Letters from Norman Griffiths Ellsworth to his Mother, 1916 - Part 27 of 28

No. 1 Boyton Camp; Codford.
Wilts; England. 

My Dearest Mother, & all at Home,
As there is a Mail  
going out via 'Frisco on the 22^nd, I will Take the
opportunity of letting you know that I am in the  
best of health, & am knuckling down to steady  
graft,  & in fact, have been rather busy lately in  
getting our harness & equipment through from the  
Ordnance people in Tidworth, -- who, with their
usual bungling methods, got everything mixed up, 
& the consequence is, that we have stuff branded  
117, -- and the 117^th have stuff branded 120^th 
& so on, & we have had to have a general  
sort out, & I have not had too much time for  
letter writing etc. 
We have been told that our  
horses will march in any minute from the
Remount people, & I suppose it will be on 
Xmas day, or thereabouts; ---- just when
we do not want them, & we are hoping that  
we will be spared this picnic. 
I only rec 
-eived one letter last week, ---- & that was from  
Mother, & I understood that Mab had written  
by that Mail too, but up to the present I  
haven't got it. The young lady of whom  
I told you, & who sent me a letter declaring  
her love, & all the rest of the rot, has written  
to me again, & how she knew I was back  
again in England, I don't know, ---- anyhow,  
you need have no fears  & I can only affirm  
my intentions of not bringing home an English  
girl.

I notice that Mr Hughes is going to introduce a  
Bill to enable a man on active service, to 
marry a girl in Australia. 
Whilst appreciating  
most things that Mr Hughes has done, and  
said for us (speaking for the A.I.F) I, & most  
others do not relish the idea at all. Of  
course, some idiots will try it on just for the  
novelty of  the thing, but there is nothing to be
gained for by it, except it be for the girls, &  
that means there will be more widows. 
The A.I.F . 
are absolutely disgusted with the Labour Party  
in "chucking" Hughes out, & it is a pity that  
they do not know, how only too true he is  
expressing our sentiments. He has been  
to France, & saw for himself what the men
have to go thro',  & yet they won't take his  
word. Many & many a chap has been 
heard to say, "its a pity a Zeppelin could  
not get over to Broken Hill, & stir them up
with a few bombs to let them know there 
is a war on." 
Well my dears, Xmas is on us  
now, & past you by the time you get this. It
is snowing, & very cold, but we are going  
to have a poultry feed for the 25^th. I hope 
you are all well. ---- Give my love to 
all relations & friends, & tell them all is   
well in France, & to yourselves, my fondest 
love, hoping you are all well.
Believe me
your loving son
Norman.
Harriet got your £ alright &
I sent her one, too for Xmas,
so that will get them a "[[blow out]]"

116^TH HOWITZER BATTERY 
26 DEC.1916 
1^ST DIVL. ARTILLERY. AUS. 

Many happy returns of the 
day for Mab tomorrow (27th) 
  
N^o 1 Boyton Camp. 
Codford; Wilts. 

My Dearest Mother, & all at Home,
Well! This is Boxing  
Day, & I am gradually getting over yesterdays
sumptuous repast which is characteristic of  
Christmas tide, and I only can say that it  
was most enjoyable in every detail, & of course, 
the general wish, & toast of the day was "that  
we would all spend the next at home in  
Australia." 
Being senior N.C.O. in the Mess that  
day, it devolved on me to take the head of  
the table, & to do the "speechifying" etc, and  
you can easily imagine how I felt amongst  
old veteran Sergeants of the R. F. A. who were  
at Mous, & formed part of the "Contemptible  
little Army", but I got through it alright, 
(thank goodness), & fell to on, the dinner, 
which consisted of Roast fowl; roast pork; 
Roast beef; Onion Stuffing; Onion sauce;  
Apple sauce; Brussel's sprouts; Parsnips;  
Baked & mashed potatoes, & gravy, ---- then  
followed Plum pudding; brandy sauce;  
& custard, ---- with mince pies; raisins;  
nuts; oranges; apples, & other conglomeration 
which causes the stomach some uneasiness,   
& is better without, ---- so taking things  
alround, you can see that we did alright, 
but do not think that I did not think of   
you all, because I did, ---- & I thought  
pretty hard about it too, ---- however, I hope  
we will all be together next Christmas day. 

