Diary of Alexander Jackson Cunningham, 1914-1916, Part 4

with 3 English Officers also, my job is in
charge of the water Supply for whole
place in the last cold few days a 
lot of pipes burst & caused great
commotion and all were on ¼ water
rations (¼ gall per man per day) & some
up in the trenches did not get that
I started on job today. We have awfully
nice quarters down here compared
with the ones up on the Hill & are
situated just behind Ordnance
& Trevor is right behind us up on
the Hi cliffs behind so I hope to
see more of him now. Major Williams
also told me today that he was
arranging a transfer for me to the
Engineers which is good as I find
the work most interesting and will be very
useful for civil life. Dec 2^nd to 9^th
Sent in application for transfer. Water
scheme getting on all right & have
managed to get everything fixed except
up in Victoria Gulley & hope to have that
 

right by tonight. Orders came in last night
to build a light pile footbridge out to
the S.S. Milo which is about 350 ft out but
all doubt if it will stand in rough
weather. Have had beautiful weather
for last week. From Dec 9^th to 12^th 
Things most unsettled at present
all Kind of rumours floating about,
all our ordinary work has been
stopped & all men are doing such
work as repairing & bluilding
new piers, also taking a footbridge
out to the "Milo" and I
have to get Milo cleared & step ladders
made all along for men stepping
down into boats - Ordnance are
packing a lot of stuff up and
it looks very much like evacuation
altho' seems hardly credible. Trevor
had tea with us to-night and
has now left with his 27^th Battalion
he does not Know where he is
going. I cannot think that the 
 

whole are going but at present everything
points that way. If we do
all have to go it will mean certain
lots being left to the last I wonder
if our lot will be or not, probably
we shall as we are on pier work
etc now. If we all go the ones that
are left to the last will get Hell.
12^th to 13^th, Am afraid its evacuation, its
awful to think of after all the lives
that have been lost here. Heard today
that our ½ Company will not be the
last to go but No 5 Co are taking it
on, I hope they have luck & get thro’
allright it will be a hard experience
tho’ for them as some if not a lot of
casualities must occur. We will
probably clear out in a few days time
after we have got every thing ready
such as piers, "Milo" foot bridge, etc. I
have nearly got my job finished, we blew
out a piece of the side of the Milo
this afternoon for No 5 set of steps
 

Beachy Bill was very active as
sent a lot of shots over us while
on board but they got no hits, a
lot of heavy firing up on Russells
top also greater than any since I
have been here & some of them landed
on next ridge to ours & tearing large
bits out of cliff, black smoke & seemed
pretty big stuff. I feel awfully sick
about going it seems terrible unless
there is something behind we do not
Know anything about - let us hope
so. Dec 14. Think will have everything ready
by tomorrow night, blew out the steel mast
of Milo this afternoon and are getting irons
fitted on ladders, The footbridge that Greenaway
is having built is only a few feet
away now and should have all piles driven
by the morning. Am also getting a lot of
ladders ready for Watsons pier, I should
not be surprised if we get away night
after tomorrow night (Thursday or at any
rate Friday). Am packed up and am 
 

1915
afraid will have to leave a lot behind
specially in way of warm things but
it will be impossible to carry away
much. Certain things are being packed
up & sent away all day & night
but a whole lot of things will be
left such as Mule carts, wagons, certain
ordnance stores, R.E Stores, ASC stuff,
guns etc some may be blown up
at last minute of course. There is
thousands of pounds of Ammonal laid
in all our tunnels ready for
exploding should the Turks try to
break through & of course all the machine
guns are being left to guard the Evacuation
of the trenches – I wonder how things will
go? and what Christmas will see & where
we will be then? Dec 15^th Everything
going on well if only weather hangs
out, wind was rather strong today
and changing from Due North round
a bit which is bad, it is very
much colder. All our jobs
 

are well ahead & will have everything
ready for 17^th, tonight though
a "beatle" coming in got blown
over against our new footbridge
and had to get hauled off by a tug
she very nearly smashed the bridge
but fortunately it held. Major
Williams told me today that I
would have to stay to last day
the main lot will get away on
Friday evening but pumping house
men (2) & 4 sappers for bridge
work will remain & I shall be
in charge to do any repairs to
piers etc needed, my batman &
my clothes will go away the night
before with rest of N^o 2 Co. N^o 1 & N^o. 3
Sections. Stevenson & his Section
have gone from the right and
left Townsend & his section to
take charge of trenches & mines
they will have to stay till the
last. Dec 16^th. Everything ready; they 
 

are embarking some troops now on the
'Milo'. The Turks have evidently got a
new gun position as they have just
fired 3 shots 6" (shrapnel) & if they continue
this gun things will be very nasty
as one shot got the A.S.C. yard the other
the pier & the 3rd got just near a
Beadle going out, Beachy Bill could
never get round the point but this
new gun fires right over the hill &
the shells ^can drop anywhere round wharfs,
etc. It has now been decided I shall be
left with 2 men for pump house and 4
men for piers. Dec 17^th. Saw Townsend
to day he is being left up on the
"right" with 14 Sappers I hope he gets
away safely. New Gun that Turks
have got is firing down on us
at present and stopping work on
the piers. We have to blow out some
more holes in the Milo this afternoon
for getting men off on other side,
got one charge off before lunch & 
 

