Letters from Norman Griffiths Ellsworth to his Mother, 1914-1915, Part 4 of 27

[*Mabs birthday tomorrow, so I'll drink 
her health & wish her the usual greetings. 
Am sending her some Cards by 
the same mail*]
Mena Camp 
Cairo Egypt 26^th/12/14
 

My Dearest Mother & all at Melbourne,
I suppose you have been wondering
how I spent Xmas Day away from home, well, I must
say that we have not only fared magnificently, but
wonderfully. I could scarcely have believed that such
a feast as we had, could have been prepared & cooked
in the Sahara Desert. First, we exercised, watered & fed
our horses, then we had a Breakfast of Chops, Eggs, Steak
& Toast with Coffee (good) to drink, Then we were allowed
to take it easy & get ourselves ready for Dinner & we filled
in the time by cleaning out the tents & adorning the place
with all kinds of decorations. Our tents are quite different
to the ones we had at Broadmeadows. They are large tents
about 20 feet long & 12 feet broad and are double to allow
the air to pass all around & they are beautifully cool, Well
we have lined the outside portion of the ground with
white stones & the men have made incriptions & drawings
on the sand & some of the designs are magnificent.
We have fellows from all over the Camp to inspect
our lines, & we made such a good job of it, that the 
Colonel & Medical Officer, who made a surprise visit
galloped up to the Major (ours) & congratulated him
on the splendid appearance of our lines & he

2
later on brought the Officers of the other batteries over
to see our fine display. Well, after watering & feeding
our horses, we sat down to DINNER. and what a
dinner too. For the men, Roast Turkeys, Roast Beef
vegetables (leeks, ony carrots turnips & spuds) & of course
in the Turkeys (don't get a shock) ONION STUFFING.
Then followed Plum puddings & Brandy Sauce, & when
these were issued to the men, they were set alight & put
on the tables, blazing. I might say that before this, the
men were allowed to send in one N.C.O. for each
subsection to buy Beer & Whisky & Wine & other little
delicacies & afterwards, all that could be seen was
men lying about in all directions, (dead to the world)
The Sergeants dined in a similar manner, only much
more in style & we all drank to the health of the
"Dear ones at Home". The Major went round to
each mess & spoke kindly to everybody & everybody
cheered him. I might say that the men have had 
a large mess room built for them & this adds to the 
comfort of a big dinner. There is one thing that I 
want to tell you & that is my subsection sent for me 
at dinner time & when I went to them, I found that they 
wanted to Toast me, & in the speech that the Corporal 
made, he insisted & all the men "hear heared" that

3/
I was the best Sergeant in the Brigade (mind you) & they 
rose & sang "For he's a jolly good fellow & all that rot" 
& gave me three cheers. Well I can't tell you how I 
felt. This is the first time in my life that I have been 
cheered & I hardly knew what to do or say & stood there 
like a silly coot & after they had finished, I made 
a short speech in which I thanked them all for 
the willing & loyal assistance they had given me, &
it was my best wish that we would all be together 
that day, next year, in Berlin. This was a trump 
card & they all cheered like blazes. This was not 
the only thing, as I was sent for by the other subsections 
& toasted the same way & no other Sergeant 
got this distinction.  I only mention this to show 
you how we are doing here & the good fellowship 
that exists between all ranks. After a good sleep,
Les Ilsley came in from the New Zealanders Camp &
he spent the rest of the day in our company. We 
had arranged, during the week, for a big spead 
for 9 of us at 7.30 p.m., & so we went into Cairo in 
a big Car & after a good hot bath we went to the 
Cafe Parisenne & there we had 10 courses on 
our big dinner, so you will see our digestive 
organs had to perform wonders on Xmas Day.

4/
We finished up at mid night in a fine big Car
& slept late next morning, & I must say that every
body looked washed out, but they were all there
when the Trumpet went. Les Ilsley enjoyed himself
that much that he is going to apply for a Transfer
to us. Well so much for our Dinner, now how 
of about yours. I was thinking of you all at
home all day & knew that onion stuffing must have
been "favourite". We have just heard a Rumour that
the Herald published a report that we had been
Sunk in the Indian Ocean. If this is true, we are
going to wreck the Herald Office on our return.
Our work in the field is progressing favourably
altho' the training of the Artillery has been altered
since the outbreak of the war, so we have to
learn a lot of new work. All my subsection are
working great now & they are keen to obey my
smallest wish, & altho I am sorry to say that one
or two "Non Coms" were inclined to be "Cliquey" I
spoke to the Section Officer about them & he spoke
to them & pointed out that the success of the "Sub"
depended on the absolute friendliness & comradeship
of everybody & this has had the desired affect as
they are all pulling together grand now.

