Diary of Alexander Sutherland Mackay, 9 November 1916 - 4 March 1917 - Part 3

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A few tu tug of wars & egg & spoon races
going on outside.
22/12/16. We have just dropped anchor
at Dakar & are besieged with blackboys
in canoes diving for coins. It marvellous
how quick they are, you can throw
a threepenny bit yards away from the
canoe & in two shakes they have it.
This looks rather a healthy place, from
the boat, built on a high plateau.
It appears to be well fortified & is
a French possession. In the harbour
we struck to four funnelled French
man-o-war. At present the port
looks very busy with the five
troopships rounding up to their
anchorage. We were second in
& berthed a few yards out from the
wharf.  the buildings are ve very
neat in appearance & built in a
very up to date style.  Do not know

40
how long we stop here or if
any leave is to be granted.  The
bl niggers canoes are totally different
to Sierra Leone & much stronger in
appearance. It looks like a long
curved solid kick on the bottom
with the body built on top leaving
some 18 inches spare each end
23/12/16  Still anchored a few yards from
shore. They say The Military Authorities
object to us going ashore owing to the
behaviour of the previous Australian troops
here. They destroyed a lot of property, knocked
people down in the streets, & carried on
generally like a lot of hoodlums.  Similar
complaints have been heard at every
port of call, evidently the bets in the
past did their utmost to make
Australia remembered. The troops arriving
now have to suffer accordingly. Im sorry
we cant go ashore as I never saw such
 

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a clean looking place that is judging
from the ships deck. All the buildings
look new & thoroughly uptodate. They
have splendid wharves electric lighting
& derricks of the most modern style.
Evidently they have black troops doing
the wharf lumping. We're been watching
them this morning, they are togged in
Khaki tunics, short pants with red
sashes & caps.  They look rather natty
Along the waters edge they ^have sentries, evidently
another regiment blue tunics & short pants red
sashes & caps. Another crowd have tunics
& long pants of Khaki with white helmets,
others pale blue uniforms & white helmets, others
dark uniforms & white helmets, so you may
imagine the variety of colours to be seen
The same thing occurs with the civilian niggers
only they have long shirts or overalls.  he
majority of these races here xx I understand
are Senegalese.  Ive just been watching
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some dark kids who swarm out from the 
shore & are diving alongside. As they get
the coins they jam them in their mouths.
One kid must have six coppers in his
gnasher, you can't see it any signs of them
& his speech is not effected one iota.They
are like fish in the water. All ponies here
some very flash turnouts knock about, sulkyies
dog carts & fine four wheeler carriages
24/12/16 It seems funny to think of
tonight as Xmas Eve. It is now 8 oclock
Sunday night, that means it is now
6 xxx oclock Xmas morning in Sydney.
They are giving no leave here but
we obtained permission to jump over
the side today & have a swim. Needless
to say members took advantage.  the
harbour here only has a very narrow
entrance formed by breakwaters, with
a Warship stationed each side.
Apparently no sharks are inside.
 

43
Tomorrow a number of us intend

trying to swim over to the 

Queensland boat the - Boonsh

I heard of several aboard of whom

I know & we no doubt ^will strike several

more. The Warships are always in 

readiness to steam at a couple of 

hours notice. I noticed a gag they

have not on our ships. In

the bow at the waters edge they

have it painted white to resemble

foam. The idea being that an 

enemy looking through the glasses 

would readily presume they were 

going at a fair bat, whereas they

might be stationery. Bill Nott

was bad all day & tonight was 

placed in hospital. I fancy it 

is only influenza. The men 

are looking forward to a decent 

meal tomorrow, but thats probably 

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the only difference Xmas will make

to us. We saw a number of 

black troops going aboard ship

this afternoon, I hear they are 

bound for German East Africa.

25/12/16. Xmas Day still aboard at 

Dakar. With the exception of falling

ou in over when the French Admiral 

visited us, we have done nothing but

swim about. The water was nice

although a bit cool. a few races were

held in the water, but most of us

were alongside the wharf talking

(or trying to) to the niggers. Cant say  

any men fainted at the menu today.
Stew for breakfast, pork & cabbage,

no spuds (finished last week) & a bit of 

plum pudding for dinner, bread & jam

for tea. However the swimming was 

enough to satisfy the men. They say

we will probably sail tomorrow but 

45

that remains to be seen.

