Diary of George Booley, 5th Battalion, AIF, 1914 - Part 1 of 8

Diary of 
N^o III Private. G. Booley
A. Company
5^th Battalion
2^nd Infantry Brigade
1^st A.I.F 

As we appeared to have plenty of time and
most of the other fellows have been writing
a Diary, I have decided to keep one myself.
We are now several days out on our long
voyage so I can't give the details of the
first part of it, but as there was nothing 
very sensational happened in
that time it wont make much difference
Our Company were the first to go aboard
the Transport "Orvieto we came on
the 20^th October, our work was to see to the
Kits being put aboard & getting things
ready you the rest of the Battalion who
came aboard on the 21^st they were all
on for dinner, we were having dinner &
we heard people on the Pier so we
knew that the time was not far off
sailing time most of us rushed up on
deck to get a last look & Melbourne
& our Friends who might happen to be
there to see us off. I got a good position
but was very much disappointed at not
seeing a soul that I knew, I saw the
Father of one of the chaps in the distance
I was very thankful that there was no
on belonging to me there, as it was I
could'nt help a lump coming into my
throat to see some woman wiping the
tears away with one handkerchief and 

waving one in the other hand, some of them
would be smiling through their tears, we
got a very hearty send off it was about
4 P.M. when we pulled away from the
wharf. Pier, there were a good many boat
loads out on the Bay, to give us a cheer,
as we were going through the heads a
Yacht came out to us with some of the
chaps from Queenscliff to give us a
parting cheer. From this on till we got
to Albany there was very little happened
to write about, on the - the H.M.S.
Melbourne passed us in the distance,
she went on towards Albany, another
day we saw a whale spouting in the
distance but not near enough to see the
whale. It was a fairly rough morning
the 26^th Oct when we arrived at Albany
There were a great number of boats anchored
in the outer Harbour most of them
were Transports, which we could pick
out by the white patch painted on the
side with the number painted on,
how many these were I can't say as at
that time I did not think of a Diary so
did not bother about it. The trip so far
had been all one could wish for but
I must admit I was never sure of myself
all the time but I did not refuse a meal
all the same, I blamed it a good deal to
being kept down below I was put on 

with another chap to keep the rifles of our
Company clean, it took us some time to get
them clean because the day we left Broadmeadows 
we had a bonzer dust storm it
just smothered the rifles & got in every
crack and crevice in them. When you
leave the open water at Albany you come
into rather a nice little Harbour but to
get to the town you have to go through a
narrow opening into the inner Harbour
this one is a fine little Bay protected all
round by large hills, until you get in
here you would wonder however there
could be a town in such a lonely bleak.
looking place but once you get inside
you see some fine looking country, from
the outer Harbour you can see a nice
place in the distance & what appears to
be a nice big, orchard, the Town itself
struck me as being a very pretty little
place, we did not get ashore to look
round but it looked very neat & clean,
there appeared to be some fine buildings
there, we had the glasses on it every
chance we got, we were close enough in
to see motor cars flying around the streets
we did not even pull round in to the
Jetty, but took coal & water from barges
that came alongside we were all longing 
to get ashore, & most of the chaps
were growling like one thing because 

they could not get off, they have not been
used to being closed up in a small place
& not allowed to do as they like, not that
our boat is small by any means indeed
we are very lucky to have such a boat
as we have found out since we arrived
here and seen some of the other Transports
we only have the one full Battalion on
here, a few hundred Engineers, & the
Headquarters Staff, in all I dont think
we have 2000 men on board. I posted
a big lot of letters on the & wonder
when they were received if ever as we
heard that a lot of our letters did not
pass the censor and were torn up.
One little thing I forgot to mention was they
have been on board to be issued each day
at 11 oclock, the chaps think it was a present
& say they should get it for nothing instead
of paying 3^s a pint so they have all struck
for the time being, as it is cool now &
they are not in need of, it they may be
glad of it before they get to the other side
The 29^th Oct is the first date I have & the
event of importance was the arrival
of the New Zealand Contingent I dont
know how many there were the Transports 
are all painted the same color as 
the escort with them in the distance
it is hard to tell the Men-o war 

from the Transports, amongst such a number
of boats it is hard to tell how many
there are they are lined up in three long
lines, we are right inside on the end of
the lines. Today we were Innoculated
today, they injected some stuff into our
left arm, it is supposed to be a preventive
from fever, I have heard such
tales of Innoculation that I was dreading
the thing but it was a very simple operation
I felt a bit queer soon after & my
arm got a bit stiff towards evening
but I dont feel as bad as some of them
appear to be. The Band played in the
evening to revive our drooping spirits
& one Company held a Boxing Tournament
October 29^th. I got a bit of a surprise today
to be appointed (M.P) Military Policeman
I never expected it in fact it is a job
I always had a set on, I am told by my
Sergeant that I should look on it as an
honor so I made no fuss about, it, as far
as work goes there is nothing to do at
all, it would be much better if there
was, I would much rather be up on
top with the rest of the boys. Oct 30^th & 31^st
were very tame nothing doing at all, we
are all chafing at the delay, all we have
had to do is look from one boat to another
& wonder when we will leave here. 

Nov. 1^st This is the day of days & one of the
greatest in Australias history, our fleet
started for out on the next stage of our journey,
we had heard the evening before that
we were moving in the morning, so as
soon as we felt the engines throb we were
all out of our hammocks & up on deck.
We could see a lot of people gathered on
the shore even though it was only 6 A.M.
when we first began to move out, Our
boat is the Flagship of the fleet so we
had to go to the head of the procession
I dont think I shall ever forget this
morning. my thoughts were very mixed
as we sailed from one end of the line
to the other taking the Salute from each
one we passed, our Bands were playing
(Brass & Pipe) & I can think I can easily
say it was the proudest time of my life
one fellow said to me, " We are sailing out
of here very proudly." About a quarter
of an hour before we started two Gunboats
went out from the harbour one went
straight ahead & the other pulled to one
side to wait for us, when we got to the
end of the line the other boats began
to form in line & follow us it was a
grand sight, after reaching open water
they began to draw off & form into three 

lines, when they were formed up we got
a chance of counting them, there were
36 Transports & as far as we could see
4 Warboats, the Melbourne Minautor in front, the
Ibuki a Japanese cruiser on the Starboard
side, the Melbourne on the same
side further back & the Melb Sydney
on the Port side. Soon after leaving the
harbour we passed a boat flying the
Norweigan flag she looked as if she has
had a bad time all the paint was knocked
off her hull, while we were on church
parade we passed the Katoomba on her
way to the East. Tonight soon after dark
our deck lights were put out, the reason
of it was we got word that the Emden
has sunk some more boats, & in the
event of her seeing us if we only had the
main riding lights up they would not
be able to tell which were Transports
& which were Men-o-war, the men on
the Minautor are hoping they will meet
the Emden. Monday 2^nd Nov. We received
word by wireless that Great Britain
has declared war on Turkey, they have
been looking for it, ever since they 
bought
the Goeben & the Breslau it has looked
very fishy, we know what is what
now, Turkey will just about get wiped