Diary of Alice Ross-King, 1915 - Part 8

226 
August 14 SATURDAY [226-139] 8th Month 1915

Ada came in before I
was dressed.  brought 
a letter from Ernie Sexton.
went to meet H by  
South Aust Express.  I was 
terribly shy.  I did not 
know if he was coming
to see me or coming 
over on Business. He
came to see me.  I am
delighted at the thought.
It is nice that a man
like that should come
so much out of his way
to spend the time with me
best of all, he is so
thoroughly platonic. we
got on the train & went
round St Kilda, Chapel
st & through the Botanical  
Gardens - H seems to
like most of the things
that I like ,  Our
reading & all is alike. 

227 
1915 31 Days 15 Sunday-11 aft Trin [227-138] August  

Breakfast 9.15 with H. rang
head up & caught the 10.45 out
had dinner at Heidelberg.
H. seemed to like the little hiatus.
after dinner went to Ivanhoe
Canoe with Ada & Hod & 
H all the afternoon. It
was wet at times but
beautiful for all that.
H enjoyed river I think.
after tea we sat by the
fire & yarned. H was
very silent & I do not
know wether he enjoyed
himself or not.  I like
that man very sincerely
so I knew I wd but
I am not a scrap in
in love with him altho I
think he imagines I am.
I do not think he is in
love with me either, altho
he partly pretends to be.
I think he is longing for
affection & sympathy &
thinks that is the only way
to get it.  Poor old chap.
any how I have put him
into my heart as a friend
now. I have been thinking
a lot of Spurge today.

228 
August 16 MONDAY [228-137] 8th Month 1915 

Breakfast at. 8.30 with H.
Then went with him to Coles
bought two "Borrowings" &
a Barrack Room ballads
Went to Mullens - bought
Hiawatha for Eric.
Then we got on Richmond
train & rode to Kew. Walked
along by the river & across
to Twickenham ferry.
Had morning tea at the
Ferry. Consolidated my
friendship with H.  I 
think I can trust him. It
is great joy to me to feel
that he has come so far
out his way to spend
these few days with me. He
likes the things I like too.
I shall never forget Twicken
ham ferry & the joy of
reading the beautiful extracts
from Borrowings there. Walked
accross to Toorak tram -
Lunch & then a yarn in 
Sitting room. He has given
me a beautiful copy of
Burns - with the finest verse
of the "Rosary" in.  Saw the trains
off at 4.30.  Met Savage & had 
afternoon tea. Visited Mr Hollow
5.30 & Mother & Miss Hood at
7 p.m.

229 
1915 31 Days 17 TUESDAY [229-136] August  
Invitation from Victoria League  
to aft tea on Thursd. also  
from the wife of manager  
of a & [[?]]s bank to lunch on  
Thursday. Went out to  
Barracks in a.m. Saw Lieut Sykes  
asked to go back on "Morea"  
went to pay office & met a  
nice man there received my  
1/2 yearly allowance for uniform  
pd my bill at Lincoln Stewart 
& ordered new apron at B & W 
expected Flora mack to lunch  
met Lieut Weeks in Flinders St  
He was going before a board.  
Went out to Austin. Talked  
to the nurses-& afterwards  
to the men. Read extracts  
from this book to Hod.  
a number of [[Krom?]] men have  
volunteered & been accepted.
 

230 
August 18 WEDNESDAY [230-135] 8th Month 1915
2h 17 m A.M. (Greenwich) 
  
Chatty came in at  
lunch time just as  
I wanted a little 
quiet to think of 
something for the  
red cross people this  
afternoon. She is  
preg. Met Mrs McCormac 
on the way out to Heidleberg. 
Quite a  
large gathering at  
the red cross meeting  
all arranged in rows  
with the ministers to  
introduce "Miss King".  
I nearly died of stage 
fright but the tell me  
I did alright.  
Had tea with [[wad?]]  
& went into see the [[mater?]] 
at night. 
   
231
1915 31 Days 19 THURSDAY [231-134] August
 

238  
August 26 THURSDAY [238-127] 8th Month 1915 
  
What a day! Had spent the  
night a Coffee Palace. Miss S. called 
to say Goodbye_ 10/- Met Mrs  
Chadwick & her Sister at  
the Alexandria Club. morning  
tea. The Sister has a son, 
at front in 24th Bat.  
Then mother came -  Wad 
cried in the street. We 
taxied down. Got the  
mater & Wad settled in  
the Balcony of an Hotel  
near bye. Later the people  
were let on wharf but the  
poor Dears had gone home    
Len saw the boat off & I sent  
letters ashore. It was very  
sad to see the pain in the  
faces of the women left 
behind on the Pier. During 
lunch I had my first  
case to treat on board-a 
disjointed thumb. There 
is a Sergeant who is going  
to be a bit of a nuisance  
we have a cabin each. Very nice  
ones. I feel very very lonely on  
board with all these men. We  
are to have 1400 men. 
  
