"At a mile distant their thousand hooves were stuttering thunder, coming at a rate that frightened a man - they were an awe inspiring sight, galloping through the red haze - knee to knee and horse to horse - the dying sun glinting on bayonet points..." Trooper Ion Idriess
The Australian Light Horse Studies Centre aims to present an accurate history as chroniclers of early Australian military developments from 1899 to 1920.
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Another entry from the book written by Lieutenant Colonel Hüseyin Hüsnü Emir, called Yildirim. Every day, one page of the book will be posted. This is Page 36.
The following entries are extracted and transcribed from the 9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary, the originals of which are held by the Australian War Memorial. There are 366 entries on this site. Each day has entries as they occurred from 1914 to 1919. In addition to the 9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary, when appropriate, entries from the 3rd Light Horse Brigade War Diary and other regiments with the Brigade will also appear. Entries from the unit history, Darley, TH, With the Ninth Light Horse in the Great War, Adelaide, Hassell Press, 1924 will also appear from time to time. The aim is to give the broadest context to the story and allow the reader to follow the day to day activities of the regiment. If a relative happened to have served in the regiment during the Great War, then this provides a general framework in which the individual story may be told.
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - 0400, Left camp and marched to Hasanien and were told enemy had evacuated redoubt during night and had fallen back.
Passed through 8th Light Horse at 0600 and followed up pursuit to a point about 8 miles south west of Salmana. Enemy could be seen moving on hills to the east.
At 1400 the Regiment took up a position on the high sand ridge overlooking Salmana and the Inverness Battery shelled the hod and surrounding hills. Enemy replied with high explosives and shrapnel - about 100 shells falling in our positions. Luckily no casualties occurred.
Colonel JR Royston, CMG, DSO, took over command of Brigade from General Antill.
At 1900 Regiment returned to Hod Hasanien for the night.
Men and horses very tired having been constantly on the go since 4th instant.
1917
Sunday, August 12, 1917
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Tel el Marakeb
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - 0800 Church Parade.
For the purpose of reference the map area is defined as follows: On the north - the sea. East - the Turkish lines. West - a line running from the south along the Egyptian frontier until it meets a line north and south through small gully just west of El Fukhari [Square Y28a Sheet Rafa], thence by the north south line until southern Khan Yunis - Gaza border is reached - thence a line to north east of Tel el Marakeb. The western boundary defined above is the eastern boundary of the Palestine line of control.
1918
Monday, August 12, 1918
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Bluff
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Cruddas, Lieutenant GF; and, two Other Ranks proceeded on short leave to Egypt. Shaw, Lieutenant OJ, returned from short leave in Egypt.
Regimental Order No 8 issued.
2000, Heavy bombardment observed north west which proved to be 60th Division carrying out a trench raid.
1919
Tuesday, August 12, 1919
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Adelaide
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Regiment disbanded.
Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM): For conspicuous gallantry between the 21st and the 30th August, 1915, at Kaiajik Aghala (Dardanelles), when in charge of machine guns. He invariably displayed great bravery and devotion to duty. L.G. 11 March 1916, p2746.
Mentioned in Despatches (MID): in connection with operations described in General I. hamilton's despatch dated 11 December 1915. L.G. 28 January 1916, p1210.
Last Unit Served:
Canterbury Mounted Rifles
Place of Death:
Egypt
Date of Death:
12 August 1916
Age at Death:
31
Year of Death:
1916
Cause of Death:
Died of wounds
Cemetery Name:
Cairo War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt
Grave Reference:
M. 133.
Biographical Notes:
He was the sixth son of Mr George Harper of Christchurch, Barrister-at-law.
On the outbreak of war he enlisted in the New Zealand Mounted Rifles' Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry and left New Zealand with the Main Body New Zealand Expeditionary Force in October, 1914.
He saw much service in Gallipoli with the Machine-gun section of the C.Y.C., was wounded during the operations following Suvla Bay landing in August, 1915, and was sent to hospital in England.
