"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
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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.
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 Location - Mena Camp, Egypt.
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - No entry.
Carew Reynell Diary - On the following Sunday, ie 3 April, the Artillery and Infantry started leaving Mena Camp for Alexandria and by the end of the week the bulk of the Australian and NZ Infantry and Artillery had gone from Mena and Heliopolis.
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - The Regiment undertook routine work for the day.
Twelve Hotchkiss Guns received from Brigade and divided one per troop. The Lewis Guns being handed back.
1918
Wednesday, April 3, 1918
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - El Mejdel
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - 1130 Moved to Wadi Sukhreir, north of Esdud arriving there at 1430 and bivouacked for the night. Owing to anthrax being prevalent in vicinity no grazing of horses allowed.
1919
Thursday, April 3, 1919
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Zagazig
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - 0530, One troop patrolled streets of Zagazig 0530 - 0630.
Luxmoore, Captain EM, MC, two troops Mounted Squadron proceeded on 5 days reconnaissance along Simbillawein Light Railway to enforce Proclamation issued a few days previous, ordering all material removed from railway to be returned and placed in position. Two members of this patrol lost their rifles, one was subsequently recovered.
First Wassa, Egypt, April 2, 1915, John "Jack" Jensen's Account Topic: BatzO - Wassa
First Wassa
Egypt, 2 April 1915
John "Jack" Jensen's Account
Wassa District after the riot.
Account by 955 Private John "Jack" Jensen
Part transcription of a letter from 955 Private John "Jack" Jensen, 1st Battalion, H Company, written on 28 August 1915 while in England due to wounds received at Gallipoli. This section of his letter deals with his interpretation of the events that surrounded First Wassa.
The last few days we had in Egypt I shall never forget as three nights running there were riots in & about Cairo. On good friday there was a big row in one of the main streets in Cairo. I think I told you once before that Cairo is a very immoral place in fact they say that it is the worst town in the world. Some streets there are nothing but brothels & houses of infamy where every possible vice under the sun exists. Of course some of our men had been going to these places & had got diseases of different kinds & as a (what?) our chaps had a grievance against these places. Finally to finish up with one of the Manchester soldiers who were also stationed in Egypt found his sister in one of them. She had left England as a servant to some lady who had taken her to Egypt & left her there. I dare say you have heard of that sort of thing it is called the white slave traffic here in England. Anyway this girl went from bad to worse until finally she way found dancing in what they call a Can-Can hall that is a dozen or so women dancing perfectly naked in a big hall & exposing their person to every kind of indignity both by themselves & also the onlookers. It is just as well that I cannot tell you everything that goes on here as it would only grieve you. This Manchester chap managed to have a talk with his sister & tried to get her away. She was only too willing to go but the people she was with would not let her & they threw the brother out of a window as a result he was in hospital for nearly a week. When he got right he came in the camp & told our chaps & asked them to help him. At first they could not find the girl again but at last she was found in a particularly vile house. This was a day or two before Good Friday & that day being a holiday about 500 of our chaps & some New Zealanders & English troops went in to raid these houses. When they got in there a good many got drunk & they were joined by a great many more also drunk so the affair ended in a riot. They got the girl out first & then set fire to the houses. The affair started about four oclock in the afternoon & was kept up until nearly midnight Shops were raided & windows broken everywhere. I was on guard that day & we were called out to go & stop it but only twenty of us could do nothing against nearly two thousand. They had a fire in the street & were throwing the furniture out of windows two & three storeys high on to it. Some of us went in & tried to put it out & a chair came out of a window three storeys high & hit one chap & nearly killed him. We carried him away & a few minutes after piano came out of the same window & fell with an awful crash on the pavement. All the strings seemed to break at once & it went off like a cannon. After that the Military Police charged the crowd on horseback firing their revolvers into them but the crowd threw broken bottles & stones at them. One policeman got badly hit & one eyecut out with a broken bottle & two of our chaps were hit by the revolver shots.
