Below are two section of a brief Military Biography of  3051 Trooper George Hodby. It is divided into two parts. Part One deals with all his specific details from enlistment to return to Australia. Part Two is a week by week summary of status from “Enlistment” to “Returned to Australia”.

Part One: Specific details from “Enlistment” to “Returned to Australia”.

Surname: Hodby
First Name: George
Service Number: 3051
Rank: Private
1924 List: Yes
Place of Birth: SA
Boer War Service: No
Birth Year: 1878
Age: 38
Employment: Farmer
Status: Single
District: West Croydon
State: South Australia
NOK: Brother
Title: Mr
Last: Hodby
First: William John
Locality: Belalie North
Province: South Australia
Country: Australia
Religion: Baptist
Enlisted Day: 6
Enlisted Month: September
Enlisted Year: 1916
Embarkation Ship: HMAT A45 "Bulla"
Embarkation Day: 16
Embarkation Month: January
Embarkation Year: 1917
Embarkation Port: Adelaide
Section: 23rd Reinforcements
Regiment: 9th Light Horse Regiment
Previous Service:
Fate: Returned to Australia
Day: 12
Month: July
Year: 1918
Ship: Port Darwin
Last Rank: Private
Honours: None
Squadron: B
Gallipoli: No
Notes:
    1. Enlisted in Base Light Horse Details, 6 September 1916
    2. Absorbed into 9th Light Horse Regiment, 23rd Reinforcements, 10 October 1916
    3. Transferred to 9th Light Horse Regiment Training Squadron, 2 March 1917
    4. Attended School of Cookery, 12 April 1917
    5. Transferred to 9th Light Horse Regiment B Squadron, 22 May 1917
    6. Returned to Australia by Port Darwin, 12 July 1918
    7. Discharged for family reasons, 25 November 1918

7/09/16 - Base Training Squadron
14/09/16 - Base Training Squadron
21/09/16 - Base Training Squadron
28/09/16 - Base Training Squadron
7/10/16 - Base Training Squadron
14/10/16 - Base Training Squadron
21/10/16 - Base Training Squadron
28/10/16 - Base Training Squadron
7/11/16 - Base Training Squadron
14/11/16 - Base Training Squadron
21/11/16 - Base Training Squadron
28/11/16 - Base Training Squadron
7/12/16 - Base Training Squadron
14/12/16 - Base Training Squadron
21/12/16 - Base Training Squadron
28/12/16 - Base Training Squadron
7/01/17 - Base Training Squadron
14/01/17 - Base Training Squadron
21/01/17 - Base Training Squadron
28/01/17 - Base Training Squadron
7/02/17 - Base Training Squadron
14/02/17 - Base Training Squadron
21/02/17 - Base Training Squadron
28/02/17 - Base Training Squadron
7/03/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Training Squadron
14/03/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Training Squadron
21/03/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Training Squadron
28/03/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Training Squadron
7/04/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Training Squadron
14/04/17 - Imperial School of Instruction
21/04/17 - Imperial School of Instruction
28/04/17 - Imperial School of Instruction
7/05/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Training Squadron
14/05/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Training Squadron
21/05/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Training Squadron
28/05/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Nominal Roll
7/06/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Nominal Roll
14/06/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Nominal Roll
21/06/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Nominal Roll
28/06/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Nominal Roll
7/07/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Nominal Roll
14/07/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Nominal Roll
21/07/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Nominal Roll
28/07/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Nominal Roll
7/08/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Nominal Roll
14/08/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Nominal Roll
21/08/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Nominal Roll
28/08/17 - Evacuated to hospital sick
7/09/17 - Evacuated to hospital sick
14/09/17 - Evacuated to hospital sick
21/09/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Nominal Roll
28/09/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Nominal Roll
7/10/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Nominal Roll
14/10/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Nominal Roll
21/10/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Nominal Roll
28/10/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Nominal Roll
7/11/17 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Nominal Roll
14/11/17 - Evacuated to hospital sick
21/11/17 - Evacuated to hospital sick
28/11/17 - Evacuated to hospital sick
7/12/17 - Evacuated to hospital sick
14/12/17 - Evacuated to hospital sick
21/12/17 - Evacuated to hospital sick
28/12/17 - Evacuated to hospital sick
7/01/18 - Evacuated to hospital sick
14/01/18 - Evacuated to hospital sick
21/01/18 - Evacuated to hospital sick
28/01/18 - Evacuated to hospital sick
7/02/18 - Evacuated to hospital sick
14/02/18 - Evacuated to hospital sick
21/02/18 - Evacuated to hospital sick
28/02/18 - Evacuated to hospital sick
7/03/18 - Evacuated to hospital sick
14/03/18 - Evacuated to hospital sick
21/03/18 - Evacuated to hospital sick
28/03/18 - Evacuated to hospital sick
7/04/18 - Evacuated to hospital sick
14/04/18 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Training Squadron
21/04/18 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Training Squadron
28/04/18 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Training Squadron
7/05/18 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Training Squadron
14/05/18 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Training Squadron
21/05/18 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Training Squadron
28/05/18 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Training Squadron
7/06/18 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Training Squadron
14/06/18 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Training Squadron
21/06/18 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Training Squadron
28/06/18 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Training Squadron
7/07/18 - 9th Light Horse Regiment Training Squadron
14/07/18 - Returned to Australia

