IN THE FIRING LINE – Wed 2 Aug 1916
Writing from France to his relatives in Harcourt, Corporal E. H. Ely says:
It’s about ten days since I last wrote I think. Our mail does not go till the 17th this month, and that’s a few days off yet. Our next will be 30th May, and the next about 6th of June, so you see my letters will not be as frequent as usual. We have not had any Australian mail for three weeks. Since last writing have moved up another four or five miles and are now only two miles from the firing line, We have been right in the trench two or three times on |e work. I was in charge of a work party the other day we left our billets at 6.3O a.m and went to build up the parapet in the trenches; we were there till 2.30 p.m, then came home for tea. I had another party out at 7 o’clock, did not get back till 12.30. Nearly all this work is done under Fire. A shell may lob on us at any time. I was just missed by a sniper twice that time. In the night fatigue we were taking material up for the engineers, and the German star shells would go, we had to drop flat on the ground. The sniper evidently had the range to the place we had to pass, for when lights went up, the bullets came.
We thought Gallipoli bad for the work, but this is worse, if anything. I think we go to relieve the i- in a couple of days. We will be 12 or 14 days in the firing line, a night back in the supports, then a h about 5 miles away in a reserve. We have had two or three casualties since we came here. We had a fairly heavy bombardment the other night, not much damage was done, the shells were whistling for a while, I was talking to an engineer the other day and inquired for Nod Dilworth. He appeared to be in the same sec- and they are only about a mile from here. But I have no chance to see him. I have not-met Jim Gartside. The other Harcourt boys are far from here, but I have not seen any of them since we arrived in France. They are allowing the men back to go to England. Those who were on the Peninsula have their turn as is only right. My turn may come for a month or two, seeing it not long since I left there.
Firing line:—Since commencing this have moved, and are now doing our time in the firing line. It was rain most of the time yesterday, and everything was greasy coming up. We had very little sleep through the night, and very little through the day. The is give us about 20 shells just as we were having breakfast this morning it was pretty dangerous for a while but I think there was only one 1 man wounded. I got your parcel. The food had started to go mouldy, and smelled of camphor, but we ate it all the same; the eucalyptus is just the thing, as I still have a cold. You should have seen the pipes come to attention, when they found I had received some plugs of Haveloek tobacco. I have a good stock in now, as we get an E about every ten days. Zam-Buk lanoline came in the nick of time, as about five of us in my section have a rash coming out on us like prickly heat, and was very irritable by night; but the ointment seems to be getting it under. I should not be surprised if I was on leave in England for a fortnight. The Sergeant was round and took our names, and dates for enlistment this morning. I think the first to enlist are the first to have leave. Several of our company have all ready had their eight days. It only takes about 6 or 7 hours to get to London from here; that is if there is no waiting for train or boat. I met Harry Thompson (from Camberwell) the other day he had just come out of the trenches after ten days in. I did not see him for a while