Sir John Monash, Personal Files Book 11, 31 January - 29 February 1916, Part 12

B.M. 
Please arrange a meeting of
C.O's & adjutants at
1600 today. 
[*Action taken JPM Bm 29*]
Orderly officer to arrange for
table & seating accommodation. 
 ↓      JM
L Simonson     
JP McGlinn Lt Col
Bns 29  29/02/16
8

AUSTRALIAN
IMPERIAL FORCE 
FEB 29 1916
4th Infantry Brigade. 11 20
OC Bns
The GOC Brigade
desires the attendance

of CO^s & Adjutants at
Bde H.Qrs at 1600
today
13^th Bn  AW Davis 2/Lieut 11.25 29/2/16
14 AR [[Blamey?]] 11.25 29/2/16
15 [[Perry?]] Lt 1126 29.2.16 
16 [[?]] Lt 1128 29.2.16

TABLE G.O.C
4aB/2960 
AUSTRALIAN IMPERIAL FORCE
FEB 29 1916
4th Infantry Brigade.
Shewing PERSONNEL, TRANSPORT VEHICLES AND ANIMALS ETC. provided for 
under "Existing" and "New Armies 1915" Establishments. 
BRIGADE HEADQUARTERS

PERSONNEL.
Estblshmnt
Designation	Old	New
Brigadier (GOC)	1	1
Brigade Major	1	1
Staff Captain	-	1
Orderly Officer	1	-
Machine Gun "	-	1
Chaplains	-	3
Interpreters	-	1
Vet. Officer	1	-
"      Sergt.	-	1
Postal Corpl.	1	1
"           Pvtes.	1	2
CLERKS
Staff Sergt.	1	1
Corporal	1	-
Actg. Q.M.S.	-	1
Police Sergt.	1	-
"       Cpl.	1	-
"       Pvtes.	3	-
Cooks	1	1
Batmen	8	10
A.O.C.
Actg. W. O.	-	1
Clerks	-	1
Pte. (Storemen)	-	1
Drivers	3	5
TOTAL	25	33
TOTALS	25	33

H O R S E S
	Riding		Draught
	Establishments
Designation	Old	New	Old	New
Brigadier (GOC)	3	2	2	-
Brigade Major	2	2	-	2
Staff Captain	--	2
Orderly Officer	1	-	4	8
Machine Gun "	-	1
Chaplains	-	-
Interpreters	-	1
Vet. Officer	2*	-
"      Sergt.	-	1
Postal Corpl.
"           Pvtes.
CLERKS
Staff Sergt.
Corporal
Actg. Q.M.S.
Police Sergt.	1	-
"       Cpl.	1	-
"       Pvtes.	3	-
Cooks
Batmen
A.O.C.
Actg. W. O.
Clerks
Pte. (Storemen)
Drivers
TOTAL	13	9	6	10
Add  : May be drawn             for Chaplains		3
Required for 1 Field Kitchen locally approved				4
TOTALS	13	12	6	14

*Includes one pack horse
 

TRANSPORT
	Vehicles		Bicycles
	Estblshmt		Estblshmt
Designation	Old	New	Old	New
Carts, Cooks	1	-
Wagons  ) " Limbered )	-	1
Wagons )Tool G.  S.	1	2
Machine Gun "
Chaplains			-	3
Interpreters
Vet. Officer
"      Sergt.
Postal Corpl.			-	1
"           Pvtes.
CLERKS
Staff Sergt.			-	1
Corporal
Actg. Q.M.S.			-	1
Police Sergt.
"       Cpl.
"       Pvtes.
Cooks
Batmen
A.O.C.
Actg. W. O.			-	1
Clerks
Pte. (Storemen)
Drivers
TOTAL	2	3	-	7
TOTALS	2	3	-	7

TABLE - 29/2/16
 Shewing PERSONNEL provided for under "Existing" and "New Armies 1915

