Diary of Edgar Roy Stanford, 1914-1915 - Part 1

Black cover, no writing.

N^o 433

Tpr Stanford ER

A troop C Squadron

1^st Australian Light Horse Rg^t

AEIF

ER Stanford

Orange

NSW

Australia

Diary June 21^st 14

Left Orange 12. midnight.

Aug. 22 Arrived Sydney 11.15 AM.

dinner in town. waited southern troops

till 5.15. Then rode to Roseberry Park. tea 9. pm. all tired

23 rise 5.30 breakfast 10.30. parade

at 11. went to town without leave

met Ed S. went to Burwood. very 

nice evening.

24. Hard drill morning. without

leave to Aunt Ada coming.

got wet going home

1914

Nov

1^st Left Albany 5.45 A.M. good 

weather and sea. Orvieto leading

36 transports & can see two Cruisers

Nov. 3^rd Weather still Calm, our escort

now Consists of four cruisers

one of them is beleved to be Japanese

Nov 9^th Great excitement prevailed to rumors

of conflict between the "Sydney" & the Emblem.

At dinner time the Colonel announced a victory

Nov 10^th The following message H.M.T.S. "Star of Victoria"

was posted 10^th Nov 1914 A.16

"Wireless message received from H.M.T.S. Orvieto

Nov 10^th "Sydney" started for Cocos at

7 A.M. At 9.30 she had sighted the 

enemy travelling at full speed. She

was able to get within range in 20 minutes

at the same time she signalled the 

chase was steering north. At 10.45 AM

the latter had to beach herself to avoid

sinking, her foremast and

three funnells were down. but the flag

was still flying. The "Sydney" then went

after the "Emdens" Collier, took the

crew off and sunk her.

"Sydney" returned again to "Emden"

who surrendered. The extent and 

nature of the German Casualties

are not yet known but they are

bound to be severe. The Sydney's

own Casualties required hospital

treatment which was probably

found on Direction Island 

The 'Emden' had had time to

destroy Wireless Telegraph station

and to cut one of the three Cables. A second

Cable is in fact & possibly the

third. All the instruments except

one were destroyed. This had

been buried & is now in use again

The Wireless Telegraph and Cable

operators deserve much praise for

sticking to their post & sending out

messages and for saving instruments

The 'Sydney' will sail for Colombo.

as soon as she has succeeded in

getting the German wounded & prisoners

on board. The operators may take

24 hours as it prevent Considerable

difficulty.

For several nights under the ships

have been in darkness at night

time. When they also Close up.

This proves that we are still in the danger

zone. the fight between the "Sydney"

and "Emden" took place out xxxx

of sight & hearing.

We are having very hot weather.

and expect to Cross the Equator

tomorrow.

There have been 20 two deaths.

in the fleet so far, both on

the Orvieto. We do donot know the

Cause yet. — pneumonia —

___________________________________

1915 

issued with ammunition

May 8^th Left Heliopolis at 11.30 with

"Packs" up. Marched to Helmir ^x

and entrained. Posted photos.

May 9^th Arrived Alexandria at 70.30 AM

sailed by S.S. Devanha

at 6.44 p.m. Issued with puttees & inf trousers

10^th At Sea in beautiful weather.

Rumours [[are?]] the Inf have

been having a bad time & that

we shall go straight into the

trenches. Islands in Sight

11^th Seem to be right in archipelago.

Two men-o-war in sight.

Passed close to one & she turned

out to be an armoured

merchantman

May

11^th cont^d 

At 5 p.m. we could hear the guns

& see two hydroplanes.

at 5.30 we were alongside

the Cruisers who were firing

apparently being directed

by the hydroplane.

The boys cheered with every

shot & although the shells could

be seen bursting, no results

could be seen. There is a 

regular cordon of destroyers

across the narrow leading

into the Dardanelles. We halted

for a few minutes for instruction

& the proceeded up along

the west Coast of Gallipoli.

[*British camp*] Passed big camps of horses

& Could See our artillery

in action. Very interested

in one aeroplane, who was 

constantly being fired at, the shells

May 1915

11^th bursting very close to it. The

whole coastline here is dotted

with boats of war and shipping

6 p.m told to have everything

ready & two days rations are

being issued. Our section

B. Warden Sect Leader, Worthington

C. Garrett, ERSlandon.

12^th 6.30 went on board destroyers

& were landed in punts.

E Dowling along of me in punt was

hit in the mouth ^∨not serious while disembarking

into punt. On landing we were

under shrapnel fire all the

morning. Moved up into

the Valley Death in afternoon

& bivouacked in good cover. The

roar of artillery & machine gun

& rifle fire all day & night was

beyond description. The shrapnel

has a terrifying effect especially

on new troops. Great [[s?]] were

told us by the Infantry & Sailors

of our boys magnificent charge

on landing. I overheard one

[*Colonel*] English officer tell one of our

officers, that we — Australians)

had done 3 months work in 3 weeks.

May 13^th We stood to arms at 4 A.M. & were

sent into the firing line at 6 A.M.

My first position was 30 yds from

enemy's. 50 yds further along from

a loophole I observed the 

enemys fire also a long line

of our own dead along the brow

of the hill, evidently fallen in

one of their [[?]] charge.

Terrible thing to see our Inf.

[[?]] over by Shrapnel. We

are all well dug in therefore

well protected from rifle fire

1915

May 13^th fire from all sides, for Snipers

seem to be every where.

night still in trenches, have

not yet heard of any casualties

among the Light Horse. It

remarkable thing considering

the tons of Shell & bullets that

have been used, for the Turks

have kept up a heavy fire

all day while we have fire

14^th very little. Hasd a very

trying night owing to repeated

attempts by the Turks to lodge

bombs in our trench(N^o 1 observation

post). its a dangerous spot

owing to being the left flank.