239 
1915 31 Days 27 FRIDAY [239-126] August  
  
Have been very seasick all  
day. Martin gave in altogether  
although she was able to hang 
on to her meals & I have not.  
We had 8 boys brought  
into Hospital collapsed. I  
was kept very busy. One  
Diptheria case isolated.  
The orderly sergeant was  
very irritating but - we are  
gradually getting things  
into working order.  
We were treated very  
cooly at meal times I  
dont know whether the  
men are too shy or just  
uncouth. The food  
for us is very poor 
but for the Lads it is 
good & hot. so I don't  
much mind. There is  
a stewardess on board 
a very nice woman &  
2 laundry mades. 
The Isolation Hospital  
is built up on top of  
the laundry which is  
up on the poop so it is  
a nasty sea sick climb.  
The a.M.C. men are irritated 
with the Sergeant but I think  
we shall soon knock them  
into shape.

240 
August    28 SATURDAY [240-125]    8th Month 1915 
  
The weather is still very  
rough. I had a very  
bad night. The boys  
are being drenched with  
spray & the cold is very  
severe. The ship kicks  
& rolls in the very unpleasant 
manner. Martin  
stayed in bed all the  
morning. We had 11 
patients in Hospital.  
Our two Doctors I have  
not yet decided if  
I like - the one I have 
most to do with is  
the Junior man. I like  
him. The Senior one  
Capt Stokes is a cheeky  
man. The officers  
are gradually coming  
up & introducing themselves. 
Things certainly  
do look more hopeful  
It is only shyness. The  
whole crowd of them know  
nothing about Military  
etiquette. They were  
running races with there  
serviette things at the table  
last night - gambling on the  
result. The man next to me  
won 7/-. I was very ill all afternoon.  

241
1915 31    Days 29 Sunday-13 aft Trin [241-124]    August  
  
Had a busy morning  
in Hospital & no  
time for Church Parade  
There is not a parson  
on board so the  
Major takes the service  
11 patients in Hosp. 
Met one nice man  
amongst the officers  
do not know his  
name. Enjoyed a  
walk on boat deck  
this afternoon.  
Wrote to mother &  
Wad & Hod.

242
August 30    MONDAY [242-123]    8th Month 1915 
  
Weather still very rough.  
Vaccinated 100 men this  
afternoon. nobody  
is standing out of  
the crowd very clearly  
yet except a tall fair  
man with glasses - Lieut  
Moffat. I think he  
has a common touch- 
but he seems more interested 
in Martin than  
in myself. There is a  
brown man too, whom  
I like. They call him 
"Charlie" but I have not  
discovered his proper name  
Both these men seem to  
be more the real thing.  
There is a nephew of Col  
Barretts on board. a nice  
kid. We still have  
a good many sick in  
hospital but most of  
the men are picking up 
now & they held a very  
decent concert tonight 
It was too wet & cold  
for us to go down.  
These men are a very  
sad looking crowd on  
the whole. So different  
to our first division 
  
243
1915 31 Days    31 TUESDAY [243-122]    August  
  
The ship has rolled unceasingly 
all day. Shipping  
a few big waves occassionally. 
The boys have  
been running about  
in the cold & wet & tonight  
we have a rush of Rheumatism 
& chill cases.  15 in  
hospital. We did 130  
vaccinations this morning  
& 90 this afternoon. a  
lot of the men have to be  
innoculated too. So I  
see some sore arms ahead  
I am having a little  
difficulty with the sergeant  
who wont do his own  
job properly & keeps interferring 
with the nursing.  
Found another nice man  
today amongst the officers 
I think there [[very]] be new  
friends after all. Tonight  
it was too rough to go  
on deck so I knelt  
at my porthole for hours 
watching the mountains  
of waves roll. This is  
the biggest sea I have  
yet struck. My thoughts  
are very much ahead with  
my dear friend on the Morea

