THE DIARIES

1 Feb – 15 Feb  LV Brigade  Remained at Victoria completing and refitting.  Equipped S.A.A. section on Salonika in addition to Brigade Ammunition Column.

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Feb 1-5  C Battery  Nothing to record.

Feb 6  C Battery  Reinforcements 3 gunners 4 drivers joined Battery

Feb 7  C Battery  Nothing to record.

Feb 8  C Battery  7 horses joined Battery

Feb 9  C Battery  Nothing to record.

 

FEB 10TH  Spent day much as usual, sun very hot, gave 10 P.T. for a new pair of riding pants, look quite a knut.

C Battery Received 31 horses.

 

FEB 11TH  This is the day of all days, this morning we were given drill khaki, so we may expect to move to a warm climate at any time, this afternoon I got a big parcel from home, dated Dec. 31st the first I have received since I came out here.  Rumours of going either to India or Persian Gulf next week.  Got Express with news of Billy Wolfenden's wedding.

C Battery  Nothing to record.

 

FEB 12TH  Today even better than yesterday, for I got 17 letters & a parcel from the village, don't know where to write to first.

C Battery  Received 15 horses.  Reinforcements 5 drivers joined Battery.

 

FEB 13TH  Did some washing, spent rest of day writing letters.

C Battery  Reinforcements 2 drivers joined Battery.

 

FEB 14TH  Did some washing, spent afternoon in writing letters, expect to leave for the Suez in the morning.

C Battery  Reinforcements 4 gunners 4 joined Battery.

 

FEB 15TH  Left Victoria Camp this afternoon, arrived at Gabbany Camp to wait for boat, destination unknown, worked very hard this morning in clearing up camp.

LV Brigade  Marched out for embarkation.    Head Quarters    4 Officers    44 O.R.        41 animals
                        A Battery    4 Officers    135 O.R.    125 animals
                        B Battery    4 Officers    135 O.R.    125 animals
                        C Battery    4 Officers    136 O.R.    125 animals
                        D Battery    4 Officers    134 O.R.    125 animals
                        Bde Amm Col    3 Officers    109 O.R.    138 animals
                        S.A.A.  Sec    2 Officers    161 O.R.    221 animals
                                25        854        900

C Battery  Struck camp at 9am.  Marched out of camp ay 12 noon.  Captain Herold and 3 Subalterns and 133 other ranks with guns, horses. 2 officers Captain Herold 2Lt Watlins and 68 other ranks to Rest Camp Gabarri (2 officers 2Lt Horning and 2Lt Leeson) 65 other ranks guns horses boarded HMT Laomedon.

 

FEB 16TH  Went without breakfast, iron rations, may not go until Friday, Church Service at night, got letters and papers from L.

C Battery  HMT Laomedon put out to sea about 5pm.

 

FEB 17TH  Sent letter to L. & P.C. to Pauline & J. Taylor. Expect to leave to-morrow.

C Battery  Nothing to record.

 

FEB 18TH  On board troopship, sent letter home, name of boat Ausonia, set sail about 8 o'clock, lovely night, full moon.

 

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HMT Ausonia

C Battery  2 officers Captain Herold & 2Lt Watkins and 68 other ranks left Rest Camp and boarded HMT Ausonia put out to sea 7.30pm.

 

FEB 19TH  Got into Port Said about dinner time, does not look such a nice place from the boat, 5 or 6 French warships in port.

LV Brigade  Sailed on Ausonia  Lt Col Peck C.M.G.  Lieut Adjt W. Fletcher  Lieut A.W. Harvey & RAMC  18 O.R.  HQ/55
                Lieut G.B. Manders  Lieut W.J. Long  47 O.R.  A/55
                Lieut A.H. Pettitt  Lieut A.I. MacLaren  69 O.R.  B/55
                Capt O.F. Herold  Lieut E.W. Watkins  68 O.R.  C/55
                Lieut Beith  Lieut C.G. Day and Lieut W.D. Hill    70 O.R.  D/55
                                        54 O.R.  BAC/55
                                        66 O.R.  SAA/55

C Battery  Nothing to record.

 

Feb 19 to Mar 9  LV Brigade  On board HMT Ausonia

FEB 20TH  Had service on board just before sailing at 11-30, past a transport full of troops, a lot of cheering, troops all the way up the Canal, they all shouted "Who are you?  Where are you going?", answer from boat "Munition workers on a holiday".

