Diary No.6 of Rupert Major Downes, 13 June - 24 August 1917 - Part 5

evening at the R.T.O.s mess.
4.8.17 Anniversary of the war
for us. Breakfast at El Arish &
a rotten one; arrived Weli Sheikh  
Nuran at 1220 & rode home for
lunch (now in N^o 1 - the G.O.Cs mess)
Worked in aft. & evening.
5.8.17 Sunday Worked in am. in office.
Wrote to N.K Robertson from whom
I got a letter - yesterday. Reuters news
rotten of war - went for a walk
over to see Sutton & worked in pm.
6.8.17. Worked in a.m.  Richardson
(A.D.M.S. Yeodivn) in & yarned a bit.
Read a little in aft. & then rode over
to N.Z. Receiving Station at Shellal
Junction to see about operating
unit affair & then on beyond &
to see disinfecting train. Found
2 letters from D. from Singapore

when I got home; was glad to see she
was picking up & happier & had saved
some of her jewellery. Read them & very
little work after dinner.
7.8.17. Went out for ride in morn. &
was v. hot & muggy; out across
wadi at Shellal & had a look at
new bridge, pulled up railway line
& dam; down wadi a bit then
home where Cave who had come
over to take 1^st L.H.F.A. was waiting
for me. Yarned c̅ him most
of afternoon &then walked worked
as in p.m.
8.8.17. Wednesday. Stayed in working
all am. Rode over to see Chauvel
in aft. & got him to agree to
Dawson's & Cave's promotion &
mine to date back to March - good.
Down to Khan Yunus to see his

new  NAG (Newton) & had tea there 
& then long talk c̅ McDonald 
from whom I am to takeover. 
Left at 2 1915 just as dark & 
got home about 2130 & had  
dinner. 
9.8.17. Stayed in all day working 
as expected to go over to Desert 
Mounted Corps but D.D.M.S. did 
not get back for lunch as 
said. Letter from Dawson that 
Howse had cabled my substantive 
promotion - expect that will 
cut out my dating back Chauvel 
agreed to yesterday, don't care 
as am pleased to have the rank 
well. Worked in evening & 
collected books. 
10.8.17 Drove over in am. c̅  
Riley (ADC) to Desert Mtd. Corps 

to take over new job, after 17 mths
c̅ Anzac division. Listened to 
much talk from old McDonald 
c̅ not much meat in it for 
rest of day. Started D's 8 
11.8.17.  Talked c̅  MacDonald 
most of a.m. Went up to see 
Chauvel in aft. & then rode 
through Khan Yunus; he left 
in aft. & I took over & went into 
a nice comfortable SS. tent c̅  
electric light & telephone. Worked 
hard in evening  - a pile of  
correspondence 
12.8.17 Worked hard in office 
all day & went for ride to 
see Stuart & for swim at Rest  
Camp. Argles my new 
D.A.D.M.S. turned up & looked likely. 
Got letters from F. & Mr & Mrs Robb 

to June 28^th & it'll be a long 
time before any more. Finished  
my N^o 8 to Doris. 
Eastforce ceased to exist at 
noon &now we have G.H.Q only 
over us. 
13.8.17.  Worked & messed round 
all day except for short 
stroll before dinner c̅  Beatty 
(A.P.M.) Got kit up from 
the Sanitary section where its 
been since March. Finished no 8 to Doris 
14.8.17.  Work till 1000 & then 
 rode over c̅  Stansfield to 
Austn Flycing Corps & had 
yarn c̅ Williams. Not much  
work today after morning. 
15.8.17. Wednesday Worked in office 
morn. & after lunch drove in 
car c̅ Argles (my D.A.D.M.S.) & Richardson

(A.D.M.S. Yeomanry Divn ) to latter's 
Receiving station at Fukhari, then 
to Anzac Receiving Stn at Shellal 
& N^o 2 Eqyptian hospital. Went in 
a Ford lorry car & sat in back 
& dust was rotten & pretty 
tired & dirty when got home. 
Rode over to Flying corps in 
a hurry after & got off track 
& had dinner there c̅ Williams 
after arriving hot & late 
16.8.17 Stayed in tent practically 
all day working; went for 
walk in evening c̅ Beattie towards 
Belah. Wrote Father. 
17.8.17. Wrote letters hard in am 
for Teddie White to take- a little 
n^o 9 to D., Mr & Mrs Robb, Judge Rooth, 
Dr Downes Greene, Jimmy Love & some 
local ones. Teddie White came in.

in aft. full of buck & sent him 
off on his trip - pretty cunning 
too. Walk c̅ Argyle (D.D.Vet.S.& 
cousin of Stanley Argyle, Melb.) & Beatty 
& saw sausage balloon being  
shelled. Work as usual in pm. 
18.8.17. Drove over to Anzac H.Q. 
at Fara & picked up Hercus; as  
whole 3 divisions were moving  
there was plenty of dust & people.
Went down to Gamli in car
& had a look at Decauville trucks
as regards carriage of wounded
but found them of little use;
walked down into Wadi & felt
quite distressed with heat - then 
drove across wadi at new
motor road & back to H.Q. at 
Khan Yunus - pretty dirty. Hercus
stayed for lunch & liked our

grapes. Not much work in
so rode over to Rest Camp &
had swim in evening & back
late for dinner.
19.8.17. Sunday. Work as usual in
a.m. In aft. rode into Khan
Yunus to look at water troughs
c̅ Argles & then over to Rest
camp on beach where sat for
a few minutes & saw balloon
shelled like hell & come down
quickly.
20.8.17. Stayed in tent all day
working; little walk to see 
Loveridge in p.m.
21.8.17. Got cable from Doris saying
splendid & Rosemary too c̅ congratulations
& oone c̅ Father's congrats. Very
glad of them & to hear that Doris
all right & altogether now that

we all know where each other is
& all are well it does not matter
that mails are so rare; a cable
from Austn shows that Wiltshire
which will carry first letters from
D. in Australia I can get & new
staff for 14^th AGH. has not left
yet as I expected & the Boorara
from here does not leave till
tomorrow. Damn the Kaiser.
Worked solidly all a.m. & rode 
over to see Chauvel in aft. had
tea there & met Fowler on way
back, & then rode towards balloon
to watch it being shelled like
hell but as got towards it
it came down as evidently
an aeroplane was about; at
same time saw Stansfield &
another new man here (Pareira)

coursing a fox so joined in &
nearly got tipped off horse;
fox escaped in a Wadi so rode
home quietly & worked in pm.
22.8.17. Wednesday. Woke up in a 
bad temper as I do most mornings
now - wonder if its the strong
coffee I drink at night or living
in a tent & mosquito net instead
of a bivouac.
Got a cable of congratulation
from Genl Hughes - very kind of
them.
Rode over to G.H.Q. in aft. to
a confab of D.D.M.Ss c̅ DMS
& old Adey the D.A.G. Rode
back by Abasan; nothing
accomplished &whole show
a waste of time
23.8.17. Stayed in working all