Letters from Norman Griffiths Ellsworth to his Family, 1917 - Part 1 of 7

116^TH HOWITZER BATTERY
12 JAN. 1917
1^ST DIVL, ARTILLERY, AUS.
No 1 Boyton Camp, Codford
Wilts; England

Dearest Mother, & all at Home,
Well!  I have
just returned from 4 days leave in London
which I spent with May Tilton.
I had some
difficulty in getting away from camp thro'
being in Isolation for being a contact of
a case of Meningitis, developed by a sergeant
in the 117^th Battery who slept in the same
hut as myself, & of course we were all put
in strict isolation.
The Dr was very considerate
for me however, & sent me in on horseback
to Sutton Veny Hospital to have a "swab"
of my throat taken by the patheologist, &
this was put in an incubator for 24 hours,
& at the end of that time it proved "negative"
& I was allowed to proceed on Leave.
I caught
a train from Codford at ten minutes past one
on Monday, & on arrival at Salisbury, there
was a fast train for Waterloo in ten minutes
& this got me into London by 3-15 p.m.
Altho' the
distance is 85 miles, the train did not stop
between Salisbury & Waterloo, & she travels
at about 65 miles per hour, so we have
something to catch up in Railway services
in Melbourne, eh?
I was to have met May at
Euston at 2.30pm, but this was out of

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reason, however I had sent her a telegram to
this effect, & she went to her hotel.
On my
arrival, I went to the Strand Palace Hotel
but May had gone to a Theatre with some
other Nurses, so I left a note, & returned in
the morning at 10-30, & met her waiting for me.
She looked fine , — Never better,
— & not a day older than when I last saw
her, & as jolly as ever, too.
We went down
to dinner, — after a long chat, & then we
went to a matinee. Home again for Tea,
& out to a Theatre afterwards.
We flew about
everywhere, & talk about taxis, — well
we were in 3 different taxis in 10 minutes.
That is the honest truth.
Next day, I went
shopping in Regent St, & Oxford St with
May & another nurse, & of course took me
into all the ladies underclothing Depts, &
I felt awfully embarrased, & imagined
that every girl in "Selfridges" in Oxford St
(one of the largest firms in London) was looking
at me, — however, I came thro' the
ordeal well, loaded up with parcels etc,
& thrust into a taxi, & back again to the
Strand.
In the evening, I met Lucy Cole,
& brought her along & introduced her to May,
& we had a mighty feed, & off to a theatre
in another Taxi.
May & Lucy took very

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well to each other, or at least I thought so,
& they each in turn told me that they
liked each other.
After the theatre, came
supper, & then I got Lucy off Home, &
when I returned to my Hotel, I counted
my money, & I found I had exactly
10½^d left, out of £4., but May came to
the rescue with £3 & off we started again.
Next morning, we both went to the
A.I.F Headquarters in Horseferry Rd, &
transacted some business, & then taxied
back to dinner, & in the afternoon we
sat & talked until it was time for us to
return to our respective stations, there
to catch the train back to our quarters.
It
was a jolly fine little holiday, & I was
very pleased to have met May, & the next
time I meet her, I hope to have more
cash, as London just eats £.
I was
sorry that Jack could not get over from
France, but Gallipoli men come first
for leave, & Jack missed that stunt.
Lucy Cole has just got a job at
the war office & was starting next
Friday.  She had to pass thro' a
test of shorthand & Typewriting, & this
she easily succeeded in doing, as she
is well up in this work, having had
previous experience.
Lucy told me that
Harriet was in bed with Influenza, but

