Diary of Alexander Sutherland Mackay, 5 March 1918 - 7 September 1918 - Part 2

Conflict:
First World War, 1914–18
Subject:
  • Documents and letters
Status:
Open for review
Accession number:
AWM2018.19.51
Difficulty:

Page 1 / 10

20 just showss what hue there n this game, it was widenttes I stray shot 6 Istill wrapking are kirdered made m lively lvery others pay I to Ho I aefoded aff the nosed 40 ound int hantenten giv a wide burth ps to he whit 4 the whing & flop down. pltters. Some of this bnd sothaor passnn Wstefn one fellong int slirg got bhown off of a shilll close thet hoore left him wuck cus his 2 free. Its wror wiblons at the escaes Perutiar that they shill hulld piled Dgmaller Het have only a ided Richthiffen was brought Gechdsy. They fridht 79 planes. I believeone rhim Tunners brought i Bnight days is I have beenk vry Juny You hear bombs dropping bt shot of a
22 avce powver guving 57 hell bombing wh in enay racasend bronghtly down. sad his wing crumpted Adk thi afte affut we were purset. at phill lotting near ony poption 4 apparently coming from our right. It wot the reart Ai fas they dug o up it was fired by one our 60 pounder Blathirgs afity one shell siveraly I of the Officers 4 at reot has gone wmiboly will have the carpitl A lot of 4 4 to be Fuly a up £3 Battehs have putled is revidently this it soing A ot shop shootl We I are shipting to a frest Mr aprais its goiving tnight fhe near a Chumney plack in that be shilling concertgulle feter. boll been p of adm fadt to Head Unarte as ent sw an in ist about wrdngght of small wpen dugontt Frit sep fithgas 142325.9 fat im fronly knocked off at 4 ady a thwelve hour bourn. We could only crouihy down gas masks on whilst the shills Shead. He killed 4 Your
24 two to everybidy got a stomach Wewas aenon eperdef over again b up 4 wfily knowked out besent 4 rands o shells over tappearto at plaw within langed avery thunk goodners. Frety was yoved to yot at bet of ste I t as that cleared a pooo 44 from the grounelf. Went. He to h Leturns reounted 4 horse. I was sptly. mrious tr few camulities o the mumber of ir 2641 Frity was quiet again last night pullede out of Action this afternoon to 46 8 the Gommis taking over four apwood. This uis & tiplon plane but it will gups not before tlup to lait long here. We ben pugying in soldy as shelter have Its a relief to be away from bomb from for a white Shill furits our huk wouldht last thy thought 2714/18 leaving 12 men with the guns, all art only rist ary going back to the Wayon Limer the affernon. We had just got our dujout. her completed Evidently we are going muly to be a mobile Battirg, jumping into action wherevfr required Walker about 3 kilos to the Wayon 28/4 yesterday afternoon opitited camp Lines the open near a wood. It was rumning in covering very limited. However maparged your to suun a nights rest. kery wt
26 all the ot lodng. Obrsation very wing to foggy weather 4 Rumowrs of another sheft, apparent 48 54 ant sumply waiting orders Trs shapting by gets on your newes. Saw at Frity plan chased down this afternoon, he camet over our poset taking phots, when all a sudden apout a dogen of ours lobbed from nowhefe. Frity was infrout. ti to mape but, it was no h had to land. I believy on occupant was wounded the other of Our machines hovired. frmnd overhead, until obun the Infantry ran arross & look then Brisopers Thay got his mackinge. stact The Infantry always strep these wfen. fillowg for sonverus, cut sbuttons off their es if they object, woe them in the behind into the bargan Dull Way Ferty is still genting some inccesses but hearfully paying & penalty. He will be palled up with a shapps twm before long. We expect to git going again anyday. 215 May 1910 still shilling Sor mit about a dozen old Cucunland mater this week & a great number who came over in the Blnalen several mobilis Battereys are hereabopts Iflooks as we wi helaf reserve pinding some push. A good fu Lapks past. I believe they are going Canadian pattern. They do not look as durnry & are much faster than our old style. he doubt sits amuuing to wath. wateh the way there tanks straddly any Buy planus ard busy) we counted abtu ne hot off to visit Frity yeshday Iin