1915
have left the men to finish it. As I
have to stay behind to the last
day in case I should get piped
or wounded & taken prisoner I
have decided to give this book to
Jim Kininmonth who may go
off tonight. I think it will be
Safer So. My photo films I shall
give to McIntosh my batman.
As I write this things are pretty
lively, every 3 to 4 minutes we
get shrapnel from this new gun
& it has fallen all round, Our
big guns from the Battle ships
are firing which kick up a
row and the two 5” Howitzers that
have been left have on the beach
have also started firing, there
is one of our aeroplanes up in
the air which is being fired at
vigorously by the Turks.
(Jan 2^nd 1916. I am now going to copy into this
book the Diary I kept while Kininmonth
had this book). 
 

Dec 17. Gave Jim Kininmonth my little pocket
Diary which I have Kept since leaving
Australia, he will go tonight or tomorrow
& I think it will be safer with him. I
and 6 sappers are staying behind.
New Turkish gun was very active again
on the beach this afternoon & while
in the Milo also had a lot of shots
round us, mostly over us. Dec 18
Last night at about 12 o'clock we
woke up to find a huge fire had 
started in A.S.C. yard, we got some
clothes on & ran down, piles of biscuit
boxes, bully f bulley beef etc all on
fire - Gen Leslie was there & did
good work in taking charge and
directing, we humped boxes and
carried water from the sea till we
had it under control which was
about 4 o'clock in the morning, how
it started is a mystery - while we
were fighting the fire we also got
some shells, two landed just in
 

the water where we were getting water
for the fire, also 2 - 6" went thro' our
R.E. store one exploded & one did
not & is lying there now. Today
we got the shore side of Milo ready
for troops tonight, blew two holes
in side of her - I have just come
back (7 p.m) from seeing all our
fellows off & am now alone except
for my 4 sappers the other two are
round at the pump house. Troops
are at present going off hard at
Williams pier and N^o. 8 Pier &
Milo jetty & should get away about
22000 10000 to night so tomorrow will
just have a few left - Hope Turks
dont attack - Weather very good -
Dec 19^th Fairly peacful night saw
General Leslie about 9 o'clock
& was very nice way he thanked
me & the others for work we
had done - We had a job
during the night as a Barge 
 

had knocked off the end transom & peeled
away the decking but fixed it up in
about 3 hours. This morning I
went & reported to General Russell
who is now in charge as Rear
Guard General, I saw his staff Major
& got orders from him to see Col
Glassford who has given me instructions
to get away in "B" parties at about
10.30 to night with my men, if Everything
is all right at Watsons pier. Things
quite quiet - weather good -
later 5 p.m. Saw Capt Littler and
find no more water wanting to be
pumped so with his consent went
round & gave orders to destroy Boiler,
engine and pumps. We are lighting a
fire in Boiler with out any water in
it & are bashing the pumps etc with
slogging hammers, don't want to use
gun cotten because of the row. It seems
awfully funny walking round as
usually there is such a crowd of
 

mu mules, Indians, Australians etc but
there was not a soul anywhere today
& all the dug-outs etc were empty.
Later 9 p.m. Just about to start for
Watsons pier to disembark – gun
fire going on Russells top but
just usual thing - every thing going
smoothly - piers in good order -
weather beautiful, sea calm as
a mill pond - have just taken down
electric exploder & got it away
in a barge as it seemed a pity
to destroy it. Dec 20^th to 22^nd Got
away from Watsons pier about quarter
to eleven, every thing quiet except
a few shots from Beach Bill but
no damage done, got taken out
to El Keira that was lying out
about 2 miles from shore, we then
waited for the last lot to come
aboard which was a few hours
later, we then came on here to
Lemnos and disembarked 
 

where we are now all in tents
together (1^st Aust Div Engineers). I
saw Trevor this afternoon, he looks
well & is a Major now. Dec 22 to 25
on 23^rd morning we were ordered to
come aboard here & I think bound
for Egypt (S.S. Caledonia) This boat
is a fine boat. Dec 26^th. Got
to Alexandria this morning but
are still lying out in stream.
Dec 28^th Disembarked and got
in train for Tel-el-Kebir at
about 9 o'clock travelled all
night & arrived here about 5.30
in morning, when we arrived we
had to pitch our tents and
get settled down. Dec 28^th to Jan 4^th
1915 – 1916
Since being here we have had
parades in morning & again
in afternoon & have had to
do Infantry drill etc- This is
not much of a place - very much
 

same as Mena only we are not
near any Town. They are
granting Officers 3% leave and
men 2% leave for 36 hours -
I got up to Cairo yesterday
and found it very full of troops
could not get a room at Continental
but managed to get one at
Sheppheards, saw a good many
people up there I Knew - but could
not hear anything of Aunt Mary
Jim. I got some clothes out of 
Cooks and di did a fair amount
of shopping, really 36 hours does
not give you any time as the
trains are always late & it takes
about 5 hours each way so you
only have about 26 hours in Cairo
with the night counted in, so
does not give much time for
shopping etc. Jan 4 to 14^th. Everything
going on quietly here, we
have drill in morning & again 
 