244
September    1 WEDNESDAY [244-121]    9th Month 1915
2h 57m P.M. (Greenwich). 
Partridge Shooting begins  
  
Wednesday all day was  
exceedingly rough.  
nothing very special 
happened. We vaccinated 
140 boys in the morning 
& 200 in the afternoon.  
The ships Doctor helping. 
after dinner walked  
on the top deck with  
Sister M. Lieut Williams  
& Lieut Martin Moffat.  
The latter is inclined  
to be decent to me I 
think. I like him but  
do not feel yet that I 
have anything in common 
with him. already  
Im beginning to know  
the lad's stories. Yarning  
to one this afternoon 
who was married 8 days  
before leaving. She is  
a sweetfaced girl. There  
wedding photographs  
are taken on postcards  
the boy is in uniform.  
He is only a lad of 22.  
another is an orderly  
who proposed by letter to  
a girl after leaving Syd. 
He got her wire of acceptance  
at Freemantle today. 
  
245
1915 30 Days    2 THURSDAY [245-120]    September  
  
We got into Freemantle  
early in the a.m. There  
was a bit of a [[shindy?]]. Some  
of the boys tried to break leave  
one was bayoneted. Martin  
& I got leave. I bought  
a daylight developing  
tank & more films.  
Went for a tram ride &  
the tram man stopped 
to pick almond blossoms  
from a roadside orchard 
for us. Got a wire  
from Wad.  
a new Padre has come  
on board. Up to the  
present we have not  
had one. I see he is  
starting off well amongst  
the men. We had  
a great send off from  
Freemantle.  a great crowd  
of people in the wharf.  
The trains & boats all  
whistling us goodbye.  
One of the Stokers fell 
overboard as we were  
starting & one man  soldier
 jumped into the water to  
save him. Both were saved.

246
September   3 FRIDAY [246-119]    9th Month 1915 
  
Sea much calmer but still the  
old boat rolls. The boys are  
cheering up wonderfully. They  
are singing singing all day long  
& the group singing is very good.  
We did a good many innoculations 
this a.m.  a Lieut Montgomery 
said to me to day that  
he would like to be friends 
with me. I am so glad. He 
is a clean eyed English man  
of about 35 years. He has been  
for 6 years getting Colonial  
experience in aust. & has  
gone in chiefly for dairying  
He is a Gentleman in every  
sense of the word. So simple  
& direct, with the sweetest  
blue eyes & courteous in  
every detail but manly too.  
at present hIe think he is the  
most beautiful man I have  
met & I shall be bitterly  
disappointed if our friendship  
does not grow. There is a man  
named Moffat who is making a  
fuss of me. I think he is only out  
for "fun" though & does not  
understand things properly yet,  
I am terrified that he will spoil 
my friendship with Montgomery. 

247
1915 30 Days    4 SATURDAY [247-118]    September  

Had a busy morning with  
inoculations etc down in  
Hospital. In the evening  
the men had a concert. The  
arms are all getting very painful  
In the afternoon sat up on  
boat deck. Yarning to the Quartermaster. 
Lt. Noel. He is a nephew of  
Col Barrett.  a peculiar youth  
23 years & married. He says  
some very strange things. I do  
not know whether I like him or not.  
Monty came along & was talking  
too. He asked me if I preferred  
Moffat's company to his. I  
said no. In the evening  
I was to meet Moffat & Martin  
& another officer on the Boat deck.  
M. went up to early. So Monty  
came along & I started walking  
with him & so had a happy  
evening. On the way down  
at 9 P.M. Moffat managed to  
cut me away from the mob 
& I had to fence very much  
to avoid getting too friendly.  
Moffat is one of those men who  
believe in Omar Kyan & think  
there is nothing after death.  
He is such a contrast to Monty 
who is full of idealism.

248
September    5 Sunday-14 aft Trin [248-117]    9th Month 1915 

Church parade in the AM 
was a bit of a failure.  
a chaplain came on board  
at Freemantle - Captain - 
I do not care for  
him much. He chopped  
up the beautiful military  
service sadly - and was  
not wise in the selection of  
hymns. The service was  
held on the boat deck. One  
at 10 & the other at 11 am  
In the afternoon had  
a lazy day on the deck. 
at night went aside  
with Moffat.  We have  
become friends now.  
I was sorry to miss  
Monty though. 