About eight oclock five hundred Manchester troops came with fixed bayonets & were told to charge. They charged alright but they wouldn’t go for our men so they gave them rifles & our chaps threw them on the fire. Then they turned & ran & our fellows followed them up with sticks A while after the South Australian Light Horse came but the horses wouldn’t face the fire & smoke A little after eleven oclock the Westminster Dragoons came. They looked all right as they were coming down the street with all their swords drawn & their horses going straight through the fire & smoke. This very soon cleared the street & then we went for the houses & took everybody prisoner that we found. We got about fifty Australians & some New Zealanders.
The girl who was the cause of all the trouble was sent to England. She was taken charge of by the Y.M.C.A. The men in camp collected over forty pounds to pay her passage & expenses back to England Of course the money was handed over to the Y.M.C.A.
Next night a riot started in the canteen of the Abbasieh camp. Somebody caught an Arab who was employed at the canteen making water in a tub of beer. The Arab was at once pulled & half killed. All the beer casks & tubs were broken & spilt & all the groceries & goods stolen & the place burned down.
The guard was called out again but by the time we got there everything was over & the camp was quiet except for the fire still burning.
On Sunday evening the New Zealanders burned down a picture show. The man had advertised a boxing match & doubled the admission & then showed just the same pictures as he usually did. So they burned his place down.
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.
The Battle of the Wazzir, or Wozza, took place from 8.30am until 4.30am the next morning. The Wazzir was the name given to the street in Cairo where there were a large number of brothels and outlets for purchasing alcohol. The street was named Haret el Wasser and was near Shepheards Hotel. Some of the men from the first contingent, who were about to embark for the Dardanelle's, had decided to exact retribution for grievances they considered had been made to them. They ransacked the buildings, throwing furniture threw the windows of the upper floors of the buildings out into the street and set fire to some of the buildings. Capt J. E. Entwistle, CO 3rd Reinforcements, 8th LHR had been in Cairo at the Continental Hotel with Capt Daly, 6th Battalion Infantry, when the riot took place. They had left the hotel about 6pm when a Sergeant came and informed Capt Daly that a serious riot was taking place in the native quarter. Capt Entwistle, with Mr Chanter of the 9th LHR and about 95 other ranks, tried to move in to assist the English "Red Caps" (Military police) to quell the riot.
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Stood to arms at 0330 and at 0400 patrols were sent out to the Wadi Ghuzze. These patrols returned at 0700 reporting all clear.
At 0800 the heavy fog which had been around since about 0100, cleared and the word to carry on was given.
At 0900 working parties were put on improving trenches commenced by the 2nd Light Horse Brigade.
At 1300 the 182nd Brigade took over the line - the Regiment with the Brigade returned to the bivouac at Deir el Belah.
1918
Tuesday, April 2, 1918
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Gaza
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - 1230 Moved from Gaza and arrived at El Mejdel at 1730 and bivouacked for the night.
Burns, Lieutenant AG, reported back from Royal Flying Corps aeroplane signal school, Sarona.
1919
Wednesday, April 2, 1919
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Zagazig
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - 2400, today dismounted portion of Regiment passed to command of General Officer in Command Belbeis sector.
One troop patrolled streets of Zagazig 0530 - 0630.
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 - Church Parade.
At 1200 the Regiment moved out with the Brigade to take over the Goz el Taire outpost line from the 225th Brigade.
Arrived on the line at 1300 and took over the right sector - following the 74th Division on the right and the 9th Light Horse Regiment on the left.
The right lines of outposts were occupied at 1800. B Squadron on right, C Squadron in the centre and A Squadron on the left. The Regimental command post was established at One Tree Hill.
1918
Monday, April 1, 1918
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Deir el Belah
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - 1500 The Regiment, together with the remainder of the Brigade moved from Deir el Belah on trek to Selmieh, three miles east of Jaffa. Practiced en route passing defiles and cutting wire in readiness for forthcoming operations.
Arrived at Gaza 1745 and bivouacked for the night.
1919
Tuesday, April 1, 1919
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Zagazig
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Usual night patrol of one troops patrolled streets of Zagazig throughout night.
Wallace, Captain FH, RMC, evacuated 30th March 1919.
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