Letters from Norman Griffiths Ellsworth to his Mother, 1914-1915, Part 8 of 27

Mena Camp, 
Cairo Egypt 
6^th March 1915
  
Dearest Mother & all at Home. 
Another line to let you 
know that I am in the best of good health & thoroughly 
enjoying myself altho', I am sorry to say, we have not 
done any fighting yet, but hope to very shortly. 
We are open to fight anybody: Black or White, 
& we hope to go to Turkey, as the fighting will suit 
us better as it will be more open & than all this 
underground business that they are doing in France. 
An Australian generally likes to see the chap he 
is fighting & we hope to deal out an extraordinary amount 
of "stoush" to the Turk, if we go there. 
I told you in my last letter about the terrible 
lies Capt Bean ( correspondent) had published about  
the conduct of the Troops in Cairo, in the "Argus", 
well, he has had such a bad time this week from 
 officers & men that he has found it necessary to send 
a cablegram to Australia quite the contrary to the 
previous one he sent, so I hope the people of 
Australia will not believe his rotten lies any 
longer, because the general conduct of all ranks 
(altho I say it myself) is exemplary.

Page 2 
It is gradually getting warmer here & the flies 
are beginning to get very troublesome & persistent. 
We have been doing a lot of night manoevres & 
so of course are getting used to 3 am. stables. No 
matter how hot it is in the daytime here, as soon 
as the Sun sets. it gets perishing cold by 7pm. 
Yesterday morning, something awoke me about 
5am. & I could hear one of my drivers (who was on 
stable picquet) calling out " What are you doing 
there, you black dog" a number of times, there was 
no answer, & then I heard the sound of scampering 
feet & the driver calling out the Guard to "Stop him" 
They caught him & it turned out to be a nigger 
who had stolen some books & clothes of some of 
our chaps who sleep outside their tents. Of course 
the nigger was jabbering in his own lingo, but 
Croughan (the driver) would have none of him & took 
some of the sacks which the nigger was carrying & 
put, or rather made him get into the sack himself, & 
when he had tied the top up, he went & got a  
bucket of water & poured it all over the nigger 
& this set him wailing & howling (terrible curs, the 
niggers) & this brought out the Native Policeman 
who is attached to us & he brought out his stock 
whip, upended the nigger & placed him in

Page 3 
such an attitude that his sitting down place 
was uppermost (nigger wailing & howling all 
the time) Then the Police told him in his own 
lingo that that particular portion of his anatomy 
was about to undergo a process of being warmed 
 to compensate for the water which had been thrown 
over him. Nearly everybody was out by this time 
in all sorts of clothes, some without, to watch this 
most interesting operation. All the time the 
"John" was telling him how hard he was going 
to catch it, & the nigger was howling in a most 
miserable manner, then the operation began. 
It looked just like a half sack of something 
from a distance, but on closer inspection, there 
could be no doubt of the outline that the prisoner 
was in the proper position, at least the policeman  
had no doubts at all events, for he fell to & 
thrashed that nigger in a most alarming manner 
about at the rate of 120 strokes a minute, & 
only knocked off because he got tired. Of course 
the yells that emerged from the sack had 
never been heard the like before. After this 
the John locked him up for Robbery, Resisting 
the Police, & causing a disturbance. It is 
needless to say that we haven't  seen him since

Page 4 
Last Thursday, I went on whole day Leave 
& spent the day in Cairo, in company with my 
Corporal (Petterson) & 2 others, I visited a hat 
shop first & had a new band put inside 
as the old one was getting pretty crook. Next we 
visited the Photographers where the boys get  
their work developed, & got the photo's which I 
enclose. They are my Subsection & Team. 
All tip top fellows & will  fight to a finish. 
Next we went to Dinner. 2/- each, (dear enough 
but can't eat it at a cheaper price) had soup, 
Fowl, vegetables, cake & fruit. Afterwards we went 
 to the Museum & saw all kinds of wonderful 
Mummies & things. We saw the actual remains 
of Rameses. & his wife, who are in a remarkable  
state of preservation, altho very ugly. The 
mummies are very wonderful, but as Chas Dickens 
^says are "staring intensely at nowhere". We also saw 
the Jewel room & therein was all the jewellry that 
is put in the coffins of dead Kings, Queens, Etc 
Some of the mummies are about 20 feet  
high & altho they may have the ordinary 
bodies, they have different kinds of 
heads, such as Snakes, Lions, Birds & 
all different kinds of creatures.