Establishments for

AN INFANTRY BATTALION

===============================================================================                                   

HEADQUARTERS			MACHINE GUN SECTION			FOUR COMPANIES
Designation	Establishment Existing| New		Designation	Establishment Existing| New		Designation	Establishment Existing| New
LieutOCol.O/C	1	1  √	Subalterns	1	1	Majors.Cmdg.	2	1
Majors	1	1 √	Sergeants	1	2	Captains "	6	3
Adjutant	1	1 √	Corporals	1	1	" 2nd in Commd.	-	4
Qartermaster	1	1 √	Privates	12	24	Lieutenants	8	8
Transport Offr.	1	-	Batemen	1	1	2nd Lieuts.	8	-
Signalling "	1	-	Drivers	2	6 2	Colr. Sergts.	8	-
Regtl. Sgt.Major	1	1 √	Total	18	31 35	Coy.Sgt.Major	-	4
" Q.M.S	1	1 √	Add:			" Q.M.S.	-	4
O.R. Sergeant	1	1 √	By Brigade arrangement			Sergeants	32	32
" Clerks	1	1 √	Corporal		1	Corporals	40	40
Sergeant	-	1 √	Drivers		2	Buglers	16	-
" Drummer	1	-				Pioneers	8	-
" Cook	1	1 √				Signallers	16	-
" Shoemaker	-	1 √				Stretcher-Bearers	16	-
" Transport	1	1 √				Drivers	16	12
" Signalling	1	1 √				Batmen	24	24
" Pioneer	1	1 √				Privates	752	768
Corporal Sigs.	-	1 √				Total	952	908
Signallers	8	15 √				Deduct: By Brigade arrangement for M.G. Section
Pioneers	-	10 √				Corposal	-	1
Stretcher       Bearers	-	16 √				Drivers	-	2
M.O. Orderlies	2	2 √
Batmen	8	5 √
Drivers Vehicles	11	10 x
" Spare Animals	3	2 x
Total	46	75
DEDUCT O.R. Sgt. at Base		1
ADD (Attached)	46	74
Medical Officer	1	1 √
" Corporal	1	1 √
" Privates	4	4 √
Armourer Sergt.	1	1 √
Interpreter Officer	53	82

TABLE    29/2/16

Shewing ANIMALS, TRANSPORT VEHICLES BICYCLES ETC. provided under
"Existing" and "New Armies 1915" Establishments for
AN INFANTRY BATTALION
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HORSES RIDING			HORSES				VEHICLES ETC
			PACK	DRAUGHT
Establishment			Establishment				Establishment
Rider	Old	New	Old	New	Old	New	Designation	Old	New
Officer Commdg.	2	1			1	1	Carts Maltese	1	1
Major	1	1			4	4	"   Water	2	2
Adjutant	1	1			-	1	"    Mess	-	1
Quartermaster	1	1			10	10	Wagons Limbrd.                    S.A.A?	5	5
Transport Officer	1	1
"  Sergeant	1	1			4	4	"       Limbrd )                 Tools )	2	2
Signalling Offr.	1	-			4	k4x	"       Limbrd )             M. G  )	2	2 4
Machine Gun Offr.	1	1			4	-	Wagons    G.S.                      Cooks	1	-
Company Commds.(4)	-	4			-	8	Kitchens Travllg.	-	4
	-----	-----	8	8			Packs Ammnnition	8	8
	9	11
ADD (Attched)			8	-			"        Tools	8	-
Medical Officer	1	1	Spare		Spare		Bicycles for            Signallers	9	9
			2	1	4	3
TOTAL	10	12	18	9	31	35 s	Total Vehicles	13	17 19

ADD         8           DEDUCT
Extra for   )    1 Kitchen and
Kitchens  )
Local         )    ADD
 approval   )    1 Cooks Wagons 
Local approval
4   for Machine
Gun  Packs.

D^r Springthorpe 
Feby/16.
THE  EVACUATION  OF  ANZAC

What! gone! I from Anzac gone! the Australians gone.
That flaming crater where, eight long and lurid months,
they lived with Death, dined with Disease,
Till one in every two fell ill!
And one in every four was shot!
And one in every eight lay dead!
Yes, gone! from Anzac gone!
And left behind, - ten thousand graves.