4
was well over it now.
Lucy also told me that
there were 2 letters at Gravesend, also a paper
from Australia, but the parcel has not
turned up to date yet.
May Tilton told me
that she had nursed Geo Johnson in Hospl
in Egypt, but she could not make out what
he was in there for.
We are very busy now
as there are horses coming in each day, &
we are hard at work breaking them in.
There are some very good horses among
them, but most are out of veterinary Depots.
The riding horses are out of the Reserve
Cavalry Brigade, & there are some fine
hacks amongst them.  I picked a
fine "tat" for myself, & he will carry
my weight very well.
We are having a
good deal of trouble with men breaking
camp, & absent without leave, & the Major
has been obliged to award 28 detention
& cells to the culprits, in order to stop
it. Men get their parents to send them
money from Australia, & then they clear 
out until it is spent. — We have to
stop it some where.
Well! I hope you are
all well at Home. Give my love to all,
I am in the best of health, Thanks!
Much love from
Your loving Son
Norman.

116^TH HOWITZER BATTERY
1- FEB. 1917
1^ST DIVL, ARTILLERY, AUS.
N^o 1 Boyton Camp
Codford; Wilts
England

My Dearest Mother, & all at Home,
Just a line
to let you know that my luck has changed
again.— Yes! My battery is to be broken
up on arrival in France. All the batteries
are being converted from 4, to 6 gun batteries,
& 2 of our guns, with personnel etc, go to the
101^st How Bty; & the other 2 go to the 102^nd How Bty
so we spare parts such as Battery Commander;
Battery Sergeant Major; & Bty Q.M.S, & Farriers
& Fitters & Saddlers, will have to go back to
Details, & goodness only knows if I will
ever get to the firing line.
The other batteries
in this camp meet with a similar fate, so
they're unlucky too. — It is rotten
luck for me, just as I have a Battery of
my own, & getting them on so well, too, but
I will not relax my efforts to turn them
out a smart lot, although there certainly
is no encouragement for me to work & worry
to get them into top hole order.
To-day, I had
them all out with guns and wagons & full
detachments, & they looked fine, (altho' I
say it myself) & it made me feel miserable
to think that they were going to be broken
up, — and they don't know of this,
either, on account of it being a "secret" order

Major Harris, (who has just been invested
with the D.S.O) says that he will look
after me, but I doubt if he can do any
good, as Major Biddle tried hard enough
to get me, &  Harris has been before a
Medical Board, & is likely to be sent to
Australia as "Unfit", so if it was so
hard for me to get out of "Details" as a
Sergeant, how much more difficulty will
it be for me to get out of Details as a
B.S.M.?. — I really wonder
if ever I will have a battery of my own.
The men of the battery are now
working like "Trojans", and even at night
time, they are to be seen in the Harness
rooms working (on the own account) at
cleaning their harness & appointments, &
it really is a treat to see them on parade.
I do not know what they will say
when they find out that they are to be
divided up in France, — anyhow, my
luck is not so good as theirs, as they will
go to a fighting battery but me, —
& I would not miss the Spring "stunt" for
worlds.
I received a "Table Talk", & one or
two newspapers from you this week. —
Thanks very much, — it's great to read about
home news.
I am expecting a letter from Kent
to-morrow, containing Australian mail.
I do
hope you are all well. — Give my love to
all, & accept the same from.
Your loving Son.
Norman

Still address Mail etc
to Gravesend.
N.
116^TH HOWITZER BATTERY
5- FEB. 1917
1^ST DIVL, ARTILLERY, AUS.
No 1 Boyton Camp
Codford; Wilts
England.

My Dearest Mother, & all at Home,
Just a line again
this week, as there is not much news.
Our bad luck
is still keeping us close company, & a lot of our
horses are down with mange, & ringworm, and
other ailments, & are therefore in strict Isolation,
& we have to do our work with scratch 4 horse
teams, which doesn't give the drivers their proper
training, and then again the so-called officers
in the battery who we have to put up with are
almost unbearable at times.
I get absolutely no
assistance from Major Harris, who since he was
invested with the D.S.O, lives away in War-
Minster with his Wife, & he has taken a horse
for himself, & one for his wife, & the consequence
is, that the battery loses his services, & also that
of 2 horses —  & further, I have to send a
forage wagon into Warminster every 4 days,
with 4 days of forage for them.
With regard to our
next in Command (Lieut Dyke) well, he is just
the limit. He is only recently over from
Australia, — knows nothing of our work, —
& everything he tampers with, he makes a
mess of, as well as making me wild.
Whilst
my Q.M. Sgt was away for a few days, he
went into the store, & messed up all the clothing