C Battery  Nothing to record.

 

FEB 21ST  Set sail about 9 in the morning after being anchored all night in the Bitter Lake in the Canal, got to end of Canal about 3-30. passed warships "Glory" "Jupiter" & another without name, a good deal of chaff between us & the sailors on board, two destroyers a good distance off.  We take a lot of Gurkhas on board, anchored outside the Canal, set sail again at 8 o'clock in the morning.

C Battery Nothing to record.

 

FEB 22ND  Very hot, canvas awning's put over the decks, sea like a pond.

C Battery  Nothing to record.

 

FEB 23RD  Still calm & hot, had to parade in bare feet.

C Battery  Nothing to record.

 

FEB 24TH  From what are in orders to-day, I believe we are going to Persian Gulf, am getting a bit tired of seeing nothing but water.

C Battery  Nothing to record.

 

FEB 25TH  In sight of land, passing islands, expect to reach Aden to-morrow, sent Field Cards to L. & home.

C Battery  Nothing to record.

 

FEB 26TH  Strong wind blowing, sea a bit rough, gets very rough, coming over decks.  I am sea-sick, we pass Aden.

C Battery Nothing to record.

 

FEB 27TH  Sea still rough, still sick, Church service this morning.

C Battery  Nothing to record.

 

FEB 28TH  Calm Sea, feel alright, a lovely sunset.
C Battery  Nothing to record.

 

FEB 29TH  Saw a lot of flying fish, very warm.

C Battery  Nothing to record.

MAR 1ST  To-day begins a fresh month, what it holds in store I can't say, we see an island a good distance away & pass a lot of porpoises, we have not seen land nor a boat for three days.

C Battery  HMT Ausonia  at sea.

HMT Leomedon anchored outside Koweit

MAR 2ND  Strong wind blowing, am absolutely "fed up" with sailing, don't expect to reach port until about Saturday, we are getting badly fed, towards sunset we pass a boat & we run between a lot of islands, very fine scenery.

C Battery  HMT Leomedon at anchor
        HMT Ausonia at sea

MAR 3RD  Sea again rough, this morning we are nearly at a standstill, I was sea-sick, but managed to do some washing in the afternoon, we only travelled 6 miles from 1 o'clock until tea time.

C Battery  HMT Ausonia at sea
        HMT Leomedon anchored 

MAR 4TH  Very hot, & sea calm, we may not land to-day after all, just before sunset we anchored at the mouth of a river by the side of 6 other transports, but we do not leave the boat untill to-morrow, when I think we shall go on lighters to Bazrah, Mesopotamia, does not look so very inviting from what I can see from here, so after 15 days sea trip, which I shall remember by the bad food we got, we have got here, how we shall get on remains in the hands of God.

C Battery  HMT Ausonia HMT Leomedon anchored. 

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MAR 5TH  What a surprise, we are still on board, this morning after a lot of signalling between us & the other transports I heard that we shall be here for 2 or 3 days, in fact, they don't seem to know what to do with us.  Heard of the German losses at Verdun (135,000) by wireless (married men called up) Church this morning.

C Battery  HMT Ausonia HMT Leomedon anchored. 

 

MAR 6TH  Another day gone & we are still here, looking back over the voyage, I must say I never did less work, all we have to do is eat & sleep, but we get very bad meals & everyone seems short of cigs, you can get nearly any price from those who have got the money, but I have got all I want, thanks to the parcels I got before we set sail.

C Battery  HMT Ausonia HMT Leomedon anchored. 

 

MAR 7TH  Sent letters to L. & home & P.C. to Grandmother, Aunt Sis, &Bmdr Royal.  Shrove Tuesday.

C Battery  HMT Ausonia HMT Leomedon anchored. 

 

MAR 8TH  Spent day much as usual if we do not go off before long we shall find ourselves walking away, for the beds, like all troopships, are absolutely alive.  Ash Wednesday.

C Battery  HMT Ausonia HMT Leomedon anchored. 

 

MAR 9TH  Still on board & likely to remain for 3 or 4 days yet, but we are getting a bit short of food & water.  News by wireless of heavy fighting around Verdun & Turkey want peace, let's hope so.

C Battery  HMT Ausonia HMT Leomedon anchored. 

 

MAR 10TH  Some of our chaps go on a smaller boat to go to Bazrah, we get very hungry for we don't get a good meal.