Failed after all!
No! No! Australia has not failed!
Heard and obeyed the call of blood, of right to live,
The price of Empire freely fully paid
Body and sould into Imperial hands she gave.
And bid - her's neither place, nor plan nor way-
The impossible to do the impossible she did,
And thrice had won, had others done the same

And when the last, the greatest task arose
That she must go. at such a risk,
That five and twenty thousand beds are ready for her loss
-The manner of evacuation her's -

She went
Nor lost one man, nor left one man behind!
Triumphant thus,
Australia proud, but sad.
Close the book!  -------------------  -------------
Close the book, the record is ended. Anzac has been evacuated. Australia's
Iliad may now be written, with the story of wanderings beyond
those of the Argonauts, and deeds superior to those done of the Field
of Troy. It awaits only its Homer to immortalize its first great war
epic in verse, worthy the occasion, the doings, and the cost.
Picture the place and the situation, beyond all portrayal.
Anzac! - the very name from the men themselves "Australia" and "New

Zealand Army Corps"-linking Commonwealth with Dominion in a new and
Indissoluble bond.  Anzac!-so difficult of access, held to be impregnable !-a bit
of ground
of ground, less than a cocky-farmers selection, yet carried by 20,000 men,
with a loss of one third,-held afterwards by a force reduced at times to
one half, and, even when extended threefold, (only after 4 months hanging on
like flies to the side of a dish), never much more than doubled: for the
first half, only a narrow beach 300 by 500 yards,-a congeries of precipitous
hills
hills and gullies, a sickle-shaped cockpit ending in a central ridge some
1,000 yards away, falling on each flank, itself dominated- and incessantly
shelled
shelled, by an always superior force of the best trench-fighters in Europe,
always better armed and better equipped. Here they take hold and establish
themselves-often only in one thin line-in some 5½ miles of trenches, every-
where confronted with-in places almost touching, -a triple line of Turkish,
with more machine-guns, better bombs, and high explosive shells without
number. There, from loop-holes and slits behind parapetsX, where exposure
means instant death, -many of them mere boys, practically all under fire
for the first time, they take their stand, 2 hours on, and 4 hours off duty,
(mostly hard at other work) in a constant hail of shrapnel bullets, machine-
-guns and shells, and fight like prize-fighters, in constant clinch, -to
the point of exhaustion.
 

There they stay, from April to December, mostly

without a spell, and practically without reserves. Always above them 

the Turkish trenches, always amongst them the Turkish hail. Push them once,

and in but one place, off the precipitous, it is true, late
moment, that place, never come. Courage crystallizes, it is true, into
indifference, but determination grown ever grimmer. Never will they yield

-and never do-until commanded at the end. But die they can, do, die

in thousands, partly in defence, far more in attack, taking trenches again

and again, whenever asked, only to retire when ordered, and making forlorn

heroic rushes under the scythe of machine-gun fire, for the sake of what

never comes, going to their death with a final "Good-bye", not one

wavering. Ponder some of the figures!, 763 reduced to 57, 1100 to 300,

1,000 to 127, 4500 to 2,800 in 15 minutes, 3,00 lost in 3 days, 15 out of 

17 officers, and 432 out of 500 men in 10 minutes, shells every five

seconds for 1½ hours. So fought our boys for the blood, for the flag, for

the Empire, for Australia.  