28 pay day genterday afterog is th 4pt an nothing after papade gets se fy the papirs Frety yot houre back at our old shorts. knocken ground Yous. The Favygs and Lighting well ogiving him at lought yrywhere. fly fuist days; the Batterns have 4 44 felling in share momenty with sting in hossiback potate ran of Jhores ig & war. foot raus. Tni. wity weather. We are off into again tomorrow. Clandy Walson 84 he net m yesterday over tto Hok will fas fat as ever ply 9&10 but mow pvon is near at villlage called Ribemont. The gun ereve Hapsproof sngonto, the sispatters the 29 mmyself an addition to the Officers are in the vallage. In doing the office in of a Willa-table Mhaus at fint room cainit carpet on the floor scroching galore Its simply cruel to in the sacfful one can radily realie the Fhuh much bo very better when fighting This is a fine place, electric lights now of course dstrged in every room clocks pa on the wall sumply left te pporken about. Frity is fleaving by us alone so far. I siirily hove hir copsideration lasts. We rluk down in a collary can't pay I fany villages, althought so comfortable for a poue, rity that them aft marked. fthey generally received too much attention for my liking May Hrty started on in this after n
8 Wlively Luckily no missed the guars. I r at warnd whop of still shilling, last paght. land one in the pdit I prest dose tnoiter the flent was West Hatarter ya a wand wth yos Wet wer all downd call 4 wsks on. We all havd lovely tastes our months today from the D it rained a little 1 Arleend ai guns are being shaf from the direit lind of fire. This in he isaunt 4 he open up with you kerfor ouldent bewaw 4 pt 2
DECEMBRE 31 ManorS.Sylvestre. 4 We he Batteries Werar ailensed pulling out tomorrow I what the programing is I do not know at present, but I wont be rory to get out of the village. You have non umport on the certainly, but 1b abt frit olon ta vall today i t h no shell ine going out leaving in thi morning It pwill mare near Abbyville. be a two days march. I dont live w br on the rous but this mot pretty so things m to more us as unat psille at p am this monng andwent wfat can tie well until about occrete, when the billbose I was ending on came at gutized the wale the Battiy went breaking with the etention of sending
wayon back for 2 of us. the cargo soon as they reached thaos cumpin place for the night. Bowidon abbout 7helos away. About 9 octock however amissanger aruved borning 48 hours sations ionstruction for 2 bf ht te remaind with the woken pillos until the Batting reashed its distination mear Abbenvills&& a wayon returned the Batter will travel on all any tomorow & t suppose (the wagon avill not wart to return the morning after That means about s days countiry life for hs aherld It wille do me, & me i askild nong he is a willand 2 t d hacta S M How today his cows pentino He 69 i goinly could not pull be wagon h as it wored block the con ag Fon had time to gup off shave hands He doolecd whill hand where we were yoing I but diry gua I thought. 16/5/18 Tis chenty llife is very acceptable Had a good seep until g hm Briskfart, a swind slounging about under shadly thei orcutia the morning milly. After another sarm this afternoont visited the nearly village had several wets, and a meet bun
that as I could was much bread is manage. The ony obakin Ihave to thi pict as the mosguices, they thik at night. 765/18 Three sarms Aoday the Wagon arrived for us at mudldry but did not have maked Chm so is to give the hosses a shall bay to heart this place. We got to our hastina ar Abbeyorlle shoal mulnight after at tiptot long mrney through lovly comntry tus all in full fling of beanti W tll ha mad him he hoah nan gel a an cambelt and a whaklow, the hones nder are haakiti and thi trees in the grounds. Its a glonous plar only about 50 yards from The Romne Canal hn apard wel are not fated to last long here, it sums too infortable for mulitary lifs its undoubled the bist quarters a have been int. We he rewns at good na
soot oo likely to cut out a dot of the regimental not 19/5118. Another beautiful day having an easy time nn paraies slittle to do and the offec for this chiken. Leaving this place will he hard to dynt. Kenived at parsel from thet Watson girls today through the 9th Brigade Comfor Frund 20/25 may. Still having at delightful shall this is undoubtinly the bur snell have hide turin mayor is gn the mint a find afard no peride other than stobld parade of an afternoon. I no cortain its i good where that ment atomniate it do their wook all the better of a morning. It will break our hearts to leave this place 26th May. He The Hurnon held rures today. N w H spoo. Three ofus nan a told mnde about 100 france ahus out of it. It wisnt hard to take as money goes pretty quichly whin you are out of the line onewr a village A the guns is the only blow one has and opportunity of saving anything on hs Military pay. However if I had the opposunty I perefor bring stiff at the wayon lines than holding, at the guns. 2715/18. Ninited. Abbwille this afternon it. ao not munch of a city, allhought prety along the canal. It has been bombed of la we iay some buildings that had practorally veew blown to atoms. A. mamberd of the buildings honor book as if a decint gall would wreck them Abbeyville has the same dirty narrow forthuh your see in arlot of French towns Barring the churches. I saw

