Diary of Trooper Ion Llewellyn Idriess-1915-Part 6

ordinary telephone handle attached to

for us  the big ear to enable us to hear

the conversation as well as if a telephone

wire were attached.
 

walk, and would he bring

me down some. He miserably

excused himself by saying

there was only water for dinner,

and passed on. On the spur of

the moment I called out to a

long legged mooching Australian

and explained things to him.

He very soon came back with

a plate of beef and vegetables

and a big pannikin of broth.

You can just imagine what

that hot soup tasted like. But

I could only peck at the meat and

vegetables after all. ...Feel

real good this afternoon, and

am going to tackle those stairs

again, for tea. Somehow I

think things are a shame

though it is not my idea of

a hospital. They say the bad

cases are down the other

end of the ship. Next day. I am

going to continue this tale of

woe. If ever a man does

get safely through, he will

have something to give

be made with a hearing power

magnified many times more than our

own. We can hear a man shouting

loudly 500 yards away. A mile is 1760

yards 500 /1760 1500 (3 That means that an

artificial ear, with a hearing power

four times stranger than our own,

could hear a man shouting at a 

distance of one mile away. Surely if

this step were reached, it would not

take much more to strengthen the ears

hearing power so that if it would

hear and transfer to the human ear

the conversation taking place a mile or

more away. If a magnified ear were

successful, it would only mean an

 

him a bit of the blues by just

reading up these notes, and

remembering things. But I

know the growl is more

than justified. Now here is a

complaint. From 10 in the

morning until 5 at night

all men are supposed to

be on deck, except of course

that part of the ship where

the bad cases are. At 10 O'Clock

a ships officer examines the ship,

with a great flourish of the

trumpet. Now could anything

be more ridiculous. Here are

hundreds of men, not supposed

to be seriously wounded, many

of them limping about as

I am myself, the majority

hurt about the body, arms

m neck, head, shoulders,

chest, between them every

part of the human body

and yet they are debarred

from the very thing they

want and expect - rest.

Could anything be more

us and shouts. Our ears catch the sound

no matter at what angle from the shouter

we may be standing. A cannon booms

two miles away. We hear the report. The

louder the noise the further away we can

hear the sound. But we cannot hear a

man talk a mile away, except through a

telephone wire. If Headquarters could

sit in their dug out and listen to the

conversation of the leaders in the enemys

camp miles away, wouldn't that be a

gain? But conversation, unlike a big

report, will not reach us miles away. We 

cannot magnify the conversation until

each word makes as much noise as

a cannon shot, but why not magnify

our ear. Could not a big artificial ear 

 

absurd? For my part I got

 out of the difficulty in the 

good Australian way, 

* bluffed past the Tommy

M.P.S. after my leg is dressed,

and then told the Tommy 

sergeant to carry me up

if he wants me out of bunk.

Considering I cant bear to 

stand for more than a 

few minutes at a time, there

was nothing else to do anyway.

Now if I had been a Tommy

I would have got by far

the worst of the argument.

It is great to be an Australian.

No nationality I have yet

met will argue the point

with an Australian.

And if this is not a shame.

This one French doctor working

at high pressure all day long,

has all these hundreds of 

wounded men to dress. He

has four assistants who

undo the bandages, but

three of them appear quite

uncapable of doing up a

2 Would it not be

possible to compress paper

into bullets. A bullet is a certain

weight. If enough paper could be

pressed into a tiny mould until the

pressed paper was the exact weight

of a bullet, would that not do

equally as well as a metal bullet.

Our ears enable us to hear 

sounds made near us. A

man stands 100 yards from 
Hand drawn diagram: see original document.

 

 simple bandage. I don't give

a damn, and won't try and

hide some of the things that

happen here daily. This ought

to explain a great many

things I am trying to tell. An 

assistant took the bandage

off my leg, and then started

to pick hairs and fluff from

the inflamed wound with

a squat thumbnail under

which the dirt was thick. 