And behind these deathtraps, they excavated hundreds of miles of tunnels

and communicating "saps", hidden pathways, 6 to 8 feet deep, and 3 to 6

feet wide, in mesh-work beyond any miners wildest imagination, and -when

viewed from an aeroplane, like the lines on the palm of the hand. For

tents they built "dugouts" by the thousand, in all sorts of inaccessible

places, and protected by millions of sand-bags. They planted guns in

concealed positions, - they tried to hide, - but in vain - their scanty

reinforcements, insufficient supplies, invaluable mules, and even

ambulances and hospitals, in half-hidden gullies. On every hillside, in

every valley, soon appeared their crop of little crosses, made of broken

biscuit-box, pinewood, or the like, marking the graves of the fallen, comrades

dear and true, and these! often under fire, they tended, ah, how tenderly.

with borders of shell, and stone, and other simple adornment. Half a

mile behind them lay the little Anzac Cove of entrance, a hive of industry,

crammed with troops coming and going, with bathers in the evening, with

supplies, and stores worth millions of pounds, - but the most exposed

place of all, always under observation and shell-fire, - once 1.100 shells

in one hour, and in all, the scene of some 4,00 wounds. Thank Heaven,

August came at last, and the North Anzac Beach, out of observational fire

xxxxx - was added, and a new area, especially to the left, which gave some

cover and materially reduced the congestion. Meantime, what of the men

Themselves?. Water was always scarce, at times almost absent, - always

carried by hand, often up rope ladders. Food was usually plentiful, but

monotonous and unsuitable. Flies were a plague indescribable, a mat of 

filthy, movingxxjam, on everything, living and dead alike. Awful filth
was everywhere, no pen dare describe it. Men washed at the risk of their

lives, and bathed only if they could stand the awful climb back. There 

was, of course, some dead time between the firing-line, the sapping, and 

the other fatigue work, but its uncertainty was haunting, and every moment

packed with immense

possibilities, worst when nothing was doing, because

then, so much might occur! every night the chance of attack, the repeated

bombing, the torrents of shells. Lights disclosed positions, so they must

be done without, or hidden. "Slush-lamps" were made of jam-tins. With

bacon-fat for oil, and bomb-lights from bombs filled with kerosene, worth

its weight in gold. Wicks were made from cord off 
sand-bags or web-equipment.

sent. Only the elite at Head-quarters had candles xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx but

away at Imbres, - where the staff were, - were glorious sunsets! and at home, 

in Australia! ah, what a difference there!.

Is it any wonder, that, under the

ceaseless strain, the camp lost strength, and diarrhoea came, stayed, and 

abounded. In time, men lay crouching in the sand, had to halt four times on

a short march, and twice coming back from the beach, envied the fortunate

who were shot, and could scarcely man the trenches, whilst thousands - proclaimed "officially sick", - were invalided, with the loss of over two stones

in weight to Mudros, Malta, and Egypt. xxxx Still the rest fought on, with

reinforcements that scarce maintained the numbers, their only clothes hats of 

all sorts, "shorts" and boots. "The nakedest white army ever seen" soon

not white, many hardly distinguishable from Gurkhas. Then came the winter,

and the four days blizzard, such as no Australian had ever conceived, when

thousands became frost-bitten, scores died at their posts, water-pipes were

frozen, only eight days rations remained on the extreme left, and the water

supply almost failed. Long before now chances had shown themselves to be, -

even against disease, one to three against shot - and one to seven or eight

against being killed, the total casualties, 31,000, killed, 7,000. Still

they fought on, heroes if ever there were any, without complaint, thoughx

in distant Australia were the careless, the cunning, the cowards who never

came to their aid.

Australia! cherish and honor the heroes for aye! But, as

for the absent, the absent without sufficient justification, what but xxxxx

measureless contempt, and compulsory salvation from their criminal case!

But the end was bound to come, there was no hope of getting xxx

xxxxxxx through, without reinforcements, and supplies that could never come. Anzac

must go. All feared it, even more than recognised it. It cost 6,000 to take,

30,000 to keep, and the authorities anticipated it would take at least 20,000

to get out. Which was worst, to stay or to get away?. The question was

decided by the Servian defeat, the arrival of Austrian 14 inch howitzers, the

blowing up of Lone Pine with all its garrison, and the emplacement of 14 inch

guns on commanding positions. Anzac was doomed, though underground burrowing

had long been in operation. The Turks could retire to comfortable winter

quarters, with easy and full supplies. We were exposed, and irregularly and 

insufficiently supplied. Soon they would blow us to atoms.