249
1915 30 Days    6 MONDAY [249-116]    September  

We have erysipelas 
in So Sister Martin was  
special that & cannot  
touch the dressings here. I  
have been in the hospital  
all day. We had two  
enormous parades. One  
lasted from 2 until  
5 pm. We must have  
dressed over 400 arms.  
Spent evening with mf.  
Met Monty on my way back  
from Hospital & he asked me  
to keep Wednesday evening  
for him. He is beautiful.  
While Mft & I were on  
the boat deck - we were  
leaning over the rails  
looking at the phosphorous  
in the water.  a little  
officer came up. He  
did not see us but he  
threw himself down on the  
dark deck & rolled in  
agony of mental pain. It  
hit Moffatt up badly because  
in his cabin they have  
been holding a gambling  
school & already a great  
deal of money has been  
lost there & a good deal of  
bad influence going generally 

250
September   7 TUESDAY [250-115]   9th Month 1915 

Had another big parade 
of arms this morning &  
again in the afternoon.  
We have had 100% taken - 
the hospital is full  
& tonight I am sitting  
up with a ? [[Meng?]] 
a boy of about 22  
belonging to the a.S.C. 
he nearly went out  
this afternoon & he is  
still not out of the  
woods. I hopped up to  
see Mft just for a few  
minutes after 8 P.M.  
about 10 I got a note  
from Monty - bidding  
me "Good night".  
also young [[?]] came  
down to yarn but I  
could not be bothered  
with him & sent him away.  
He is a peculiar lose jawed 
heavy eyed youth. I think  
he is good natured &  
alright underneath
  
251
1915 30 Days   8 WEDNESDAY [251-114]   September 

Our sick boy is very bad.  
We have specialled him  
all day long. His name is  
[[?]] & he has a sister a nurse  
at the Alfred Hospital. I had  
promised Monty that I wd  
spend the evening with  
him but I only had 1/2 an  
hour to do it in ! He made  
love very straightly & asked  
about Mft. I do not  
know what to think about it  
all. I spent some time  
with him & later with  
Mft. Mft pretends to  
be serious & is wanting  
real love-but I don't 
know if I can trust  
him or not. Just now  
he appeals to me as a 
clever man with a keen  
sense of the beautiful  
only in material things.  
I mean that he would  
admire the artist who did  
the thing well battles more  
than he wd admire the  
beauty of the picture. He  
does not believe in a  
hereafter. Or he says he  
does not.

252
September    9 THURSDAY [252-113]    9th Month 1915
Jewish Year 5676 begins. 
10h 53m A.M. (Greenwich) 

A very big sick parade 
our sick boy is still  
very sick & there are  
many others bad as well.  
all the vaccination arms  
have taken & some of  
them are terribly painful. 
We dress about 240 every  
morning. [[?]] cannot  
be left at all So we  
are working 12 hrs on &  
12 hrs off.  It is very  
hot & very trying though  
we are just 24 hrs off  
the Equator & the weather  
is steaming & very trying 
Spent some time with Mft  
tonight. I think he  
is really serious.  But  
he is not the kind of man 
that I would like to  
love really & truly 
The ships Doctor whom  
I thought such a nice  
man is drinking heavily.  
A Lieut Thomas &  
Noell & another officer  
who were Officers of  
the Guard came down  
& were a fearful  
nusiance in the wd

253
1915 30 Days    10 FRIDAY [253-112]    September  
  
Nothing special happened  
today. Sister M tells  
me that Monty has been  
talking to her in exactly 
the way that he talks  
to me. The sick boy  
is much the same  
Had a short talk  
to Capt Stokes today  
which makes things  
a little better.  
My time tonight with  
Mft was very sweet  
I hope I dont get  
too fond of him.

254
September    11 SATURDAY [254-111]    9th Month 1915 

Full day in Hospital  
Sister & I are doing 12 hrs  
a day each. I am very  
worried about Monty. 
He spoke very plainly  
tonight & wanted me not  
to spend all  any my time  
with Moffat. I have  
fallen in properly this  
time & stand to lose a 
good friend on either  
hand. However I have  
gone too far with Mft to  
turn him down - besides  
I like him too much.  Still 
I am in a nice pickle  
altogether. I am  
on duty until 2 a.m.  
each morning. Mft  
came down & spent  
most of the time after 
10 P.M. with me.  Noel  
& a Lt. Thompson  
came round in a 
merry mood teasing  
us. Martin gives  
me some very catty  
digs at times. The O.C. 
is limiting the mens letters  
to 1 letter & 1 P.C. each.
  
255
1915 30 Days    12 Sunday-15 aft Trin [255-110]    September 
Ember Week 

Arose early & went to  
Church Parade. I was  
most terribly tired & the  
weather is very very hot  
& trying.  Mft has a  
black eye from boxing  
& Martin has well rubbed 
in her little catty remarks. 
afterwards sat in deck chair talking to her.