Letters from Norman Griffiths Ellsworth to his Mother, 1916 - Part 26 of 28

116th HOWITZER BATTERY 
A.I.F.
Date 21 Nov 
1^ST DIVISIONAL ARTILLERY 
  
116^th Howitzer Battery, 21^st F.A.B. 
1^st Australian Division. 
N^o 1 Boyton Camp. Codford. 
Wilts; England. Nov 21^st. 
  
My Dearest Mother, and all at Home. 
I do not know whether  
I am in time for this weeks mail, as I have just  
returned to camp from 4 days leave in London &  
Gravesend, but I am going to chance it. 
Yes! Major 
Harris told me to take a little leave now in case  
we are too busy at Xmas time, as I dropped Harriet  
a note to say that I was coming down on Saturday  
night, until Monday midday.  I arranged to  
meet Lucy at Charing Cross station at 1pm, and  
we went to dinner at Slaters in the Strand, and  
I made her eat a gorgeous dinner.  She is a  
slightly made girl, & has one of those silly fads  
in "never feeling hungry", but I simply ignored  
her objections, & we sat down & commenced with  
clear soup; roast fowl, ham, bread sauce, brusselsprouts, 
baked spuds, & cauliflower with sauce, and  
we finished up with sweets, etc and I saw  
that she ate every particle of it, and she said  
that she could scarcely move after it. 
However we  
went & got seats at the Coloseum, & we quite enjoyed
it, not only because it was wet & cold outside,  
but was struck a fine musical programme, in  
which there was a grand organ on the stage which  
cost £3,000, & consisted of 1100 pipes, and a young  
English chap sat down & played a splendid  
programme, including Rachmaninoffs Prelude  
in C# minor, & this fairly took the audience by storm

2/ 
Then a young lady from the Albert Hall came  
on and sang "A perfect day", & "Ave Maria", and  
the accompanyment was wonderful in effect. 
Then  
he gave us "The Storm" (wonderful) & "Pomp & 
Circumstance", & a descriptive piece called "Plantation  
Melodies".  Then there was a young lady who  
played the violin very sweetly, & won the house  
with Rubenstein's "Melody in F" (a charming thing) 
A                                                                                                           
singular event was the orchestra, (40 members) all 
female, & it was interesting to note ladies playing  
cornets; piccolo^s; flutes, & bass viola, etc, but 
they played exceedingly well. Another item 
that went down very well with the audience was 
a good display of stock whip cracking by an 
Australian named Fred Lindsay, & his work 
was appreciated _^by the crowd in no small degree. 
At  
the conclusion, we went & had tea, & of course 
Lucy "wasn't hungry" (as usual) & only wanted  
a cup of tea & a piece of cake, but I scorned 
the remark, & we went into a flash fish shop 
in the Strand, & had 2 lovely great pieces of  
filleted plaice, & some chips, & hot sauce, & 
she again complied with my demands, and  
ate every bit of it, & we both enjoyed it. A 
strange thing about this place was, that altho' 
I had not dined there before, I knew that it  
was a good place as soon as I entered the  
door, because the place was comfortably filled  
with Australian Officers, etc, & they only go-to 
a place where they know where a good 
honest, sensible feed can be obtained.

3/ 
Of course Lucy felt that her clothes were just 
bursting but I told that I couldn't see any difference 
so we went & got a couple of seats at Oscar Asche 
in His Majestys Theatre in Haymarket, & Lucy 
quite enjoyed it. - I saw it previously. 
In 
the morning, I walked down to Buckingham 
Palace to see the receipients of the Victoria Cross, 
Military Cross & other decorations by the King, and 
this I stopped to watch the changing of the Guard 
in all its pomp etc. The band of the Grenadiers 
was in the full scarlet uniforms, & bearskin 
busbies, & my word I liked their playing. 
The  
Hon Mr Asquith drove into the Palace whilst the 
ceremony was on, & altho' most of the people 
saw him, yet nobody cheered or uttered any 
sound of applause whatever, - in fact, 
 one could here on each side of him "there 
goes the old _____!". It is a great  
pity that there is not a better man at the  
head of the Government at a time like this,  
however I suppose we shall muddle through 
somehow. 
I found all well at Gravesend, but poor 
old Julia has had a bad shaking up thro' her 
fall downstairs, & I think it will have the 
effect of shortening her life a little, I am sorry 
to say. - poor dear, she is awfully deaf. 
Of 
course Mrs Niblett (cousin Nellie) still has the  
neuralgia, & it being chronic with her, she 
is naturally miserable if she wakes up and  
finds that it is somewhat better.

