Diary of Trooper Ion Llewellyn Idriess-1915-1916-Part 9

G. W. Stanley
C/o T. Stanley
manager
Junior Army & Navy Stores
Ltd
D'Olier Street
Dublin
Ireland
F. Morrison
Palmwoods
N C Line
Via Brisbane
Walkers Service Note Book No. P. 53
One day in Walkers Ridge
the 8^th L.H. Could hear the Turks
digging quite close to their main
tunnel. So the boys rigged
up a mine against the tunnel
quick and lively, and set
her off. "Ban-Bang." The Turks
had done the same. Both
sides are yet doubtful as to
whose mine went off first.
An English engineer went
down the tunnel, and to
his surprise found the
mines had burst right
through, and now both
the Australian tunnel and
Turkish tunnel were connected.
He [[stuck?]] his most
carefully round the

corner, and "Whiff" Bang
A hand grenade nearly
knocked it off. He hurried
to the dressing station, got
it bandaged, and ran
back. This time he got two
fingers blown off. So our
boys went down with
sand bags to block the
tunnel up. meanwhile the
Turks were doing the
same. As a preliminary
our boys slung five bombs
down the narrow tunnel
towards the Turks, and
then hurriedly fix began
fixing the sand bags.
Then 'Bang' 'Bang' 'Bang'.
Came the Turkish bombs
Our boys quickly left. Then
they slung more bombs
and the Turks skipped,
and so on, until each
end of the tunnel was
finally blocked up. It
was very lively and
amusing while it lasted.
. . . . . One night the Turks
attacked the trench, and
some of them got into the
saps. The ch Our fellows
had the devils job bayoneting
and getting bombing them
out. But finally all who
were not killed got back
to their own lines, and our
men watched the parapet
closely to see that none
alive were lying outside.
A long while after a
friend of mine heard a
movement outside, so
he cautiously looked
over the parapet. Drawing
his rifle, to his shoulder
my friend took the first
pull, and /a steady aim. "You
will never move again
you cow," he said mentally
and then, in the last second
of time, the Turk said

in perfect English "Would
you please ask your
gentlemen not to fire until
I come in." My friends
jaw dropped down on his
rifle butt, but he managed
to blubber something
about the "Bloke going to
surrender." The Turk
then came into the trench.
He proved to be an Armenian,
and spoke excellent
English. So coming from
the Turkish lines he was
an excellent capture.
Next morning there were a
lot of Turkish wounded
lying groaning outside t
the 8th parapet. They got an
interpreter, who called out
to the Turks to crawl in over
the parapet, and they would
be well looked after. But
they called out that they
would be certainly shot
from their own trenches if
they did so, but they would
come in at night time. So
they lay there all that hot
day without moving, but
when it got well dark they
managed to crawl slowly
over with a little help.
Ras-el-Tin Alexandria Nov 3^rd 1915
If a magnifying glass is
held to the sun, and the
rays turned on cloth,
that cloth will burn.
Could not a powerful
glass be made, and
turned on the Turks
sandbags, so that as the
sand bags burned the
sand would roll
out, thus filling up

their loop holes, which
would stop their fire
and considerably annoy
them. In fact, the suns
rays might be concentrated
in a light tube
and turned onto a
wooden bridge at short
range, and so burn the
bridge. If a machine
so powerful as this
could be made, it
would considerably
hamper an enemy
crossing a river in
pontoons.
A shuttle cock always
falls to earth the
correct way. Could
this not be attached
to a bomb, so as to
steer it. It would be
a great idea to pack
a bomb without
cayenne instead of
earth. Then the
unhurt enemy would
have their eyes and
(Pepper)

