Letters from Norman Griffiths Ellsworth to his Mother, 1916 - Part 6 of 28
Ward 'M'
County of London War Hospl
Epsom, Surrey.
England.
March. 6th.
My Dearest Mother & all at Home,
Just a line
to let you know that I am feeling grand now,
& altho' still in bed, am pleased to say that
my leg feels tip-top, & on Saturday, the Dr
took the stitches out, & there is an incision
about 9 or 10 inches long in the calf of my
leg, and it looks very healthy, & has knit
together well.
Of course it was very itchy
for the whole week, & I would have given
worlds to scratch it with my fingers, but
of course I knew better than to do this, &
simply had to "grin & bear it", but I am
glad to say that the itchiness is diminishing
rapidly, & I am able to sit up in bed
now, but the Dr won't let me get up
for another week.
Most of the lads who
came it at the same time as I did, ie
(4th Dec) have gone on furlough; 14 went
on Thursday; 3 on Friday and 3 have
gone out to-day, leaving about 10 of us
Page 2.
left here, the Dr doesn't think these are
quite strong enough to go on furlough yet, &
is keeping them in, & getting the to do a
little physical exercise of a morning for 10
minutes, or a quarter of an hour.
All of the lads
that went out have got 6 weeks furlough,
& they say that the previous Eateries are
at the Waymouth Base, & are not going back to
the front for at least 6 months: I do not
know how true it is, but the (the Authorities)
do not know what to do with Euterics, as
they are afraid of them "breaking down"
again, but I hope to be able to rejoin the
boys again soon, because if they have
to go thro' more fighting (& some of them
have gone thro' just as much as I did, &
were almost as ill as I was) then I must
go thro' more fighting & what is more, it is
my duty to be with them. I got a letter
from one of my bombadiers last week,
& he says that the boys all want me
back with them, & I simply can't
resist this. They are magnificient boys, Mum
and then only way to help bring this war
to a successful end, is for us all to "bog
in" together, & get the thing done.
Page 3.
All of the married men are beginning to be
called up here in England, now, & they are
being sent straight away to France, & being
trained there; all of the single men have
gone, except the medically unfit, & the
shirkers, & the latter went kicking hard.
The French are handling the German
swine nicely around Verdun, arn't they,
& the Russians are giving the Turks something
to rub their backsides over, & I see in this
mornings paper, that Johnnie Turk is
starting to howl for peace now, & if this is
so, & they get it, then it means the beginning
of the end; The general opinion here in
England, is that the war will be practically
over by August this year, (Let's hope so)
I got a letter from Dave Walson, I
think I told you of this in my last letter, &
I see that they are coining silver that the
Mint now, & have taken on a number of
new hands, amoung whom is Dave's boy.
I do hope that this meants more pay
for the lads, even if longer hours, and I
wonder if what they will give me to do
if I get back alright;? I hope a decent
job, seeing that I was the only one in
the whole establishment to offer himself
Page 4
Active Service, altho' I would not be sur-
prised if some of them were made come soon.
They were all in better positions to some
that I was, & in fact, all of them are opposed
to military training, which is simply showing
that they are curs, & won't defind their country
altho' eager to grab all of the benefits from it!
Their agrument is, "It is time enough to
fight when the Germans come to Australia".
Well that would not take long to come
about if we all thoguth that way, would it?
Some of them used to "sling off" at me
being in the soldiers before, but I would
like to see them under some of the shell
& machine gun fire that we had to put up
with, & then it would be time to "sling off".
I have received no other parcels than
I told you of in my last letter, & dear Aunt
Hannahs rabbit skin vest has not turned
up, I'm sorry to say, but I still have hopes.
How is George & his business getting on?
I hope alright; also Charlie & his work, &
Mab too. Singers have a lot of shops
in & around London. I do hope that you
are quite well & are not worrying over me as
Jack Tilton said that you were, & I hope
Ruperts behaviour is satisfactory & that he is well.