5/
Speaking of the Sergeants, I must say that If the
world had been sought over for a finer lot of 
fellows, it would have been impossible to do ones find better.
They all assist each other & do all sorts of jobs
for each other, that it is a pleasure to know them
& I am happy in the extreme in their company.
Moon is about the least popular as he is inclined
to be a little selfish at times & mingy, so we have
nick named him (Cohen). Jack Hall is a big joke
& is all ways keeping us in the best of humour.
Fred Conradis is always doing jobs around the
place & building all sorts of things. We have still 
got of our Gramaphone & we exchange Records 
with other Batteries. The niggers do all the dirty work 
so we have a good time compared with Broadmeadows.
Cairo is still dirty & smelly. The French women
are very beautiful & marry any one with tons of money
no matter what caste he is. Now Mother, I'll
close now hoping this finds all in Victoria well
So give my love to all at home, Miss Taylor,
Charlie, Hettie & Family, George, Mab, Flos, & all 
Relations & other enquirers & not forgetting Rupert.
Best of Love to your dear self 
from your loving & happy Son
Norman.

Mary's address for
Claude
Mrs F. W Ellsworth
61 Davis Avenue
South Yarra

return these as soon as
you have read them. HT.

Dec 26^th
1914

Dear Mrs Watson, This is
the letter I promised to send
you, if you wouldn't mind
returning it when finished with
Yours sincerely
M Ellsworth -

Mena Camp 
Cairo, Egypt, 1^st Jan '15 

Dearest Mother & all at Home 
Just a short note to let you 
know that I am in the best of health & disposition for 
the New Year. We heard the most glorious news 
to-day that we will be at the Front in 3 months time. 
I can't tell you what a joy I felt on receiving this 
glorious news. I can tell you, Mother, all our boys 
will give a good account of themselves, as their work 
is beautiful & their Gun Drill & Laying, splendid & 
we are simply itching to be right in the thick of 
the Fight. Since we have been in Camp here, we 
have been told that all our Drill has been altered 
& today, we started on the new stuff. It is like this, 
A battery is ordered into Position, & this is done at 
the dead of night & as soon as we get there, we have 
to dig the Guns & Wagons into the ground & entirely
concealed from the enemy. The ground is banked 
up 4 feet high all around the guns & trenches for the 
gunners are dug 6 feet deep on each side like this-

[*ground 
2 feet 6 inches wide 
big enough for men to 
lie down in here*] 
So you see we are quite safe, & this 
method was discovered in this war & of 
course, the War Office is circulating these 
particulars to all our troops.

2/
We remain in these places for days & even weeks & 
during the night, the wagons come up & keep us well
supplied with ammunition. In most cases the guns 
are so well covered, that grass & other quick growing 
stuff is sown on top & it is impossible to detect anything 
at 500 yards. The Artillerymen are thus splendidly 
protected & thoroughly enjoyed theirselves. Even the 
Officers are dug in & telephones are used to each 
gun pit. Signalling is entirely done away with. 
Sir George Reid visited us yesterday & we 
turned out in full force to greet him & he made a 
long speech to us & we were afterwards presented 
with a pocket knife each & we also got a Tin of 
Chocolate which I will send home to you. I am 
sending some Post Cards by this mail & hope you 
receive them. There is not much to tell you about 
as I have written to you every week lately. I got a 
letter from Alice Cutler to-day dated 1^st November & this 
was the date we sailed from Albany, so you see 
they don't bustle with the Mail here. 
Well Mother dear, I'll now close wishing 
all the Compliments of the Season & the best love 
to all at home & elsewhere, & an extra ration to 
yourself. I remain 
Your loving Son 
Norman

Tell Rupert 'I have 
plenty of rides on the 
little donkeys here, &
am going to have a ride on a Camel next 
Sunday. If we have our 
Photo's taken, I'll send 
some home /

Tell Jack Tilton that 
there is plenty of work for 
Telephonists in our work 
now / & also tell him 
that Jack Heywood wishes 
to be remembered to him

Fred Conradi & I went into 
Cairo last night & after a 
tremendous feed (of course) we 
went shopping & bought singlets 
& drawers & all kinds of things so as to keep the Issue Stuff for
the Front. I have tons of money 
& get paid my 17/6 every week & 
I hope you get yours alright 
I'll send you some if you 
want it, so please let me know

This fish is for Rupert 
& tell him to put it on 
the palm of his hand & 
watch it try to jump off 
his hand / 
Give my love to Floss Robbie 
& the boys all wish to be 
remembered home 
 

[*1 DRL 252*]