The doctor can't watch all,

and dress our wounds at the

same time. I have seen him 

suddenly turn around and

"go" for an "assistant" in a

most fierce manner. But

with all us men in the big

room, and especially those

whose wounds are paining,

are quite willing to let

anything be done to them, if

only the doctor will dress

their wounds and give

them ease. We have got a 

very kindly feeling

Hand drawn diagram: see original document 

towards the big French doctor.

He is very gentle and never 

pains a man unless there is

no help for it ..... I am a 

little better this morning,

but over a lot of things 

feel miserable. And here's 

another thing. At the time 

of this inspection business

the latrines are locked. Could

you imagine such a thing 

possible in a hospital of

1800 men wounded men. 

And the lice are accursed

things. I have broken out in a

red rash all over the body

from their bites. By Jove,

writing these notes passes

away the time and helps

a man. There actually goes 

that rauco accursed

raucous toned bugle for

the first dinner sitting.

And I can hobble up

there to day. This is the 

first day I have not

been feverish for some

see he fears for his own skin, then that

officer will fail when his time comes.

 

days ......I reckon this is 

a real shame. We only 

had two small slices of

bread and jam and half

a pannikin of tea for the

evening meal. If we have

the money we can buy buns

at 1⁰⁰ a piece and coffee at

2⁰⁰ a pannikin and so fill

up that way. Send wounded

men hungry to bed and

make a few miserable

shillings out of their pockets.

I'll bet the officers never

get up from their table

hungry. It is ever that

distinction ..... What is 

this ship really classed

as. She has no green band

around her and no red

cross. They say she has

been wanting to go to

Alexandria for the last 12

days, unload her wounded,

then sail for England for

troops. But it has been

far too risky. I suppose

she will make a great

and get them straight away under cover,

and into action if necessary.....He

should follow the golden rule, which is

"Never let his men get separated and be

running about not knowing what course

to follow. ....Above all, he must 

never show fear, even should he feel it.

If shrapnel is about suddenly it is unwise

of him, to make a practice of rushing

his disgust before his men. Let him get in

at the same time, or just a little behind.

It is marvellous how soon men pick

out fear in their officers, and nothing breeds

contempt more quickly among them. An

officer should drill the impression into 

his men that he is bound up in their

welfare and safety. Should the men 

 

of dash for it one of these

fine nights, and get through

very proud of the fact that

she has saved some green 

and white paint. However

if she is torpedoed, what a

hell of a cry there will be

if a hospital ship, with

2000 with helpless men on 

board being murderously

torpedoed etc etc. ......This

is a great ship, but I am 

unable to look over it, and

so far can't describe it.

It is very different to a 

troopship. With this number 

on board a troopships it

would be Babel multiplied

a dozen times over. But 

the ship is very quiet. Our

little squadron in its

dining shed at Mahdi,

kicked up fully 15 times

more row than comes

from all this great ships

dining halls. ..... Mr McLaughlin

came down and saw me

this morning. I am glad

From the moment that the first bullet

"zipped" I've noticed things about officers. Which

moves me to these four remarks written as 

each little thing was noticed..... An officer

should immediately run to his troops at the

first alarm. He should fall them in see to their 

rifles being loaded. If in danger he should

immediately get them under cover until

he gets his orders. On no account should he 

let any of his troops get separated ....He must

at once assume command of his men, as

they look to him instantly for guidance. He

must never hesitate, because his men

are being shot down while he is trying to 

make up his mind. .....He should

run his men past the points of danger 

 

to see he has quite recovered

......I'm blessed if the

Tommy sergeant hasn't been

trying to get me up on deck 

with a life belt. It appears

we are actually off to night.

The men are being shown

their posts should anything

happen. I pray we may to

to Alexandria, but I wouldnt

climb those stairs unnecessarily

for all the lift belts in 

the world.....Hurrah! I

believe it is really true.

If the only will go to 

Alexandria I may have

my knee properly attended

to. I have had grave doubts

these last few days. A

badly poisoned knee,

right on the knee cap,

such as I have got, is

a very serious thing,

especially as things are

going these here. Hurrah

for Alexandia, Hurrah!

..... We are off right

enough, amid a great