C Battery  Captain OF Herold and 15 other ranks with 14 days rations and 5 tents left HMT Ausonia and boarded HMT Leomedon.

 

MAR 11TH  Feel unwell, got bad headache.

C Battery  HMT Ausonia  At anchor.
        HMT Leomedon  Party transferred to HMT Umballa.

 

MAR 12TH  Feel alright to-day, working all day down in the hold getting up rations, hands very sore.  About dinner time we had a sandstorm, ship covered with sand.

C Battery  HMT Umballa put to sea.
        HMT Ausonia at anchor.

 

MAR 13TH  The "Coconada" came along-side about 11 this morning to take us up the river.  We have orders to work day & night to transfer our stores aboard her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HMT Cocanada

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Mar 13 to Mar 15  LV Brigade  Transhipped remainder of troops on HMT Ausonia to HMT Coconada at Kowiet

C Battery  HMT Ausonia at anchor.
        HMT Umballa at sea.

 

MAR 14TH  Worked very hard to-day getting ammunition & gun limbers out of the hold.  Expect to go on board to-morrow, we have moved 120 tons of shells to-day so "Johnny Turk" looks like having a warm time.

C Battery  HMT Umballa at sea.
        HMT Ausonia at anchor.

 

MAR 15TH  We came on board the "Coconada" at 6 this morning, last night the crew of the "Ausonia" all got drunk & in the free fight amongst themselves a few got badly hurt with knives & five or six of our men had to be carried on board too drunken to walk.  We set sail at 12 o'clock, noon.

C Battery  HMT Ausonia  Party transferred to HMT Coconada and put to sea
        HMT Ausonia  Arrived at Makins Masus and proceeded to Camp.

 

MAR 16TH  Anchored last night on account of shallow water, set sail at 8 this morning, passed hospital ship stuck on a sandbank, banks of river covered with date palms, sent Cards to Pauline & L.  Got to Bazrah about 3 o'clock, put our kit on to lighters and expect to go off in the morning.

C Battery  HMT Coconada at sea.

 

MAR 17TH  At last we are at Bazrah we had to march about 4 miles in the boiling hot sun before we got to camp, we came through part of the town which was simply one mass of mud huts, and the natives only need the chance "to do you in".  We put up two or three tents this afternoon, but we have not got much water and what we have got is horrid, goodness knows what it will be like further up country.

LV Brigade  Brigade reassembled at Makina Masus – Basra

C Battery  HMT Coconada party transhipped to Barqui and landed there.  Proceeded to Makina Masus camp.

 

MAR 18TH  We got paid to-day, I got 15 Rupees = 1£ but we have no-where to spend it.

C Battery  In camp.

 

MAR 19TH  Spent day in burning rubbish, we are only allowed 20lbs kits so I have to burn some of mine, expect to leave to-morrow to track up country a few hundred miles.  Well this is fine, here I am sat on my kit and blankets, in my pants and overcoat, with the water rushing through the tent like a stream, I am covered with thick white mud and outside the thunder roars and the lightning flashes unlike any-thing I have seen before, about midnight I got down all in the mud and slept until dawn.

C Battery  In camp.

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MAR 20TH  The ground is covered with mud and we strike camp, I suppose we shall have to walk all the way up country.  Well, we are off, nearly all the rest are riding but we are tramping, the mud is knee deep the sun is scorching and once or twice we have to jump on the back of an Indian cart to cross the streams, we sleep on the ground to-night, I have just been talking to our interpreter and he says we shall be about 12 days on the march, I am afraid if we go on like this I shall be bad to find.

LV Brigade  Brigade marched to rendezvous of 16th Echelon at Gurmat Ali  26 officers 832 O.R.  894 animals  Lieut Col HR Peck assumed command of Echelon.

C Battery  Captain OJ Harold, Lt G Horning and 2Lts Watkins and Leeson and 134 other ranks with guns horses etc left Makina Masus Camp at 1.15pm.  Arrived at Gumat Ali 5.30pm.

 

MAR 21ST  Marched about 16 miles, very hard week keeping up with horses, feet very sore, had bath in the Tigris at night, am not looking forward to to-morrow with much pleasure for it is a very thirsty job, nobody knows how much.

LV Brigade  Left Gurmat Ali at 8.30am and marched to Nahr Umr about 12½ miles – Going heavy after rain and bad piece of bog ¾ mile south of bridge over Miyadiyah Canal.  Head of column arrived at camp 1.05 pm rear at 5.15pm.