Citation: 3051 Trooper George Hodby

Posted by Project Leader at 6:20 PM EADT

Updated: Friday, 13 June 2008 7:10 PM EADT

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Maurice Guillaux appears to have been an enigmatic person. It is difficult to quite work out this man. He appears to have all the qualities of a real live James Bond - good looking, dashing and very athletic. The thing that marked him out was his ability to fly.

The first piece in this man's life is nicely described on the La Trobe University site called "Screening the Past - Early Cinema- Aviation".

First encounter: Maurice Guillaux

“Lulu, Lulu, Lulu,” Louise Lovely’s mother - Madame Carbasse-Alberti - screamed. “That thing could have fallen!” (Lovely, p. 51). Lovely was 19 years old the first time she flew, on 10 May 1914. Still known as Louise Carbasse, she became one of the first Australian women to fly in a sea plane. The Farman Hydro Aeroplane belonged to Lebbeus Hordern, of the prominent Sydney department store family. French aviator Maurice Guillaux, pilot for Carbasse’s flight, had come to Australia along with the hydroplane, to assemble and test it for Hordern (Hordern, pp. 321-322).

Guillaux made a number of flights in Australia. In his own Bleriot - also imported - he became the first in Australia to loop-the-loop the following month. The Sydney Morning Herald reported the reaction of the invited audience:

Two thousand feet in the air something streaked across the heavens like a huge dragon fly. It swung round and round, poised for a minute, and then suddenly dropped perpendicularly towards earth, like a meteor. But before reaching the ground it resumed the horizontal, and skimmed over the heads of the crowd so close that many screamed and others threw themselves to the ground. (“In the air.”)

The newspaper characteristically combines the discourse of sensation with that of science’s triumph over natural forces: “Guillaux defied the wind as he now proceeded to defy the law of gravitation”. But approximately six weeks after Louise Carbasse’s ride in the sea plane, a serious accident smashed the Bleriot “to matchwood” and left the pilot with “clothes torn to shreds . . . a deep gash across his right cheek, and blood . . . flowing freely from his nose and mouth”:

So sudden was the accident that the crowd was dumbfounded, and it was not until willing helpers had unstrapped M. Guillaux from the wreckage, and carried him across the course, that it found its voice. M. Guillaux feebly waved his hand in response. (“Guillaux injured”)

But how was it that Carbasse was in the hydroplane, anyway? She was, at the time, an actress and vaudeville performer who had been appearing on stage since she was nine years old. Her French-Swiss mother, Madame Carbasse-Alberti, ran boarding houses in Sydney, and had raised the girl on her own. Madame appears to have been a friend of the French Consul, M. Chayet. Indeed, the consul was one of the first to fly in the sea plane: Guillaux tested it alone first; then took its owner, Hordern; then the Consul (Parnell & Boughton, p. 22).

