Diary of Trooper Ion Llewellyn Idriess-Aug 1916-Part 4

expected to be lined
with Turks, but not a
shot. Then we came in
sight of Oghratina, and the
Turkish redoubt surrounded
by one miserable
strand of barbed wire.
But the redoubt was
quite empty. The Turks
had evacuated. The
Colonel halted the men
here, and eight of us, and
under the charge of Sergt
Major Hanson, were told
off to go through our
screen and get in touch
with the Turks. So off
we started, past the
redoubt, past half
buried Turks, past the
Oghratina oasis, heading
a little south of east,

others would ride up
behind, until the desert all
around the oasis was a
great dark brown cloth
of horses and men. At
last we moved out again,
the men whistling and
singing, laughing and
joking, the horses pulling at
their bits in the fierce desert
heat. And again, on a high
hill, we looked behind
us, and what a great sight,
squadron upon squadron,
column upon column,
regiment after regiment, a
grand array of Australian
and New Zealand mounted
fighting men. All in their
shirt sleeves, hardy, laughing
fighting men. And in the
centre, the little Tommy 

Half a mile further on
we passed the screen, xx
a couple of men of which
had just caught two
Turks hiding in bushes.
We spread out to fifty
yards between each
man, and found ourselves
in big sand hill
country, with very
few bushes on it for
cover. We were glad
of this, because it did
not give the snipers a
chance to come within
close range. It was a
risky job. We knew,
if we did not fin the
Turks were not
retreating pell mell,
we would suddenly
find a ridge in front

battery, with its caterpillar
wheels and fat horses, and
little fresh faced men, the
little battery that was to do
such splendid work in the
fighting that lay ahead. It
was great to feel that a man
was one of such a splendid
fighting force. It was
very hot, we travelled slowly,
there was never the sound of
a gun. Then, just as we got
level with Romani, came a
distant Boom- Boom- off to
the right. We had a long
halt here, while the staff
officers in charge of operations
were busy with the telephone
lines. How impatient we all
were, the Turks would be
away and out of reach,
why the hell didn't our 

lined with Turks, would 
suddenly get a volley,
and be lucky if one
or two of us got back
to find tell that we
had "found" the Turks.
About a mile ahead,
on the skyline of a sand
hill, a man stood up
watched us for a while,
then leisurely climbed
over the other side of
the sand hill out of
sight. We knew he was
the sentry of a Turkish
outpost, and had gone
to warn his mates.
We went on very
carefully, and suddenly
came on one solitary
palm tree, a few
Bedouin clothes, a

damned heads get a move
on, etc etc. Then on again,
branching off across the desert
towards Quatia, chewing a
biscuit as we got hungry.
Then Boom -Boom- Boom-
Boom, big guns. Then a dead

Turk, his moustache all

bristles and his sand filled

eyes to the sky, then an

over turned case, smashed,

its shining Turkish ammunition 

strewn on the sand,

and half a dozen Turkish

stretchers, blood soaked,

the boom of guns again,

then down a sand hill

past a small oasis, past

many cases of Turkish

ammunition, many Turkish

stretchers, empty bottles.

Showing that the Turkish

couple of earthenware
jars, w some melon vines,
and a hefty young camel,
his rough wooden pack
already on him. We sorry
for the camel, it was
rough on him, we had to
shoot him. We pushed on
again quickly, and all
around us were tracks,
tracks, tracks, a few horse
tracks, countless camel
tracks, the tracks of men,
barefooted tracks, boot
tracks, slipper tracks,
tracks everywhere, a
great wide space of
tracks running into the
desert, the tracks of the
treating Turkish army.
We were in a position
of grave danger, and

and German officers lived
not too badly. Just relics of
the Turkish retreat from Romani.
Then a distant burst of
rifle fire, and we knew
we were drawing near.
Then Halt!, and stillness,
and the great body of
mounted men stood quite
still, while "Taube', "taube',
ran far back along the
line. The white bird
circled very high, very
suspicious, but not a
move among the troops,
for then we would be
seen, and a rain of
bombs among those
horses would cause - what?
Away she went at last,
and a little while
after we moved on, only 

dare not stop in one
place. We came on a
deserted Turkish camp. The
officers had had shelters
built from the pitiless
sun of date palm huts,
very rude affairs, a
black fellows gunyah
comparing more than
favorably with them.
But scattered about
were many scores of
empty bottles, telling their
own tale, and a great
many fish and meat tins
empty. The country now
developed into big steep
sand hills, on top of
most being a rude
shelter for an outpost,
but of sight of living
man, none.  Nothing

to stop again, as the hum
of the taube told us she
was coming back. But
objects on the brown desert
are very hard to distinguish
while they keep still, and
off flew the taube again.
Then the guns were plainer,
and the rifle fire more
distinct, x and the purr
of machine guns quite
plain. Then right ahead
was "Crash" Crash" Crash
"Crash 'Crash' and in the
sky was one of our own
planes, with the Turkish
shrapnel bursting all
around her. Then into
a saucer shaped piece of
ground, while the heads
halted on the ridge in
front. We dismounted, while 

