Author: Catherine Davis

Got into communication with the battery once every quarter of an hour during the night. The moon was very late getting up so it was lucky really there was no attack as I couldn’t have observed at all, and it would have had to be guesswork.

Two large train loads of natives were sent back to Kantara early this morning and two battalions of infantry from the 53rd Division came up later on the morning. About eight o’clock this morning an enemy plane came over; the mountain battery at once opened fire, but all the shells burst a bit too low.

Our aerial reconnaissance this morning has located the Turkish force which left Ogratina yesterday at Mageibra (supposed to be Joseph’s well) which is south of us. They also saw two thousand more Turks dug in at Ogratina, and their main body at and near Bir El Abd and Hod el Bayud.

Two more big troop trains packed with infantry came up from Kantara this evening. Our outposts have had a skirmish with Turkish patrols this evening, as some Anzac wounded have been brought in, also nine Turkish prisoners, including one officer. They don’t think it so likely that there will be an attack tonight, as the old Turk evidently doesn’t mean to be hurried, and is going to wait until he is quite ready.

We heard late during the night that the Turkish outposts were in Katia. We stood by at the guns at three, but there was no attack. An aerial reconnaissance out towards Ogratina at dawn this morning reported 12 battalions of Turks with seven mountain guns leaving and marching southwards. It looks as if they mean to try and work round behind us and cut the line between us and Kantara. Three Turks was caught in the Gippy Labour Corps lines last night, and they said that their main force of about thirty thousand was advancing to Ogratina.

Finished getting the camp straight this morning and then altered the position of the guns, so we can shoot South and West as well as East, so can protect our flanks to a certain degree.

Two enemy planes made a reconnaissance over us about five o’clock this evening, our battleplane at once went up after them but they had too much start. The Ross Mountain Battery got some shells bursting pretty close to them.

Troops and stores are still pouring up here. The 156th Bde. which was resting at Sidi Bish Camp in Alexandria, have been recalled and arrived here this evening. They packed off another big train of Labour Corps natives to Kantara this evening, and by the row they were making, they seemed to be glad to be out of it.

I am the F.O.O. tonight, so am just off there. The staff warn us that they expect the attack by the Turkish main body within the next 48 hrs.

I went up to the O.Pip at two thirty this morning to give the Ayrshire observing officer any help he could have wanted with regard to the zone. I was up there till five but there was no attack. At six o’clock we had 35 camels, struck our camp, and sent it onto Romani and followed on with the guns; we’ve come into action in the open here, behind the first line redoubts. They sent up three more battalions from the 42nd Division tonight.

From our reconnaissance today the old Turk at last means serious business. One of the Anzac patrols went out to Ogratina  this morning but found it held by an advance guard of two hundred Turks who drove them back, though luckily with only a few casualties. This afternoon an Anzac patrol to Katia captured a patrol of these Turks.

Our last aeroplane to reconnoitre tonight has come in with the news that the Turks have now got eight thousand men and six guns at Ogratina (12 miles away) and are digging themselves in there. Their main body is at Bin el Abd.

Divisional headquarters have warned us that the attack is very imminent, and will in all possibility be tonight. If the chance offers, we are to go out on mobile column, but otherwise shall fire from our positions here.

We’ve got about ten thousand men in all here, including the Anzacs and the 157th Brigade at Mahamdiya so ought to be able to hold them; but the worst of it is they attack at night always and not by day.

One of our gravest problems here is the native labour corps. There are about eight thousand of them, and three time during this evening they have tried to break through the front line. They know what’s on just as well as we do, and there is no shadow of doubt that half of them are in the pay of the Turks, but the infantry have now rounded them all up and marshalled them back about three miles down the line.

It is very much a case of sleeping with one eye open tonight.

Busy filling up wagons and Limbers with ammunition before breakfast. Bathed later this morning. The Ayrshire Battery arrived tonight and took over our emplacements.

One of our aeroplanes came back from a reconnaissance this evening, and we’ve just had her report in. 3500 Turks and Germans, with seven thousand trotting camels are at Bir El Abd , which has for the last month or so been clear of the enemy. Five thousand more Turks are in an oasis a mile or so behind it, about twenty two miles from us. An attack is expected tonight, and the Ayrshire Battery are in our emplacements. We’ve got to get ready to move out on mobile column at a minute’s notice. It looks as if our long wishes for a chance is now an absolute certainty.

If we are not attacked tonight we are going down to Romani at six o’clock tomorrow morning and shall advance from there when things begin to move.

Stood by at 3 o’clock and dismissed at five, nothing doing. Bathed this morning, water a bit cooler. Small mail in this morning; heard from Mrs Pellatt .

One of the officers of the Ayrshire Battery of the 1/2nd Bde. came here tonight to see our positions, as the Essex are still in quarantine . They are going to come up here temporarily to take over till the Essex are fit, and we are moving to Romani the day after tomorrow, preparatory to pushing out further, probably to El Rabah.