“I need someone to go up in the plane with me to try it out,” Guillaux is reported to have said to Madame Carbasse-Alberti. “How about Madame letting Louise come with me? She wants a bit of publicity?” (Lovely, p. 51). Perhaps Guillaux himself wanted publicity, for he was in the process of setting up a flying school at Ham Common (Parnell, Neville & Trevor Boughton, p. 21). “So my mother said, ‘alright,’ without thinking,” said Lovely:

and then I flew all over Manly, I remember distinctly . . . the hydroplane landed right at the side of the yacht and I got in there, but I was only a kiddie, you see, and I mixed with all the older people and everything, and I thought, “Oh, it’s like Christmas”. (Lovely, pp. 51-52)

The potential dangers of this Gatsby-esque adventure did not occur to Madame Carbasse-Alberti until the next day: “Lulu, Lulu, Lulu . . .”

Although flying was seen as a male domain, the tradition of pilots taking women aloft began early, when flight pioneer Wilbur Wright spent four months at Auvours in France during 1907-8. In addition to prominent male passengers, he also took “several carefully chosen women. His purpose was to demonstrate that flying machines could be safe when handled by an expert operator” (Wohl, p. 35). Aviation’s danger was held in tension with the commercial possibilities of the plane. There was, therefore, a need to convince people of its safety, even for - or especially for - women. Significantly, risk-taking took on a provocative significance when females - the child-bearers - were exposed to the same kinds of dangers as men. Women in the air - even as passengers, swept off their feet by male pilots - re-emphasized the dangers of falling, physically and morally. When Guillaux flew in Australia, he took at least one other young woman besides Louise Carbasse in the seaplane. As he circled Double Bay with Bessie Mulligan of Albury, Guillaux - “ever alert for publicity,” as a much later newspaper story put it - suggested she kiss him. “Hundreds of onlookers with binoculars broke into the 1914 version of wolf whistles at the duration and the intensity of the kiss” (“French ‘aeronaut’”).

Guillaux returned to his home country when war broke out. As a member of the French Air Force, he was killed on May 21, 1917, in a crash while on a test-flight (Carroll, p. 32).

“French ‘aeronaut’ flew Australia’s pioneer air mails,” Daily Mirror, 29 March 1984, p. 34.

“Guillaux injured,” Sydney Morning Herald, 3 August 1914, p. 10.

Hordern, Leslie, Children of one family: the story of Anthony and Ann Hordern and their descendents in Australia 1825-1925 (Sydney: Retford Press, 1985)

Carroll, Brian, Australian aviators: an illustrated history (North Ryde: Cassell Australia, 1980)

Lovely, Louise. Interviewed by Ina Bertrand, Hobart, 23 November 1978, undertaken as part of the National Library of Australia Film History Interview Project; audio tapes held in the National Film and Sound Archive, Canberra. Page numbers refer to transcript.

Parnell, Neville & Trevor Boughton, Flypast: a record of aviation in Australia (Canberra: Civil Aviation Authority/AGPS, 1988)

This daredevil attitude was much in evidence when on Christmas Day in Paris, he thrilled the people by looping the loop in the skies.

The final part to the life of Maurice Guillaux seems to be as enigmatic as the man himself. In the book by Brian Carroll called Australian aviators: an illustrated history (North Ryde: Cassell Australia, 1980) at page 32 states that he died on a test flight as a member of the French Air Force on May 21, 1917. In contrast we have this newspaper story.

The text reads: 

A few months since an airman, supposed to be French, and who had been on active service with the French Flying Corps, was shot in France as a German spy. It was remarked that the enemy had too, good a foreknowledge of projected movements on part of a sector of the front, and a watch was set. One night a man was discovered flying to the German lines, and was followed. He alighted, delivered papers to the enemy, and returned.
Before his execution he confessed that he was one of a dozen German aviators specially trained, two years before the outbreak of war, and sent to join the flying corps of different countries, the selection being of men who spoke the language of the country with the smallest trace of the German accent. This particular individual, Guillaux (who carried the first aerial mail from Melbourne to Sydney) spoke pure Parisian French, and excellent English. Here he spoke by the mouth of an interpreter, pretending he had no knowledge of the language of this country. In 1913, owing to a fraud perpetrated in connection with an air race, he was disqualified as a competitor in any race in France for ten years.