Page 5 
We go every Wednesday & Saturday night 
either to the Pathe Pictures or else to the Boxing 
Stadium of the 7th Battalion (Victoria) & here 
we see some good boxing matches between 
Australians & New Zealanders. Nearly all 
the Officers (including Generals) go to these & 
one has to go early to get a good seat. 
We have interesting lectures still, of the war 
by General Owen, who has just come straight 
from the Front to take command of us. He 
has had some wonderful adventures & escapes. 
All our chaps are well & wish to be remembered 
to all. Our Quarter Master Sergeant is in trouble 
again & to-day stood his Trial by Court Martial 
for neglect of Duty & Drunkness, He was found 
Guilty, but has not been sentenced yet. 
I hope you are all well at home & elsewhere 
Give my kind regards to all kind enquirers 
Hope you got my Registered Parcel by last 
Mail & that Mab got her Post cards. I hope 
Rupert is well, also you, & that things are much 
better regarding the price of living 
Well good bye, Mum for the present 
from your loving Son 
Norman

[*Charlie Sheldrake wishes to be 
remembered to Mab 
If you have any old weeklies 
or magazines, I should feel 
obliged for them, to you. 
Norm*] 
  
Mena Camp, 
Cairo, Egypt 
12^th March 1915.
  
Dearest Mother, Mab, & all at Home. 
As we only get our 
Mail delivered once a fortnight now, I get 2 letters 
or 3 from home each delivery, so you can see how 
we look forward to every second Wednesday. 
I also got a letter from George by this Mail 
(his first) & was pleased to get it & to read of his holiday 
in Creswick. Peter Moorfield of the Mint also 
dropped me a short note too, in answer to some 
Post Cards which I had sent him. The chaps at the 
Mint are very stingy with their letters, altho' I have 
written several times to them & I have only got one 
letter of one page from them until now. Dave 
Watson, the policeman up there, is the only one worth 
writing to & as my time for writing letters is very 
limited, I am afraid that I will have to put them 
on the "Debarred List" as we call it. Considering I 
am the only one from the Mint away with the 
Expeditionary Force, I am a little surprised that 
some of the boys haven't had time to drop me 
a line or two, but I mustn't growl anymore, as 
long as I get letters from you & Mab, I don't care a hang.

Page 2 
I am very pleased to read by your welcome letters that
you are all well, especially yourself, & it is also
good to know that Rupert is quite well, for I know
what extra work it is to you whilst he is ill. Mab tells
me that she spent an enjoyable time at Middle Park.
She generally enjoys herself wherever she goes & Good
Luck to her too. Holidays are made for enjoying oneself
I often think of Floss Robbie, Chrissie Watson &
a host of other friends, & I am sorry that I am quite
unable to find time to write to them all, but I hope
you will assure them that I haven't forgotten them
I will write home to you when it is possible, every
week, & I hope Mab will be contented with this
letter too, as a sergeant has tons of work to do & it
is difficult to get time to write.
I will drink to your good health, fortune, & long
life, Mother, on the 16^th of this month, & hope that the
Table Centre which I sent to you per Registered Post,
will reach you in time for your Birthday. Be sure
& have a good feed of Onion Suffing on that day.
I want you to go into town & have a good
"blow out" & booked seats at the Theatre at my
expense & Mab too, so don't forget & mind you
do, because I'll find out if you don't. Not
forgetting oysters & Flounder afterwards of course.

Page 3
I hope by this time that all of Beans dirty, filthy,
reports of Bad conduct has been quite cleared by
now & our fair name upheld. I cannot tell you
what indignation and wrath was caused amongst
all ranks here, it eclipsed everything & nearly
caused a mutiny in Camp, & his recall to Australia
was howled for in every lines. Scores of letters
were written to Members of Parliament & other
influential gentlemen by different Messes & it is
our earnest hope that the general Public are quite
clear on the subject now. Captain Bean has
done more to besmirch Australias good name,
than the whole 40,000 Troops in Egypt. Since the
papers from Australia reached us, he has caused
a memo in Divisional Orders to be read to the
troops, a quibbling, shuffling, paltry excuse to us
that "his message has been misunderstood" at
Melbourne. Now what do you think of him now,?
Is it any wonder we ask for his recall.
As I said before, & I say again now, that the 
conduct of the Troops, generally, is exemplary
& when we are in Cairo on leave, we can walk
about just the same as any other soldier &
command respect. Any sign, however small, of
drunkeness or rowdiness is instantly dispelled.

