Diary of Lindsay Robert Turner, 1917-1918 (Vol. 2) - Part 4

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a very ordinary midday dinner

and I spent all the afternoon

censoring incidentally and between

whiles wading thro mud up to the

ankles This place is a second

Marybyrnong in that respect only 

one slides further. Carousels in

various shapes and sizes go on all

day in the huts and was continued

with renewed vigor tonight. We

aren't going until Thursday now

but discomforts are rife so I say

let us get away over the cold

and discomfort my train journey

and settled down in quarters

in Warminster where we are to 

be located.

26/12/17. I felt a keen desire to

remain in bed this morning

When 7 oclock cane along for

some reason I was warm

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and of course outside the tent

showed a very threatening sky

and the wind sounded bleak

But there was a parade at 7.30

so I turned out before turning

over for the customary 5 minutes.

The first order of the day I learnt

was a full dress rehearsal at

10 for an inspection by the Camp

Commandant Lt. Col Sir Henry

Curry named a veteran from the

Western Front. We formed up

in the mud and just near the Railway

station and were minutely

inspected by His Grace the whole

show lasting quite half an hour

after which we unduly cheer a 

march past out along an extremely

muddy road and back again

The roads are formed by white 

clay and when this gets wet

it works up into a very choice

form of mud which is very

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hard to remove. We spent most

of the day preparing for our

departure tomorrow - by train at

7 P.M. Its all very interesting

reading orders for transport to

Cherbourg and England tho' I don't

know what sort of a success it

will be. That will be revealed

in the course of the next week or so

I spent the afternoon while still

another football match was in

progress writing letters which

I had got behind in and tonight

I followed the same line of action

from a position between blankets

and with a feeble candle beside

me.

27/12/17 Another wet day and the date 

of our departure north until the usual

cancellation order came out. As a fact

the train was not cancelled. It was

a typical Maribyrnong day in

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midwinter and necessitated much

floundering about in the mud. Pay was

just one thing to be done amongst

others and that right early. Most of

the troops questioned the paper 

money distributed 5 and 10 lire

notes representing respectively 2/6 and 

5/-. They were under the impression

that as we were leaving Italy

they would be difficult to change

but all along the line there will

be opportunities. One cant help

thinking the country financially

must be in a fairly precarious

condition all transactions are

done practically with paper money

very little silver being obtainable

Most of the afternoon we got ready

for our long trip commencing

at at 7 or thereabouts. It is a 

big proposition moving troops

in trains controlled by a foreign

nation and this trip the first

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of its kind was more or less in

the nature of an experiment and

for the sake of British enterprise

we all hope it will be a huge

success. We entrained at 4.30

not a very difficult matter after

our many experiences tho' the

muddy state of the Camp made

matters worse. The carriages were

III class ones not the usual

cattle trucks but with 8 men

in each compartment there

will be much discomfort especially

where were to be on the road for

9 days at least. There was much

delay in starting chiefly due to the

lack of administration in Italian

Railways everybody seemed to have

a voice in running the trains even

down to the Carriage Cleaner. We

got away at 8 and as we anticipated

soon had a halt. We only had

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a small oil lamp so reading or

writing was practically an impossibility

and there was nothing left

for us to do but wrap ourselves

up in blankets and a rug and

try to sleep. We are going to find

it a difficult matter with four

to satisfy with sufficient room

but we arent as badly off as the

men and will manage somehow

Tomorrow most of our time

I daresay will be spent admiring

the country we pass thro' and

endeavouring to keep warm.

28/12/17. I didn't have a particularly 

refreshing sleep with half a seat

for a bed and at 6 looked out

to find we had stopped at a

station called Priori rather a

large town on the Adriatic

Coast and some miles north of

Brindisi which we had passed

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sometime during the night. Altho'

Bari was not set down as a Halkes

Repas we decided to issue rations

for breakfast. Theb first time I

looked out the window I was enraged

as well as delighted to see a thick

coating of snow on a train that

had just pulled in from the North

evidence that we would sooner

or later run thro country deep

in snow. Judging by the crowd

of inhabitants about we must have

been at the station some time we

were soon to see the snow we

had come all the way from Kabria

to see at first just a little and

as we approached Foggia it became

deeper and deeper and looked very

picturesque on the hills and buildings

At Foggia we halted for dinner

tea being attainable from a

British camp just outside the

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station The men were allowed to get out

of the train and immediately indulged in

the novel pasttime of snowballing

all and sundry It was a very amusing

sight particularly to those of is who

had never seen snow lying on the 

ground before The country looked

very desolate and practically everywhere

there were olive groves really the 

only tree that seems to grow in the

south of Italy A flock of sheep tended

by a shepherd was to be seen just 

here and there beyond that hardly

any other type of animal was to

be seen Our next stop was Castelamare

a pleasure resort on the

coast and here we were to get

tea We were late in arriving

there it was quite 9 and most of 

the troops had turned in for

the night but when tea was

announced the prospect of getting

something hot was too much for them.

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It was a fine sight travelling along

between Foggia and Castelamare the

lane running right along the coast

in some places so close that one

could jump from the carriage into the

sea. After we left Castelamare it

was close on midnight we thought

it just about time to turn in and

this time we decided we would have

a much more comfortable night

and arranged our blankets 

accordingly.

29/12/17 We reached another large

centre Ancona at 1 oclock this 

morning and when I woke up a

second time at 5 we were still

at the same place. Troop trains

are continually passing us on the

way as well as goods trains and

we have to be side tracked to

allow them to go thro' and that's

why we'll be delayed quite 

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a lot The stations are all built on the 

same plan One two storied building

containing all the station offices built

on a platform about a foot high and

where the station is a large one there

are several platforms built on

exactly the same scale. We are still

hugging the coast and wont leave it

until we reach the next town Runeur

from which place we strike out across

the northern part of Italy via Bologne

and Venice. The snow is still thick

on the ground in some places tight up

to the water edge We still have to see

snow falling another prospect we are

all looking forward anxiously to

We reached Runeur at 8 oclock but

did not remain there long our object

being to reach Firenza Our first 

rest camp as soon as possible

We ultimately reached Firenza at

midday and here learnt that

we would be marched to the