Thomas James Richards, Diaries, Transcript Vol. 3, 26 January to 8 November 1916 - Part 2

10.
                                                                 b/f          165½ piastres
2nd Class (Luxor to Assuan, fare ea.)              22½      "
Expenses Assuan; including guide                  13           "
Hotel Assuan                                                          15           "                 
Coffee, Lemonade, Oranges, &c.                       15           "
2nd Class (Assuan to Luxor return, ea.)          22½      "
Admission to temple 5/- ea., guide &c.           45          "       
Tea 20, Bed 16, Breakfast 20                               56          "     

Admission Karnak Temple 5, donkeys 28       43          " 
Boat fare, fruit, lemonade, &c.                            81          “ 
Tips to porters & guide                                           5          “
                                                                                 483  p.t.
Food was carried in haversacks, also a spirit lamp
and other things.

In the expenses all three persons are charged for
other than train fares.
Feb. 6th.

Sunday. No Church today for me. I attended to some
horses and then went for a delightful ride over to the
Australian Bakery where 9,000 loaves of bread are turned out
each day. It is very fine bread too.  ½ a loaf per man
means they provide for 18,000 men each day. The ovens are
surprising, being some 60 in line and made of Nile mud
bricks. I must get some photos, of them later.            

At the Sergeants' Mess, 3rd Field Ambulance the other
night, I was called upon to sing. I pleaded that only once
had I sung, and that was under remarkable conditions in France
when as manager of the Toulouse football team I went to
Bayonne. The wattle blossom that was brought into the
compartment by a woman and the little patriotic gathering
held there and later en route per motor car for Toulouse,
the dining room being decorated. My story, however, was
very well received, in fact it made a great hit.

Writing tonight is hard, I have finished Andy Browse's
but something nice for Bessie Blaxland is difficult.
Feb. 7th. Monday. Today has been one of much work as
usual. Horses to be shod.
 

11.

Webber Jones of the 8th Brigade called around - he
tells me there was nothing doing on the Canal where they
have been for some months past. Some of the fellows might
have seen a Turk but he has his share of scouting work and
never saw anyone at all. He says the British are developing
their defences for miles on the other side of the Suez Canal
and that no force on earth would have a chance of getting
through the defences.

I have been told on the quiet today that I have been
made a full Corporal. This news does not excite me a
little bit, in fact it only bothers me and brings home more
soundly the fact that I should be in the firing line fighting.
Anyhow, it increases my pay 4/- per day, and that's something
I suppose.

Bill sent along a very pleasing letter today dated
Dec. 22nd, Jeppestoun. He says that mother and father are
getting along splendidly. This news makes me glad as poor
dad has had a rough time and mother has grieved so. Bill
also sent two Saturday Evening Posts which I delight in
though I've had but little time to read them lately.

Feb. 8th.
Tuesday. During the time the troops were at Anzac
and Lemnos or thereabouts they were paid occasionally and
mostly in notes, although gold was issued. These notes,
strange though it may now seem, had Turkish writing on them,
and it is clear these 10/- notes were meant for use in
Turkey. What a great joke for the Turks and Germans eh?
I had 17 of these notes a few days ago and cashed them for
Egyptian money, but I must get one of these Turkish issues
for a sovereign.
The hard desert country around camp for miles is
covered each day with the different sections training.
The infantry do a lot of route marching and seem a reasonably
 

12.
contented lot of men. Signallers get busy in small detachments 

and the artillerymen with guns and horses are always
out manoeuvring.

A new picture show opened this night and put up a
pretty rotten programme "A jealous lover's revenge" being
the favoured item, but the machine broke down, or the
lights went bung, at many critical points and made things
very laughable. The rush to get in was remarkable and the
rush to get out equally so. There are now two picture
shows in camp.

Feb. 9th.

Wednesday. High wind prevailed this morning but a
heavy rain storm, lasting only a few minutes, cleared the
atmosphere at dinner time, and it continued fine all the
afternoon only for a few short showers of raindrops.

