Topic: AIF - 3B - 9 LHR
9th LHR, AIF
War Diary, 28 May
Pro Gloria et Honore - For Glory and Honour
Regimental March - Marching Through Georgia
The Diary
1914
Thursday, May 28, 1914
See 4th Military District, South Australia for militia activities.
1915
Friday, May 28, 1915
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Walkers Ridge
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - 0700 A party of 3 Officers and 50 Other Ranks [Volunteers] assembled in Saps 4 and 3 to assault Turk's Trench 75 yards away - object to capture Maxim if there.
Bombs not forthcoming from Brigade Headquarters, therefore at 2030 the projected assault was cancelled.
3rd Light Horse Brigade War Diary - Very quiet. No shelling at night for first time. Returned cycles and motor cycles to base Alexandria.
Carew Reynell Diary - We have had a very quiet time the last few days although the usual minor incidents occur. The night before last word came in to our dugout from the front trenches that the outpost of twelve men and one sergeant that had to go out and occupy Turk's Point had come back and reported that the point was occupied by the Turks. They were all so certain that they had not mistaken the end of No. 5 Sap for it's that they almost persuaded me. However, I felt pretty sure they had and in any case the CO and I decided that in any case we must occupy it and I suggested that I had better take them out and Colonel was evidently relieved at the suggestion as it was quite dark now - 2100 - and there was plenty of opportunity of losing one's way and shooting our own men or being shot. So after giving each man to clearly understand what to do in case we found Turks there, we went out with bayonets fixed and every man knowing that we would rush with the bayonet and not fire if we found the point occupied. After a very winding clamber along, up and down bramble covered cliffs the guide who had been there before and was supposed to know it whispered to me "There they are" at the same time pointing to the end of our own No. 5 Sap. However, I knew the general lay of the country and knew it must be our own sap and that the "Turks" must be close to our left so we dashed off at it and found it - empty! This is the danger here. Fellows get excited, lose their sense of direction and fire on their own men if one isn't very careful. I had a very much more exciting experience yesterday, however. I went out with three patrol leaders to make a reconnaissance from two points away along the beach, to our left flank, and respectively known as No. 1 and No. 2 Post.
They are only changed at night as there are a number of snipers that can bring fire to bear on them and the spaces in between. About thirty men have been killed by this fire although only crossing in the dark and one was killed and one wounded the night before last. However a covered way has now been made for No. 1 Post and a Staff Captain told me that by crawling one could get across and the consensus of opinion was that it was good enough to try so off we went. I was told to tell the CO No. 2 Post to send in some prisoners he had at once if we weren't heavily sniped at and if we were to keep them there until after dark. About 6 or 7 shots were fired at us and none of them very close and they decided to send them in. They ran across the swept zones one at a time and gone on all right until they got to one zone of about 50 yards when the snipers gradually got to work hotter and hotter and by the time the last Turk ran across, these prisoners had voluntarily come in - deserters, he got a very hot passage and then the last man of the guard got a perfect storm of bullets. The officer in charge called out to us not to come as it was too hot and indeed we could see that for ourselves. We waited an hour and then tried it and I had a dozen shots round me quite close enough and one of the others of my party also had some very close shaves. The other two for some reason or other hardly had a shot fired at them. When I got back I found that the colonel and Weik and several other officers had been watching us through the glasses and wondering whether it might be me and my party. They found it quite exciting. So did I..
1916
Sunday, May 28, 1916
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Roadhead Serapeum
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Routine patrol work. Training as usual. Weather too hot for work during midday hours.
1917
Monday, May 28, 1917
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Tel el Marakeb
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Moved out of bivouac at 0830.
Joined the Brigade just east of 10th Light Horse Regiment lines and arrived at El Shellal at 1300.
Regiment Bivouacked on the western bank of the wadi about two miles north of Tel el Fara.
At 1700 an enemy aeroplane flew overhead and bombed the wadi. Machine gun fire was opened on it by the 4th Light Horse Brigade and a number of the shots fell in our camp, one wounding Scott, Lieutenant Colonel WH, DSO, in the left arm.
A “C” Squadron horse was also wounded.
1918
Tuesday, May 28, 1918
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Auja bridgehead defences
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Usual routine.
1919
Wednesday, May 28, 1919
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Tel el Kebir
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Usual camp routine.
Previous: 9th LHR AIF War Diary, 27 May
Next: 9th LHR AIF War Diary, 29 May
Sources:
See: 9th Australian Light Horse Regiment, Contents
Australian Light Horse Studies Centre, AIF War Diaries of the Great War, Site Transcription Policy
Further Reading:
9th Australian Light Horse Regiment, Roll of Honour
Battles where Australians fought, 1899-1920
Citation: 9th LHR AIF War Diary, 28 May