it just shows what luck

there is in this game, it was

evidently a stray shot

18/19 Ap Still scrapping

Fritz gets periodical mad [[?]]

makes things lively. Every other day I

have to go to Head Quarters. I

kept well off the road & one

spot on the road in particular

you have to give a wide berth

to. He appears to be always at

at, you hear the whizz & flop down

to dodge splinters. Some of the 

bits get or move on when passing 

you. Yesterday one fellow in 

the 31st Battery got blown off

his horse by a shell close by.

It injured the horse but

 

                 21

left him free. Its mar marvellous

how lucky the escapes are in

some cases. Peculiar weather

sleat one moment, quite warm

next.

20/22 Aprl. Another stray shell killed

one of our fellows - a signaller & wounded

an Officer. We have only 4 Officers

left now, 3 being wounded at this

posit. That famous Fritz airman

Baron Von Richthofen was brought

down here yesterday. They credit

him with 79 planes. I believe one

of our Machine Gunners brought

him down. Bright days so

the Aircraft have been very busy

of late. You hear bombs dropping

all over the shop of a night, our

 

                 22

men are however giving them

particular hell, bombing & chasing

his planes on every occasion.

Another Fritz was brought down

this morning, his wing crumpled

up & he fell like a log.

This afternoon we were buzzed at

sea shells bobbing near our position

apparently coming from our right

flank well th to the rear. One

was a dud so they dug it up

& found it was fired by one

of our own 60 pounder Batteries.

Unfortunately one shell severely

wounded one of the Officers of 

the 21st. A report has gone

so probably somebody will have

to toe the carpet. A lot of

 

              23

new Batteries have pulled in

lately, so evidently this is going

to be a hot shop shortly.

23/5/18 We to are shifting to a fresh

posit tonight, I'm afraid its going 

to be hot, up near a Chimney stack

Fritz has been shelling consistently

for about 3 weeks. Ive been passing

it on my road to Head Quarters, of a day

24/4/18 Had an awful time on this

new posit, arrived about midnight &

camped in a small open dugout. Fritz

started with gas & 4.2s & 5.9s at

about4am 7 only knocked off at

4pm today - a twelve hour bombardment.

We could only crouch down

with gas masks on whilst the shells

rained overhead. He killed 4 of our

 

                    24

men & wounded two whilst

practically everybody got a stomach

full of gas> It was a second

Passchendaele over again. We are

all thoroughly knocked out, he sent

thousands of shells over & appears to

be at every place within range.

25/4/18 Thank goodness Fritz was quiet 

last night & we got a bit of sleep. It

started drizzling so that cleared a good

deal of the gas from the ground. Went

to Hely today with returns & counted

6 horses on the road. Its simply

marvellous that so few casualties

occurred, considering the number of

shells put over.