2 
It is now some time since I last heard from  
home, & I am looking forward for the delivery  
of our Xmas-time Mail from Australia. 
Lots  
of the chaps have got parcels etc, but I am  
not expecting anything in this line this year,  
but I really want the letters; ---- It is  
very interesting to see how the chaps can work  
on Mail days, & if they don't get a letter, then  
the fools go and get drunk. ---- Even  
the lads just over from Australia, ---- they  
nearly howl if they don't get a letter of some  
description. 
I only wish that you, or some one  
else would send me a Melbourne Newspaper  
too; ---- I am mixed up entirely with men   
from any state bar Victoria, & the New  
South Wales  people somewhat sicken me, &  
there is only one Victorian N.C.O, with me, &  
he hails from Northcote, but he never gets  
any newspaper or the like, ---- so if you 
don't mind, a "Table Talk", or the "Argus"  
after you have done with it, & I shall be  
very much obliged. 
Things are much the same   
as usual here, & I'm afraid that there is  
not much news to tell you, until we get  
properly fitted out, & get down to solid graft,
and now that Xmas is past, I expect we  
really shall get busy. 
5% Christmas Leave  
was granted to the Batteries, & 2 of my Sergeants
went away, & 2 from the 117^th Battery, & 
we expect them back some time to-night.

3
and 2 others go off to-night to Ireland, so theres  
plenty of money left yet in the country for  
holiday making, but I'll bet that theres  
not much leave in Berlin for soldiers. 
I  
will be having a week-end in the middle  
of January in order to meet May Tilton, so 
I can afford to take things easy now. 
Major  
Harris (my O.C.) is taking a house, or flat in  
Warminster, for his wife, & this will enable  
him easy access to the camp, as he has got  
a car, & the distance is not far. ---- The
other only Officer (Lieut Dyke) from South Aust, 
(& only just over too), is taking things very easy,  
& doesn't seem very keen to learn his work, &  
I don't know what the Major will think of  
him. 
There is a very big depot, not far from  
here, filled with the latest 6 inch Howitzer
batteries, & these, & their detachments are  
being packed off to France this week, & there  
are others waiting to come into the Depot  
when they are gone. 
Everywhere in England  
is men, & guns of all calibres waiting to go  
to France, & I think I told you that the  
British expect to put another 300 batteries  
in the field by the Spring, so "Fritz"  will  
get a very rotten time of it next year, if  
he does not succeed in getting America, 
& a few more rotten nations to force  
this Peace nonsense

4
Now that Lloyd George is in power, we can 
really look forward to the future with con-, 
fidence & we all know that he is for us, &  
not like that "miserable skunk" Asquith, &
his party of pro-germans (under the sole 
guidance of Haldane the German), and 
Lloyd George's warning to neutral powers,  
that "he will stand no outside interference"
---- met with general approval, & ---- all  
I can say is, ---- give us the guns & 
shells, ---- & a sporting chance, and we  
will fix "Fritz" up for all time. 
We are all 
very sorry at the attitude of the Broken Hill  
miners, & other humbugs, who voted "No",  
& who are always striking for one thing 
or another. ---- They should be in the 
trenches for a while, ---- just when a  
bombardment is on, ---- & they will see  
that the boys at the front have no  
chance of striking. ---- But it would  
be unfair to put them in the trenches  
alongside gentlemen. 
Poor Harriett was  
very grateful for the £  that you & I each 
sent her, & it will help her along. ---- They  
send their love to you, ---- and are quite well.
I do hope that you are quite  
well. Give my love to all relatives, & 
to all the family & those at home, I  
send my best love & wishes, hoping  
to hear from you soon
I am
your loving son 
Norman  1 DRD 266 

I am, of course, OK]