For his services during these operations he was awarded the D.C.M. and at about the same time, received his commission as machine-gun officer. After recovering from his wound he returned to Egypt in December 1915 and saw service in the operations on the Suez Canal up to the time of his death.
He died at Cairo on 12 August 1916 from wounds received at the fighting at Romani, Egypt.
Description of Image:
Portrait from Powles, C.G. (1922).
Further References:
Boyack, Nicholas 'Behind the lines : the lives of New Zealand Soldiers in the First World War'
Alexander Turnbull Library MS Papers 1444; Letters 1914-15; Diary May-August 1915.
The Museum Library has a copy of 'Letters from Gunner 7/516 and Gunner 7/517' by Barbara Harper (Ref. D640) This is an edited edition of the letters written by these two soldiers during World War 1.
Military personnel file listed at Archives New Zealand. Search http://www.archway.archives.govt.nz for information about this person's Military Personnel File. Use the Simple Search option.
Additional Information:
Listed incorrectly as George Gerald in the Nominal Rolls
Sources Used:
Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force Volume I. Wellington: Govt. Printer, 1914-1919
Diaries of AIF Servicemen, Bert Schramm, 12 August 1918 Topic: Diary - Schramm
Diaries of AIF Servicemen
Bert Schramm
12 August 1918
Bert Schramm
2823 Private Herbert Leslie SCHRAMM, a 22 year old Farmer from Whites River, South Australia. He enlisted on 17 February 1916; and at the conclusion of the war Returned to Australia, 10 July 1919.
During part of the course of his military service with the AIF, Bert Schramm kept a diary of his life. Bert was not a man of letters so this diary was produced with great effort on his behalf. Bert made a promise to his sweetheart, Lucy Solley, that he would do so after he received the blank pocket notebook wherein these entries are found. As a Brigade Scout since September 1918, he took a lead part in the September Offensive by the Allied forces in Palestine. Bert's diary entries are placed alongside those of the 9th Light Horse Regiment to which he belonged and to the 3rd Light Horse Brigade to which the 9th LHR was attached. On this basis we can follow Bert in the context of his formation.
The Diaries
The complete diary is now available on the Australian Light Horse Studies Centre Site at:
Bert Schramm's Handwritten Diary, 11 - 18 August 1918
[Click on page for a larger print version.]
Bert Schramm
Monday, August 12, 1918
Bert Schramm's Location - Bluff, Jordan Valley, Palestine.
Bert Schramm's Diary - Things rather quiet believe we are being relieved by infantry in a few days.
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Bluff, Jordan Valley, Palestine.
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Cruddas, Lieutenant GF; and, two Other Ranks proceeded on short leave to Egypt. Shaw, Lieutenant OJ, returned from short leave in Egypt. Regimental Order No 8 issued.
2000, Heavy bombardment observed north west which proved to be 60th Division carrying out a trench raid.
Nominal Roll, AWM133, Nominal Roll of Australian Imperial Force who left Australia for service abroad, 1914-1918 War.
War Diaries and Letters
All War Diaries and letters cited on this site should be read in conjunction with the Australian Light Horse Studies Centre, War Diaries and Letters, Site Transcription Policy which may be accessed at:
One of the most complete set of Light Horse unit signals at Gallipoli belongs to the 3rd Light Horse Brigade. Signals provide a window into the unvarnished form of history. These are the comments made by people who had important needs that required immediate attention. As such, they tell a story about a campaign that existed before the occurence of the newspaper reports leading to the Official Histories and all the other works that followed. Since they do not originate in a vacuum, it is the immediacy of the signal in a dense communication transfer that gives it a unique currency. It is a moment in time. We need all the other items such as the War Diary, Routine Orders and lastly, the published books to get a fully appreciation of the humble signal.
To ensure that this appreciation is available to many, over the coming months, a series of signals will be posted commencing from April till December.
Signal, 26 April 1915 to 8th LHR regarding movements at Heliopolis
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