Letters from Norman Griffiths Ellsworth to his Mother, 1914-1915, Part 7of 27

[*Tell Mab that I am  
sending the PCs by this Mail*] 
  
Mena Camp 
Cairo Egypt 
25^th February 
  
Dearest Mother & all at Home
I am glad to say that I 
have again received another of your most welcome 
letters, also one from dear Mab, also one from Mr Sheldon 
at the Mint. I am glad to know that Rupert is well 
again & I hope he has started school again. Tell Mab 
that I have received her Photo & case alright, also Flos 
Robbie's, for which I thank them very much for & I 
carry them inside my shirt pocket always. I am not 
surprised to read of Bert Handley coming away as he 
was always a good soldier, but I must admit that 
promotion comes very freely in the latter contingents, 
whilst we have to go for all we are worth to keep 
our Rank. However we will be first into the 
"Scrap" & this is something I would not care to miss 
for untold money. My greatest wish will be fulfilled 
the very moment we open fire against the Germans. 
My gun is in great "nick" & she sings lovely music 
when in Action. We have done a lot of shooting 
lately & last Monday night, we fired for the 
first time at night at 9.45pm. We were rested 
all day & at 6.30pm, we harnessed up & moved 

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out in full war strength & conditions. 
After marching out several miles into the 
Desert, we suddenly came across 4 horsemen, each 
20 yards from each other, as soon as each gun 
was alongside one of these horsemen, we quietly got 
the order "Halt" Action Right" it was a great surprise 
but the order was promtly obeyed & the greatest 
silence was maintained from the time we left 
Camp until we finished up next day. No body was 
allowed to speak, except the Sergeants & then no 
more than a whisper. We laid our sights on to 
two rays of light from lamps about 80 yards in 
front of the gun & put the range on. We were right 
behind a big hill, so of course, did not know  
what we were firing at. Our fire was supposed 
to be observed by Air craft, & this was done by 
signals flashed by lamps from the Staff from 
a neighbouring hill about a mile from us. 
My gun fired first; it was a blinging flash,  
& a deafening roar & away went our first 
shell. Moons gun then got to work & spat fire. 
Then came a flashlight signal, an alteration 
of 50 yards to our range, & we let loose again 
& this time we scored a direct hit with our gun 

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as we afterwards learnt. We were the only battery 
in our brigade to shoot at night, & Moons and my
gun were the only 2 guns to shoot in the battery, 
so we are pleased to know that we were the only 
battery in the whole division to score a direct hit. 
After "Cease firing" we dug our guns in & strongly 
entrenched our selves & wagon. We do this by 
digging out about 2 feet of earth & putting this 
into sand bags, then run the gun & wagon into 
it & bank up the earth 4 feet high all around 
& just leave room for the muzzle to protrude. Then 
we dig trenches each side of the gun pit 5 feet 
deep for the detachment to get into when we are 
not in action. We made such a good job of it, 
that when the General and his staff inspected us 
next morning there, he said "Splendid, oh splendid, 
"lads". We worked on digging the pit until 
3 a.m. that morning (Tuesday) then we walked 
over to where our wagon line & horses were bivouaced 
& just lie down with a water proof sheet & 
blanket & slept till 6 a.m. then finished our  
pit & commenced shooting a Brigade shoot, 
that is, 3 batteries in Action at once. Our 
shooting was sill being observed by Air craft

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so of course we could only tell our shooting was 
good by the fact that we kept firing at the 
one range & elevation for 14 rounds & they soon 
stop us from firing if we get off the target. We are 
learning all the new methods of finding the range to a  
target in conjunction with an Aeroplane flying at a  
prearranged height. It is a little difficult at first, but 
^when one becomes familiar with the work, it comes easy. 
Then again, a Battery Commander is only pointed 
out his target on a map, & he has to make his deductions 
etc & get his battery to work as soon as possible. 
We have had to paint our Guns & Wagons an 
entirely different color, in fact they are all colors, 
they just look like as if some kids have found 
some tins of paint of different colors & slapped them 
on anyhow. No two spokes are painted the same 
color & all sorts of hideous gaudy colors are 
slapped on. This sort of thing has been found 
most satisfactory in France & it makes it very 
difficult for the enemy to pick out the artillery. 
from the. We hope to leave here very soon now. 
We only get a mail every fortnight now, so  
we have to wait longer. By this mail we are  
all surprised to see that Capt Bean, who is

