Papers of Athol Cluny McPherson - Part 12

was a rumour [[?]]

Melbourne that the

"Orvieto" had been

sunk Senator Pierce
sent a wireless for

particulars of same

219 miles    

Thursday 5th Nov Sea

very calm, had rifle

drill in morning

washing parade &

Semaphore in afternoon

the Minutour (Flag ship

of fleet passed 

us at dinner time

Coming from the tail

end of the transport

having gone back there

owing to suspicious

looking smoke, but

all was well, the

Osterley passed us at

about dark, going to

England 242 miles

Paid 14/-

Friday 6th Rifle drill.

in morning sea very

calm, came out with

life belts on in [[the?]]

afternoon to test how

many they had on

board a good many

short. Got a wireless

message to say that the

Square Heads we using

Neutral flags to lay

mines, weather getting

hot, drawing close to

the Equator, crossed the

Route of Mail Steamers

Distance 253 miles

Saturday 7th Nov Drilling

with rifle in morning

holiday for sports

in the afternoon

a wireless message

reports that a British

Cruiser attacked five

Germans off Valpariso

with the result that

the Berkshire was

sunk a later one

reports that two

more British Cruisers

came to her assistance

with the result that

all of the German

Cruisers went down

but so far this is not

confirmed Distance 253

(the same as yesterday)

Saturday 8th Church Service

in the morning. A 

trooper on board the

Euripides died was buried

at sea, while we

were at Church & Parade

the boat (Euripides) 

steaming to the outside

& stopping until after

the burial, Saw a

lot of flying fish, the

weather getting very 

hot. A "mock" fire

alarm" last night at

eight & all of us

had to Parade on

board. Distance 243

Monday 9th Nov Our

Escort started moving

"the Sydney" steaming

away at full steam

ready for action,∧about 6 am, the

Japanese Cruiser going

a few hours later, about

10 pm 10 am in the same

direction, it appears

that one of the Japanese

Cruisers ran

away from here the

"Emden" gave chase

but "the Jap" sent a

code message here

WWH (we want help)

with the result

that the Sydney went

in pursuit, it being

stated that she was

only 70 miles off. near

the Cocos Islands

our Commander altered

his course & went

North of the Islands

out of sight the

result was that the

Emden was sent

ashore, to save sinking

they also had a collier

which tried to escape

but was captured

the loss reported is

13 British Wounded 2

killed. There is

also a report of 

Cholera on board

one of the transports

there was another death

on board the Euripides.

On guard at

night, weather very hot

9th continued

Kings Birthday  [[?]]

[[?]] has just been

confirmed about the

Sydney sinking the Emden

our loss was 2 killed

13 wounded so reported

the collier was also

captured Distance 234

It is thought that

the Germans landed

troops on the Islands

(Cocos)

Friday 10th Weather getting very

hot, the Germans cut

the wires on Cocos

Island (The Cable)

the Collier was caught

& sunk, the Germans

were taken prisoners

off both the Warship

& Collier. Two deaths

from Pneumonia

on board the [[Bonalla?]]

all lights were out

on board the Transport

at 7 pm last night

the only light visible

being the stern xxxx

smoking being prohibited

the Japanese Cruiser

& the Melbourne

came back last night

as an escort, so far

the Sydney has not

returned. Distance

Distance 243 miles

11th Nov We waited

for all of the other

transports to come

past us & then came

back to the front

again. The New Zealanders

were firing

shots out to sea

they being the

last boats of the

transports, saw

a number of flying

fish. Weather

cooler today, we

started using

condensed water

240 miles

2361 miles from Albany

Thursday 12th Weather

very hot "The Empress

of Asia" (a coverted

Cruiser) passed us

[[bearing?]] East, expected

to be going to the

Cocos Islands to

fix up the Cables

cut by the Germans

The Japanese Cruiser

came alongside

the "Orvieto" & landed

a party of their

men on board

they stayed about 

half an hour

263 miles 263

Friday 13th Nov The

New Zealand boat

went ahead of us

making for Colombo

to coal. Very wet

day it came down

in torrents for

about two hours

The Dr Examined

our arms for vaccination.

Very little

drill on account

of the rain.

We had the number

of our overcoats

taken Crossed

the Equator [[today?]]

234 miles

Saturday 14. Had Physi rifle

drill & vaccinated in 

the morning. No parade

in the afternoon fairly

warm day 243 miles

Sunday 15th Arrived at

Colombo about dinner

time, saw a turtle

on the track, also a

lot of porpoises, the

harbour full of

shipping including

warships, the Sydney

in Port also

The Empress of Russia

the Russian Cruiser

Askold came out

& anchored outside

the entrance, she

is a four masted

vessel used in

the war with Japan

the sea when approaching 

Colombo was

alive with small

boats with one sail

up, but they were

not allowed alongside. 

Colombo is

a very pretty place

with all the beach

green with palms

growing quite close

to the waters edge

& there are also

very fine buildings

one Hotel near the

Pier being enormous

it is said to be

one of the finest

in the world, the

water in the harbour

is very dirty, we

anchored out

today, but expect

to go in tomorrow

to take in water

but they wont let

any of us ashore

The Governor came

on board this

afternoon the H

Coy being picked

as a guard of

honour, some

of the transports

gave the Askold

a rousing cheer

as she passed

but we were unable

to, as she saluted

us & we had to

stand at attention

while she was passing. 234 miles

Monday 16th Nov 

washing parade in

the morning, the

boat "Orvieto" took

in water, niggers

bringing the boats

alongside with

it, they are very

much like the Indians

that visit Australia

but I fancy they are

stronger, as the seem

to be a mass of

muscle on the arms

& of course they are

very straight, the

boats that most

of them run about

in are very narrow

with one mast, the

sea was alive with

them a few miles out

but they werent