Letters from Norman Griffiths Ellsworth to his Mother, 1916 - Part 22 of 28

Bulford. Salisbury 
Wills; England.
August 21^st 1916.

My Dearest Mother, & all at Home,
Being the
eve of my departure for France, & having
just concluded a week end period of 3
days leave, in London, I will write you
these few lines, hoping that you are all
well, & glad to know that I am at
last to be allowed to take part in
the great scrap.
I notice that the next
Mail goes via Suez on the 24^th, so I
think it better to write now that I have
the opportunity, rather than wait
until I get to France, owing to the
letter having to pass Censor, & having
more time as present.
Well, Mother, my
week end leave served two purposes,
first, to visit Major Biddle, (my old
B.C.), & secondly to take a trip up
the river Thames, past Putney, Kew,
Richmond; & Hampton Court.

2
Major Biddle, (who I mentioned in my last
letter to you) was wounded, & I presumed
that he came to England, & got leave
accordingly. On arrival as Horseferry
Road (our Headquarters) I went to the
Casualty Department, & enquired what
Hospital he was in, - after ½ an
hours wait, I was told that "they didn't
know", so Moon (who was with me) & I
set out to fill in the afternoon, seeing
the sights of London.
We visited in turn
Westminster Abbey; Horse Guards; Buckingham 
Palace; Hyde Park: Regent St;
Oxford St; Piccadilly; Leicester Square,
& several other places, & during our
peregrinations, hanged if we didn't
run "slap bang" into no less a personage 
than Major Biddle himself.
He
seemed very pleased to see us both, & of
course we were very pleased to see him,
& we as once saw that he had had a
very narrow escape from certain death
A shrapnel bullet had hit him

3
on the forehead, almost between the
eyes & a little above, & left a nasty
looking hole. On enquiries being made,
he informed us that a 5.9 shrapnel
burst 5 yards from him, & that was
all that happened, so he was lucky.
Well after some interesting conversation, 
he informed us that he thought
that he could got us both back in to the
4^th Battery, & in a fortnights time, he
would be back at the front, & he will
do what he can for us then, so that
is very satisfactory.
Next day (Saturday)
we went down to the Inspection of the
Scots Guards, & watched them at drill
etc for an hour & after this, we
again visited Buckingham Palace,
- this time to see the famous ceremony
of "Changing the Guard". Their full
band was in attendance, in bear
skin busbies; & redcoats & gold braid
& all that paraphenalia, & naturally
it was a fine sight, & the actually
changing of the guard, is done at the

4
Slow March, to the music of "Scipio"
(well known in Melbourne). - There was
a very big crowd present, including
many colonials & all seemed very
interested & pleased with all they saw.
Sunday morning, we went down
to Westminster Bridge, & went aboard
one of the pleasure steamers, at II a.m.
& left for, or rather set out for Hampton
Court.
The steamer was crowded, & left
punctually, but as the current was
running out fast, we only managed
about 5 miles an hour. The first
part of the journey had little or no
charm, as it was mostly wharves; &
barges etc, but after going for an
hour or so, the river got prettier.
Up around Putney, & Kew it was
very pretty, & later on we went into
one of the Locks, & was then lifted
up to go to the next part of the
river. - During the next stage
of the journey, the river being so
shallow, we ran aground, & was

5
acting the fool (or it seemed so to me)
for an hour, & when we got off one
bank, the man at the wheel promptly
put us high & dry on the other, & so
it wasted all the best part of the
day.
Before starting on this journey, I
got a telegram from Camp, to "return
immediately", but as there was no
train before 7 p.m. I went on the
trip, & at 3 o'clock, we had not got
half the distance covered, so I got
off at Richmond, & returned to
London by 'Bus, arriving there
in time for a wash & brush up
& tea before catching the train.
It
spoilt a good day thro' a faulty
engine room staff, who should have
had the engine in better trim, still
I enjoyed myself, & that is the
main thing, & when you all come
over here, I'll take you on this
trip, but not by the steamer
named S.S. Connaught

6
The ride back by 'bus was very
nice, & I passed thro some very
pretty places such as Chiswick;
Hammersmith; Kew & other beauty
spots. - Moon went on to
Hampton Court, & got there at 7 p.m
so he came back by train. The
boat was due there at 2.40; so you
see how things were.
I got back to
Camp at 10 p.m. & was told that
a Draft for France was to hold itself
in readiness to move any minute, &
I was to go with it, but I have
heard since that we leave tonight
so will take this opportunity of
wishing you all sorts of luck, &
don't worry about me, & all that
sort of thing, & hoping that you got
my letters of last week via Vancouver
I remain
with fondest love to you all
Your loving son
Norman.

On Active Service
Y.M.C.A. WITH THE BRITISH Y.M.C.A.
EXPEDITIONARY FORCE
France. 31^st August.

Dearest Mother, & all at Home,
Well, here I am at
last - yes, & as far from the front as ever,
but in sound of the guns tho', & it appears
that I shall be here for some considerable
time yet, before I can get with a battery
again, so I have been attached to a Royal
Field Artillery School of Instruction as an
Instructor, not far from here, & I expect to
be kept as such for a good while.
I left
Folkestone at 7.30 pm that night, & after a
quick & pleasant, and uneventful passage,
& arrived at Boulogne 2 hours later & was then
marched to a rest Camp, a couple of miles
out of that City. After drawing rations,
a couple of blankets & a ground sheet, was
given a tent, & went to sleep until daybreak, 
& on rising, had my first glimpse
of wonderful France. The place we were
in was nice & open, but when we marched
thro' their towns, the houses & shops seemed
very untidy, & in fact, put me in mind of 

On Active Service
Y.M.C.A. WITH THE BRITISH Y.M.C.A.
EXPEDITIONARY FORCE

portions of Cairo, but of course the people are
ever so much cleaner in their appearance
than the Egyptians, & they greeted us cheerfully.
We saw any amount of war widows etc, & &
people dressed in black, who had lost relatives
in the war.
We left by train for our 1^st Division
Base, (where I said in my previous letter) & got
here at 4 p.m, & marched in to Camp. - I met
several of our old boys here, & all said that
all was well with the Battery up top. As in
the Depots in England, N.C.O.s, especially Sgts,
have to wait a very long while for a Call, & so
I have been sent for to act as an Instructor
at the R.F.A School, & like it very well, &
seem to get on alright with those attending my
classes. I am glad to say that I am well
& in great spirits, & hope you all are the
same. I could do with some underwear
please, - (singlets, shirts & socks,) & would
feel grateful for the same, if not too much
trouble & expense. Send all letters, etc
addressed to me thus:-  843 Sgt. N.G. Ellsworth
4^th Bty, 2^nd F.A.Bg^de, 1^st Aust Div Artillery Base
France (of course)   \Detail

Sorry I am unable to write you a
longer & more detailed letter, but we
are not allowed to say more, as this
& all correspondence has to pass the
Censor, so I will still try & drop you
a line by each mail.
I suppose that
you are glad I cannot get to the front,
but I feel very miserable to think
I can not get back with the boys for
some time, so again wishing you all
the best of health, & with my fondest
love to you all, & hoping to hear from
you all soon, for I have had no
news of you all for months.
Believe me
Your loving Son.
Norman.