Shot as a master spy or was the story about the test pilot crashing the correct story?

The Australian authorities seemed to agree with the story that Maurice Guillaux was executed. They suspected that Guillaux's good friend and fellow pilot also was a spy. 390 Sergeant John Charles Marduel of the 1st Reinforcements to the 1st Squadron AFC came under intense police scrutiny. Reports were called to get some background about this individual. In the end, it was only due to the early return of Marduel to Australia through injury that he was left alone by the secret police in Australia. He was no longer a potential danger to Australian security and so any activity on his file was wound back until no further actions were required. Since he lived a blameless life after his return, he was no longer under the attention of the security police.

Citation: Maurice Guillaux

Posted by Project Leader at 4:46 PM EADT

Updated: Friday, 13 June 2008 6:33 PM EADT

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To read the edition of The Critic on the day following the declaration of war against Germany and Austria, one might have expected just a hint that there was a war on. For The Critic, it appears to have been a nasty intrusion best ignored. Indeed this is a policy assiduously pursued by this fine newspaper for the duration although on occasion, the newspaper did publish something when casualties were particularly noticeable.

THE CRITIC August 5. 1914. Page 6

VICEREGAL ENGAGEMENTS.

This afternoon His Excellency will visit the Islington workshops, and on Friday will inspect the cadets of the St. Peter's College. On Saturday, with Lady Galway, Sir Henry Will attend the reception ceremony to the British scientists, and will be at the Government welcome in the evening. Lady Galway will be present at the chamber music concert at the Elder Conservatorium, and on Thursday night a meeting of the Alliance Francaise at the May Club Rooms.

HIS MODESTY, SIR HENRY GALWAY.

His Excellency blends graceful satire with a splendid modesty. At the Chamber of Commerce luncheon the other day it was mentioned that his predecessor, Sir Day Bosanquet, had put into book form all his South Australian speeches. It was suggested that Sir Henry should do the same and certainly the suggestion was by no means a piece of diplomatic sincerity. His Excellency, referring to the matter in the course of another fine address said there was one thing he would promise the people of the State. It was this. He would never publish his speeches. We shall have to call the Governor. His Modesty.

DR. CUDMORE.

Back in South Australia again after seven months'  important surgical experience in the old world, Dr. Cudmore, who also included America in his tour. He was accompanied by his wife and children, and they are all much benefited by the trip.

ANOTHER LAWYER.

Another lawyer and another Smith, has been added to the South Australian list. It is Mr. Frank Seymour Smith, and care will have to be taken to prevent confusion with the name of Mr. F. V. Smith, who, however may fall back upon a more prominent use of Villeneuve to overcome any embarrassment. It was the Villeneuve Smith who moved for the admission of the Seymour Smith to the bar, and gave him a good start by saying he had perseverance, energy, and determination. Those are three excellent qualities, but the stock-in-trade of the successful lawyer requires more than these. It might be called a diplomatic conscience and an alternative ability to see innocence or guilt on any side at any moment.

MR. E. BRITTEN JONES.

Advice has just been received the; Mr. E. Britten Jones, who was the Rhodes Scholar in 1912, has passed first class for his B.A. degree at Oxford, with honors in physiology. There were only three first class passes, and it is a fine compliment to Mr. Jones as well as to South Australia that he was one of them.

OFF TO OXFORD.

By Fridays mail steamer Mr. R. Bronner will sail to go into Balliol College, Oxford, as a senior student. He will begin his studies with the new Oxford term during the second week in October. Mr. Bronner's idea is to take a two years post graduate course in political science, economics, and philosophy and to secure an original research degree in literature.

THE COMING OF THE SCIENTISTS.