25^th Nov 1915. Could a
search light be made for
detecting submarines under
water. Say a long steel
tube were let down the
side of a ship, the bottom
end to reach below the
keel and to have in it very
powerful magnifying glass
reflectors. The end of the
tube on deck to have a glass
in it, to act as a powerful
Periscope. The end of the
tube under water to
have a short tube
protruding from it,
something like the
barrel of a gun. This
barrel must be fitted so
as to turn cl completely
around in any direction.
Inside this barrel is the
light. This light is of pure
oxygen, which is forced
through the barrel, and
ignited by an electric
spark as it leaves the
muzzle of the barrel. Now
oxygen burns with an
extraordinarily fierce and
strong light. Water is
made up of H2 O, one
part of Oxygen to two of
Hydrogen. Now would
it be possible for the
burning oxygen to
ignite, even feebly, the

one part of Hydrogen oxygen in the
water, and thus be equalise
the dulling of the searchlight
by the Hydrogen in
the water. If this proved
so, then the searchlight
would be a success, and
would, a light up the
sea as a land searchlight
lights up the night.
Any submarine within
the rays of the search
light could be detected
by means of the periscope.
If the searchlight were a
success, could not oxygen
be used in another way.
An excaping submarine
often shows to the
destroyer a trace of foam.
If a gun were fired,
with instead of a shell
a cylinder of oxygen,
timed to explode when
say 6 feet underwater,
would the exploding
oxygen ignite the
oxygen in the water,
causing such an explosion
as to blow the submarine
out of the water?
Anyway, if the searchlight
was a success,

camels. . . . . There is a peculiar
sickness going among us. It
starts with vomiting, then a rash
breaks out which spreads out
over the whole body in half
an hours time. It is fearfully
itchy. The doctor has some
stuff that eases the itch, otherwise
a man would go mad.
12^th: Hs Aeroplane brought in
word that a Turkish patrol was
on hill 462, about twelve
miles out, and that a small
party of Turks were burying
something away behind the hill.
At eight o'clock the night
before last A squadron started
Pepper
noses troubled, and
would for the time
being be helpless.
out, with B Squadron following
four hours behind as supports,
to attack and see what the
Turks were up to. We had to
go a very long way around,
out of the way of their outpost,
and attack them in the rear.
It was moonlight, and until
12 p.m a splendid ride.
The squadron had a screen
of men thrown out around
it within close distance the
main body under Captain
Bolingbroke riding in the
and attached to destroyers,
then submarine hunting
would become very
amusing, and submarine
warfare would be practically
hors - de - combat.

immediately pressed him
to let us four go after them
on the chance that we might
be able to bring back
a prisoner or two. The colonel
smiled and shook his head
and said that he would think
about it: it is a very
dangerous enterprise. All
the same I reckon the
"Gun Section" could dish
up those twelve Turks.
If a column of mounted
troops are marching in
sections, they will pass a
given point at a walk at
the rate of 120 men a minute
Infantry 200
5 guns 5 a minute.
5 p.m. Hoo-Blooming-Hurrah!
An issue of bread and
jam has arrived. Why
the hell can't they keep us
supplied regularly? Why
the blazes don't they bog
in and finish the war?
Why cant a man have
three wives? 10th. The
flies have got simply
unbearable. A man
handles his food with
one hand and brushes
the swarm of ravening
lies frantically away
with the other. There
is still a taint of
dead men in the air.
There are plenty of dead
[[+]]

9 923
Frank Morrison 645
(C A) Brand R H E
on hoof
(K6 304
G. W. Stanley 895
Brown Horse Horse 9624
Brown Gld
H. Card (938) (Horseless)
913[[?]]
I. L. Idriess 358 (Horseless)
                                                  
Miss [McGurk?]
c/o Miss E. Wells
Linville
B. V. Line
[Qlamb?]
      36¹5
           4
20 1460
                
₤ 73.0
Mrs E. S. Peart
Williams Street B Hill
West
We are doing Well.
Camping again Can
Tucker is not too good
Pretty warm here. F
Au Revoir Very Bad.
                                       
20 minutes ordinary walking
to cover one mile
E. S. Fox No 1540 6^th
                                 Batt
                                                     
Miss A Gale
7 Kenilworth Street
Waverley
                                             
1 DRL 32
2/8