26/12/16. No sign of moving so far (5 pm)

most of the day I spent swimming

round the ship. It was beautiful in 

the water & gave us some exercise- a 

thing we have been sadly in want of,
lately. They grabbed several fellows
this morning for landing on the wharves
It constantly seems hard, considering we
are Allied, that the French Authorities won't
allow us ashore, but I suppose we must
blame the previous boat here for the
present state of affairs. We all landed
on the wharf yesterday when races were 
on but nothing was said. We had
our photo taken with a number of the

black troops. Their proofs were supposed
to be sent aboard today, but so far
have not arrived. Ive just been watching
them loading some cattle aboard the
French flagship it was rather amusing.
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Apparently they take lobe live stock
for their meat supply; the cattle
are weedy affairs to ours & are
half buffalo. They swing them aboard
in slings all trussed up. As soon
as the best feels the slings loosed
aboard her stands up & the men,
grab him by the horns & lead him
away.  I couldn't help thinking if
one of our bullocks suffered the same
treatment, once he felt himself
free, he would clear the decks much
quicker than any admiral could.
It looks very funny to see cattle
parading the decks of a man-o-war.
27/12/16 Left Dakar at 7 am this morning,
the Auxiliary cruiser Orotava leadng the
way, then came Argyleshire, Afrie , Port Nicholas,
Benalla & Boonah with a French Cruiser
last. The cruiser is now working up to
the front of the line. She has all her ducks

47
cleared ready for action, so all realize
we are in the real danger zone at last.
The Boonah has pulled out & is just passing
leaving us last, for the present. All her
men are lined up in lifebelts, so no
doubt we will have to follow suit shortly.
A tremendous number of porpoises knocking round
this morning.
The Boonah is now head of the line, the
French Cruiser to starboard of the line & the
Auxiliary to port. We have just received
orders to don lifebelts. The Artillery are on guard 
again tonight. Ive been detailed for Cooks Fatigue.
The latter is not much to skite about, but its
certainly better than guard, you can get some sleep -
A great commotion caused a while ago, by a man
off the Afrie falling overboard. She immediately
swung round, our boat following suit. We were
closed so lowered a boat & picked him up. The
Afrie boat then came over & took him. Luckily
he had a lifebelt on, the only danger was
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sharks. They have been fooling round for
over half an hour trying to push our boat up.
The skipper is evidently a bit excited or in
a very bad temper. The Auxiliary Cruiser
came racing in, apparently she thought
a submarine had approached, to break up
the line.
28/12/16. Still jogging along at half pace
this boat being last of the line. The
route to be taken is puzzling; this
morning she was steering South West
right away from the England. They
intend taking no risks. No submarines
or men falling overboard to cause
any excitement The lifebelts are a
flaming nuisance, hanging round
your neck all day. They sounded
an alarm this afternoon at tea time
but we were all prepared waiting for it.
The cook put the show away by refusing
the mess orderlies tea, until boat drill

49
was over.
29/12/16. Early this morning we picked
up the Cruiser Kent & troopships Border
Marathon, City of Sparton, &  Durham Castle
These were the board we left behind at
Sierra Leone. Evidently that was the
reason of the South Westerly courses, as
immediately they were sighted the
boats change to a norwesterly course.
We are now running in three lines
of three with the Kent leading the way
& the French Cruiser away to Starboard.
The Auxiliary Cruiser dropped astern
& has now disappeared, probably returning
to Sierra Leone. A seventh man was
buried this morning from measles.
He was a darkie & at the recent tournament
won the high, long, & broad jumps.
Its peculiar the number of strong men
in train, who are going down to the
various sicknesses. I pity the nurses, the

50 
hospital has been overflowing ever
since we left Sydney. Today I met a
friend of Farg Blacks - Sid Donohue.
He is assistant storeman on this troopship.
I remembered him at Porters house. I'd
been trying to place him for sometime.
It suddenly dawned on me as I blocked
him & asked if he name was Donohue.
It just shows how small the world is,
needless to say we had a good yar.
He does not look too healthy, rheumatics 
I fancy.
30/12/13 No excitement on today, once
all the boats pulled up & the cruiser
came racing back, but no reliable
information could be ascertained. First
the man who knows everything reckoned
it was a man overboard, then a submarine
then a riot on the Border, so our
curiosity will remain unsatisfied until
port is reached. Bill Nott came out

51
of hospital today, he has to let
the final in the heavyweight
division go as the Doctor ordered
him not to fight for six weeks, by
which time we hope to be in England.
A few boxing matches & a ragtime
bands competition, on this afternoon.
Some of the makeups in the bands

were splendid, one fellow dressed as
a girl, took the fancy of all. He looked
really pretty, everyone was trying to
cop him. His stern must feel fairly
sore from the number punches he
received.
31/12/16 Very quiet day, church service
at 10 this morning then spells. Another
death today making the eighth, this man
was one take from the Port Lincoln
at Sierra Leone. One can hardly realize
this is New Year's Eve, we are in darkness
outside on the decks & have been specially
52
warned about making too much
noise. There will be no waiting up 
to see the Old year out this year.
They say we will be near England
the today week. Everyone is saying
how pleased they will be see the
last of the Benalla, but a number will
growl at anything & will no doubt, when
they get some hardships or shore wish
they were back at sea again.
1/1/17 New Years Day. Sun did not show
up until about 9 am. It has been blowing
hard all day & it looks as if we are running
into a storm. We are chopping into it
as there is little side roll. The weather has
turned much cooler, we will have to dispose
of the short pants in a day or so. In parades
today & about the quietest New Years Day I
have ever put in. No change in tucker
& practically no notice taken of the holiday
Everyone wondering where we will be this