One of the men killed a snake this morning, 5 ft 1″, rather the colour and markings of an adder, a most poisonous looking brute. A Boche plane came over during breakfast, the mountain battery loosed off at him, but he was flying at a great height and they couldn’t touch him.

Bathed this morning. Good news from the French front in the official telegram this evening. Up in the O.Pip tonight.

Gun drill from six till 7:30 this morning, then stables etc. Bathed about midday, the water was lovely. It’s been very hot today, 90 degrees in the shade, but they say we shall get up to 110 degrees in the shade later.

Badcock came back from Cairo this afternoon.

Gun drill from five till six this evening. We bathed again at 7:15 this evening, there was a very bright moon and the water was as warm as toast.

We hear one of our advance posts of Australian Light Horse at Sinai, east of Ishmailia, has scuppered about sixty Turks and taken a lot of stores.

The Egyptian Mail says that the sandstorm we had on Thursday was the worst there has been for sixty years!

Bathed before breakfast; no luck with crab trap. Stables at 9:30. Bathed again at midday, and again at 4:30. It’s been very hot today, and the flies are a plague. We brought a chameleon into the mess at lunch and had him on the table. He caught any amount of flies, shot out a very long tongue and very rarely missed, often getting two flies at a shot; but he was a great sportsman, and never tried for the flies near him, always preferring the long shots. The longest shot we saw him make was when the fly was – without exaggeration – a foot from his nose. It was very funny to watch his eyes, they were both rarely looking in the same direction; as a rule, one looking to his front and the other cocked back looking astern.

A perfectly gorgeous sunset tonight. Elliott left this evening for three days leave at Cairo. During mess tonight the major suddenly spotted a scorpion running across the floor of the tent, and as I was sitting with my back to it and nothing on my legs but a pair of canvas shoes I got out of the way pretty quickly, till he was safely squashed. They are horrible looking things, like a small black lobster, only the tail is more dangerous than their claws.

I slept without a mosquitoes net last night and got horribly bitten, so shall put it up tonight, although I generally tear it down in my sleep before the night’s out.

I hear tonight that an Austrian engineer officer has been captured near Katia and that a Bosche aeroplane has been flying over there. I wonder if they are meditating an attack?

The usual Saturday morning inspection. Bathed at midday. After lunch I went for a ride with Franklyn; we went for about five miles along the Sweet Water Canal. We saw any amount of chameleons, both small and large, and varying in colour according to the background they were on. We brought one big deadwood coloured one back in a holster and put him on a green palm branch in Franklyn’s tent, and tonight he has turned quite a bright green. Some of the bushes growing in the water were thick with locusts. We saw any amount of kites; Franklyn shot at several with his revolver but with no success. We saw several flocks of very pretty birds indeed, I don’t know what they were, they flew very like a woodpecker and much the same size and shape. As far as we could see they had dark yellow backs, some blue under the wings, and lovely green breasts.

On the way back we suddenly saw a very weird animal about fifty yards ahead of us, about the size and build of an otter, but a shaggy coat and it moved very like a stoat. We galloped after it and it disappeared into some thick rushes. We got off and beat about but could find no sign of it, when we suddenly saw it about two hundred yards away. We again gave chase but it got into some very thick undergrowth. If we’d only had a terrier or two, I believe we should have got up to him. Powell tells us he saw some of them in the Cairo zoo but can’t remember their name.

After tea I went out and helped Elliott try and catch some fish in the canal, but we had no luck. The major has eaten the crab that was caught yesterday and so far there has been no ill effects. In fact he said it was so good, that Elliott has rigged up a very ingenious crab trap made with an old sack, some wire, and old horse shoes for weights (and luck!), and baited with old meat.

He swam out and sank it in the canal with a line running in to the shore. We’ve just been out to see what luck we’ve had, and found the line caught round a rock or something, and we couldn’t pull it in. So Elliott swam out to free it (pretty cold at 9:30 at night out here). We got it, but no luck. We’ve set it again and hope for something in the morning.

It’s still blowing pretty hard this morning, but no sand on the move, thank goodness. I was Orderly dog today, and took the exercise at 6 am. Nothing else of importance doing all day. Badcock went for three days leave last night and Kenning returned midday today. We had a small thunderstorm in the middle of the day, but nothing to speak of.

Kitty is going on alright, but I shan’t ride her till Monday. I hope after this she will put on some flesh, but it takes the horses some time to get used to the change of food here. For instance, we get no hay, barley instead of oats, and “tibin” and “berseen” which I don’t suppose any of them have had before. Their coats are beginning to come through well now, though many of them are still very odd sandy colours.

Elliott went out at 4:30 this morning and caught us a very nice grey mullet in the canal, just over a pound and a half. He went out again this evening and got a bass, about three quarters of a pound, and a fairly large crab. We ate the fish for mess tonight and they were very good.

The crab has been cooked, but we’re still a bit suspicious of him.