Letters from Norman Griffiths Ellsworth to his Mother, 1916 - Part 5 of 28

Ward "M"
County London War Hospital
Epsom Surrry.
England March 1^st. 
1916

My Dearest Mother & all at Home, 
I have no doubt 
 that you will be surprised to learn from me this  
week, that I have been under a surgical operation &  
am now in bed for another 3 weeks. Yes, last  
Thursday, the Dr was examining me, & noticing my
varicose veins, called in another Dr & after a short  
consultation, strongly advised me to be operated on, and
I thought that as I was already in hospital, I might  
just as well have it done, so consented, and on  
Saturday morning at 10 am, I was taken to one  
of the operating Theatres & put under Chloroform,  
& Dr Peatling (our own Dr) then performed the  
trick. I was on the table for 2½ hours, & woke  
up at 1.45 pm, in the ward again, & I must say that  
I experienced as little difficulty & inconvenience, in this  
operation, as when I was done in the Alfred Hospital  
in 1908, & the Dr said that he was surprised that  
I came thro' it so well after the Enteric but he puts  
it down to the steady & sober life that I've led, so I've  
that much to be thankful for. There was another
chap in my ward that was operated on after I was  
brought back, & he being a rather heavy smoker & drinker
had a rotten time, & in fact, his heart stopped for

Page 2
while & the Dr was rather concerned about him, but  
he pulled thro' alright.
My experience of the chloroform  
was much the same as my previous operation. It was
gently administered at first, & then gradually increased.
It appeared to me as if I was drifting thro space & 
then it appeared as if I was walking along a plank plank
& drawn irresistably to the end of it, & there was nothing
but space as I looked from it, however I reached the
end of the plank, but whether I hopped off of my
own account, or whether I was pushed off, I can't
quite decide yet, but I fetched up with a crash
in bed 3 hours later & yet not one second of time
appeared to elapse from the time when I left the
plank, until the time when I awoke.
As I had had
an innoculation to couteract sickness wich which usually
accompanys an anasthetic, I was fortunately relieved
of this disagreeable business, & consequently felt
just the thing, & with the exception of a little
soreness where the cut is, I am feeling grand.
I am splendidly looked after by both the Drs,
& the Nursing Staff, & all my wants are most
pleasantly attended to, & I'm sure I'm most
grateful to them all, for their kindness.
I have just received a letter from you, Mab,  
& Dave Watson, & I am glad to get them too

Page 3
You say Mother, that you have not heard from me
for some time. I am most distressed at this, for
I can assure you that I have written home and
to Dave Watson every week since leaving arriving
at Egypt in December 1914, & where they have got
to I don't know, but believe me I have at least
written to you every week, & will continue to do so,
unless something unforseen happens. I have
also written to Charl & George & Mab at many
different times, & yet they have not received
them. This sort of thing makes me wild
Snow has fallen heavily here this week,
& it is a beautiful sight, & of course all the invalid
Australians went out & snow balled each other,
& the English Nurses & Tommies were given a
chance of seeing the Anzacs in Action, & they
were delighted with the performance, for our
boys infused much vigor & energy into the
business, & no tommies would face them.
It is a glorious sight to see the fields &
trees covered with snow, & it is at least 6
inches deep & is still falling heavily.
I do hope that you will pardon this most
awful scribble, but I am quite unable to shift
my leg, & writing in a lying position is most
uncomfortable, but I don't think you will mind
very much, so long as you hear of me

Page 4.
I got a letter from one of my bombardiers with
the battery in Egypt, & he says that they are doing
nothing at present, & he was good enough to send
me the wish of all the boys that I might rejoin
the battery soon, & I hope to as soon as possible
I'm not going to try & shirk it, whilst those
splendid boys have to do the dirty work, &
it is my duty to be with them, & the sooner the
better.  All the Hospitals are being cleared in
England, & our hospital has less than 500 patients
now, & these are being sent out as soon as possible.
The big British advance is expected soon
& collossal casualties are expected on both
sides, but the British are going to drive the
German swine clean out of Belgium.
Well mother dear, excuse brevity, but
I can't write any more at present. Please
be good eng enough to send this on to Dave
Watson in case he does not get a letter from
me, & tell him that I am writing this mail &
have written a lot to him lately, but all seem
to have gone astray thro' no fault of mine.
So with love to dear Mab, Chas, George
Rupert, Floss & Aunt Uncles & cousins & an
extra ration for your dear self
I am
Your loving son
Norman

Dave Watson tells me that they
are now coining silver at the Mint
& have taken, on a lot more new
boys, & he has got his boy on
there.  I wonder if they will
get better pay.