Harold Edward ‘Pompey’ Elliott

One of the most celebrated military minds of his generation, Harold Elliott quickly established himself as a skilled soldier while fighting with the 4th Victorian (Imperial) Contingent during the Boer War. A talented athlete – his nickname is believed to have come from an Australian Rules player – he returned to university life and later worked as a solicitor before re-enlisting when World War I broke out. He landed at Gallipoli on April 25 and led battles at Lone Pine. Later in the war, he led another battle at the Western Front at Fromelles. Following the war, he won a spot in the Senate as a Nationalist. His death in March 1931 was ruled a suicide.

HIS LETTERS

The Australian War Memorial has 25 letters Harold “Pompey” Elliot wrote to his wife Catherine, sometimes every few days. His letters later helped inspire a World War I play, Mud and Blood. The playwright Meg McNena said the letters “reveal the big, dutiful and compassionate heart of the man, who led his men formidably and stuck his neck out with superiors for them”.

Pompey’s letters were full of “unstinting veracity about the war, loving words to his wife … grief at losing his men, bitterness about being overlooked for honours, and despondency,” she said. “He trusted his wife to know how he really was.”

3rd May, 1st General Hospice, Heliopolis, Egypt

My dearest wife,

You see I am back in Egypt again. I have received no letters from home since I left here a month ago except one from Belle in which she stated you had been under an operation.

Naturally I am critically anxious to know how you are getting on and hope a letter will come along soon.

Well now last Sunday morning before daylight we Australians started to land about halfway along the Gallipoli peninsula.

The landing was led by the 3rd brigade but they were late owing to the difficulty the navy found in the pitch dark locating the landing place. Anyhow when day broke they had only just landed and were clearing the Turks back off the cliffs on the beach.

The formation was like sand dunes back at home at (location indistinct) with high cliffs above rising in successive ridges to 400 feet or more.

Such a scramble it was to get to the top and we were weighed down with three days’ rations and packs. We threw the packs off on the beach and left them. The enemy guns a couple of miles south shelled our boats as they approached the beach, and to the left their machines kept up a regular roar. Five or six machines were captured by the Turk men ashore, also a couple of field guns. Of course we suffered heavily. Major Jackson, Lieut Chapman (since dead) + Lieut Heron + Lieut Heighway with thirty or forty men were struck down as they left the boats.

Major Blizzard received a severe wound in the shoulder as he went up the hill and shortly after I got a bullet through the right foot below the ankle. Fortunately it broke no bones but laid me out for the (indistinct).

‘A fearful sight’

Afterwards as I heard Allan Henderson was killed, Capt McKenna was also killed, Lieut. Connelly, Capt Maron, Lieut. Conder, Lieut. Davey and dozens of the men about 200 or 300 of them were wounded. Afterwards it was reported that some of the men reported dead were not killed outright but only wounded but you well know more about this I suppose than I do by now as they would (indistinct) out the names to you.

I heard that Col McNichol did great work before he too was very wounded and recommended for the K.I.O.

Major Bennett was also hit. Ken Walker was hit in the head by a shrapnel bullet and looked a fearful sight. He was literally bathed in his own blood but the wound after it was dressed and the bleeding stopped was even less serious than my own. We are practically all healed up again and going back to the front in a few days. The nurses back in the hospital there and here are splendid. They cannot do enough for you. We are very fortunate in as much as we were hit closest the beach.

Afterwards men lay for a couple of days and in some cases when they got here the stench from their wounds was awful and they did not seem to have sufficient doctors aboard the ships. There were nearly 200 men in some cases on a ship and only three doctors and no nurses and the men suffered dreadfully. As you see Providence was looking after me right through the

whole show. The boys behaved wonderfully. They made no more of the fuss than they would of the blank cartridges at a show fight.

Among the (indistinct) which covered everything the Turks were able to return all the (indistinct) and we never saw any except a few who got knocked up climbing the hills and surrendered or were bayoneted by the boys. As a rule the Turks were dead scared of the bayonet and abandoned everything, machine guns etc, to get away. This was mighty problematic for us as if they had held in firmly I don’t think a man would have got away alive.

The engineers did some great work building a pier so that the artillery etc could land. Numbers of them were knocked out but they still kept on, and on Sunday night some of the gunners got ashore and did good work.

The Turks made a number of very strong counter attacks and but for their fear of the bayonet they might have driven our boys out. As it was, the left was pushed back almost to the beach.

‘Dreadfully distressed’

I am going to try and get my boots and go down to the head office here to try to find out the men who are killed and those still living.

Some I hear have been sent to Malta and most of the very severe cases were left at Alexandria.

Major Blizzard and Lieut. Heighway were left there and also I hear Lieut. Davey who was badly hurt.

There are hardly any officers left in the regiment and I am anxious to get back for that reason. I am sorry for poor Mr and Mrs Henderson, they will be dreadfully distressed over poor Allan. He died on the ship on its way to Alexandria and was buried at sea.

Well dearest wife I will close this letter. I hope you are not worrying too much you poor old lady. Love and kisses to the wee ones.

From your own husband H E Elliott