Thomas James Richards, Diaries, Transcript Vol. 3, 26 January to 8 November 1916 - Part 16

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Our songsters and actors had a good entertainment
ready for last night. The mess hut was crowded and the
fellows seemed to enjoy themselves immensely. Chughleigh
and Morris put up a good showing in their comic sketch.
Gayder took off Major Ramsden to perfection, but the thrill
of the evening was the scene in Egypt. A kan-kan dance is
worked into it and Ford and McClure in a semi-nude state
danced midst great excitement. It was a very successful
evening indeed. It rained heavily though, from 8 p.m. and
continued all night.
A parcel to hand from Miss Irene Bolton, Old Spit
Road.

July 27th. Tuesday.
There has been several heavy storms today, otherwise
nothing has happened within my sphere more than that I am at
logger-heads with the cook and the sergeants including the W.O.
And all through fighting like hell for the patients bit of
food.
The army is a mass of corruption and robbery.
Anyhow, I am quite alright, yet I wish I could run a more genial
disposition and not be so doubtful about everything.
I have written to Bessie Blaxland a long roving
letter. I must keep in the good books there if possible.
She is doing well in Armidale.
At a gas lecture I found that the first gas attack
was in April 1915 on the Canadians. Kitchener asked the
English people for 1,000,000 reppirators in one day and got
them too. The gas helmet has undergone many changes and
alterations to meet the change of the German gasses.

June 28th. Wednesday.
We put down 88 "duck boards" today so that the
patients will be able to walk to and from the mess room
without slopping through the mud. These duck boards are
invaluable in this country, they are mostly 10 feet long

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made out of 4 by 2 inch pine wood with buttons nailed on
19 ins. long and 1 inch apart. There must be millions of
these duck boards about Flanders, the trenches have miles of
them along the bottom, in fact, they are everywhere.
Andy Elliott and I walked a couple of miles after tea
along the country roads. In England they would be country
lanes hedged in on both sides, but here, there were no hedges
at all, the lanes ran through the fields actually and there
was nothing to obstruct one view for miles around baring
perhaps a few fruit trees and the farm building. The crops
are looking wonderfully well, wheat coming to a splendid ear
grows twice as thickly as in Australia and is a lot longer
(say an average of 4-5 inches) with a broad leaf. Excellent
hay making wheat. The French beans are astonishing, there
are patches, acres in extent where the beans grow to fully 5
ft. and stand up as straight as reeds, and are at present in
flower. The perfume from these patches is glorious, still
to smell the individual flower they are not very nice at all.
The potatoe patches grow so well and healthy and are
often 10 acres in size. In fact, everything is wonderfully
rich and strong. A great tribute to the farming methods.
Large quantities of manures must be used, but the only manure
I've seen about is decayed horse, fowls and pigs dung and
the straw bedding from stables with the urine èc. It is
thrown into the square (all farms in this country are built
around a small square, in this square everything is thrown
and the stinks that arise are awful. This stack gets
covered by water in the square pit (probably 50 to 90 ft.
square) and there it rots, ferments, when it is thick and
most stinking it is thrown over the garden with long handled
ladles. On a route march once the fellows made a great
noise at the horrible stink of the farmer who was smilingly
spraying the land.
June 29th. Thursday.
                 I have been hearing a whole lot about our infanty raids

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on the German trenches of late. It seems that since the
Germans walked into our trenches at Armentieres our men have
been raiding every other night and doing some remarkable
feats. The trenches are a good distance apart and
patroling parties are out wandering about all night. The
stories told about some of our Australians are wonderful if
true.
I got a horse this afternoon and went for a ride into
Steenwerck, Bailleul and on to Outtersteen where I picked up
cousin Mick Roche and had some tea as well as a bottle of
champagne at the estaminet. The girls were awfully
disappointed at their photos going astray. I had a glorious
ride through the ripening fields with the women and children
all working to get in the hay.