Page 5
It is snowing again here this morning & the trees
look lovely all clad in white. The Zeppelins
were over the east coast again yesterday, & did
a little damage. They nearly always fly over
Gravesend, o, I'm looking forward to some
excitement on my furlough. Harriet Cole,
Lucy, & Julia Roberts are all well, I'm glad to say
& the Hays at Hammersmith are always asking
after me, & want me to go & stay with them.
I cannot speak too highly of the care and
attention that I have had since my stay in
this hospital, & will always feel grateful for it.
One of the principal Nursing sisters died
suddenly yesterday from heart trouble, she was
in talking with me the previousn day, seemed quite
alright, altho' complaining of a slight headache.
I have had no leters from Home so far
this week, or from May or Jack Tilton.
I say Mum, its really very funny
how the girls are bestowing their affections on
the Anzac boys in England; truly they have
gone dotty over us, & quite a lot of marriages
have taken place lately. Even the English
Nurses here are always to be seen walking
out at night times with convalescent patients,
& smooching & kissing in the wards appears
to be a regular practise. Two of the
Page 6
boys are already engaged to a couple of the
nurses, & two are already married. I was
asking the chaps why they preferred the English
girls, & they all answered the same "Oh, they
are more domesticated than our girls" Well
I must say that what I've seen of the girls
in England, they certainly do seem more
domesticated & they all can (or nearly all)
play the piano & sing, & I must say that they
are very pretty indeed, (the average girl), & their
complexion is better than that of ours, altho'
their build is not so buxom or robust as our
girls, but the Australian girl will always
do me. The average Tommy is a miserable
looking affer on the whole, & I don't wonder
that they girls prefer our lads to them.
Well Mother dear, I think I've told
you all the news for the present, so will
bring this letter to a conclusion, hoping
it finds you all in the best of health &
with my kindest regards to all relatives
& enquirers & my fondest love to yourself,
Mab, Chas, George, Rupert, Floss,
Believe me
Your loving son
Ward 'M' County of London War Hospl
Epsom, Surrey.
England.
March. 6th.
My Dearest Mother & all at Home,
Just a line
to let you know that I am feeling grand now,
& altho' still in bed, am pleased to say that
my leg feels tip-top, & on Saturday, the Dr
took the stitches out, & there is an incision
about 9 or 10 inches long in the calf of my
leg, and it looks very healthy, & has knit
together well.
Of course it was very itchy
for the whole week, & I would have given
worlds to scratch it with my fingers, but
of course I knew better than to do this, &
simply had to "grin & bear it", but I am
glad to say that the itchiness is diminishing
rapidly, & I am able to sit up in bed
now, but the Dr won't let me get up
for another week.
Most of the lads who
came it at the same time as I did, ie
(4th Dec) have gone on furlough; 14 went
on Thursday; 3 on Friday and 3 have
gone out to-day, leaving about 10 of us
Page 2.
left here, the Dr doesn't think these are
quite strong enough to go on furlough yet, &
is keeping them in, & getting the to do a
little physical exercise of a morning for 10
minutes, or a quarter of an hour.
All of the lads
that went out have got 6 weeks furlough,
& they say that the previous Eateries are
at the Waymouth Base, & are not going back to
the front for at least 6 months: I do not
know how true it is, but the (the Authorities)
do not know what to do with Euterics, as
they are afraid of them "breaking down"
again, but I hope to be able to rejoin the
boys again soon, because if they have
to go thro' more fighting (& some of them
have gone thro' just as much as I did, &
were almost as ill as I was) then I must
go thro' more fighting & what is more, it is
my duty to be with them. I got a letter
from one of my bombadiers last week,
& he says that the boys all want me
back with them, & I simply can't
resist this. They are magnificient boys, Mum
and then only way to help bring this war
to a successful end, is for us all to "bog
in" together, & get the thing done.
Page 3.
