinks of Horses. The voyage
has been very calm & very little sickness prevails except
through innoculation which makes one very sick for
2 days or more. My mate Saddler Sergeant Jack Hall
says that he wishes he could go into a trance & wake
up when we get to England. Tell Mabel that sea
voyages are rotten & I wish I could get my horse ashore
& ride overland for the rest of the distance. How is George
getting on in his business;? I hope successfully.
I hope you are quite well & all at home. How is
Charlie & Hettie & family.? Give them my love.
Write to Aunt Hannah & tell her my news as I
am not allowed to write more than 2 letters this mail.
& please get Jack to write to Winchelsea & tell
them that I am quite well & hope all are well & that
I cannot write at present, but when I get to England I will
do so. & Please write to Constable D Watson of Royal Mint &
tell him my news & give him my best wishes & to all the boys
there too. No more news at present so with best Love to
all & Rupert also Believe me your loving Son
Norman

[*I have not received
any letters from Victoria
yet, but hope they are at
Port Said*]

S.S. Shropshire
Near Port Said
Sunday 28^th Nov.

Dearest Mother
Hope you got my last letter from
Aden alright; I have not much to tell you this
time as the trip to here has been uneventful
Aden is not much of a place, & certainly
no place for a white man to live in, altho' there
are some there. The houses there are very much
like those at Colombo & the inhabitants are
Jews, Somali's, & Arabs. The place is the
most hilly & rugged place one could imagine
& the natives mostly travel in a "jig jog" trot
like Chinamen. The vehicles are drawn
by Camels & these creatures are very numerous
The Jews & Arabs came out to us in their
boats & sold good of all descriptions at
of course impossible prices & came in for
severe handling of the chaps tongues.
Matches 1/- a dozen & prices like that.
It is interesting to watch the Arabs coal our
ship, they all jabber like a lot of monkeys &
everybody is yelling at once & nobody takes any
notice of what the other says, but they can get
through the work alright, & the most wonderful
thing is, they worked all day & never had a
bite to eat, & it was after 8 o'clock when the

2
tug boat came to take them off. We left there
after loading & passed Perrim & Hells Gates
& here we could see the hulls of wrecked boats
& apparently this place is not ill named. Coming
through the Red Sea, we passed a big boat packed with
people & our Warship went out & pulled her
up with a shot in front of her bows, & when
she stopped, she proved to be a boat load
of Pilgrims coming back from Mecca after some
Annual Religious Festival, so she was allowed
to go on. We had a death on board 2 days
ago; one of the Ammunition Column chaps had
the measles but got down in the dumps & died
so we buried him 2 hours later. It is very
impressive, as all Ranks fell in in their proper
places & a shoot is pushed out over the side
& attached by ropes so that it can be
tilted. The body was placed in a packing
case & some firebars & cable chain packed
in with him & holes drilled in the box to
admit the water, & when the Coffin was
placed on the shoot, our boat pulled out
of the line & stopped & then the service was
read & the shoot tilted & down he went
with a splash & the boat goes on just as
before. He came from Gippsland. & the Dr said
that if he had any heart, he would have got
better. 

There is some beast just a few
Cabins down that is playing on a
confounded mouth organ.
I can't imagine any punishment
bad enough for him 

3
We have just been told that we go to Egypt
(Cairo) & we expect to land there on Tuesday.
Cairo is about 12 hours train journey from
Alexandria & after completing our training
there we proceed to the south of France & there
go to the front. Most of the fellows are rather
disappointed at not seeing England first, but
if we went to England, we would not see
Egypt. Personally I am pleased as I am
just simply chock & full up of the boat
& every body else is. It has been a very
calm voyage & I have not been sick since leaving
Albany, but it is terribly monotonous & one
wakes up in the morning anything but fresh
but we improve after breakfast. It is
fairly hot in the Red Sea, but I have
known hotter days in Melbourne. The
reason why we go to Egypt is that it is
too wet in England to do our training there
Well I think I have told you all the news
at present Mother so with fondest love to
everybody at home & elsewhere
I remain
Your loving son
Norman

[*Give my love
to Floss Robbie*]
I hope you are all well 

Tell Jack Tilton that Jack
Heywood has grown a beard
& looks like & Prehistoric Man
(it is on account of a skin complaint
Braithwaite has grown a
moustache & looks a lad.
I am writing this after stuff
because I haven't got an envelope
Tell Miss Taylor that I am
in the best of health & hope she
is the same.
Tell Mabel that I haven't
seen a pretty girl since leaving
Melbourne.
I haven't had a slice of
Toast & will not know the
taste of it soon
Please don't worry about my not
having clean clothes, for I have plenty.
Also, I have any amount of money
& if you want any, please let me
know.
I haven't wanted to draw any
since coming on the boat, & so
I will have about £8 to draw
when I do.
I still have £2.10 in my
belt
Tell George that I got his watch
fixed up by one of the Chaps on
board. I hope his business is
a big success by now.
Envelopes are worth £-s-d now
& it is difficult for a man to get one
Don't forget about the bonzer
feed when I come back home 

4th December 1914
Later/
we have just arrived
at Alexandria & are to dis-
embark in the morning & proceed
at once to Cairo & there hoist
the Union Jack / Have just
received a letter from Jack
Tilton, but none fr others.
Braith got one from Mab
Love to all / Norman 

Gr McCauley         5 " 0  0
Gr Moffatt              2 " 0  0
Br Mann                 2 " 0  0
Cpl Gammon        7 " 0  0