Author: Catherine Davis

Orderly dog today. Rode out to the guns this morning and was there most of the morning. Had our usual bathe at midday.

The major got back from Cairo this afternoon and had thoroughly enjoyed it, climbing the Pyramids etc.

We had a tremendous blaze this evening. There is a fairly large wooden canteen shed here run by several natives, and apparently they’d been charging exorbitant prices for very moderate stuff. Anyhow, some of the men fired it this evening, and by jove it did burn, stores and all!

Church parade at nine o’clock, stables at 10am. I had a lovely bathe at midday.

This afternoon Franklyn and I went out for a ride, and took revolvers in the hope of getting a shot at something. He fired at two old hoodies on the ground but missed. We went through a lot of scrub and marshy ground, saw a few snipe and kingfishers, also some shrikes and redstarts and countless wagtails – which are very common here and very tame. We saw some very funny bird – I’ve noticed them before flying just above the water down the canal – they are black and white, about the size of a woodpecker and have got a long beak. They hover in the air over the water like hawks. I hoped we might see a jackal, but they say they are more common further down.

An enormous liner of sorts has just gone down the canal, with the decks very brilliantly lighted up.

I have just heard a Zep. has been brought down during the last raid in England. It is great news.

Not much doing today except stables and exercise etc. Bathed about midday. In the evening we had a great football match, the left section v. the right. I was playing for the left section and we won by one goal to nil after a very exciting tussle.

A very quiet day. I had a lovely bathe about twelve o’clock. A topping mail came in this afternoon, which kept me busy for a long time. This evening about five of us got hold of a dilapidated old rowing boat and had a row on the canal. It ended in a rag and we all got rather wet.

News came in this evening that General Townshend has had to surrender at Kut-al-Amara in Mesopotamia. I’m afraid it’s bound to have a very bad effect on morale.

Nothing doing today apart except the ordinary routine of stables etc. It will get pretty monotonous if the Turks don’t give us some more excitement soon. I had a topping bathe at midday. A fairly stiff breeze been following all day.

Gun drill from six till eight. I had an early lunch and went off with seven wagons to fetch over all the woodwork from the ammunition dugout at our old camp.

A large quantity of tinned food has been stolen from a Field Force Canteen near our line, so all the tents had to be searched tonight. Pretty certain to be one of the Scotch regiments I should think.

I went over to our old camp this morning and saw to the rest of the stuff coming over. We got back and bathed about midday. A very hot wind all the morning and the heat strikes up off the sand very fiercely. A lecture this afternoon by the G.O.C divisional artillery. A mail came in this afternoon – I had lots of news.

Things were quiet here again now the Turks have retreated right back across the desert, probably to Beersheba where they are thought to have come from, or possibly El Arish. The Anzacs occupied Katia, or rather what is left of it. This afternoon thousands of camels have been going out there all day with stores and ammunition. Our casualties in the last day or two have been over six hundred, and the Turks very considerably less. It is certainly one up for them, and their attack was without question wonderfully organised and carried out, as they must have come over more than 100 miles of desert.

I expect there is sure to be questions asked as to why we had yeomanry regiments out at Katia unsupported by guns or infantry. They told us we were to go there once but then said water was too scarce. Anyhow, if we had been there we should certainly have been scuppered, as the Turks completely surrounded the place at night and attached in the early morning.

Not a wildly exciting day; I was busy all the morning and afternoon with two beams and G.S wagons, and I got the list of our supplies over to our own men’s camp. We had a bathe at midday and rigged up a high dive with some old barrels, about eleven feet high.

Jeans rode over to see the remnant of the Worcester Yeomanry today, they have only got 1 officer and 36 men left out of the whole regiment. They say they were completely surprised and outnumbered; the officer’s report from divisional headquarters tonight says that the Turks were about four thousand strong, inclusive of one thousand Germans. They had a good many guns and four Fokker aeroplanes with them. I shouldn’t be surprised if this stops us going to France for some time, if not indefinitely.

Hard at work clearing up all day, a very trying job when one is longing to be up with the battery the whole time. I bathed about midday. Went over to the east bank this evening having left a small party to guard the stuff we’ve not been able to move yet.

When I got the other side I found the battery was coming in tonight as the Turks have retreated. The battery got in about seven. They had taken up a position on Hill 70 but hadn’t had a chance of coming into action, so I didn’t miss much. The major was going to have sent for me to join them tonight, if there had been any need for them to stay out.

There is a strong force of Anzacs out near Hill 70 now, but they report to us no sign of the Turk, and think he has retired well satisfied with his raid – and so he ought to be as he has burnt the camp at Katia, and the Worcester Yeomanry have only 1 officer and 54 men left out of the whole regiment. Gloucestershire have lost a squadron and a half, and the Warwick Yeomanry have about 10 causalities. One German Officer was shot with the Turks, who I believe only had about 100 casualties.

We’ve got the camp this side nearly straight now and shall settle down. All our battery messed with headquarters tonight.

Up early, Powell and Kenning rode over this morning. The batteries had just been bivouacking on the east bank of the canal. About five thousand New Zealand and Australian Cavalry have been pouring through on their way to Katia. The latest report we’ve got is that Katia is completely burnt and the Turks have annihilated two squadrons of the Worcester Yeomanry, and the Gloucester and Warwickshire Yeomanry who were also at Katia have been badly cut up. Wounded men pouring in most of the morning and several lots of Turkish prisoners. Our casualties up to this morning were reckoned at 300 and 7 dead, and 430 wounded Turks have been found (at Duedar, a post held by the 7th Royal Scots) between us and Katia.

I was busy all day striking the camp and sending it over to the East Bank.

I heard this afternoon that our battery has been asked to push on to Road End, which is the place where the engineers have got to with the road to Katia. I wonder if they will come into action at all; I do hope I can get on to them tomorrow.

Hundreds of colonial troops have been coming in here all day. I had a bathe at midday and busy striking tents and loading wagons for the rest of the day.