CHAPTER I. CHAPTER II. CHAPTER III. CHAPTER IV. CHAPTER V. CHAPTER VI. CHAPTER VII. CHAPTER VIII. CHAPTER IX. CHAPTER X. CHAPTER XI. CHAPTER XII. CHAPTER I. CHAPTER II. CHAPTER III. CHAPTER IV. CHAPTER V. CHAPTER VI. CHAPTER VII. CHAPTER VIII. CHAPTER IX. CHAPTER X. CHAPTER XI. CHAPTER XII. The 28th: A Record of War Service in the by Herbert Brayley Collett The 28th: A Record of War Service in the by Herbert Brayley Collett 1 The Project Gutenberg eBook, The 28th: A Record of War Service in the Australian Imperial Force, 1915-19, Vol. I, by Herbert Brayley Collett This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: The 28th: A Record of War Service in the Australian Imperial Force, 1915-19, Vol. I Egypt, Gallipoli, Lemnos Island, Sinai Peninsula Author: Herbert Brayley Collett Release Date: May 5, 2008 [eBook #25341] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE 28TH: A RECORD OF WAR SERVICE IN THE AUSTRALIAN IMPERIAL FORCE, 1915-19, VOL. I*** E-text prepared by Elaine Walker, Barbara Kosker, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 25341-h.htm or 25341-h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/2/5/3/4/25341/25341-h/25341-h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/2/5/3/4/25341/25341-h.zip) + + | Transcriber's Note: | | | | Inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has | | been preserved. | | | | Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. For | | a complete list, please see the end of this document. | | | | Text enclosed by equal signs was in bold face in the | | original (=bold=). | + + THE 28TH A RECORD OF WAR SERVICE WITH THE AUSTRALIAN IMPERIAL FORCE, 1915-1919 VOLUME I. EGYPT, GALLIPOLI, LEMNOS ISLAND, SINAI PENINSULA by COLONEL H. B. COLLETT, C.M.G., D.S.O., V.D. First C.O. of the Battalion With Foreword by the Archbishop of Perth, Chaplain-General to the Forces [Illustration: ON THE SQUARE WITHIN THE WALLS OF SALADIN'S CITADEL. 30th August, 1915. The Moqattam Hills and Napoleon's Fort in the distant background.] The 28th: A Record of War Service in the by Herbert Brayley Collett 2 Published by the Trustees of the Public Library, Museum, and Art Gallery of Western Australia Perth 1922 [Copyright] by Authority: Fred. Wm. Simpson, Government Printer, Perth. Blocks Supplied by Read & Mckinley, Art Engravers, Perth. CONTENTS. FOREWORD: By The Most Rev. C. O. L. Riley, O.B.E., D.D., LL.D., V.D., Archbishop of Perth, Chaplain-General to the Forces. IX. PREFACE XI. CHRONOLOGY XIII. The 28th: A Record of War Service in the by Herbert Brayley Collett 3 CHAPTER I. THE GENESIS. W.A. in the South African War The outbreak in 1914 Karrakatta and Blackboy Hill The first units to embark Scheme for raising new brigades The 28th Battalion authorised Enrolment of personnel Selection and appointment of Officers and N.C.Os Specialists wanted Equipping Hard training An accident Hours off duty Visit from H.E. the Governor Medical precautions The March through Perth Final preparations for departure for the Front. =Page 1.= CHAPTER I. 4 CHAPTER II. EN ROUTE. Embarkation 9th June, 1915 The crowds along the route and at Fremantle Farewell to Australia The "Ascanius" Quarters and messing Other troops on board Statistics Training at Sea Lectures Stowaways Competitions in tidiness Entering the Tropics Amusements The Canteen The Master The East African Coast The Red Sea Strange rumours Arrival at Suez First contact with the Egyptians. =Page 15.= CHAPTER II. 5 CHAPTER III. FIRST STAY IN EGYPT. Disembarkation and train journey to Abbasia The Land of Goshen Description of the Camp Early difficulties Institutes The newsvendors Tidings from Gallipoli Unrest in Egypt The local command and garrison Inspection by Sir John Maxwell Mobilisation of the 7th Brigade Training in the Desert Night marches The Zeitun School Formation of the 2nd Australian Division Difficulties in feeding the troops Clothing for the Tropics In quarantine Sickness Pay and currency Mails and the Censor Amusements Riots The military Police Chaplains. =Page 28.= CHAPTER III. 6 CHAPTER IV. FIRST STAY IN EGYPT (continued). Distractions A march through Cairo Leave In the bazaars Gharri and donkey rides Esbekieh Gardens The Kursaal and the Casino Shepheard's Hotel Guides Sightseeing The Pyramids and Sphinx Memphis Sakkara The Tombs of the Sacred Bulls The Cairo Museum The Citadel and other Saracenic remains Some beautiful mosques Old Cairo The Nile The Egyptian aristocracy Garrisoning Saladin's Citadel A nephew of the Senussi The trials of a soldier Souvenir hunting Visitors from Home News of the August advance Warned to proceed overseas Entraining. =Page 45.= CHAPTER IV. 7 CHAPTER V. GALLIPOLI. Some account of the Gallipoli Peninsula The naval and military operations Anzac Day Arrival at Alexandria Embarking on the "Ivernia" Prejudices Through the Grecian Archipelago The "Southland" In Mudros Bay Closing the mail In touch with the "Aragon" Transhipping to the "Sarnia" The last stage The first glimpse of battle Impressions Landing in the "beetles" Waterfall Gully The first casualty Contact with the 4th Brigade Move to the Apex Description of the position Holding the salient Condition of the trenches Artillery support Telephones Dugouts The New Zealanders Attitude of the enemy Sniping with field guns Bombs, mortars, and catapults Broomstick bombs. =Page 58.