Diary No.10 of Rupert Major Downes, 6 March - 29 July 1918 - Part 1

Original

Colonel R.M. DOWNES.
D.D.M.S. Desert Mtd.
Corps.

DIARY NO. 10.
6/3/18 - 29/7/18.

Note:  Period 16/5 - 17/6/18 not
included - See copy.

6.3.18. Rushed round pretty hard in morning to
catch 1100 train having Williams in bed at
Heliopolis pub & short paying the porter. for
2 dinners by accident. Did some shopping
and office work before going off to train
c̄ Meillear & Dawson. Train was very crowded
& I was in a carriage with a mixture of Gippies
& Greeks but trip was cool & I read till Vernon
got in from Moascar to Ismailia to talk to
me. Got out at Port Said & was met by a
Sgt. of 14^th A.G.H. who took me to a gharry
he'd got waiting for me only to find that
someone had pinched it & then to a special
boat he'd got waiting for me only to 
find that had been collared too.
Had some tea at 14^th A.G.H. c̄ Bob Fowler
& then talked c̄ Summons & going over 
to town met Blackburn & Saw too c̄ whom
I had a drink & then listened to their
chorus of growls about everything under 
the sun: they've not got enough to do to 
keep them contented & Blackburn is peevish
c̄ Summons. They all escorted me to the
train at 1830 by which I went to Kantara
feeling a bit cheap, had dinner at Mrs
Chisholm's & wrote a rather candid letter
to Jock & talked c̄ Miss McP. who wants to send
D. some abayeh silk. Drove over to Kantara
E. & fixed up bunks & later was joined by 

Dawson & old Arnott who was in the same carriage.
& left at 2400.
7.3.18. Arrived K.295 - Bir Salem - ½ hr. late to
find a pretty warm dry day c̄ an E. wind.
Car to meet us & talked for most of a.m. &
worked all aft. Loafed in p.m. Went up to
8.3.18. G. branch & read up all proposed future
operations. Had a very bubbly dinner to celebrate Newton's promotion & Argyles 1914 star. Too seedy to get drunk.
8.3.18. Worked all day. Dixon came up from
Belah in a.m. to see me & stayed for lunch
talking over things. Grantham (the car
man) also in. Went for a fast walk in evening
c̄ Dawson, Leggat & McIntyre to see the daily
parade of village beauties. Talked French
c̄ Dawson after dinner
9.3.18. Leggatt & Dawson to Jerusalem but it
was a great performance getting them off
- they were like a lot of women.; worked in a.m.
& some time up at Q & G offices. Rode with
Hunter to Ludd in aft. as I'd never been
there before & the new railway station is a
regular maze of sidings & loop lines amongst
olive trees, said to be 22 miles of them, but its
hard to find your way about & there seems
little room for any dumps or tents. Went
into the town of Ludd which is quite pretty &
algerian like & then home by Ramleh.
Very tired & peevish when got there. as had not 
had so long a ride for a long time. Kendall
to dinner. Worked after. 

10.3.18. Sunday. Not much work in a.m. but
up seeing Trew & G. Lay down & read Bulletin
& Punch & slept in aft. - quite like a Sunday
aft. at home; then worked till Dawson &
Legat returned. Went for a walk c̄ Dawson
& Hercus who was over for dinner &
yarned after dinner; my car turned
over after taking him home.
11.3.18. Some work in a.m. then drove over
to Junction & collected my Clyno cycle
which had been repaired & rode home c̄
some difficulty as bike very fast & road
bad. Worked in aft. & wrote diary but
rather irritable. My little trip certainly
benefited my clearness of mind but
the cold I got has left me a bit feeble &
tired. Anyhow I'm now preaching the advantages
of holidays. Stayed in for aft. &
then went for a brisk walk c̄ Dawson & up to
a conference which didnt take place.
12.3.18. Two trips up to see G. staff & Chauvel
& worked all a.m. Loafed mostly in afternoon
& then went for a walk c̄ Newton, Argyle, &
McIntyre. Dawson & the other boys drove to Jaffa.
Had to go to a Pierrot concert show in
evening by order of the G.O.C. which annoyed
me as I wanted to write home letters.
It has been been dull & showery for the last
few days but not really wet & c̄ some patches
of sunshine. 

