Letters from Norman Griffiths Ellsworth to his Mother, 1914-1915, Part 25 of 27

City County of London War Hospital
Epsom, Surrey.
England
December 5th '15.

My Dearest Mother & all at Home,
Well, here I am in England.
Who would have thought that I
would ever get so far round the
world 2 years ago? Well, anyhow
here I am, so anything is possible
after this.
Now to tell you my story,
starting from the 18th Stationary
Hospital at Lemnos Island.
As soon as I was convalsocent,
I was sent to the Lowland
Casualty Clearing Hospital to
wait for a boat to take me to
either England or Australia, as
this is the usual course adopted

2
with all Enteric Cases. Some
misunderstanding arose thro'
wrongly reading a Military
Order which concerned the
Australian & New Zealanders
The order was to the effect
that "no disabled Australians
or New Zealanders were to be
sent to England, but were to
be sent to Australia, & the
18th Hospital Authorities
evidently thought that Enteric
Cases came under this heading
&  so we had to miss the boat
which we were previously
booked for, whilst their error
was rectified, & so we came
on the big "Aquitania".
It would take too long for
me to tell you here the

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complete description of the boat
but enough to say that
she makes all other boats &
liners look like canoes in
comparison. Well, when we
got on board, we entered an
Electric Lift, of which I
counted up & I believe there are
others. It was just like being
in a big building going
past the different decks.
When we got to "C" Deck
(we got in at "G" deck) we went
along a very long passage
towards the stern & passed
hundreds of beds, where the
cabins usually were, & we
passed the bannister overlooking 
the 1st class dining
saloon, & this enormous

4
place contained nothing but
beds (750 in all) it was simply
wonderful. There were no
fewer than 1044 on our deck
alone, & on other be decks
there were beds which brought
the total number in the whole
ship to 7,000. We only carried
4000 patients on this trip.
Big as the "Aquitania" is, she
is able to turn & manoevre easy
enough & away she went.
The speed has been cut
down to 18 knots instead of
23 knots on account of the
vibration affecting the wounded
We called at Naples, Italy
for coal & water & I was only
able to buy a few Post Cards
from one of the boats which

5
sells these sort of things. We
could see the Vesuvius Volcano
not far away, &  it was smoking
&  at night, it looked very fine
as the top was a red glow
as a furnace, which showed
us that it isn't extinct by
any means. Pompeii is on the
other side to the Harbour of
the Volcano & I was able to
secure a book of views of
the ruins which I am
sending to you with the P.Cs
The "Mauretania" was
alongside of us in Naples
& we took up nearly all the
Quay.
We left then for Gibraltar
at daybreak & when we arrived
there, I was very much impressed

6
with the great impregnable fort
It is a great high rock & it
fairly bristles with Guns.
Right at the top of it among
The clouds we could see 4
great guns which can shoot
right across the Mediterranean
The town looked very cosy
situated in a little valley
beneath the great guns.
The houses, like those at
Naples, are very tall & seem
to have no chimneys. We
only stayed for ½ an hour
until a despatch boat brought
us our Orders & then we sailed.
As on my trip from dear
old Australia, I felt very
off color & kept on my back
pretty well all the time

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Big as she (the boat) is, she
is not a good sailer, & when
we got into the notorious
Bay of Biscay, she behaved
herself very badly & when
she rolls, she goes over very
far & takes a terrible time to
recover & right herself again
The sailors on board admit
that she is no good as a sea
boat as she is top heavy.
At night, we could hear the
crockery falling & sliding all
over the mess room, & people
walking along the passages
were cutting all sorts of capers
& one particularly amusing
incident caused me to nearly
split my sides with laughing
Two of the Chaplains coming

8
back from the supper room
arm-in-arm were staggering
along crashing first on one
wall, then on the other & they
looked, from behind, like a
pair of drunks rolling home
at midnight on a Saturday
They only wanted a Cray
fish under each arm & it
would have been complete.
The food on board was,
well the least said of it, the
better. The nurses (English) are
a very morose lot, & don't seem
to care very much about their
job. The Australian nurses
simply lose them, both in
work & looks & manner.
Whilst on board, I became
a great favourite of General

9
Hughes of the Light Horse, he
was Mayor of St Kilda, & he
would bring me all kinds
of things such as papers,
magazines, Tobacco, cigarettes
Etc & would have brought me
Fruits & sweets, only I was on
milk diet & the nurse said it
would only throw me back, but
all the same, I was very grateful
for his kindness. I was very
glad when the boat reached
Southamton, & it was very
foggy & we anchored outside
until daybreak & next day,
it was a drizzling rain nearly
all the time, but by the time
the 4 tugs got us into dock,
it cleared somewhat & the
disembarking of the patients