= CHAPTER V. 8 CHAPTER VI. GALLIPOLI (continued). First night in the trenches Cleaning up Shell fire Generals Birdwood and Godley No Man's Land View from the Apex Casualties Pick and shovel Sleep Turkish demonstration Divine service Visit of Sir Ian Hamilton Private Owen's escape Company reliefs Mining and tunnelling Salvage Patrols Our guns Propaganda Espionage. =Page 77.= CHAPTER VI. 9 CHAPTER VII. GALLIPOLI (continued). Poison gas Targets for the guns A general A false alarm "The one shall be taken " Relieved by the 25th Battalion The fly pest Sickness Bully beef and biscuits Rum Scarcity of water Cooking Gathering fuel Supply and transport "Dunks." =Page 90.= CHAPTER VII. 10 [...]... up at the ship and calling loudly for "bakshish." "Bakshish" was forthcoming first of all in the shape of copper coins, later on in scraps of food, and again in raw potatoes All these were wildly scrambled for, and even the party operating the gangway forsook duty in the pursuit of gain The aim with the potatoes became rather accurate, and after the head serang had been temporarily incapacitated by a. .. Murray Leave to Cairo The postal service Training for savage warfare Reinforcements General Paton Transfers to the Camel Corps Rumours of a Turkish advance Move to the Sinai Peninsula The desert Road and pipe line Camels Ferry Post The defences of the Suez Canal Passing shipping Lumping and navvying Secret service agents Dangers to shipping in the Canal Ismailia Gambling Cerebro-spinal meningitis A. .. was, now and then, a cause for complaint In the first place the scale laid down by the Imperial authorities was inadequate to satisfy the appetites of a meat-eating race like the Australians Secondly, the method of cooking showed lack of knowledge on the part of the ship's staff and was not economical Add to these two factors the want of experience on the part of the mess orderlies in equally dividing... Discipline was very weak and actual training not, apparently, a primary consideration These defects continued for many months They were not due to the men themselves, but to the absence of a policy in regard to the command and administration of training battalions generally In later years the Australians managed these things for themselves, and with such good results that the British Service found it profitable... needed at that time, but for the reason that statesmen recognised the existence of an era in the development of the dominions overseas that demanded the admission of their inhabitants to a share in the responsibilities attached to the maintenance and promotion of the welfare of the Empire The reverses to the British arms which occurred during the opening months of the campaign roused in Australia a spirit... tiers of tunnels Death of the three majors News of the evacuation The main body leaves the Peninsula The Die-hards Work of the Machine Gun Section The last man =Page 120.= CHAPTER X CHAPTER X LEMNOS ISLAND Landing in the Bay A sick battalion Sarpi camp The arrival of the beer Resting, recuperating, and refitting Z Valley camp Members selected for distinction Touring Lemnos General description of the. .. to a spirit of emulation, resulting in keenness and genuine progress The training was continued on from the stage reached at Blackboy Camp and practical application was given to the principles inculcated in some of the lectures of the voyage over Bayonet fighting was assiduously practised and knowledge obtained of recent changes born of the experience of the war Early in August a musketry course was... 1,750 of all ranks were now leaving Australia Here it may not be out of place to mention that certain statistics concerning the 28th Battalion, collected during the voyage, showed that approximately 50 per cent of the officers and other ranks were Australian born The other moiety was composed almost wholly of natives of the British Isles A Russian, a Maltese, a Scandinavian or two, and a few others,... Moascar Camp 13. Transport details and horses entrained for Alexandria Embarked on H.M.T "Minneapolis" next day 15. Battalion entrained for Alexandria 16. Arrived at Alexandria at 6.30 a. m Embarked on H.M.T "Themistocles." Left harbour same evening 19. Arrived off Valetta, Malta Received orders as to route 21. Arrived in Marseilles Harbour The 28th: A Record of War Service, 1915-191 9 CHAPTER I 22 CHAPTER... the training area, and were a menace to those taking a short cut from the railway station at night time All ranks submitted to vaccination and inoculation This was unpleasant, but the medical history of the war has since demonstrated the value of the measures Discipline was fairly satisfactory from the outset and rapidly improved At the commencement every member was given to understand that a high . know what the men did and what the Battalion did. What was the daily life of the man in the training camp; on the transports; in the war areas, and in the. the plans and diagrams referring to Cairo, Tel-el-Kebir, and the Pyramid, I have especially to thank Captain E. A. E. Andrewartha of the Australian Staff