26/4/18. Fritz was quiet again last night,

we pulled out of action this afternoon to

 

                        25

a wood, the Tommies taking over our

guns. This is a tiptop place but it will

not be our luck to last long here. We

have been digging in, solely as shelter

from bombs. Its a relief to be away from

shell bursts for a while.

27/4/18. Thought our luck wouldn't last, they

are only leaving 12 men with the guns, all

the rest are going back to the Wagon Lines

this afternoon. We have just got our dugout

nicely completed. Evidently we are going

to be a mobile Battery jumping into 

action whenever required.

28/4/18. Walked about 3 kilos to the Wagon

Lines yesterday afternoon & pitched camp

in the open near a wood. It was raining

& our covering very limited. However managed

to secure a nights rest. Very quiet

 

                              26

on all the Front today. Observation very

poor owing to foggy weather.

29/4/18  30/4/18 Rumours of another shift, apparently

they are simply waiting orders. This

shifting boy gets on your nerves.

Saw a Fritz plane chased down

this afternoon, he came over our

posie taking photos, when all

a sudden about a dozen of ours lobbed

from nowhere. Fritz was in * out

trying to escape but it was no

do, he had to land. I believe

one occupant was wounded. The

other OK. Our machines hovered

round round overhead, until

the infantry ran across & took them

prisoners. They got his machine

intact. The Infantry always strip these

fellows for souvenirs, ^even cut buttons off their

rousers if they object, toe them in the

behind into the bargain

 

                    27

1/5/18 Dull Day. Fritz is still getting

some successes but he is fully paying

the penalty. He will be pulled up with

a sharp turn before long. We expect

to get going anyday.

2/5 May 1918 Still spelling. Ive met about

a dozen old Queensland mate this week

& a great number who came over in the

"Benalla". Several mobile Batteries are

hereabouts. It looks as we are held in

reserve pending some push. A good few

Tanks going past. I believe they are

Canadian batteries. They do not look 

as clumsy & are much faster than our

old style. No doubt its amusing to wath

watch the way these tanks straddle any

obstacle. Our planes are busy; we counted

32 in one mob off to visit Fritz yesterday

 

                       28

afternoon. Pay day yesterday, so

twoup gets an nothing after parade

hours See by the papers Fritz got 

knocked by back at out old sports

ground = Ypres. The Froggies are

fighting well & giving him a tough

go everywhere.

6/8 May. Quiet days the Batteries have

been shelling in spare moments with

shorts - whistling on horseback, potatoe race

of horses. Tug of War, foot races. Fine

but misty weather. We are off into

action again tomorrow. Claudy Watson

called over to see me yesterday, he

looks well & as fat as ever.

9 & 10th May. Our new posie is near a 

village called Ribemount. The gun crews

have been gasproof dugouts, the signallers

 

                       29

& myself in addition to the Officers are

in the village. Im doing the Office in a

fine room of a Villa - table, chairs,

Cabinet, carpet of the floor & crockery

galore. Its simply cruel to see the

sacrifice one can readily realize the

French must be very bitter when fighting.

This is a fine place, electric lights

now of course destroyed, in every room, clocks

& photos on the walls simply left to 

be knocked about. Fritz is leaving

us alone so far. I sincerely hope his

consideration lasts. We sleep down in a

cellar. Can't say I fancy villages, although

so comfortable for a house. Fritz has them

all marked they generally receive too

much attention for my liking.

11th May Fritz started on in this afternoon

 

                          30

all heavy stuff 5.9 & 7 inch & made

things fairly lively. Luckily nobody was

hurt the missed the guns. Im afraid

this will be a warm shop if we

stop here.

12/5/18. Fritz still shilling, last night

before tea he landed one on the kitchens

in the place next door & knocked the roof

sky high. Our place was full of dust

state. After tea he started with a 

vanguard all round with gas for about

an hour. We were all down cellars

with gas marks on. We all have lovely

tastes in our mouths today from the 

gas. Fortunately it rained a little &

cleared the atmosphere a good deal

Two of our guns are being shifted from

the direct line of fire. This morning he 

is quiet, if he opens up with yesterdays

performance. I wouldn't be surprised if we

all shift.