13.3.18. Wednesday. Went to D.M.S. conference in
morning; it has turned rather cold again for thin
clothes too. We had a satisfactory pow wow &
he made no more anti Australian remarks; I cant
quite get him yet - he's a regular & so has the narrow
dogmatic view of those gentry but seems a trier
& to know his own mind. We didnt do anything
of momentous importance but I spoke to him
of moving the 2^nd A.S.H. further up & he seemed
sympathetic. Brought Dowsett (of D.D.M.S. XX Corps)
& Wade (Consulting Surgeon) over to lunch & found a
cable from Eileen Hughes that a daughter had
arrived. Felt very disappointed though glad
to know; also D's letters 40, 41, 42, two from Father
King Scott & Genl Hughes. Took the aft. to write to
D. 25 & F. but much disturbed & pretty annoyed as
it was over. McLaren came in & to dinner & yarned
shop after while the others went to a concert. Did
not manage to answer either F's. or D's. letters but
gave them a bit.
14.3.18. Went out c̄ Stansfield to see the broken down
operating car near Latrun & drove home by an unknown
road. Worked a bit in the afternoon & wrote a
little letter to F. & then for walk c̄ Hunter. Worked
& talked c̄ Dawson in the evening.
15.3.18. Worked all morning without getting
much done & finished letter to Father. Read in
aft. & walk c̄ Dawson - fast one. Wrote part
of 26 to D. in evening. Started to rain
16.3.18. Raining all day so did not drive to races at 

Gaza as I had intended & dinner at the Flying Corps
but put in a solid day working up materiel for
an account of medical operations in the November
stunt. Drove over to see McLaren at Camel amb.
& Bowman at 2^nd L.H.F.A. with Dawson & Leggat.
Cold & wet.
17.3.18. Sunday. Work all a.m. c̄ usual visit up
to G branch. Some work in aft. & read Aust^n.
papers & then walk c̄ Dawson who went back
tonight after a good trip. Sorry to lose the 
cheery soul. Finished D.26.
18.3.18. Left at 0925 c̄ Hunter & drove to Jerusalem
arriving in 2 hrs. 10 min c̄ a few stops. It was a
pretty cold drive & very cold up there after about
7 days rain. Went to Anzac H.Q. in Italian Consulate
& talked to Hercus about coming operations & to
Dangar. Then went for lunch to Anzac Div. Train
on Bethlehem Rd, left Hunter there & back to 
Anzac H.Q. where talked to Croll for some time
& then up to XX Corps H.Q. to see Luce just out
from leave to England but he was out. Left at
1700 meeting Austin (flyman) on road & got home
well bumped soon after 1900 very tired from
strong cold wind. Got D's 43 & from F. & Ma in law.
Did a little work
19.3.18. Had a very quiet morning going up to see
B.G.G.S. & doing little work & more talk. Went for
ride c̄ Newton in aft. on one of his horses & did
some tent pegging very unsuccessfully for first 
time & after more work up to G&Q again. Work in p.m.

20.3.18. Worked quietly in a.m. & up to see Howard
Vyse & Trew. Read in aft. & went for solid walk
for 2 hours to near Yebna c̄ Newton & Mohr &
got sore feet. Pottered round in evening.
21.3.18. Started off at 0930 & soon got held up by
plug trouble for ½ hour; drove by Naaneh & new
track to E. of Junction but as the Camel brigade
had been over this route a couple of days ago in
heavy mud which had dried it was a very
uncomfortable trip. Got to Jerusalem at 1210,
stopped at Anzac rear headqrs. for ten minutes
& then on stopping for few minutes at Talaat ed Dumm
& found Hunter at junction of two roads to Jericho
at 1335. Went up a hill & watched the Jordan valley
& hills of Moab then had a little lunch & down
to Anzac Hdqrs. in car meeting Hercus on way
so returned & watched from our hill for
some time till Hercus came up. Had dinner
c̄ Anzac Divisional train & camped down with
them in some tents left standing by some 60^th
Divⁿ signallers. Had to go to bed after dinner
as had no lights & nothing to read.
22.3.18. Little walk before breakfast. Spent nearly
all morning up a hill c̄ Hunter watching
the battle going on in the flat & trying to
make out how we were getting on with the
bridging of the river & if the 60^th Divⁿ who 
were doing the job had got across & made
the bridgeheads good - by watching the shell
bursts. Couldnt make out very much & the 

battle seemed pretty desultory, but learnt
the lay of the country well.
Croll came up to see me. After lunch
rode c̄ Hunter & Meillear down the direct road
to Jericho. It is a very steep & rather rough
road running down to the plain & on the N. side
of it is a wonderful deep & steep rocky gully
-Wadi Kelt - with old aqueducts running
along the sides half way up, a good stream
at the bottom & a few Greek monastery places
built into the side of the cliff & only reached 
by the aid of a rope. These were built so for
protection in olden times. In places a number
of crosses marked on the walls by the early
Xians & on the road we met remains of
another Roman aqueduct & some buildings
besides the everlasting dead camels.
Harvey Sutton joined us on the way down &
I went & saw an abdominal operation on
a wounded man in the Descorps operating
unit which I'd lent to the XX^th Corps for
this show. I had no job in this stunt as the
Anzacs were under XX Corps for this show &
I was only out to see how things were going
medically & for a joyride. Talked c̄ Wade -
the Consulting Surgeon & then on through &
round Jericho which is an uninteresting
& squalid village but had some fine looking
Beduins there. Saw one of our Scouts shot down
by 2 Bosches in the a.m. on the ground being 