It was our half holiday. I put on my leggings and
riding pants and mounted on a big waggon horse I went for a
jump or two over --  sand mounds. I came back to camp
where the officers were practising over a wooden hurdle and
a chaff? bag hurdle. My horse took a lot of holding on to
the hurdle as he would swing around the end of it and nearly
unseated me. But on persevering I got him over alright but
I fear it was a clumsy exhibition of riding. I then went
around for a few miles ride and enjoyed it immensely. At
night I got to writing but the result was not at all
satisfactory.

A parcel came from mother yesterday with a set of
heavy underwear all wool, just the kind the lice love, but
whether or not the weather is not cold enough to wear them.
The soap and fruit salts were good, the lovely ^cray? scarf is
useless and the baking powder turned out to be mustard.

Feb. 10th. Thursday. A good day today right enough.
 

13.
The copies I ordered from E. Del Mar, 37 dozen, came safely
to hand and took a whole lot of handling to sort out to the
various fellows, which I did as follows :-
Hart             24             Sparks          24               Elliott              12
Doyle           12              Yeomans     12                Treacy?          60  
Sgt. Johnson   30        McKelvey    36               McNeve         36   

Johnston     34             Say ?            12                Richards        41

Broardman                  Miller            41                Willis                     
I paid 5 piastres a dozen and sell them for 6 piastres.

The "Herald" of Dec. 3lst to hand from Cis. Spenza,
also letter, and one from Hollingsworth.

There is some talk of an examination for the stripes
to take place; if this is so I will be out of it I fear, as
I have never attempted to learn my drill it is so distasteful
to me, due chiefly to the fact that I am a red cross man and
have to do stretcher drill when I should be digging trenches.
Feb. 11th.
Friday. I wish I had the interest or energy to stroll
about the camp and find out just how things are going with
one and the other, but I seem to be bound up about the camp
and never waste a minute or have a minute in which to gossip.
The 8th Brigade came up here from the Suez Canal a
week ago while the 5th Brigade and 2nd Brigade moved out to
the Canal zone so that all we now have here out of the 1st
Division is the 1st Brigade.

Two fine letters to hand from Hollingsworth and Cis.
Spenza today. Hollingsworth complains of the films sent
him being badly knocked about and underdeveloped. This is
a very unfortunate matter and shows that the Kodaks and other
people have so much work to do that they don't care a damn.
And again two lots of films were sent by other men, May and
Wharton, and I believe these men spoilt them in trying to
save the money I gave them to pay for proper development.

Feb. 12th. Saturday. We are packing up to leave on Monday
 

14.
next - I wonder if we will leave then. We got orders to do
this, that and the other thing, but they mostly turn out to
be false alarms, so now I am never ready to accept any word
or order as being assured. This soldier game knocks all
the belief and my habit of looking ahead all to blazes. I
don't doubt the accuracy of things, but I do not accept
them either, just sit tight and go along as usual.
The 30th Battalion put up a good game with the
engineers this afternoon but with all the good play by
Webber Jones and Duncan of Newcastle, they were beaten by
the engineers 9 to 5. I will not play tomorrow with our
side against the 4th Battalion as my back won't get properly
right, it is so stiff at night time that it seems ready to
break when turning over - this has been going on for seven
weeks now - after football or riding much it gets worse.

Feb. 13th.
Sunday. Today makes the third day, I regret to
say, that I have not been to Church when there was a chance
of so doing. Anyhow the two occasions on which I did go
to Church at Tel el Kebir, the service was extremely tame.
First, at the Anglican service the chaplain was in a very
poor mood and then Rev. McKenzie was without an intelligent
subject at the Methodist service the following Sunday. So
I don't bother going now as there are horses that I can
look after. I seem to be getting more and more critical,
or better still, careless regarding religious matters, and
any one of the different religions would suit me equally as
well as any other, by the manner in which I now feel towards
religion. They are all fighting towards the one aim and end,
so what does it matter if their tactics do differ a little
and their ideas of what the Bible said or actually meant in
an odd passage or two. All religions tend to make people
live better and more refined, it doubtlessly teaches love
and truthfulness (poorly exercised I'll agree to a large
 