but sand, and the
tracks of men in the
sand. Then we came down
the steep side of a very
big hill, and we had
to scatter a lot. At the
bottom of the hill we
almost dropped on an
oasis. The sergeant major and
I were riding a few yards
from the palms, when
suddenly three of our
fellows near us jumped
off their horses, held their
rifles at the ready, and
walking quickly, peered 
cautiously in at the
palms. Then Corporal Logie
put his rifle rifle to
his shoulder, up went
the other two rifles, and
"Crack" "Crack" "Crack" "Crack",
 

the troops followed up
and massed behind. Only a
few minutes, then the
regiment mounted again,
and rode just to the top of
the ridge. Straight down
the slope in front of us, a
good mile away, was the
first oasis of the big

oasis of Romani Deuid Quatia. All
over the oasiss the
Shrapnel was bursting
in white clouds. The
Colonel addressed us, only
a few words. He pointed
to the oasis in front. "A
Turkish battery of guns
has been located in that
oasis in front" he said,
"We have to charge the
oasis battery and take it with
the bayonet." "Fix bayonets. 

The Sergt Major and I put
spurs to our horses: and
galloped around the edge of
the oasis, to prevent
anyone escaping from it.
We did not know how
many Turks were in there.
Half way through the oasis
I saw them, and headed
through the trees, yelling
"Stanna", You cows, "Stanna",
One chap was kneeling up
behind a palm tree frantically 

waving a coat over
his head, and screaming
at me something that
sounded like Yah! Yah!.
Yah! The other chap was
lying on his face,= with
a look of great fear in
his eyes. I thought he
was only frightened, and
 

"We fixed bayonets." Imagine
what it meant, mounted
men to charge into the
mouths of guns, with
machine guns and rifle
fire supporting them, Can
You imagine what that
meant. Then we moved
out from under cover, out
over the ridge, and breaking
into a trot, xxxx
formed into one long
thin line. Captain
Bolingbroke was commanding
our squadron. The
oasis was a good mile
away, but getting nearer
nearer. We held the horses
in, so as to have their
full strength in the
last great crash. Then
the horses were getting 

I laughed till I nearly cried
at the strange Turkish
sounds he was making.
Afterwards I was very
sorry. The poor devil
was shoot through one
arm, and clean through
the body, fatally hit. We
bandaged him up as best
we could, and left his
waterbottles filled close
handy. The other man was
very frightened, and would
have told us all he knew
if he we could only
have spoken Turkish.
They were eating green
dates; evidently snipers,
their ammunition belts
were half empty. One of
them had a little
aluminum brandy flask,
 

excited, the men were
excited, the sand was
hard, we broke into a
canter, xxx long the
oasis came nearer, the
horses went faster, broke
into a swift canter some
men hanging on with all
their strength to horses that
were going mad, one
long line of gleaming
bayonets, extended
horses, excited men, a
thunder of hoofs, the
officers waved their
revolvers and shouted,
and all along the
line rose a great
roar of voices, men
shouting all wild
things, laughing men,
excited men, and 

half full of brandy, which
we left bef beside the
wounded man. But just
as we were going away,
I'm damned if the un-wounded 

man didn't
stoop down and pocket
the flask. We sent the
prisoner back with "Uncle
Meiklejohn, with instructions 

to the doctor that the
wounded man was there.
As his mate went away,
the wounded man, who
had been wandering,
tried to sit up and kept
calling out to his mate
in Turkish. We were very
sorry, but it was the
fortune of war. We
breathed freer when we
got to the top of the big
 

with one wild yell the
whole line broke into
a maddened, thundering
gallop. The oasis rushed
towards us, but never the
roar of a gun. Every
second I expected the
oasis to be in flames, the
regiment to be a mangled
mass of horses and men.
Then just at our right I
saw a sand bagged
trench. "The right flank
is gone" I thought, and
gritted my teeth. Bu We
thundered past, n but
never a machine gun
rose above the parapet.
The Turks had gone I
breathed again. Then
with a crash we were
through the oasis, and a 

hills surrounding the oasis.
To be caught in that oasis
was to be caught in a death
trap. You can guess how
we kept our eyes and
ears open now, ready
for fight or flight at an
instants notice, as the
case might call for.
But we saw no more
Turks, only tracks, tracks,
tracks. We munched
a biscuit going along,
I kept chewing at
the damn things as I
got hungry. Then the
country got more
open, the big bare
hills gave way to
small hills with
plenty of bushes on
them, and our dread
 

jumbled line of mounted
men, pulled up on the other
side. We looked at one
another, and breathed.
The guns were not there.
Then the sickening thud
of a spray of bullets
into solid flesh. A machine
gun was right on to us.
Plunging horses, struck
horses, nearly confusion.
We got into the palm trees
shelter, somehow. The
Colonels horse was down.
Panting horses with
crimson chests. We were
lining up into troops,
somehow, sorting ourselves

out. What was to be
done now? Now facing
us was a wide open flat,
like a great table, with