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ledgers & issued clothing which he had no right
to, & the consequence is, Lockyer, (the Q.M.S.)
has done nothing but swear, & to get drunk 
since he returned. — On a mounted
parade, the gives wrong signals, & gets all
the teams in a devil of a mess, & then I have
to get things right. The other day, he thought
he would be funny, & send D.O Wickens &
myself away with the rest of the spare horses
on exercise, & he practised a few fancy
manoevers of his own during our absence, &
when we returned, the drivers told us some
lovely stories of his doings, & the way he got
messed up. — I am best part of the
day checking him in his errors, & advising
him what to do, but the bald headed old
idiot (he is only 30) thinks he knows better.
When
he has a man up for Orderly room for a minor
offence, such as late on Parade, he hits the
poor beggar very hard, — but when he has
a confirmed scoundrel who has been A.W.L
for weeks, he lets him off with a caution.
Only today, we had a chap up for a
trivial offence, & I said that "admonishment"
would meet the case, but the "fathead" must
"back" the poor chap with 7 days L.P. N^o.2, &
without pay.
As for coming in to action, — well
I won't say anything about that, except that
if I wasn't with him, the Lord only knows
which way the guns would point, and I
have to give all the orders myself, otherwise
there would be no shooting, & he is an Officer.

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We had General Brunker, the Inspector of
R. H and R. F Artillery to see us to-day, &
I had the work of the world to prevent him
doing the wrong thing everytime, it really
is very exasperating to me at times, and
the men are all talking of him, too, and
they are always cursing him for his wrong
orders, & men are peculiar creatures to
handle especially when they have no con-
fidence in their officers.
When it comes to
working out angles etc, with directors &
plotters, I can only compare his wanderings
like a drunken man trying to find his
house on a dark night when all houses
look alike, & you must try & imagine
how I stand & watch him try & work
the instrument, & when he has thoroughly
got himself & instrument tangled up, &
the most outrageous angles calculated,
then I say, "Oh — for the Lords sake
let me work the — thing". So you
can see how very little encouragement it is
for me to work my hardest. — and yet
I am not sufficiently educated for the
commissioned rank.
If he gets command of
a section (2 guns) in France, I'm sure that
he'll not only kill a lot of our Infantry,
but he'll get his own men killed before
he fires a shot that takes effect in the
enemys territory.
I really cannot
understand why such people get the
commissioned rank now-a-days.

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No doubt you will all say "Oh! Jake has
got a touch of liver this week". — Well
really, I haven't, but I'm getting "fed
up" of carrying these "passengers". I do
not mind instructing men, — its my
job, — but I do not see why I should
have to train so called Officers.  If I
was not a capable Warrant Officer, then
I would not wear the Crown on my
right arm, but these Officers(?) only
think of men saluting them in the streets,
& buying chocolates for silly girls & taking
them for taxi (joy) rides.
I can tell you
that there are some funny looking things
dressed up in Officer uniforms now-a-days.
Well, I'll change the subject.
What do you think of America now?
Very near time they did something isnt it?
Fritz is in for a very rotten time this
year, & the guns & munitions are just pouring
into France. What oh! when we start.
The snow has fallen heavily here
last Sunday, & the whole place looks
lovely, but it hampers training a little.
I do hope you are all well. I
received some papers & "Table Talks" lately
Thanks very much for them, they re good.
I haven't got the parcels yet, but
"never say die".
Again hoping you are
all well, & with fondest love to you all
I am
Your loving Son
Norman.