repaired. The plain was very pretty as everything
quite green; did not go on for the remaining
5 miles to the Jordan but rode back to the Train
camp & it was pretty cold against a wind that
had sprung up for we had only shirts on as
it had been beastly hot & muggy in the morning
& yesterday. Stopped at Anzac Hdqrs. on the
way back & talked to Genl Chayter & Hercus &
heard that Dangar had been sent away c̄
Bright's disease on Monday when I had seen him
& remarked that he looked ill. Went to bed after
dinner as nothing to read.
23.3.18. Drove down the long road to Jericho to see
Cave at Neby Musa (Prophet Moses) where he was
c̄  his ambulance & 1^st Bde. Had a yarn c̄ him &
found him very fit. The Bde., which is attached
to the 60^th Divⁿ & is to protect their left flank on
marching up the left bank of the Jordan after
crossing it, moved out while we were there so
Hunter & I climbed a hill & watched them moving
over the plain to the Hajla ford now bridged though
impassable to wheels on account of the mud on
the river banks. Saw the Duke of Connaught & C.in C.
drive past & then went back to camp for lunch.
Very cloudy & blowy. Walked down to Anzac Hdqrs.
after lunch & talked c̄ Genl Chayter, Browne, Croll
& Hercus & as the division didn't seem likely to move
till tomorrow decided to go back to Deiran so
walked to camp & when my car which I had lent
turned up started back at 1635 c̄ Hunter & my 

batman, got to Jerusalem at 1750 & back to Deiran
at 1955 c̄ no troubles bar a shower of rain & had
a huge dinner & read correspondence in evening.
24.3.18. Sunday. Wet last night & showery all day.
c̄ a very heavy hailstorm. Up to see Trew & Chauvel
in a.m. & worked all day. Trying to get my car
which had gone bung fixed up for tomorrow
to let me go back to the war. Heard last night
that German offensive had begun & one of
our chaps had brought down 3 out of 5 Boche
planes that attacked him. Worked in evening.
25.3.18. A rather rotten day as it rained hard most
of the time & we got news of how badly things
were going in France so things were rather 
depressing. Dodged up & down to G. during day
for news but worked solidly in afternoon &
didnt have walk. Not much work in evening.
26.3.18. Went for a long ride c̄ Hunter all day to see
the roads about Welhelmieh & Beit Nabala
where we expect to start c̄ our headquarters
when the next move comes. It was pretty muddy
but did not rain. Went out beyond Rantieh
but didnt get beyond the railhead or up to front
line. Back after 1700 after 6½ hrs. riding -
tired. Howell Price to dinner & yarned but
no work. News from France a little better
& hear we took Es Salt last night.
27.3.18. Wednesday. D.M.S. fortnightly conference
in a.m. which was very satisfactory from my
point of view. Brought Luce - D.D.M.S. XX Corps, 

& just back from England to lunch &
early in aft. started out to catch up to the
war in my car doing a very fast first
hour past Latrun & well into the pass when
a big end gave out so had to get the car
towed back to a workshop at Latrun by a passing
lorry & went on myself in another lorry
to Jerusalem & stayed night c̄ Bruxenor at
Anzac rear hdqrs. there instead of at Jericho
as I'd intended. Went for a stroll after dinner
in the most brilliant moonlight I've ever struck.
28.3.18. Bruxenor drove me down to Jericho in
a Sunbeam leaving my batman to wait for
the car; got to the train (Anzac Div^l) & rode
on about 1200 on my horses to Shunet Ninirin
about 6 miles the other side of the Jordon which
was in flood & had washed away two of the 
bridges we'd built & covered the third all
last night. Arrived at 1430 & had some food,
found N.Z. amb. immobile section & 60^th Hdqrs.
but everyone I wanted was out & there was no
news obtainable except that any Anzac amb.
seemed quite 20 miles away along a bad road
not at all safe & as I had no chance of getting
there & back to Deiran by tomorrow night as
I had to perforce had to sit down & wait.
Soon after 1700 got well bombed by a fleet of
10 Hun planes which killed 100 camels & hit
about 45 men, including natives. I got into
some pretty fair shelter in a semi cave &