Page 5 
with the Force as correspondent, has written 
home such a pack of deliberate falshoods about the 
disgraceful conduct of portion of our troops. 
Now, Mother, as you know, I am only too keen to 
denounce a drunken brawl or even drunken men, 
but I must candidly admit that such conduct 
has never taken place in Cairo. In all my travels 
in & around Cairo, I have never set my eyes on 
anything that other fellows have done in Cairo  
that I would not do myself. Of course, I do not 
say that there is no soldier gets drunk in Cairo, 
but if there is, he is generally put out of sight by his 
Pals, otherwise he is locked up by the Military Police. 
Beans article has simply staggered us all & 
every where in Camp now, cries can be heard for 
the hanging or drowning of Bean. Every where it 
is being discussed & meetings are being held in 
the different messes. The men wearing African 
colors are going to take drastic action to make 
Bean apologise for sending such lies to the printed 
at Home. We can all imagine the way the people 
at home think of us all after reading Beans article, 
but we earnestly hope that people will read  
it with a big grain of salt and disbelieve it.

Page 6 
Of course, in some Units there are a few wasters 
who have had to be sent away, & in addition to 
them, there are several who have gone back, very 
decent fellows, but who have been returned for such 
things as "Refusing Vaccination" of "not likely to become 
an efficient soldier" & things of that sort. These 
fellows, when they arrive in Australia, are in great 
danger of being classed by the Public as "Wasters",  
& are probably are some of the most decent chaps 
alive. This is where Beans article will do the 
mischief. I can only say again, that there was not 
the least reason in the world for Bean to write 
such a pack of the most unscrupulous lies ever 
penned. One of our chaps has written a piece of 
Poetry about it & I will try & send you a copy in 
this letter. I am very much afraid that, if Bean 
does not clear out from Mena Camp, something  
unfortunate will befall him. Now for another 
subject. We have all been vaccinated again 
on account of Small Pox amongst the Arabs, but 
I am pleased to say that mine did not take 
for the second time. Shower baths have at lot 
last been constructed in Camp, so we can

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get a refreshing shower after a dusty march. 
We are still a happy party & thoroughly enjoying 
ourselves. Yardley has gone into Hospital with 
Influenza, but hopes to be out in a few days. 
All the other fellows are well & send their 
kindest regards. I haven't got a letter from 
George yet, but hope to soon. 
I am sorry to see that living is such a  
tremendous price in Melbourne at present, & if 
you feel the pinch, take as much of my money 
as you want & let Mab help herself too. 
I greatly appreciate all the kind wishes & 
enquiries made of me at home & elsewhere. Give 
everybody my best wishes & tell them of my appreciation 
of their kind enquiries. I hope Miss Taylor 
has let her houses & that she is quite well. 
Thank Mrs King for her kind wishes too. 
Tell Mab that I am sending by this mail 
a set of the Post Cards which she asked for, but 
tell her not to think of taking my letters to any of 
the daily papers. Tell Jack Tilton that, nobody 
places any reliance ofn Neil Gibson joining the 
troops on Active Service & are not very keen to 
shake him by the hand.

Page 8 
How are all the Relations? If you write to them 
at Winchelsea, tell them that I often think of them & 
tell them that I have been successful in getting 
Percy Wells transferred from the Ammunition Column 
to our Battery & he is getting on fine. He is a  
real tip top chap & all the Officers are pleased 
with him. Give my love to Aunt Hannah & tell 
her I am in my glory. I am glad that Charlie 
Hettie & family enjoyed themselves at Dromana & 
am glad that George enjoyed his holiday at Creswick. 
I hope his business is a great success by now. 
I am sending along by registered Post, a Table 
centre which I bought in Cairo for you, Mum, 
so hope you get it alright. I am often thinking 
of the feed we will have on my return. Onion 
stuffing must pay an important part in the feed. 
Don't forget to tell Mab, that Braith & I still 
have the cushions she made for us & are still 
appreciated greatly. Now Mother dear, I  
must close now (8 pages) with fondest love 
to all at home & an extra whack for your dear 
self I remain your loving son  
Norman. 
(Poetry next page)