June 30th. Friday.
              There were 20 aeroplanes in the sky this evening.
They circled and circled around, some going over the German
lines to have hundreds of shots fired after them, others
wandered around and around like huge inquisitive birds.
Then they seemed to break up and we lost sight of them, but
long after we missed them thousands of shrapnel bursts could
be seen all around our lines. What happened we don't know
at all.
Reports concerning a new kind of bomb that, on being
dropped, explodes 6 times, are very prevalent. Anyhow, we
seem to have something very destructive on our side as three
observation balloons were shot down right in front of our
lines and actually witnessed by several men I have since
spoken to. Reports say that 19 balloons were shot down in
flames along a small sector.

July 1st. Saturday.
Another game of footer this
afternoon "A" against "B" teams. It was a jolly good game
for the fellows even if the referee did just allow the game
to go on, taking no notice of breaches.

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It was a jolly hot day. The evening is very clear
too, and strange to say, there are very few about, and no
shots being fired; its Saturday afternoon and the Australian
likes to continue upholding it, I think.
Reports are again prevalent regarding an attack on
Lille. In fact, they say that one English Brigade has
already captured Vimy Ridge, an approach to Lens. But of
course we can't take notice of these rumours. Anyhow, this
morning's paper speaks glowingly of all fronts. I trust it
is going to be the turning point in the war. The Italians
are regaining their lost ground. The Russians, after being
checked in their big move, have gone ahead again, while
Verdun is safer than ever. And the British are making
continuous bombardments. Looks good.

July 2nd. Sunday.
At about 9.30 last night, a most terrific bombardment
commenced. It raged like a tornado for 2 1/2 hours. Oh! to
walk about here, out of range, and listen to all this noise,
and see gun flashes, with star flares or German shells
bursting is very trying indeed. My curiosity calls me to a
sense of duty. There is a feeling that men are being torn
up and maimed, they must want help. I wandered around until
11.30 when the roar and thunder eased, but at 12.30 it was rumbling away with shocks that would split fragments off the
crazy bloody planet.
I learned that last night the bombardment was brought
about by the preparation of or for a raiding party from the
9th Battalion. The raid was very successful, even if we
did lose 9 men and a captain killed. Many prisoners were
taken, and our men tore everything off them that they could
as souvenirs.

July 3rd. Monday.
Orders came through today that we have to shift camp
tomorrow. Tomorrow was set down as a sports day, there were
21 events on the programme and these had to be got off during

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the day. At night a dinner was to be given by the cooks,
Joe Graham being the leading light in the dinner. As it
was, everything went quietly along until 6 p.m. when it was
decided to hold what there was of the dinner ready at 8 p.m.
and drink up what liquor there was about the place. Dinner
was laid longways down the room, the table covered with
sheets and a huge bowl of lovely tiger lilies adorned the
centre. The table 65 feet long was well covered with
jellies, sponges, custards, tarts, biscuits and tinned fruit
making a rather pretty show, with the cake-stands and cut
glass dishes borrowed from all over the district. Each
man brought his own mug and the beer was served out in jugs
by enthusiastic helpers. A couple of officers spoke
encouraging words. The W.O. was chairman and at once
"The King" was drunk, and as is commenced a toast list.
so often done "God Save the King" was sung, much to my
annoyance as it had to be again sung at the close. Anyhow,
as the toasts started the men (most of whom of course had
never been to an entertainment of this description) howled
like a mob of dingos.
At 10.30 the W.O. seeing, I think, that things were
getting a bit out of hand, handed the chairmanship to Sgt.
Poole. And his opening speech was a triumph. He said
"that he did not have any instructions as to what time to
close the gathering, but as long as you fellows behave, to
keep going until the last man goes to sleep."
Some time afterwards, one of the funniest arguments
I've ever heard took place between the chairman and Joe
Graham. Joe wanted to speak and Poole wanted him to wait
a while.
It was after 12 o'clock before all hands got to sleep.
The fellows are saying that the cooks did wonders with the
dinner, but really all that was on the table was either bought
in Estaires or medical comforts, i.e., special foodstuffs for
the patients. If bought in the village or Merville canteen

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the money came out of the canteen profits (we had a tent in
which beer and cigarettes, as well as tin goods were sold to
patients as well as ourselves). This might have been
alright, but the medical comforts were robbed and have been
robbed for weeks past. First we got 200 eggs per day but
by the time the g.M. party, the Officers' mess, the Sergeants'
mess, and the cookhouse party had their fill, some few only
were left for the patients. Even our own corps mess got more
medical comforts at times than the patients. Jellies, tinned
fruit and other things the same.

