Letters from Norman Griffiths Ellsworth to his Mother, 1914-1915, Part 18 of 27

P.S. I have just received Mabs letter
& "Table Talk" dated 16/6/15, & am glad 
to know its cold there, because its damned
hot here & the flies are terrible

Gaba Tepe,
Gallipoli Peninsular.
Turkey 29^th July 1915.

Dearest Mother & all at Home,
Just a line to let you know
that I am quite well & I hope this finds you all in the
very best of health & happiness also.
I have just got over an attack
of bowel trouble, lasting 3 days, but I am glad to say that
our D^r has quite fixed me up again.
I put it down to the same
old diet which we have every day, & is more of less
affecting the larger portion of our 1^st Division in the
same way, but the Dr allowed me a couple of
tins of milk & a couple of tins of Arrowroot & with
a spell of 3 days off duty & a change of diet, I am
pleased to say I am myself again.
We expect to be relieved soon
& this will enable our chaps to pick up their
old dash again & with the assistance of a
good spell, be quite up to their 25^th April form, so
that is something for the enemy, whom they have
to meet, to look forward to.
Nothing much has been doing
lately, that I am allowed to speak of, & beyond a 

little shelling & bomb throwing in the day time &
a little musketry & machine gun fire at night time,
things are just the same as last week. To-night
a German Taube & a British Bi-plane were up
over our positions at the same time, and everybody
was eagerly looking forward to a scrap, but one
was frightened, & the other wasn't game, so there was
"nothing doing" much to the boys disappointment.
I wrote you a long letter of 16 pages (a few pages)
lately & I hope you received them alright. I have
reconsidered what I said to you about promotion, &
I think I'll stay where I am. I'll tell you about it
when I hear more about it.
Well, Mother dear, I hope you are all well,
What do you think of my proposal re- the house?
Think it over & don't hurry about it.
How is every-body at home. Give them all
my love & tell them that the Australians are still
holding their positions, altho' we can easily do
with any amount of reinforcements. Send the
Stay-at-Homes out here, it won't do them any harm.
Well, no more news at present, Mother, so
I close with the best of love to all and an
extra ration for yourself from your
loving Son
Norman 

Gaba Tepe.
Gallipoli Peninsular.
Turkey. 14^th Aug 1915.

Dearest Mother & all at Home,
Just a line to let you know that I am
quite will & very comfortable, & I hope you are all the same.
It is a great comfort to get your letters from Melbourne,
& no matter how hard the chaps have been worked, a Mail
from Australia is the most wonderful tonic in the world to
buck them up. We had just concluded a big battle
when the Mail arrived, so we are all happy & thoroughly
contented now. One of our greatest enemies is Lice: Great
big gray creatures who breed in thousands in the seams
of ours clothing, but just lately we have had little
white muslin or calico bags containing sulphur or
some other like powder, & I am glad to say it has had
the effect of repelling the horrid things considerably.
The poor Infantry chaps in the firing trenches
suffer very much from them & they are always to be
seen at work with their thumb nails, altho' they don't
wear much clothing either.
Our chaps could do with a well earned rest now,
& it is a great pity some of the Stay-at-Homes couldnt
could just see them for a moment & decide if they
are not wanted immediately: 

Page 2
Mother, you will be surprised to learn that I am
seriously thinking of applying for a Commission, but
as N.C.Os are unable, in this Brigade to qualify, so I
I have had to make an application to the Divisional
Ammunition Column (Captain Madden of the old No 9 Battery)
is in charge & as I was formerly his trumpeter, I think
that I should stand a good chance, anyhow I am
going to have a try & a good one too, & if I succeed, I
will be able to work thro' to a Battery later on.
Sergeant Major Dowsett has been transferred from
our Battery to Head Quarters Staff & we had another
Permanent Sergeant Major from the Column in
his place, but he is probably leaving us to go to
another Brigade as Warrant Officer. We are also
short of a Quarter Master Sergeant, ours having been
transferred to Ordnance Depot.
I will tell you in my next letter how I get on.
I received letters from the following; Mother;
George; Mabel; Charl; & May Tilton, & also a "Table
Talk" from Mab, so you see I was quite occupied for
some time. Tell May Tilton that the Hospital ship
"Gascon" is right alongside us & so I suppose
Nurse Tucker is on board. I do hope, Mother,
you have got relief for your poor eyes by this. 

Page 3  also Rupert, despite Georges kindness I
don't think his eyes were effectively treated in
the first instance, but I do hope it will not
entail too much expense.
Fancy Mab, knitting, "let 'em all come" every
little helps & winter will soon be on us & I
suppose we will want it all.
I am well off for socks at present, but
could do with some singlets & a sweater for
the coming season.
Please Mother, don't forget to send the medicine
chest which I spoke of in my previous letter, as we
get diarrhoea, & other little ailments, & the blood gets
out of order & then we get liverish & a trifle bad
tempered at times, but still we are a happy party.
I am afraid I've told you all the news for this
week, so I'll write as often as I can.
I hope you are all well, give my kindest
regards to all kind enquirers & my love to all
relations & best love to all at home.
Tell me next time the name of our friends &
their address in England.
Well Mother dear, good-bye for the
present with fondest love from
Your affectionate & loving son
Norman
Don't forget our dinner

Monday
August 21^st 1915.

Dearest Mother & all at Home
Just a line to let you know that
I am still alright & the boys the same, altho' Diarrhoea
is a little prevalent amongst us & it takes nearly all the
strength out of one. I have just had to spend a couple
of days in Hospital with a touch of Enteritis & vomiting,
but am back again on duty again.
There have been several changes
& promotions in the Battery since I last wrote & you
will be surprised to know that all the Senior N.C.Os
have been left out in the cold.
Dowsett has been transferred to
Head Quarters staff. Moon has been made Sergeant Major.
The Quarter Master Sergeant has been transferred to
The Ordnance Depot & a corporal is doing his job at
present & the junior corporal of the Battery has
been made Sergeant in Moons place.
Myself & Corporal have been left out
of the "running". So I had an interview with our
O.C. & he said that it was because I had one
or two little faults such as "familiarity with the
men on my Subsection, Etc." altho' not  exactly neglect
of duty, so I asked him, if he would have 

Page 2
any objections to my transferring to another
Unit & he said "No", so I have sent a letter to the
O.C. No 3 Section Divisional Ammunition Column
(he was my former Battery Commander in the 25^th Battery)
& I am only awaiting his answer before forwarding
my transfer papers. I may have to revert to a Corporal
for the time being in the Column, but the pay is only 6’ a day less
than that of Sergeant, & I would soon be able to
reach my former Rank. If I do have to revert, Mother,
the pay won't affect you, as I can easily do without
the 6’ per day.
There has been very little change otherwise since
I last wrote to you & it looks as if we will have to
do the winter here, but we have got good boots
& plenty of socks & other clothing, but there will
be plenty of clay in the trenches.
What did you have for dinner yesterday,
Roast Pork, Onion Stuffing, Baked Spuds, & Fresh vegetables, &
Tapioca custard to finish up with. We had Bully-beef.
in a few boiled onions & a handful of boiled rice too, so
I'm going to shake things up when I return.
How is everybody, Give my kind regards
to all kind enquirers, Love to all relatives & a special
whack to all the Ellsworth family & an extra ration for
yourself from your loving Son
Norman. 

How are your eyes? I hope
they are well again, also Ruperts.
∼
Tell Mab to send me Verne
Ritchies' proper Military address
& Rank/
Norman