53
day next year
2/1/17. Little doing today, the sea has
calmed down & we are going along very
slowly, the Marathon has dropped
action, it looks as if she has had
some mishap to her engines. The
final tug of war came off today the
Artillery winning. Our team was
composed of seven Queenslanders & three
New South Welchmen Wales men.
You would think this is farmyard at
present. All sorts of cries going on - fowls
clucking, roosters crowing, turkey gobblin
cows, cats, babies crying & various other
howls. It generally occurs just after lights
out rounds.
3/1/17 We had a full dress marching
order parade this morning , so things
 look promising for our arrival in England
about Sunday or Monday. I believe the last
twenty four hours each boat picks up a
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destroyer & goes for all she is worth.
They are already getting up sweeps, as
to which troopship will arrive first.
The crown seem to fancy the Marathon
& this boat as favourites. Near lights
out as I must get my bo bumps laid
on the floor. Have thrown up the
hammock lately.
4/1/17 The Daylight saving scheme started
operation this morning, resulting in it
being pitch dark when reveille blew.
No lights were allowed so the language
was lovely, especially when some fellow
would walk on another's face. They
put the time on 40 minutes. It has
been dull & cold all day, short pants
are now things of the past. A xxxx
vessel appeared today on the horizon
but the cruiser went out & signalled
she then disappeared. Nothing outside
the usual routine today.

55
5/1/17 Blowing fairly hard today with
choppy sea running. The boats have
all drawn closer together, we are watching
one another dip into the seas. The
Port Nucholand was close enough for
the men to yell out a while ago.
A general cleanup in preparation of
our arrival, has been the order of the
day. Very cold, mufflers & Balaclava
caps are easily favourites.
6/1/17 Struck main guard tonight, this
will be my last duty on the ship, as
we were told that we are to land
Tuesday morning. I am preparing for
a cold nights guard, three shorts

& underpants on. It is pitch dark
at 7.30 of a morning & bitterly cold
when you wake up. We go on at
6 tonight & go off at 6 tomorrow
night.
7/1/17 One more shift to go to finish guarding
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2 to 4 this afternoon. I happened to strike
sheltered posts last night so did not feel
the cold as much. Church parade is on
at present, we miss this, being on guard.
The Universal Kits are to brought up from
the hold this morning, that means a general
mixup. Being waiting man, I look to carry
both of min with me, so I will dodge the
assemble. Bleak dull day today.
We have had a paper styled the "Benalla"
Sun published about 16 copies in all. I
will try & obtain a full set today & send
home. Later it is now blowing solidly with
a heavy sea running. The boats are ploughing
intact, we have shipped a couple of seas
and any amount of spray. Finished last shift
on Guard, with the exception of half
an hour to relieve the third shift for tea.
They anticipate picking up the English
convoy about five when the boats will
let go under full steam & make the final

57
dash. The Afrie for some reason
or other is unable to keep up & has
now dropped right astern. The cruiser
has taken a back position and consequence
Later 5.30 pm. Our convoy has turned up
in the shape of eleven tof torpedo
destroyers. The sight simply made
all on board gaper with open mugs -
These destroyers looked like dingeys,
they have a small turret & a stick
of a mast & simply dashed through
the seas burying themselves & throwing

spray yards in the air. They were
all signalling with the "morse" lights
& looked like a number of huge fight fireflies
on the water. They have now
practically encircled us & we are lying
now third racing under full pressure.
The Cruiser waited until the destroyers
reached us, the opened out & disappeared
towards England. We can feel everything
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vibrating as they are evidently straining
the machinery to its utmost.
8/1/17 Early morning It is now blowing half a
gale its the fun of the world to watch the
decks. Seas coming right over & drenching
everyone. Fellows get a slide on & naturally
grab the nearest man to save himself.
Generally it results in everyone landing
on his back. Most of the time plates & mugs
are rolling about the floor. The
destroyers look like corks bobbing about;
one can quite imagine the views of
these must be expert seamen. A
submariner wouldn't have much chance
of doing damage this weather. The
Marathon is almost hull down on
the horizon, we are second, of the
others only our boat is visible.
Afternoon Still blowing a gale & the shIp
rolling a treat. You can't walk two yards
without hanging on. An extra big sea