C Battery  Left Gumat Ali 8.43pm and arrived Nahr Umr 1.45pm.

MAR 22ND  To-day it was perfect agony, I could not describe my feelings, when we were trudging along about noon an officer rode back from the front and told us we were to push and keep at the front, if I live to be 100 I shall never forget this march.

LV Brigade  Left Nahr Umr at 8.30am and marched to Shafi about 14 miles.  Going very heavy on leaving camp then good except 2 small muddy ditches N of Yasoak.  Broke rails of bridge over Shafi Canal.

C Battery  Left Nahr Umr 8.38 arrived Shafi 2.45pm.

MAR 23RD  Very much like yesterday, either walking dusty tracks or wading knee deep in water, we camp just outside Korna where we see plenty of evidence of the battle fought here, expect a days rest to-morrow, I and my pals make tea and Oxo in our billy cans on a little fire just outside our tent.

LV Brigade  Left Shafi at 8.10am and marched to Kurna about 12 miles.  Going excellent all the way.  Head arrived in camp 12.30 pm rear 4.30pm.

C Battery  Left Shafi 8.34 arrived Kurna 1.45.

 

MAR 24TH  Stopped for a days rest, we were working all morning but what little rest we do get may do my feet good, for they are in a sorry condition.  The place is swarmed with flies, they cover every bit of food you put to your mouth.

LV Brigade Halted at Kurna.

C  Battery  In camp.

MAR 25TH  On the tramp again, we walk as in a dream, we pass soldiers graves on the way, bathing is stopped on account of one chap being drowned yesterday, in the river & another to-day.

LV Brigade  Left Kurna at 8am.  Arrived Sacricna River 1pm.

C Battery  Left Kurna 8.30 arrived at Sacricha 12.30pm.

MAR 26TH  To-day when marching we were nearly choked with dust, we are the only men in the Brigade to walk, to-day we all had to drop down by the road side exhausted and we did not get into camp until the others had been there about an hour.

LV Brigade  Left Sacricna River 6.30am.  Arrived Ezra’s Tomb.  Transport 11am rear 2pm.  New 2 days supplies.

C Battery  Left Sacricha 9.28 arrived at Ezras tomb 2.30pm.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MAR 27TH  We have got a 22 mile march in front of us to-day and at last we are getting to ride in the Ambulance waggons, our doctor is not much of a gentleman or he would have let us ride before, for the waggons have been with us all the time.  We stop on the road and an aeroplane passed just over our heads.

LV Brigade  Left Ezra’s Tomb 6.30am and arrived Qualet Salah.  Transport 1.30pm rear 4pm. (22 miles).  Going bad for 2 miles nearAbu Rubah.  Drew 1 day’s supplies.

C Battery  Left Ezras Tomb 8,23 arrived at Qualet Salah 4pm.

MAR 28TH  We are still riding, it beats walking anyway, if we have to hold on for our lives with both hands on account of the bad roads, we pass one or two waggons turned over on the road-side.

LV Brigade  Left Qualet Saleh at 6.30am rear arrived Abru Sidrah 4pm.  18 miles.  Going good.  Camp found dirty.

C Battery  Left Qualet Salah 8.30 arrived Abru Sidrah 3.30pm.

MAR 29TH  We reach a  decent sized town and may stay here for a day or two, just as we reach the camp, which is about 20 yds from the river, a French waterplane is just rising, name of place El-Amara, we 

we are getting very badly fed, to-day we have had two biscuits and two pints of tea (or dish water).

LV Brigade  Left Abru Sidrah 7.30am.  Transport arrived Amara after hours halt at 1.30pm.  Column held up by portion of Canal which gave way arrived 5pm.

C Battery  Left Abru Sidrah 9.40 arrived Amara 5pm.

MAR 30TH  I am fairly doing it, for to-day I have again drawn 15 Rupees (1£) but most of it goes in tins of salmon, pineapple, & dates from the town, for we must get something to eat if we have to buy it ourselves.  i have just been thinking it is about time we got some letters.

LV Brigade  Camped at Amara.

C Battery  In camp. Nothing to record.

MAR 31ST  Sent letters to L & home, went across to the town and bought tins of salmon, cheese, sausages, pickles and sauce.

LV Brigade  Camped at Amara.

C Battery  In camp. Nothing to record.
 

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