15.
extent) therefore what does it matter so long as they tend to
improve the lot of mankind here under. Bitterness and
jealousy is not taught in the Bible and yet one often finds
it wrapped around the religions of some peoples regardless
of their mere form of worship. Its the singing that takes
me to Church but my mind is always hoping to hear a reasonable
sermon - one that is dealt with in good English and has some
connection with our existence hereunder, so that we can understand 

and follow it. The Bible I know was written for a
people the meaning of who's language has, in the years that
divide, lost or changed its meaning in many senses. So if
we are going to continue paying professional men (parsons)
to deal out our religion for us, they should be expected to
keep it up to date and not have the congregation trying to
throw its reasoning faculties back to a dead era to grasp the
sense of the sermon. It often seems to me that the wrong
type of man is engaged in Church preaching, the weakling, a
man who does not know the world in all its stages. To be in
a position to talk on a subject, the person must study it from
all points and sights before being able to deal intelligently
with it, yet how seldom does a parson get into the vices of
our life to study human nature from all of its depths and
deal with it accordingly in his sermons.
Today the 1st Field Ambulance suffered its first defeat
at football - they went down to the Engineers by 9 to 6. It
was a good game, and although the refereeing was extremely
poor, the best team of the day won. 

Feb. 14th. Monday.   Leave Tel el Kebir for the Canal
Last night about 7 o'clock an order came through
that we had to be at the railway station by 8 o'clock in the
morning, so all hands were at once got busy pulling down
tents and packing up generally. It was a busy night for all
of us, the lucky few getting 3 or 4 hours' sleep. Breakfast
was ready at 6 a.m., much before daylight, and then we got to
 

16.
the station by 7 o'clock getting the horses aboard. It
did not take long and soon we were moving in open waggons
along the fresh water canal towards the Suez Canal over the
sandy stretches broken here and there by soakages which
were being closely cultivated by the Egyptian fellah. On
arriving close to Ismailia town the railway turned off
and landed us 9 miles along the Canal, the name of the
district I have not yet ascertained.
After unloading from the train we were compelled to
wait until 5 p.m. before the pontoon bridge was swung across
the Canal for us to pass over to the Asia-Minor side.
While waiting on the Canal bank a lot of little vessels
passed along, then came a very large ship full of British
troops, bound so they stated for Bombay. It was a pretty
sight, but rather galling for the Tommies I think because
their cheering of the Australians did not raise any
demonstration at all from our men. Why, I really don't
know, but believe that our men think as little of the
English soldiers that they have actually seen that they did
not consider this boatload worthy of a demonstration of any
kind. It seems to show up plainly the Australian's value
of an Englishman as a soldier. Had this boatload been
Indians and, more particularly, Ghurkas, I feel certain
there would have been a whole lot of cheering going on.

The Canal was a very busy sight on both banks, the
Asia Minor side being lined with sailing boats their masts
looking very striking standing up some 60 to 80 feet into
the air. Egyptians laborers were chanting their chorus
(the same old monotonous thing I heard passing through the
Suez in 1908) and struggling up the sides with water pipes
looking like a huge centipede - there were so many of them
around the boat. (load?)

Across the other side as we marched along like a mob
of drought stricken stragglers, so loaded up with goods
 

17.
were we. We made anything but an imposing spectacle, with
blankets, billies and pannikins hanging and jingling around
them. Three hundred yards from the bank we passed an old
line of trenches with tons of barbed wire entanglements 50
yards in front and disused of course. A little further on
was a network of trenches over a few hundred yards only and
I did not think trenches could be done up so handsomely.
The work was done entirely with sandbags and I think purely
as a demonstration. I must go back there one day and have
a good look at the system on which they are constructed.
1¼ miles along a built road and passed some tents and tents
we stopped and camped for the night with a rumour afloat that
we go nine miles further on tomorrow.