4/ 
Harriet is a dear good soul, & has a very hard 
struggle to make ends meet, so I help her all 
I can.  All send their love to you all. 
I am 
going down to London for a week-end in the  
middle of December to meet May Tilton, who is  
coming from Birmingham, & I hope to get  
Lucy to meet her too. 
Things are going on fairly 
well in the battery, & I am handling the office 
 work quite alright now. Strange to say, I 
met an old South Yarra boy (George Rodd) 
who used to go to the State School in Punt Rd 
with us, - he is in 117^th Howitzer Battery as 
a Sergeant, - our George will know him well. 
He came over from Australia with the  
2^nd Division Artillery, & was wounded in France, 
but is in this camp now. 
The 3^rd Division at Lark 
Hill have had internal trouble thro' the inefficiency 
of their officers, & no fewer than 18 have 
been sent out to Base Depots, & 3 Brigade 
Commanders (including Billy Mailer) & 2 Battery 
Commanders, have been seconded, & men have to  
be brought from France to strengthen them. 
Well 
my dear, I expect that £5 is in the "Arabia" 
at the bottom the Mediterranean, but please 
do not try & send me any more, as I don't  
want it, - now I must close, hoping 
you are all well, & wishing you all the best 
of luck, & with tons of love to you all, 
I am 
Your loving Son, 
Norman.

[*I am having a week end in London 
with May Tilton next month. 
N. *] 
  
116thHOWITZER BATTERY 
28 NOV. 1916 
1^ST DIVL. ARTILLERY. AUS. 
N^o 1 Boyton Camp. 
Codford, Wilts. 
England. 
  
My Dearest Mother, & all at Home, 
Just a line or  
two to let you know that I am still in the best  
of health, and altho' the weather is very cold 
now, I am able to do plenty of exercise etc, 
& don't feel the cold a bit. - Every morning 
the water in the basins, taps, & butts are frozen 
& all the streams & puddle holes in the roads 
are covered with ice, & all the lovely beautiful 
trees and their wonderful colours that I told you of 
in my former letters, have quite changed, & there  
is scarcely a leaf left now, so winter has 
commenced, but the holly trees are looking 
lovely & puts one the mind of Xmas puddings,  
& Turkeys etc. 
Major Harris, my O. C, told me  
that he wasn't going to take the battery to France 
until well in the spring, which is about February, 
so we are well dug in for Xmas, but we 
have some of our Guns etc, & we have indented 
for the whole of our equipment, and horses etc, 
but when ordanance will supply us, is another 
matter. 
Most of the members of the Battery are being  
trained by a Tommy Instructional School, and  
this has allowed me plenty of time for Office 
work, which I am glad to say, I have thoroughly 
mastered. 
You spoke, in your last letter but one,

about sending me £5 in your next letter, & if you  
did, then I was was wondering if it was on the  
R. M. S. "Arabia", which was sunk in the 
Mediterranean by the Germans, as I haven't got it, - 
but I hope you did not, as I don't want any 
money as my allottment runs out at 24/- a week 
now, & this is more than enough. 
Did you get  
the Cable that I sent you, about my return 
from France, & promotion to B. S. M.? 
I got a  
letter from you, a card each from Mab, & Floss, 
sent on to me from Harriet Cole, for which 
I thank you all very much for. 
Major Biddle 
has got the D. S. O. & is ^in command of the 2nd 
F. A Brigade now, but the 1st Div Artillery 
have had a rough time lately & has had some 
very severe losses, especially in Officers, & there 
are 18 Officers short now. - The poor old  
4th Battery "copped it" too, & Charlie Masters & 
one of my Gunners have been killed so I hear,  
& also the 5th Battery Commander (Geoff Strachan) 
It makes me feel an awful cur to think 
I'm having a good time, whilst they are getting 
banged about. 
The boys are very sore about 
the strike in Australia, & they will have  
some very strong language to use when they 
return home.  They don't  realise what our 
chaps are going thro' in France, for them. 
Well, Mother, I'll close now, hoping all 
are well, & with best wishes & fondest love to  
all  I am you loving son 
Norman. 
[*1 DRL 266*]

No 1 Boyton Camp, Codford 
Wilts. England.
  
