Diary of Trooper Ion Llewellyn Idriess-1917- Part 7

have yet had has been the 'Tanks". These
marvellous, far famed affairs were brought
up here as a great secret, and the poor
beggars of Tommy infantry fairly doted on
them. After the first attack on Gaza
failed, the Tommies used to say to us
"Wait till the Tanks coom up choom,'
an' we'll show they bleedin" Turks how
to make mince meat of them". Well
the Tanks did come up and from
what we can hear of thing the Turks
simply blew them to blazes 1^st May. And
so the days go on, and on, and on, and 
night and day the guns are booming, at
night above and on the redoubts of Gaza it is
like fireworks with the flash of the bursting
shells. And occasionally a brilliant rocket
lights the sky, its signal message fraught
with meaning for both friend and foe.
And by day the taubes fly over our lines and
back, and our 'planes fly over the Turkish
lines and back, and on the bloody Gaza
redoubts the luck of battle turns to the
English then to the Turk, then back again
and so on by day and night, while
both sides brings hurry up great reinforcements

and the battle front spreads by miles. And
Gaza should have been taken on the first
day. And all among the troops we want
to know what our generals are doing.
"What is wrong? Is it true that jealousy
each against the other is responsible for
the failures". Is it sheer incompetency?
We want to finish the war. We do our
part, why do they not do theirs? They have
the splendid material. What did they do
with the great army we saw spread
before us on the plain of Belah only
one short month ago, 5^th or 6^th May. It is
moonlight nights now, and we've got to
put up with sneaking death from the sky
while we sleep. The taubes drop bombs on
our camps and our planes drop bombs on
them. Last night the air was ablaze with sky
rockets, as the Turkish shrapnel burst in the
air searching for our 'planes. About' 10^th May
The taubes are playing the very devil of a night
time by dropping bombs. They are bombing our
hospitals a lot, but that is much our own
fault. A night ago forty bombs were dropped
one of our big hospitals in at Belah. Two
Tommy doctors were operating on a man
for appendicitis with the bombs

bursting all around them, but they went
steadily on with their work, and finished
the operation successfully. It was a case of
great nerve. 12^th. Patrol encounters go on
daily all along the line. Our troop had a great
little scrap with a Turkish cavalry troop
two days ago. And so it goes on day by
day, the Turkish cavalry trying to 'line us
into traps, and we doing to him. But so
far we have far outclassed the wily
Turk at his own game. And by day
and night, from the Gaza redoubts, come
the roar of guns and the distant crackle
of rifle fire. We are going out to day on
what promises to be a good stunt. 13^th The
stunt was up to putty, after all. We went out in 
the morning, I think the whole Brigade, crossed
the Waddy, and then out across the plain
towards the distant ranges, a long way this side
of whish stretches the Turkish line of defence
from Gaza to Beersheba. We had to get in
touch with the Turks, and keep them occupied
while a couple of our heaavy guns moved up
some miles behind us when we had made
the country quite safe. The guns were then
xxxxx

to open fire on one of the Turkish camps. We
got a few miles out, then the force split up
into reserves, main, body, supports, outposts. and
all the rest of the movements of this class of
warfare. Our troop and another troop were
right away out in front, on a little hill
named 630. Along way on our right,
and a long way on our left, were similar
outposts. Now right in front of us the ground
sloped away in small hills and flats. A little
more than a mile in front of us was a deep
'Waddy across our front'. This side of the waddy
was flat country, on which were browsing
camels and horses, and minding them were
armed Bedouins and Turks. Closer still was a
big stone house, in which were a patrolling
Turkish cavalry waiting for us to be silly
enough to walk up to the house and
be shot. Right away on the other side of the
waddy was more cultivated flat ground
covered with browsing camels and horses,
with their attendant bedouins and Turks,
and riding along the Waddy bank, coming
and going, were the grey horses of the
Turkish cavalry patrols. On the small
hills just behind them, were their infantry
redoubts. And running just behind

them again, was the Turkish railway line
from Gaza to Beersheba. A long long
way to the South east, we could just
the shine of the sun on the white roofs
of Beersheba. Right away behind all
this some twenty miles away, ran a big
range of the hills. Our troop leader sent
out two sections, of four men each, one
outpost to the right, one to the left, a
little closer to the Turks. Very soon came
the Crack, Crack, Crack of rifle fire, as the
Turks commenced firing at these two small
outposts. And so the day wore on, as it
usually does, with the Turks hovering
around us on all sides except the rear
and afraid to attack for fear of a trap
while all the time, as is usually the case
our little outpost was a long way away
from any supports. Late in the afternoon
our guns opened fire on a Turkish redoubt,
and we had the pleasure of seeing the big
shells bursting in the trenches and amongst
the tents of the Turks and the Turks
running in all directions for their trenches.
But the bombardment was kept up for
half an hour only, then our guns knocked
off business and went laboriously back to