The first batch of the big British scientists’ party arrived by the steamer Ascanius on Monday morning. They had spent a few days in Western Australia, where a number of the distinguished visitors are remaining. The main contingent will reach Adelaide on Saturday next. At 5 o'clock that afternoon there will be a University graduation in the Adelaide Town Hall, and in the evening there will be an official reception. The scientists will be in Adelaide for some days, and will hold a portion of their meetings here. Those who came by the Ascanius on Saturday were the President, Professor W. Bateson, Professor A. D. Hall, Professor W. G. Duffield. Professor G. Forbes, and Messrs J. Hesketh and N. Jacobson.

UNFORTUNATE GUILLAUX

South Australians will always take a keen interest in Guillaux, whatever he does and wherever he goes. His dazzling flying performances on the Cheltenham Course and the thrilling sensationalism of his looping the loop even now produce a queer reeling down the spine when they are recalled. The accident which occurred to the wonderful French aviator in Sydney on Saturday afternoon will cause profound regret in this State. Death or some fearful injury, somehow, seems inevitable when people go flying - flying it might be said in the face of gravitation. Guillaux fell 100 feet, was badly injured himself, and his machine was smashed. What happened has not been disclosed at the time of writing, but Guillaux stated after the accident that "the whole thing was a blank to me after I got up." Spectators of the Frenchman's exploits in the air will sincerely sympathise with him in his personal injury and his severe loss. Aeroplanes cost money, and Guillaux's was one of the latest type.

ENGLISH JOURNALISTS.

Mr. and Mrs J. B. Robertson will eerier in South Australia by the mail steamer Orvieto from London on Saturday next. Mr. Robertson is one of the board of management if the Trades Press, Limited, proprietors of Australasian Hardware and Machinery, The Draper of Australasia, and The Chemist and Druggist of Australasia. He left Adelaide 10 years ago to take up the position in Melbourne as sub-editor of The Grocer, and then went to London for The Trades Press. Mrs. Robertson is editress of one of London's well-known magazines, and she intends to write her impressions of Australia.

THE DEAN.

The Dean has gone to Los Angeles to spend several months with his brother. The very rev. gentleman is accompanied by his daughter, and they expect to have a happy time sojourning in California.

COMING HOME.

Sir Josiah Symon. K.C. who has been on a brief trip to England, where he was hospitably entertained by members of the English bar and many public officials, sailed on Friday for South Australia. He is a passenger by the mail steamer Maloja, and he will be in Adelaide again during the first week in September.


ADELAIDE ELOCUTIONIST.

Although Mr. Edward Reeves, the Adelaide elocutionist, went to England mainly for health and rest, he has apparently found it impossible to keep away from "shop." Prior to leaving Adelaide he told "The Critic" that he intended to "fight shy" of recitals unless, of course, a particularly tempting offer should come along. Presumably it has for Mr. Reeves will begin a series in King George's Hall, London, in October. He should give his public a capital idea of the standard of Australian elocution.

AN AMERICAN SCIENTIST.

Professor Moore, an American visitor to the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, was a passenger to Adelaide by the Melbourne express on Saturday.

NEW MILITARY OFFICER.

Captain Jess, who has been appointed to the headquarters staff of the Defence Department in this State, and was recently married, arrived in Adelaide by the Melbourne express on Saturday.

THE LATE MR. H. C. FLETCHER.

Mr. T. A. Fletcher fourth son of the late Mr. H. C. Fletcher. died at his residence, Woodville, on Saturday. The deceased, who was 53, was associated with Fletcher's slip and shipbuilding yards at Birkenhead. In his younger days he was a great athlete, and played football for the Port Adelaide Club soon after its formation. Mr. Fletcher succumbed to a painful internal malady.

THE CHIEF.