July 4th. Tuesday.
Up and doing, pulling down tents &c., at 5.30 this
morning - this came especially hard on last night's drunks
and imaginary drunks. It was a bustling morning right
enough and by 2 p.m. we lined up and started out. For the
past two hours it had been thundering and cloudy with light
flashes of lightning. But as soon as we started out it
rained fairly heavily and continued right along to our
destination 8 miles away and across the Belgian frontier.
In crossing the frontier there was nothing very
noticeable more than a large signboard saying that we were
at the border of France and a moment later entered Belgium.
There did not seem to be any roadway or division between the
farms, but there surely must have been. The railway line
showed four rails, why it should be four I don’t quite know,
even if the French gauge is 4-8/ and the Belgian 15 inches or
so smaller. The four rails of course carry both rolling
stock. The road connecting the two countries had a lovely
row of trees on the left, on the right ran the railway lines.
I kilo over the frontier we stopped marching, the rain
continued heavily, and turned into a yard behind which we had
two marquee tents for our party of 60 men to sleep in.
I went out for a stroll and saw two dummy farms in which
are hidden big guns, 12 ins.

July 5th. Wednesday. Today brings back old and miserable

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memories as we went through recruit drill, stretcher drill
and semaphore signalling. I feel very wroth at being
pushed and buffeted about at this awful drill stuff at the
same time I agree that something of the kind is absolutely
necessary as the fellows are getting lazy and lax. But my
chief trouble began when the W.O. in his opening remarks
concerning the necessity for better discipline said that the
majority of the fellows are well behaved and clean living
but I am going to punish them also for not looking after the
others and keeping them in order. A terrible thing I
think that the good fellows should be openly penalised,
particularly as there were only two men drunk and could not
move off. Both of whom the W.O. knew of yesterday morning
in fact, he was drinking beer with one of the defaulters
himself. He is a low-down scoundrel and was calling out to
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

6th July. Thursday.
        Up at 6 a.m. for physical drill. Breakfast at 8 a.m.
Parade at 9.30 and section drill without a spell until 12
o'clock. Dinner at 12.45. Parade at 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Cricket and football was played after tea, 5 o'clock, until
the German guns dropped pieces of shell around. Just about
this time, 8.40 three of our men while walking along the main
road were knocked down by a shell that struck a tree on the
roadside killing Stan Bull, taking "Goldie" Warran's arm off
and hitting Ford slightly on the stern. These are the first
casualties in France amongst our unit.
This morning our big gun fired five shots and at
dinner time six shots without any reply from the Germans, but
this evening after firing a few shots the Germans replied
to our 12 inch shots with 5.9 shells. They fired some 15
shots, and as I said before, some of the pieces fell around
the cricket ground and caused them to leave. I had prepared
my bed and was going to do some writing when I heard of the
casualties. I put on my boots and went out on to the road

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and along it for 200 yards when I came to where the railway
line was broken both rails being cleanly cut into. They are
60 lb. rails and you might imagine the blow they got,50 yards
further I saw a pool of blood and nearby a tree lying across
the road. It was a fine specimen of elm well over the 2 ft.
where it was struck 6 ft. up and shattered. This is where
the damage was done. Of course, the fellows were foolish in
wandering about this road as they do. The German shells
were all 5.9, but at the same time they were fruitless shots.

July 7th. Friday.
I have just come into the tent after having an eight-mile
route march in the wet and rain. With Watts and Reynolds I
went and had some beer. The beer at 1d a glass was awful. I
thought it tasted of cascara. Watts suggested quinine.
Reynolds (a knowing bird) said it was soap, and as proof
looked at the top where the froth had fallen in filling the
jugs and sure enough it did look like soapsuds. The 2d and
3d beer was sold out. We then went next door and get 12
eggs made up into an omelet and coffee in the usual basin.
One of the girls had a wonderful grip of English slang.
We passed many remarks, not expecting her to hear, but she did
easily. Our men areawhole lot more careful in their talk
than the Tommies when dealing with the women of France and
Belgium. I am quite proud of our boys right enough. 

