Letters from Norman Griffiths Ellsworth to his Mother, 1914-1915, Part 15 of 27

"Gaba Tepe"
30^th June 1915 

Dearest Mother & all at Home
Just a brief note to let
you know that I am quite well, & hope you are the same.
We are still holding this place without any trouble
whatever, & waiting for the retreating Turks from the
South & then we will mow them down with our
shrapnel & lyddite. They have made lyddite for our
18 pounders now, & we stir the Turks gun pits & trenches
up with it, its just lovely. Down at Cape Helles,
it is our incessant bombardment night & day & they
simply have to be shelled out of concrete trenches.
The Turks are in honeycombs in the hill down
there & the British are going to blow it up.
My gun fired 10 rounds at a Turks gun on Tuesday
afternoon & put it out of Action. It was a little dud
as they put a few high explosive round about us, but
they can't shoot for nuts. Well, mother, dear, Ive not
much news this time. I hope all are well. Give my love
to all & thank all kind enquirers after me. Tell them
to be proud of the Australian Infantry
I have got all the socks & handkerchiefs which you
so kindly sent me. Well good-bye for the present with
fondest love to all from
Norman

The British Artillery night & day
at Cape Helles
Get out Turks/ Get out Turks/ Get out Turks
 

Please Coordinate to send me a liberal
supply of envelopes as we can't
possibly get them here.
Norman

Gaba Tepe,
Gallipoli Peninsular
3^rd July 19145.

Dearest Mother & all at Home,
Just a line to let you know that
I received your most welcome letter to-day, also one from
dear Mab, one from Charl, also an "Australasian" from him
& a "Table Talk" from Mab, & May Tilton wrote me a nice
long letter too, as well as enclosing an envelope & piece of
writing paper, which is most welcome as writing materiel is
simply a treasure here, and envelopes cannot be bought
for £. I also received your writing materiel as well & I am
now availing myself of it, altho' I cannot give you a great
deal of news, worst luck, but what I do, is fairly good & I am
glad to say that we are nice & "comfy" & are just waiting for
the word "go" & we are going to thrash the Turks off the face
of the Peninsular altogether. General Legge came into my Gun
Pit the other day, & told us that the Artillery would be quite
sufficent to shift the Turks from their present position, &
all one had to do after this little performance would be,
to go out with a cane & bring in those that were not killed
as prisoners. Our howitzer artillery are doing magnificent
work & when the shells burst in the Turks trenches, it is
just like a miniature earthquake. I only wish we were
armed with them instead of what we already have, altho' our

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Guns are doing very good work & cause the Turks a lot of
trouble. The Turks are firing a lot of naval shells at us
now, & this would almost seem as if they have mounted
some guns from their unemployed Navy. The shells are about
15 inches long, by about 8½ inches in diameter; fortunately one
can hear them coming & it is rather amusing to see the boys
all scamper off in different directions to try & dodge the
"cow", & after it has lobbed or gone by, out they all come
from their "funk holes", laughing & joking just as if it
was a huge cracker. They do very little damage, however,
& some of them, in fact, most of them are too lazy or tired
to burst & merely fall with a tremendous thud.
Of course, if they hit a gun pit, its "good night" Gun pit.
but they do not fire consistenly & one never can tell where
they will land. In fact, they land anywhere but at
the target aimed at, but nevertheless, we do not take any
unnecessary risks & avail ourselves of cover on all
possible occasions. Deleted by censor 

Page 3.
The fresh Australians landed down there last week & received their
baptism of fire, & have created a favourable impression on both
the Turks & our side. The great fight is for Achi Baba, & when
that place falls, expert opinion says it will be the beginning
of the end. It is said to be very strongly fortified & the hill
itself is said to be completely honeycomed out, & inside is one
mass of machine guns & howitzers. I suppose people are getting
a little impatient at the Allies taking so long over it, but let
them only see the place, & at the same time remember, that the
Gallipoli Peninsular was considered, by military experts, to be
"Impregnable". When the big advance begins, & it wont be long
now, people will then be able to see what sort of troops are
engaged here, & to prove that they are not "second raters"
Let them remember we are fighting a fresh enemy & have
had to gain our footing & these Turks have been months digging
themselves in & they have made a good job of it too.
The success of the Australians was due to the self courage &
individual judgement, as well as the mad, frantic desire to get
"into it" & stir up somebody with their bayonets. It did not
matter who it was to be, Turk, German, Austrian or anyone else, they
would have charged & taken the place just the same.
Just to prove how the Australians are enjoying themselves,
when there is going to be a night attack, one can't buy a place
in the main firing trench, & men are known to have refused
£2 for their positions during the fighting. They stand up in

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the trenches & yell out "Come on, well give you Allah", & actually
let the Turks get right to within 20 yards, then open up with
terrific volleys & mow them down in hundreds. In some instances
they let some Turks actually get into our Trenches & then tickle
them up with the bayonet. I've met 2 more Christ Church Choir
boys here, Albert Charles Prosser, & Spencer Hoskins, so just let
the vicar know & to put them on the list at the Church door, if
they are not already on it. Prosser ran away from home &
enlisted in New South Wales Infantry (2^nd Battalion) & was wounded
the first day with shrapnel in the back & the bullet is still
embedded in his back, between the spine & kidney & the Dr says
it will take some time for it to work out of the muscle & then
they will operate on him. He sneaked back unbeknown to the
Authorities & is in the firing line again & has been through another
bayonet charge. Hows that eh, Mum. He enlisted under the
name of Albert Charles. His father is the publisher of the "Age".
I am glad to know that Billy Coleman is coming away, & I will
not be surprised if George enlists as well. Let me tell them that
there is plenty of room for them, so don't be bashful, & let them
bring along a few more with them.
I must say that admitting we are in a warlike country &
the noise indicates anything but peace, but I must confess that
the sunsets we see here, surpass anything of the kind in
Australian & whilst I am writing this, there is a most glorious
scene out by Imbros & all the boys are watching it.