Page 4
I am sorry to tell you that we have had an unfortunate
event in our Battery. Our Quarter Master Sergeant,
who is an ex Imperial man, imbibed rather too freely
of the "cup that cheers" & incurred the displeasure of
the Commanding Officer who ordered him to be placed
under Arrest. One Sergeant has to be detached
to take charge of him all the time, so we took it in
turns, & what a disagreeable job it is too, because we
have to escort him every where he goes, Canteen
excepted of course; He was remanded to the Brigade
Commander who remanded him to a District Court
Martial. The Court Martial found him Guilty of
the Charge of Drunkeness & Reduced him to the
Ranks as Gunner & transferred him to the Column.
It was a dramatic scene one morning when the
Finding & Sentence was read. The whole Battery
was paraded & formed up in 3 sides of a square
& he was marched up, under Escort with hat
off, facing the Parade & the sentence read.
He faced it magnificently & never flinched.
I'll never forget the scene if I live to be a 1,000.
Well, Mum, I am in the best of health & so
are all the boys & are only too sorry we haven't
had a scrap yet, but there are strong indications
that we leave Egypt on the 20^th of this month.

Page 5 
but of course, we don't know our destination.
We Reveille at 5am now & parade in full
marching order at 6am. & do our manoeuvres
before the sun gets up properly & return to Camp
at 10am. & this finishes our days work, except
for midday & 4pm stables.
The 3^rd Reinforcements arrived in Camp
last Sunday, but I haven't seen any one I
know yet.
Yardley gets the "Table Talk" by each mail
& the page which contains the week end Campers
at the seaside usually comes in for a very
scathing criticism. Cannot somebody give
them a bump about stopping at Home enjoying
themselves, whilst others are away trying to render
the Empire some assistance. I only wish they could
see some of the advertisements in Cairo about Enlisting,
it would do them good, or rather, make them
think.
The weather here is getting hotter & dustier each
ado day & the flies are the curse of Egypt, they
are the most persistent of any winged tribe here.
It is no wonder that disease is rampant
here, as they are the carriers of all kinds of
microbes. Mosquitoes are troublesome at night, too.

Page 6
There is one thing here that annoys us more than any
thing else & that is, All the shopkeepers, etc, are out to
beat us for all they know: Nothing is too dear for the 
Australian! He has plenty of money to spend: This
is the popular sentiment amongst the Egyptian Trades
people: Of course the Australian pays up & doesn't
grumble. We went into Cairo last Wednesday & spent
the whole day on Leave. First, we went & had our
Photo's taken, singly, then the 4 of us together. Fred
Conradi, Jack Hall, Harry Braithwaite & myself.
Jack is going in for them tomorrow, so if he gets
them, I'll send them in this letter. They are Post
Card size & the chap is giving us a Paris Panel
each for nothing.
After this we went & inspected the Railway
Workshops & there, were greatly interested in all
we saw. These people made the new portions of
the gun shields for us, to protect us from attacks
from aircraft. It is a great benefit to us as it
gives us 3 times more protection than before.
The guns & wagons look more like a
travelling circus than Artillery as the paint
is all the gaudy bright colours we could slap
on. It just looks like as if some kids got to 
work & spilt a lot of tins of paint over them.

Page 7
At a distance, one cannot tell what they are &
it is hard to believe that our equipment is so
inconspicuous through this idea. I am sending
along several other Photos for you to see. One is
my Corporal (Will Pettersson) from Windsor. No one
could have rendered me such assistance & loyalty
towards the working of my subsection as he has done.
He is tireless in his efforts & is very popular with
everyone. The other is Tiny Salkeld (6 feet 7 inches)
one of my Gunners : A good soldier & an honest
chap in all his dealings, in addition, he is a very
witty & the best of good natured fellow. Then
there is Jack Halls photo. I can't say more, than
that he is one of the most desirable companions
I have got. He is always of a witty disposition.
Now Mother dear, I must close, hoping everyone
is in the best of good health. Give my kind regards
to all kind enquirers & my best love to all at
Home & elsewhere. I am always thinking of you
all & also Aunts & Uncles, so tell them that I
will always think of them. Tell Rupert that we
still have rides on the donkeys.
Once more with the best of love
I remain your loving Son
Norman

[*1 DRL 266*]

Please don't think that I have
grown a moustache, for I simply
hate the idea & would not
even if I could /
Norman