Two of our chaps were killed

during the night in A Sqdn. Craig

& Evans & four wounded. Steady

rifle fire & shells all day came

off at 4 p.m.

May 14 sent back to trenches again about

midnight, as an attack was expected.

May 15 Spent the day in digging our "dug out"

C Garrett sent to hospital with measles.

Went into trenches at 4 p.m. things very

May 16 quiet. Turks doing a lot of rifle

fire. Artillery very active on both

May 17 sides. Rifle fire quiet but

artillery "going strong". Back into 

trenches at 4 p.m. Our aeroplane which

seems to be always on the job, was today

located to 6 or 7 shrapnell shots which were

very badly directed as they burst at least

a mile behind the machine.

May 18^th Turks have started using a big 8 in

gun, supposed to be landed off the

"Goeben". They lobbed seven shots in the

valley but did little damage, beyond

scaring us a bit, for the explosion

is terrific. 

May 19^th Were hustled into the trenches last night about

10 p.m as an attack was expected from the Turks.

It came off too, about daylight 4.Am. None of us

will ever forget it Ia sure for it was our first

real fight & we were in a bad position, being

open to an attack on our left flank. The

enemy came on in masses to our left [[?]]

the New Z. trenches. It was a poor sort of a 

charge, the men seeming to huddle together

Sometime advancing a little & these reliving

again, just like a mob of Sheep being driven

along, which we imagined they were by their

officers who are mostly German. We poured

in a hot fire Climbing out on the flank of

our trench to do so. It was here we lost

nearly all the men lost in the fight for 

they had a machine gun trained on

that corner & killed about 8 men. However

our losses were as nothing compared to the 

Turkish. They went down in the hundreds

May 19^th all along the line. Upon their

retirement from the N.Z. position their

attack veered towards us but the fire

was too hot although 4 or 5 managed

to come right up on to our particular

trench before they fell. The poor beggars

seem brave enough, but lack enthusiasm.

When it was over which it was about

5 A.M we Could See from our position the

most of the line of attack. It was a 

terrible Sight, most of them being shot

almost as they left the trenches. In

one scrubby patch of 8 acres the

whole ground was literally Covered with

dead. I 'A' troop we lost Manson & 

Whittle & 3 wounded. About 4 p,m the

3rd L.H. releived us & very pleased we were

for during the last 3 days most of us

had had only one or two hours sleep.

May 20 Were disappointed about getting a 

May 20 Sleep last night, for no Sooner had

we moved our gear into our new quarters

further down the valley, than we were

sent into the second line of defence

behind the New Zealanders, where we put

in a very Cold night. Came out at 5.30 A.M.

& had a few hours sleep. Its wonderful

how it is possible to Sleep with the roar

of the fight giving on all round one,

but a few nights without sleep is the 

solution. Great excitement ran

down the Valley at 6 p.m. when it was 

reported that the Turks had hoisted the

"white flag". We were all told to stand

warms at once & Reap under Cover for

the Turks have played dirty tricks during

this fight under the same flag. However,

it turned out to an armistice to bury

their dead as far as I can learn,

though from our position with good

May 20^th glasses all they seemed to do was

to collect the arms & equipment &

what seemed to us worst of all, get a 

good look at our position in the valley

We all reckoned it to be a great

mistake & only hope that it will turn

out all right. Directly the flag disappearance

firing recommenced very heavily & were

again sent in as supports the N.Z. trenches

Forgot to mention that in the morning

several of us made our way down to 

the beach & greatly engaged a good

swim in spite of shrapnell & stray

bullets that kept lobbing round

us. Les Chateau who has become

almost deaf is being sent back today

& I am sending with him a doz films

which I have take since leaving  

Alexandria. Don't know his N.S.W. address

but if they don't burn up a letter C/o military

people Egypt ought to find him.

May 21^st Had a very quiet day as far

as we are concerned, but our artillery

especially a new howitzer battery close

by was very busy x seems to have

silenced the enemy's artillery for 

there is only an occasional shot

coming down now C. Lister striped

in gully this morning shot dead.

May 22^nd Had our first good night's sleep

for a long time last night. Going

on sapping at 2.30 p.m. rained

last night & everything is terribly

muddy. Had a terrible shock

this morning. Sgt Paul who shows 

our dug out with us, came in for 

a snack & while we were having it

an expensive bullet struck him

almost blowing the top or his head

off. Snipers work & it goes on all

day, nearly a dozen Casualties xx

everyday on our road up the

gully, last to be shot in our own

May 22^nd dug out in Cold Blood nearly drives

one mad. It made us all feel

very sick particularly myself feel I 

was standing behind him & his blood

& brains were splashed over my face.

sapping on [[?]] hill in afternoon & in N.Z. supports at night

May 23. Went down to the beach this morning

for a swim. One of our battleships

[*The Albra*] had got aground through Coming

in too close in order to get a go at

the forts, but she kept up a terrific

fire on the forts & trenches until she

was towed off by another cruiser.

apparently none the worse for her

mishap. The "Nelson" also took part

in the firing using her 12 in Guns with

great effect. The whole of the Light

Horse are here now as far as & can make

out for I saw fellows belonging to the 

8^th 9^th & 10^th today. I might mention

that all our transport work is carried

on by the Indians at night with mule 

waggons