in the afternoon, each have to take
our Sections out and get them into
shape, some of the reinforcements are
very poor at it. Trevor arrived into
camp a few days ago and is
coming down for to mess to night. We
have an inspection today for the
first Division we will march
past Gen Munroes new successor
Gen Murray I think he is. Jan 14^th to 24^th
Moved out of Tel-el-Kebir on 24^th and
came down to Serapheum Brockman, Stevenson
& I went down with our sections leaving Capt
Bactold to come down in afternoon with the
transport, transport arrived about 5 that
evening & we moved into a camp near
by but had no tents or shelter & had a very
rough cold night sleeping out Jan 25^th. we
moved out & crossed over the Canal
on barges horses & everything then marched
about a mile on east side of Canal & got
into 2^nd Bde Camp but had another night
without any tents. Jan 26^th. got tents &
 

got things fairly comfortable since Jan 24^th
the weather was very wet & awfully cold.
Jan 27^th Stevenson & I moved out with
our sections but left the tool carts
etc, we had a horse each but sappers
had to march, we brought our tents,
rations etc on Camelas (14) We
Marched out to this place which is about
6 miles out we got here about 4 in
afternoon & pitched our tents but while
doing so a big storm came up & got wet
through & it rained & blew all night. The
6^th Batt are next to us. Jan 28^th. Getting
men on making a cook house, Q.M. Store
of sand bags, some of the men are 15 in
one tent & they leak like a sieve.
weather still cold but rain stopped.
Stevenson & I are going to take a ride over
the hills today, we are now right out in no-mans
land I suppose you would call it
Asia Minor. Jan 29^th. Stenson &
his Section moved over about 2 miles
so am now on my own with N^o.1 Section 
 

am messing with H.Q of 6^th Battn, Major
Borwick is C.O & a nice man.
Jan 30^th. Started work, on 55 Trench
with 100 men & 50 sappers, had Church
parade in morning. Jan 31. Started
work on 54 with 50 men & 55 with 100
Jan 31. Work in 54, 55, 56 with 7
platoons day & night. Feb 1^st. same
as 30th. Feb 2nd. Got 7 platoons &
my own Sappers on 54, 55, 56, 55S.
Feb 3^rd. 54, 55, 56, 57, 55S.
Feb 3^rd to 12^th. Work been going on 
continououslyously since we came with 7
platoons of Infantry & my section
of Sappers have now got works finished
& partly finished 54, 55, 56, 57, 55S,
56S, 54 SB, 55 Support & 54 Support.
Major Mather & Capt Bachtold are now
both out here & have made this their

Head Qrs so we 3 mess together. Very
slow out here getting materials for
work out which is stopping us
somewhat and a lot of staff & Generals
 

coming round & changing things &
methods does not add to speed.
Feeling very fit & generally things
are going well. Feb 12^th to 28^th. Work
been going on all the time and have
had 7 platoons of Infantry going
all day every day except Sundays
which are now holidays. We had
a Sports meeting last Sunday (25^th)
which went off very well. The Work
now going on in my Sector is
54 finished 54 Support & Traffic and
putting barb wire in front. 54 SB;
55 S is finished with 2 M.G. pits
in one off firing line the other the
Island type. 55 finished & going
on with Support & Traffic trenches.
56 S, 56 and 56 Support &
starting on 57 SB to-morrow.
Col Bennet is now in Charge of 6^th 
Battn. My transfer only came out
in orders dated Feb 20^th its too
bad as it makes me junior to all 
 

the reinforcement officers that joined
at Tel-el-Kebir, I should have
had it dated about NOV 20^th while
we were at Anzac. Feb 28^th to Mch 13.
The 6^th Battn went into Serapeum
last week so we are now left
without anyone to work. We are
expecting to go in every day ourselves
but so far have had no
word. All the Infantry Battns are
in at Serapeum now & have been
relieved by Light Horse Squadrons
but only a flea bite when work
is wanted as up to this I have had
about 350 men working but the
Light Horse can only supply 27!
So are just going along putting
all my sappers and all the Light Horse
men on one work 56 S. Stevenson &
his Section came over from other camp
as his Infantry went also he is doing
55. Last Sunday I rode into Serapeum
& coming out in the dark got lost 
 

I got out too much to the right & missed
this camp after wandering about for
an hour or two I decided to wait
till dawn which came about 5
o'clock & retraced my steps I found
I was miles out of my course & did
not get back to camp till about
8. 30 in morning, I had a rotten
night of it as it was very cold &
I could not get any sleep also the
Jackalls must have been near because
the pony would give a snort every
now & again, I heard them howling
but did not see any. We don't
Know where we are going but it
seems France we are all hoping
that it will be there and not some
outlandish place like Alexandretta.
We hear that we will take horses but
no waggons or tool carts so I don't
Know if it means they will be no use
or whether we will reequip in
France or England. I saw all the
old A.S.C. Officers last Sunday when I
was in Serapeum.