Diary of Trooper Ion Llewellyn Idriess-Oct 1916-Part 7

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ride those horses

back to Hill 70

to-night. You'd better

ride back to Deuidar

with us. "Right oh",

said Young, "we're

caught fair and

square. We'll go back."

So they turned back.

The Tommy Officers, as

soon as they had cooled

down, thought the

matter a great joke.

So they all rode

back to Deuidar,

the two men groomed

their horses, the Indian

grooms immediately

took them away, and

we had a great

laugh over it. At

last I managed to

We all made camp

somehow, and after a lot

of silly singing and na

nonsense, rolled our saddle

blankets over us and

settled down for a sleep.

All of a sudden there

was some screeches, then

the beat of a drum, and 

some highland bagpipes

started a rollicking

march tune. There were

yells and shouts and

pandemonium in the

distance. Up Jumped

Bertie, chucked his

hands above his head,

hopped about on one

leg, let out an awful

screech, and shouting

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get a horse stolen

from Quatia, and

managed to rejoin

the regiment here, at

Hod-el-Amara, just

by El Ab. But the

fighting appears to be

all over. We are Just 

holding the positions

we have taken until

the infantry can come

out and dig themselves

in. At EL Ab a

notice was printed up

above two sick Turks

"Attention", Cholera,

with the compliments

of the German Ambulance

Corp" And now

we are afraid of the

deadly scourge; great

precautions have

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been taken. A

few cases have

broken out among the

Tommies at Romani,

and we hear of a

couple of cases among

the Australians and

New Zealanders. At

present I am in the

New Zealand field

hospital, with something

that looks very

like dysentery.

And so was my 

experience of the

fighting, as I saw it

myself. The fighting

was spread over a

fairly wide front, so

of course I only saw the

fighting in front of me.

In ways it was a

something about his

"Scotch blood stirring"

ran away bootless in

the dark towards the

advancing pipers. Nix

and I followed, and we

met the pipers and drummer

coming down the track.

What a crowd was

following them up, with

Bertie dancing and

yelling in the front. They

were escorting all the 

silly beggars home. We

got to sleep sometime

anyhow, after a drunken

Scottie had fallen into

the tent and brought his

Dardanelles bottles over

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peculiar sort of

fighting. Far worse

than any trench fighting

In a trench the enemy

could send bullets and

shrapnel, and machine

gun bullets by the million,

and the man in the

trench can laugh at them.

Not so out in the open.

There a man has got to

take all that is coming

to them. Finish is the

firing from a loophole

at another little square

loophole, behind he which

a man may or may

not be, in this fighting

it was man shooting

at man, then facing

machine gun fire on

the open ground, the

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scream of bursting

shrapnel and the

roar of high explosives,

with a mans whole

body exposed to what

was coming to him. Even

the sound of the bullets

was more frightful. It

is easy to know fear

in this fighting. And

we were advancing

and attacking all the

time, while the Turk,

with almost his

whole force, was

fighting a desperate

rear guard action.

And he fought it

splendidly. Again the

Turk had a great

number of machine

guns, and boundless

for a solid hour, I

think Bertie got chased

back to the tent. I'm not

quite sure. .... But what

a glorious thing this morning

- no "Stand To Arms",

for how many months,

I think I slept until

5 O'Clock 3^rd Oct  We are

lined up ready to start

for Deuidar. Yesterday

afternoon the Brigade

was lined up and

addressed by General

Chauval, who decorated

an officer of the Sixth

for conspicuous bravery

on Gallipoli. The

General gave a short

address on two subjects,

women, and the

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quantities of ammunition

There is the pig headedness

of the British authorities

again. Two years ago they

found out what was the

value of machine guns,

and yet, here we are

to-day, with the same

tiny number of obsolete

old guns as we started

out with. A machine

gun is a terrible

weapon, and how

the Germans and Turks

know it. They also

know the value of

anti aircraft guns.

Every morning, here,

at this camp, there is

the taube alarm, and

men and horse have

to scatter for their

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lives, while the 

taube sails serenely

over and over us, and

not a single anti -

aircraft gun to annoy 

her. The wounded had

a terrible less time,

especially those badly

burnt. They were got

away from the firing

line, and then transported

many weary

miles on camels, two

stretchers being strapped

to each swaying camel.

It was the only way.

One thing also. The

old, old cry in the

papers about the

Turks being short

of ammunition, and

everlasting, detested

theme of saluting. What

he said about women,

the women he meant,

was very sensible

and quite true. Very

much the same about

saluting, but not quite.

He presented saluting

to us in a new light,

and much more pleasant

light. He said it had

been a recognised army 

custom for many

hundreds of years. His

best way of putting

it was this way. If we

meet a man on a

bush road we always

say "good-day". It is a

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especially of copper

for their shells well

We picked up many

fragments of these exploded

shells, and they were

made in great part of

pure, burnished copper.

And the Turks were

firing at us rifle bullets

of pure, solid copper.

What awful, awful

lies the papers have been

telling for these months

past. ... There is one

more thing, a very brave

deed, xx and how I

forgot to mention it I

don't know. It was the

day Morry and Stan

and Bert and I were

out scouting on our

own. We were riding

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along, lazily watching

one of our planes flying

over the Turkish lines.

The 'plane gradually

turned and circled

round. Now high above

the 'plane was a small

white cloud. Now

when our 'plane got

just underneath this

cloud, exactly like a

swooping hawk

came a taube straight

for the 'plane. She

poured her machine

gun right into the

'plane. The 'plane

swerved ducked, and

swerved again, then

fell hundreds of feet

then volplaned down

into our lines. We

time honored custom,

and it would be the

height of bad manners

to omit the salutation.

Very true indeed. He

added that in the same

way it is rude to

pass an officer without

saluting, which is the

military custom. That

is a new way of looking

at it for us. The

trouble is for us that

we believe each man

to be as good as another,

though of course we

are not so silly as to

think that our individual

powers are as good as

that of the proved

capable officer. It

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learned after that

the aviator and observer

were both mortally

wounded. The  One poor

fellowe both died, they

had shocking wounds.

Hod it Amara. 23^rd Aug.

One thing I noticed over

going over the old ground

as camel escort, patrolling

etc. All the way from

Quatia, along the Turkish

artillery road, the dreary

path of the Turkish

retreat, is behind every

mound of sand, behind

every bush, the Turkish

shooting possies. Every

where are their hastily

dug splendidly hidden

short trenches, dug to

hinder our advance as