My Dearest Mother, & all at Home, 
Just a few lines to 
know how you got over the festive season, and to  
know how the stuffed goose went, and was it "hard  
to take", & how did the cauliflower & sauce go, & 
to say nothing of the baked spuds. - My 
word, my mouth just waters to think of it all, 
& makes me want to read Chas Dickens in  
"Christmas Carols". 
Well of course, at the time of my 
writing this, it is earlyier than Xmas, & by a strange 
coincidence, the anniversary of my arrival at 
Southampton, on the "Aquitania", from Lemnos, & 
I little thought then that it would be 12 months 
before I returned to the firing line, but here we 
are for Xmas, & the Major said that he is not going 
to take us to France until the spring, & so by that 
time we will be more than fit to make Fritz^s 
acquaintance with our lyddite. 
I spent this week 
end in Salisbury, having to take in the Pay 
rolls for the Major to sign. - He stays 
with his wife at one of the Hotels here, for 2 
days, & then goes to London in his car. 
On Sunday, 
I went to Service in Salisbury Cathedral 
& I quite appreciated the chance of visiting 
so splendid & ancient a building. - It  
is a very fine place, & the architecture is just 
wonderful, & the service inside was very nice 
& I thought the organ & its effect with the chimes

2/ 
just glorious, & the way it hamonized with the 
bells in the steeple simply took my breath away. 
I do not think I have ever heard anything 
so beautiful before. 
In the evening, the Cathedral 
was closed, & I went to the other chruch of  
England (St Thomas) & I enjoyed the service 
there too; - in fact, it resembled very 
much our service in Christ Church (S Yarra) but 
the choir was depleted considerably of mens 
voices, due to the war, nevertheless it was "trĕs 
bon". 
The town itself is of course, very old, and  
badly laid out, but thickly populated, & 
there is a very large number of girls etc, who 
are always throwing glad eyes at soldiers, 
but I fortunately dodged all that palaver. 
The 
Australians have not got a very enviable 
name, & I must say that the conduct of  
the ones that I saw, was anything but  
good, & the class of girls they kick about  
with too, is enough to make one sick. 
Those  
people are nearly all reinforcements just 
over from Australian, & are of the larrikin 
type, & their conduct in generally is vile. 
They 
wear feathers in their hats, polished badges 
polished buttons, & colours on their arms 
which they are not entitiled too, & on passing 
a Pub, one can generally hear them in a  
brawl inside, & using the vilest language 
even in the presence of women folk.

3/ 
I regret very much to have told you this, but believe me 
that I have not exaggerated it in the least, and the 
consequence is, that decent people have no time for 
Australians now, except the business people, who 
whip on the price of any article they wish to buy. 
But 
of course, I do not wish to infer that there are no  
decent chaps among them, - there are, -  
but the larrikin element seems to pervade the 
whole country, - & they are vulgar creatures 
too, - even at the dinner table. I was 
dining at a very nice hotel in London once, with  
a young lady, & several of this type of "Anzacs" 
(as they call themselves, mind you) came in, and, 
in short, made pigs of themselves. It made 
me feel very embarrassed I can assure you. 
Since 
I took over the battery, I have ruled them with 
a rod of iron, - & I don't spare any of them, 
& I have had 18 sent back to Base Depot, as 
undesirables, & I have not finished weeding them out 
yet. - We have plenty of new men in the  
116th Howitzer Battey (just arrived from Australia) 
to draw from, & this we are doing. 
It was rather 
a peculiar thing about forming 4 new Howitzer 
Batteries in Australia with the same numbers as 
ours, but I believe they said that there would 
be some difficulty in forming them in Australia,  
& so we were formed in England, & now there 
are 2 batteries numbered each 116; 117; 118; 119, & 120, 
& what the authorities are going to decide, I don't  
know, - but we have the guns etc, & they 
have nothing, so my job and promotion is quite safe.

4 
No matter which lot that is to finally be the  
116th Howitzer Battery. - My promotion 
has been confirmed, & in my Pay book, and  
so I can sit back, & smile contentedly. 
The 
weather is very cold now, & sharp frosts every 
night & morning, & the water all frozen over, 
but there are fires in all the huts, & we have 
a cosy mess, altho' the ford is not "champion". 
I 
am still in communication with May Tilton, and  
she has asked me to put off the week-end in  
London until January, as she will have more  
time then, - I have also arranged for  
cousin Lucy to meet her then & if Jack can get 
over from France, then we will be a merry 
party. 
This is a Tommy Mess, & several of its 
members went thro' that greatest of ordeals, the 
stopping of the German advance at Mons, and 
the push back, & their adventures with the 
"contemptible little army", is just thrilling, and 
these fine fellows don't boast of their doings 
then.  The Govt don't think any more of  
them, than any of the concientious objectors. 
Well, Mother dear, I'll close for the 
week, as there is no more news, so hoping 
you are all well, & in the best of health. 
Give my love to everybody, & accept an  
extra ration for the family & yourself 
Believe me 
Your loving Son 
Norman. 
[*1 DRL 266*]