There are two railway lines and a nine inch water pipe
tract passing the camp which is of firm sand but so open
that I fear the sun and wind will give us fair hell as time
goes on. But of course that is a matter for the future.

While waiting on the Egyptian side of the Canal the
7th Brigade, or portion thereof, were doing attacking stunts
in lose formation, running 60 yards at a time and falling
down flat, then the second line would race and fall, some of
them in fact dived on to the ground so keen on their work
did they seem. On parade, a Company together, their movements 

were good and clean. The only fault I found was
their marching; their pace was too quick and short for keeping
time so the rear of each column was very sagged indeed. At
Mena Camp the 1st Division struck a lovely step and pace
over the sand and always went out with a full kit on their
back. Today there were no kits up.
Feb. 15th.  Tuesday.  Last night Reynolds Yeomans and I
slept outside, and although a few drops of rain set us thinking 

at one period, we each declared it the best night's sleep
for months. I never remember sleeping so well. At
 

18.
daybreak our first day on the sandy plains of Asia Minor
commenced, and was gone through fixing and arranging the
camp which for the whole Ambulance takes up 200 yards by 120
yards. The horse shoeing department, which Sergeant Wingan
and myself represent, lost all of the farrier tools so that
we could not do anything in the direction of work.
The day proved to be a showery one right along but yet
at no time did sufficient rain fall to wet a fellow's coat.
There were hours of discussion amongst the officers regarding
the laying out of the camp and the situation of the different
sections, but by nightfall the whole thing was pretty right.
Big tents, marquees and bed tents as well at the horse lines
were completed and well arranged.

The trains ran past regularly carrying mostly water
pipes and food stuffs. The line is splendidly laid down by
Egyptians and the motor driven "locos" put up good time.
Feb. 16th.
Wednesday.    Things were so well in hand today that
the men got the usual half-day's holiday. This they spent
on looking around down towards the Canal but passes were
necessary to get down to the water's edge as there was a line
of barbed wire to keep them back. They found to interest
them mostly a Turk cemetery where those who fell in the attack
last year were buried so shallow that boots and heads were
penetrating through the sand, and the men hunting around for
souvenirs.
I set to work to get the forge under weigh and made some
tools so that we might be able to start on the horses tomorrow.
But alas, tomorrow there is to be an examination for
corporals - 2 or 3 are wanted out of some 7 lance jacks. I
am not at all prepared for it but tonight some 18 men
volunteered to come out and let me practice on them for a
little while. I wish I knew my drill book better, but then
 

19.
again, what does it matter to me, I should have plenty of
confidence, and cheek to pull through alright.
Feb. 17th.
Thursday.  Naturally the most important feature for
today was the examination of corporals. There were five
competitors and I was much surprised at the efficient manner
in which all of them went through their work. Personally
I surprised myself at the work I put in as I have never
studied my drill book, in fact I always held it as a bore
and a necessary evil, and went through my drill like a man
in a trance. The results are yet to be made known.

The first Brigade are being cut up and I believe the
whole of the 1st Division will be broken up, the "old hands'
being put into battalions as high up at 55th. Naturally
this hurts the fellows immensely as they want to stay with
the old comrades and in good Australian style the fellows
have petitions out for everybody to sign so that the order
might be countermanded and they be allowed to remain just
where they are. But I can imagine the hearing the petition
will get by the gods who control our military destiny.
Feb. 18th.

Friday. A high wind was blowing nastily yesterday and
and filling everything and everybody up with dust, but today
has been lovely. As I write the moon is shining in all its
glory and the stars are gleaming in the brightest and softest
beauty. Venus has overtaken Jupiter in her upward flight
while Jupiter continued his downward or Western course.
Today I got a parcel of stationery and a card from Josie
Brice, and I am damn pleased with the youngest.