camp. Ourselves, we had to wait until the
guns were safe, then work back to safety
quick and lively. The sun was almost
down, the Turks were working closer and
closer around us, the firing from our two
little outposts was much livelier, when just
as the sun was disappearing we got the order
to "Retire our with all haste." The two
sections were called in at the run, we
mounted our horses, and the two troops
set off for the setting sun and safety
at a gl mad canter. Caesar, that was
a glorious ride. Two sections of us
were galloping a little way behind as
a rearguard, but though we cast
quick glances over our shoulder to see
if the Turks were chasing us, we knew
that at the pace we were going no
Turkish cavalry in the world could
overtake us, no matter how numerous
they were. A light breeze was blowing,
the ground was hard, the horses were
wild for a run, every second was the
expectation of a volley of shots ringing
out from behind. It was a glorious
ride. Som Before it was quite dark we
were miles away. 18^th May A couple of

days ago seven of the New Zealanders
were shot while out on the usual days
reconnaissance. The Turks were waiting
for them with one of their traps. They
had a line of riflemen concealed in
the long barley before dawn, the line
of men extending over some miles of
country, in front of them being snipers
and in front of them again a horseman
who rode along inviting all and sundry
to come and capture him. Of course
as soon as he is chased, he gallops back
among the concealed riflemen. An old
Turkish trick. Yesterday the screen of the
Seventh Light Horse had two men killed,
and eight wounded all out of the one
troop in the same style the patrol scrap.
To day a taube dived fair at three of
our planes that were flying just above us.
One of our planes was forced down, the 
pilot being shot through the hand. Many
English officers have told us that the taube
is a far more powerful machine than
our own 'planes being superior to them
in every way. It is a shame that the
English War Office should send men up
in such obsolete machines, when they know

 that on meeting a taube our machine must
either fl clear out or be destroyed. The
papers have been full for many months
of our mastery of the air in France, then
why are not a few of our up to date
machine brought out here, thus saving many
of our airmen and also doing far more
effective work. . . . . From the thousands of
horse and mules and camels walking about,
the grass is all worn away, and the country
is one great bed of fine dust. The wind
blows strongly, so that for half of each
day we are suffocated in dust. We are
reading in the papers, together with all the
rot about the great “Gaza victory,” that
the troops here are in a land of paradise
revelling in oranges, pomegranites, and all
the fruits of the orient, I wish that the
thrice born idiots who write such lies
were bearing arms out here in the front
line. 19^th May Three New Zealanders were shot a
day or so ago in a patrol scrap. We are getting a
miserable allowance of rations now, for some
reason or other. Three and a half loaves of stale
bread, three tins of bully beef, a bully beef stew
at night time and sometimes a tin of jam,
sometimes not, for four men for twenty
four hours rations. The days are very

hot and dusty. 21^st We are going out to
night on what promises to as be a b=very
big and exciting stunt. We are mostly
glad of the stunt, one reason because if
it is worked well it will do a great
deal of damage to the Turks, and
another because it gives us all a
gamblers chance of getting out of it.
Every man I n the stunt will have one
chance in four, and must draw one of
those chances.
(1) Be killed outright.
(2) Be dangerously wounded with its
attendant agony and great chance
of death.
(3) Be wounded.
(4) Come out of it alive without being
scratched.
Of course, the vast majority of us want
to draw No 3 that will mean at least
a spell from this accursed existence.
Nobody wants No 2, but all are
quite willing to take their chance of
No 1. The poor devils who draw No 4
will have to keep on here in this long
drawn, indefinite fighting, never seeming
to go ahead, losing lives and doing nothing

to bring the war nearer its close. . . . . One of
our chaps got 21 days today for criticising
our officers in one of his letters. The adjutant
opened it. X I believe he wrote that
“most of our heads are drunken bastards.”
It is very nearly true. Our officers are
often drunk. Our adjutant himself is a
drunken pig. The officers ever since the
beginning of the war have had a
glorious time. Ask any man from any
regiment, from any battalion, from any
corps whatever, the answer is always the
same. Plenty of them are splendid men,
and plenty of them are pigs.  22^nd We were
greatly disappointed without the stunt,
although it turned out a big success.
As our old regiment were not in the
really interesting part of it, I can’t describe it
at all. Suffice to say that all the mounted
men, including the camel corps, had the
usual night march. One division towards
Beersheeba, another towards Galaze. Our
Brigade was out protecting one of the
flanks, and had no other excitement bar
the usual Bedouin snipers. The object of the
venture was to blow up twelve miles of
a railway line running from Beersheeba
and threatening our right flank, also