THE EVACUATION OF ANZAC.

 

With what mingled feeling must not Australia receive the news of the

evacuation of Anzac?. In reality, there is only room for two, pride at

an unparalleled achievement, sadness at its necessity. Anzac has become

Australias first Westminster AbbeyX.

To us in Cairo it was the best news sinc

the memorable landing memorable landing on April 25th. It was the best and only real Xmas
possible to the men themselves, to the tens of mothers, wives

sweethearts, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends, and relatives it was the

one thing they wanted. All alike, in hospital, in homes, may now eat

their Xmas dinners in beautiful peace and away from the trenches. The

fighters themselves may now enjoy the 34,000 billies, the 1,400 puddings,

the gifts innumerable borne to them from distant home, even to their

retreat in Mudros. Who now cares what the effect, the memory of the thing

rings on. More useful elsewhere, and less exposed, our man may now have

a fair chance of showing what they can do under less unpropitious circumstances

Best of all they have now earned the right, not simply to stand

anywhere beside the best, but, under supreme limitations to be the masters

of their own fate and immediate movements. Their reward must now be the

responsibility of self-direction. And to the croakers who still see insuffience 

in all this, it may be added that for eight essential months they,

have held back many thousands of the picked troops of the Turkish army,

with results to Egypt, the Canal, India, and Russia, that are incalculable.

The complete story of our marvellous

flitting cannot yet be told, but, thanks to generals colonels, doctors

troopers, and privates of all ranks I can give a fair and illuminating

summary, pieced together as they crowded into Cairo during memorable

weeks that made Cairo like Brussels, only after, not before, our Waterloo.

Who that saw them on the steps of Shepheards, on the lounge of the Continental,
in hospitals and in the streets can ever forget them, smiling, 

stained with travel, scarce believing it to be real, happy beyond words to

be alive, away, and together, with a buzz to talk that boomed like an

organ.

After General MUnro had repeated and Lord Kitchener apparently

acquiesced, the British Parliament openly advocated evacuation. The

Germans know us to be fools, but did not believe we were such fools as to

declare our intentions, where to know was annihilate. To them it was

bluff, all the more when 2 divisions were let slip from Portsmouth for the 

East. (Really for Salonika). So amongst the Turks there was fevered anxiety

continued up to the last minute, strengthening of defences with barbed

wire entanglements, additional trenches and gun-enfilades.

The first notable

thing, probably tentative only, was the maintenance of a three days

absolute silence about the first week of November, During which no rifle

or gun was fired, no bombs thrown, not even sniping indulged in. The Turks

attacked in two places and each go a very [[knock?]]. Normal conditions then

prevailed for a month, then a second and shorter period of silence, which

increased their xxxxxx anxiety and gave them another reason for thinking we

were bluffing. It was, apparently, only three weeks before the evacuation

that after very careful consideration, a decision was arrived at by the 

very few responsible as to the best plan to combine the most chances in

favour of the safe removal of the greatest number with the minimum loss in

case of failure or fighting. The plan was really a ruse, not a battle,

unless compelled. It was a big problem, involving, for the Australians

alone, some 45,000 men, 3,000 mules, ever so many guns and machine-guns, 

and several millions of pounds worth of stores, all to be removed whilst

maintaining every appearance of an offensive. The problem was complicated

by the probability of violent storms, bright moonlight, and a very bare
even meagre naval auxiliary by way of tugs and launches.

On December 6th, 

approximately one third of the whole garrison was removed, ostensibly to 

 rest at Mudros, and the intention openly expressed of resting the xxxx 

balance in batches monthly, as it would be difficult to provision the

troops during the winter, and the line had been strengthened. The evacuation 

proper occupied five successive nights. Even then the plan was quite

unknown even to generals in Egypt, and other distinguished officers, medical

and otherwise. On the first three nights were sent away the less important

stores, such as all winter reserves of food and clothing, all reserves of 

ammunition, unnecessary non-combatants to the number of 20,000, sick,