All of the married men are beginning to be
called up here in England, now, & they are
being sent straight away to France, & being
trained there; all of the single men have
gone, except the medically unfit, & the
shirkers, & the latter went kicking hard.
The French are handling the German
swine nicely around Verdun, arn't they,
& the Russians are giving the Turks something
to rub their backsides over, & I see in this
mornings paper, that Johnnie Turk is
starting to howl for peace now, & if this is
so, & they get it, then it means the beginning
of the end; The general opinion here in
England, is that the war will be practically
over by August this year, (Let's hope so)
I got a letter from Dave Walson, I
think I told you of this in my last letter, &
I see that they are coining silver that the
Mint now, & have taken on a number of
new hands, amoung whom is Dave's boy.
I do hope that this meants more pay
for the lads, even if longer hours, and I
wonder if what they will give me to do
if I get back alright;? I hope a decent
job, seeing that I was the only one in
the whole establishment to offer himself
Page 4
Active Service, altho' I would not be sur-
prised if some of them were made come soon.
They were all in better positions to some
that I was, & in fact, all of them are opposed
to military training, which is simply showing
that they are curs, & won't defind their country
altho' eager to grab all of the benefits from it!
Their agrument is, "It is time enough to
fight when the Germans come to Australia".
Well that would not take long to come
about if we all thoguth that way, would it?
Some of them used to "sling off" at me
being in the soldiers before, but I would
like to see them under some of the shell
& machine gun fire that we had to put up
with, & then it would be time to "sling off".
I have received no other parcels than
I told you of in my last letter, & dear Aunt
Hannahs rabbit skin vest has not turned
up, I'm sorry to say, but I still have hopes.
How is George & his business getting on?
I hope alright; also Charlie & his work, &
Mab too. Singers have a lot of shops
in & around London. I do hope that you
are quite well & are not worrying over me as
Jack Tilton said that you were, & I hope
Ruperts behaviour is satisfactory & that he is well.
Page 5
It is snowing again here this morning & the trees
look lovely all clad in white. The Zeppelins
were over the east coast again yesterday, & did
a little damage. They nearly always fly over
Gravesend, o, I'm looking forward to some
excitement on my furlough. Harriet Cole,
Lucy, & Julia Roberts are all well, I'm glad to say
& the Hays at Hammersmith are always asking
after me, & want me to go & stay with them.
I cannot speak too highly of the care and
attention that I have had since my stay in
this hospital, & will always feel grateful for it.
One of the principal Nursing sisters died
suddenly yesterday from heart trouble, she was
in talking with me the previousn day, seemed quite
alright, altho' complaining of a slight headache.
I have had no leters from Home so far
this week, or from May or Jack Tilton.
I say Mum, its really very funny
how the girls are bestowing their affections on
the Anzac boys in England; truly they have
gone dotty over us, & quite a lot of marriages
have taken place lately. Even the English
Nurses here are always to be seen walking
out at night times with convalescent patients,
& smooching & kissing in the wards appears
to be a regular practise. Two of the
Page 6
boys are already engaged to a couple of the
nurses, & two are already married. I was
asking the chaps why they preferred the English
girls, & they all answered the same "Oh, they
are more domesticated than our girls" Well
I must say that what I've seen of the girls
in England, they certainly do seem more
domesticated & they all can (or nearly all)
play the piano & sing, & I must say that they
are very pretty indeed, (the average girl), & their
complexion is better than that of ours, altho'
their build is not so buxom or robust as our
girls, but the Australian girl will always
do me. The average Tommy is a miserable
looking affer on the whole, & I don't wonder
that they girls prefer our lads to them.
Well Mother dear, I think I've told
you all the news for the present, so will
bring this letter to a conclusion, hoping
it finds you all in the best of health &
with my kindest regards to all relatives
& enquirers & my fondest love to yourself,
Mab, Chas, George, Rupert, Floss,
Believe me
Your loving son
Norman
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