Page 5.
In commencing this page, I want you to understand that it is being
written on the next night to that of the previous pages written, as I
find it difficult to write during the daytime, & a little more news
available. Early this morning, the Turks concentrated their Artillery
& opened fire on our positions at daybreak, & things were lively for
some little time. A six inch shell struck our gun pit & came in
& burst. There were 3 gunners sleeping inside when it burst, &
of course were rudely awakened; Strange to say not one of them
was injured, altho' they suffered somewhat from shock & a
little temporary deafness, which will soon pass off. Considering
the size of the shell, it is simply miraculous how any of the three
escaped with their lives, but wonders will never cease.
All kinds of shell came over, & from all directions, & it had
us thinking which side of the trench to sit, but there is always
a "Wag" in the crowd who has something dead funny to say &
this keeps the crowd merry. He inferred that "somebody should get
a Solicitors letter" over all this shelling.
Well, Mother, I think I have come to the end of this epistle
so will draw to a conclusion, assuring you all that I am in the
very best of health & spirits & that we will soon drive the Turks
out of the Peninsular & then we will go on to Germany & "mop"
up the Kaiser.
I hope you are all well & I want you not to worry about me
so with the best of love to all at home, Believe me to be
Your affectionate Son
Norman

[*P. S. Young Prosser of whom I told you in my
last, letter has been wounded again & sent to Malta
& to be operated on*]

Gaba Tepe,
Gallipoli Peninsular,
Turkey. 12^th July 1915.

Dearest Mother & all at Home,
Just a line to let you know that I am
still in the best of health & am sticking to it, despite the fact
it so getting a little monotonous through being in the one place
for so long, but there is sure to be something doing shortly,
so we will see plenty of fun I suppose.
Another Mail came in yesterday but so far I have
not got any from you or Mab by this one, but I have no
doubt that the rest of it will be delivered by tomorrow or the
next day, so will live in hopes.
How are you all at Home? How I long to
see you all again, & when I do there will be a great
wagging of tongues, for I will have enough to tell you,
to make me quite unpopular. Some of the things we have
seen are quite romantic, what with Battleships bombarding,
Torpoedo Destroyers tearing about all over the place, Aeroplanes
& Bi planes & Sea planes by the dozens, some dropping
Bombs, others observing for the Gunboats, why It doesn't
seem like war at all. Would you believe me when I
tell you, that I have been here every day since the 25^th
of April & I haven't seen a Turk, dead or alive, yet, that
is to say, not closely, of course I have seen them in the
distance moving about on the sky-line, but I have not been

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close enough to see what colour they are, but I suppose that
before long, we will see hundreds of them as prisoners. There
is a big battle on down below at Cape Helles & Achi
Baba has been getting spots knocked off it by the Allies
War Boats & their Field Artillery as well, & they are still
at it "hammer & tongs" & after the bombarding has ceased,
I suppose the usual Infantry "blaguard" rush will take
place & then there will be a lot of dead Turks to bury.
We keep the Turks up here pretty lively, & give them
little Artillery bombardments every now & then, & plenty of
machine gun & rifle fire to warm them up & to make them
waste their ammunition. Reliable prisoners captured from
the Turks say that they are not over blessed with an
abundance of Shells & Cartridges, so this looks all the
healthier for us. I was wondering. Mother, if you could send
one a little parcel containing, some "Asperin Tabloids", &
also some "Mix Vomica" & also some thing for "Diarrhoea".
Just a little of each will do as it all helps to keep
a man fit. Diarrhoea is just a little prevalent amongst
our chaps, due, no doubt, to drinking so much water,
but I am pleased to say that I have only been off colour
one day since I landed here, so you see I'm quite alright
altho' it may come in handy someday.
Is it true that recruiting has stopped both in
England & in Australia, if it has, then it is a very good sign.

Page 3
(Next day.) Well mother dear, I am pleased to tell you that
the mail so in & I got 2 from Mab, 1 from you & 1 from M^r
Davidson, who tells me that Ruby has been down with Measles,
but is quite alright again. I cannot tell you what joy it gives
me to get letters from you and Mab, & I don't care a hang if
nobody else doesn't write. I read your letters over & over again
so as not to miss anything. I also got two "Table Talks", &
several other papers from anynon annonymous senders. I am
very sorry to read that Charlie is still out of work, but hope
ere this, he has a permanent job. As I write now, a Turkish
gun, firing high explosive shell is firing on us, & 2 batteries
of field guns & 1 of howitzer is "taking him on" & giving him
some "hurry up" too. I am sorry to tell you that Yardley
has gone back & will probably go to Australia immediately.
He has not been the success we had hoped for, bad luck.
We go for a swim every night & thoroughly enjoy ourselves.
Thousands are always in swimming & the physique of our men
is simply great; Truly they are a body of athletes.
I haven't got the parcel of clothing by this mail, but it will
sure to come; We got innoculated against Cholera to-day, so
hope this will keep us fit. The boys didn't mind it a bit.
Well, Mother, don't forget to send along the little parcel
of medicine please, also something for prickly heat rash on
the body, which causes me to scratch myself. Will close now
hoping you are all in the best of health, the same as I am
I am your loving son
Norman.

Don't be afraid to confine the subjects
in your letters, they are not censored.

____________________________
Ask Mab to drop Nell Wheeler
a line for me, as I've not much time
for letter writing or have I the materiel.
67 Argyle St
St Kilda