There have not been much in the way of bombardments going
on about. Very few aeroplanes have been about today, the
weather is dull and rainy.

July 8th. Saturday.
It rained this morning but cleared off splendidly in the
afternoon when a game of football between A & B sections took
place. The rivalry was intense throughout and the barracking
terrific as the game has long been talked about and there was
wholesale betting going on with A favourites. The game was
very fast indeed and the play very clever all round. I played

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full back as usual but with a bad back and it is jolly bad
tonight too, worse perhaps than it has been for many attacks
now.
The aeroplanes have been very busy all the evening and
putting up some exciting flights. The "big gun" near has not
spoken today and I thought it would have done so today. The
noise of the barracking could be heard a whole long way off
today. After the game Jim O'D---- came over to speak to me
and I enjoyed half an hour on -- Towers news.

July 9th. Sunday.
It is 4 p.m. as I write, a cricket match is in progress
just outside. The guns are thundering all around. One German
5.9 is dropping shells only a little way off us and in the air
duels are being fought all day long. It is a lovely day, a
clear blue sky with big fleecy clouds moving over, into which
the aeroplanes disappear from our sight. This has been
going on all day now, and the anti-aircraft guns have had a
very busy time indeed, but then we don't seem to be very
strong strong in air guns just here, as there has been four
Hun planes overhead at one time today, this seems rather bad
I should think, as there is a big outward movement of troops
going on at present. All last night they filled the roadway.
We are packed up and ready to move off in half an hour. For
where? Its wonderful how well secrets are kept as we, or
nobody else, knows where they are going to.
And any who think that they really do know all differ in their "inside"
knowledge. The Somme is the popular feeling but if this is
so it looks rather like splitting the Australians up, and
savours also of a repetition of the Cape Helles stunt when
they took a brigade away from Anzac to push ahead the English
left flank for them, this they did easily and then got orders
to stop and "dig in" while the Turks were fairly routed and
there was a great chance of following them over the top of
Achi Baba itself, but no, stop and dig in was ordered. The
English are damn fool soldiers and I believe that they will

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yet make an unholy mess of this Somme River fight in which
they started off splendidly. They will stop and "dig in" as
at Suvla Bay and Cape Helles just when the day is won. I
suppose its like the high cost of living that we have been
worrying about for a very long time and will right itself
alright. Maybe we are weakening the enemy also by our many
retreats and digging in stunts and I don't doubt but what
the German will be the first to sue for peace. The Turk
seems to be holding his end up splendidly still. He's a
great fighter and no mistake. I've never heard an Australian
who really fought against the Turk condemn him. In fact, we
all just love him for his gameness and good sportsmanship.

Today has been a good day. There has been a fair
breeze blowing the huge fleecyclouds along, and up amongst
these clouds surrounded by a beautiful clear blue sky there
have been dozens of aeroplanes dodging about all day. Machine
gun duels in mid air have been frequent but the moving clouds
cut them off from our view every now and again and spoil the
remarkable spectacle for us. At one time there were five
Germans in the air above us, our guns did shoot up at them but
not to anything like the extent that the enemy shoots at our
men over their lines.
I wrote a letter to Dorothy Gregory today, a copy I am
pinning hereto. However/ I came to write as I did to this
splendid young woman I don't at all know, and why I carry on
now I don't know, but there is something alluring about it.
But it all seems so useless. I don't seem to be ever going
to settle down, I want too much to start on I think. However
"Whatever is! is best!"

July 10th. Monday.
The cricket match yesterday between A & B sections
turned out a big win for "B" section and they now feel happy
and compensated for the de feat at football.
Docker (Burwood) made 94, Cotterell 50 odd out of a
total of 238. "A" section batted twice but did not then