 

13/5/18. Fritz gave us another good

doing this morning unfortunately, he

knocked one of our men. This afternoon

he changed his direction & fired 4 2.5

whizz & whizzing bangs. Our heavies

were firing a good deal & many have

silenced his heavy Batteries. We are

pulling out tomorrow & what the programme

is, I do not know at present, but I wont

be sorry to get out of the village. You

have more comfort in them certainly, but

they draw too much fire.

14/5/18 Pulled out today & got down

to the Wagon Lines about 4 km, we

are going out for a prolonged spell

I believe, leaving in the morning

for some place near Abbyville. It will

be a two days march, I don't like

being on the road but this is very

pretty country, so things may not be

so monotonous as usual.

15/5/18 Reveille at 4am this morning

& we drew out at 8am. We went

well until about 4 o'clock when the

pillbox I was riding on came a gutzer

breaking the axle. The Battery went

on with the intention of sending a

 

wagon back for 2 of us & the cargo, as

soon as they reached the camping

place for the night - Bourdon about

7 kilos away. About 9 oclock however

a messenger arrived bringing 48 hours

rations instruction for 2 of us to

remain with the broken pillbox until

the Battery reached its destination near

Abbeyville & a wagon returned.

     The Battery will travel on all day

tomorrow & I suppose the wagon will

not start to return the morning after

That means about 3 days country life

for is ever here. It will do me, & there

is a village about a kilo away, so 

we will have nothing to do except

eat & sleep. I had the luck to strike

Ron today on the road, his crowd

were going back with rations. He 

could not pull his wagon up as it

would block the column, so I only

had time to jump off, shake hands

& tell him where we were going. He looked

well but very grey, I thought.

16/5/18. This country life is very acceptable

Had a good sleep until 9am.

Breakfast, a swim & lounging about

under shady trees occupied the

morning nicely _ After another swim

this afternoon, visited the nearby village

had several wets, and a nice feed.

 

eggs & as much bread & butter as I could 

manage. The only objection I have to this place

is the mosquitos. They're thick at night.

19/5/18 Three swims today, the Wagon arrived

for us at midday but did not leave until

6pm as as to give the horses a spell. Sorry

to leave this place. We got to our destination

near Abbeyville about midnight after a tiptop

journey through lovely country long has

avenues of beautiful trees all in full foliage.

18/5/18 Not had much time to loom round

yet, we are camped in a Chateau, the horses

are picketed in ^under the trees in the grounds. It

a glorious place only about 50 yards from

the Somme Canal Im afraid we are

not fated to last long here, it seems too

comfortable for military life, its undoubtedly

the best quarters we have been in. We

have a new major now; he seems a good

 

sort so likely to cut out a lot of the regimental

rot.

19/5/18 Another beautiful day having an

easy time, no parades & little to do

in the Office for this chicken. Leaving

this place will be hard to digest. Received

a parcel from the Watson girls today

through the 9th Brigadier Comfort Funds.

202/25 May. Still having a delightful spell

this is undoubtedly the best spell we

have had. This new Major is giving

the men a fine spin no parades other

than stable parade of an afternoon. I'm

certain its a good whim the men

appreciate it do their work all the

better of a morning. It will break our

hearts to leave this place.

30 26th May Re The Division held races

today. it was good sport. Three of us

 

ran a tote & made about 100 francs

apiece out of it. It wasn't hard to

take as money goes pretty quickly when

you are out of the line & near a village.

As the guns is the only place one has

an opportunity of saving anything on his

Military pay. However if I had the

opportunity, I'd prefer being stiff at the wagon

lines than holding, it the guns.

27/5/18 Visited Abbeville this afternoon, it

is not much of a city, although pretty

along the canal. It has been bombed of

late & we saw some buildings that had

practically been blown to atoms. A

number of the buildings however look

as if a decent gale would wreck them.

Abbeyville has the same dirty narrow

footpaths you see in a lot of French

towns. Barring the churches I saw few

 

 

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