The Chief Justice will be back in Adelaide during the present week and will take a prominent part in the official festivities associated with the visit of the British scientists. Sir Samuel writes with courageous cheerfulness about his recovery from a critical operation. He may preside at the University graduation at the Adelaide Town Hall on Saturday afternoon when distinguished members of the overseas party will be admitted to complimentary degrees. There will be a rousing reception for the Chief lushes when he makes his reappearance on a public platform. The report presented at the annual meeting of the South Australian Law Society, held on Friday evening, expressed gratitude of members of the society at the continued and rapid progress towards recovery of the Chief justice (Sir Samuel Way). The stages of the trying ordeal through which he had passed had been watched with grave anxiety and the profession trusted that His Honor's reward might he such a complete return to health and vigor that he might still further engage upon his already illustrious career in the high judicial office, the duties of which he had proved himself sty eminently qualified to fulfil.

1. Captain Jess -  Carl Herman Jess, born 16 February 1884, was appointed an officer with the 4th Infantry Brigade Headquarters, 30 September 1914. He was married to Mary Jess, who resided at 'Montalto', Miller Street, North Fitzroy, Victoria. He retired from the army as a Brigadier General with the Service Number VP16098. His archival records are maintained in Melbourne.

2.  Maurice Guillaux was an enigma. Click on the link to read his story  on this blog.

Citation: War? What war? The Critic, 5 August 1914 

Posted by Project Leader at 9:18 AM EADT

Updated: Friday, 13 June 2008 6:35 PM EADT

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9th LHR, AIF

Pro Gloria et Honore - For Glory and Honour

Regimental March -  Marching Through Georgia

The Diary

1914

Saturday, June 13, 1914

See 4th Military District, South Australia for militia activities.

1915

Sunday, June 13, 1915

9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Walkers Ridge

9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - No entry.

3rd Light Horse Brigade War Diary - Casualties: 9th Light Horse Regiment, Major Cook and two Other Ranks wounded. One man wounded, also 5 men from New Zealand, three Indians and several mules.

Heavily bombarded by enemy's gun from some hours.

Carew Reynell Diary - Absolutely nothing doing. We are still in our rest camp and don't go back to the trenches till Friday. It's to be a fortnight in and a fortnight out. We have had a lot of sickness since coming out of the trenches and the doctors are getting afraid of an outbreak unless we move soon. The Turks pitched a score of shells into our camp yesterday. When the first arrived three Indians were killed and half a dozen mules and I ordered everyone into their dugouts. However, one caught the Quartermaster's dugout and killed his batman and severely wounded the storeman and took top of Daly's helmet off and wounded Major Cook and the Sergeant Cook. Major Cook is doing well I am glad to say. Am sending these of by the RC Padre and hope they will arrive all right. We were treated to another dose of shells this morning - no damage - not even to the Indian Mule Corps.

1916

Tuesday, June 13, 1916

9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Roadhead Serapeum.

9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - The party then proceeded back to the remainder of the Column at No. 1 Tanks and the whole column moved back to a small sam in the Wadi (Sq E.5.). Here trenches were dug to drain the "Lake" and at 1200 the column

1917

Wednesday, June 13, 1917

9th Light Horse Regiment Location - El Shellal

9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - At 1830 “C” Squadron moved out and crossed the wadi and took over 6 night posts from the 8th Light Horse Regiment.

1918

Thursday, June 13, 1918

9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Ain Ed Duk

9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Orders received for relief of 3rd Light Horse Brigade by New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade.

Hank, 2115 Trooper RH, died of illness.

1919

Friday, June 13, 1919

9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Tel el Kebir

9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Cricket team of 13 Other Ranks under McDonald, Captain JM, MC, proceeded to Moascar to play 12th Light Horse Regiment returning the same day. Scores: 9th Light Horse Regiment 194, 12th Light Horse Regiment 97.

Previous: 9th LHR AIF War Diary, 12 June

Next: 9th LHR AIF War Diary, 14 June

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 Light Horse Regiment AIF

Bert Schramm Diary

9th Australian Light Horse Regiment, Roll of Honour 

Battles where Australians fought, 1899-1920

Posted by Project Leader at 12:01 AM EADT

Updated: Saturday, 7 August 2010 2:54 PM EADT

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Diaries of AIF Servicemen

Bert Schramm

13 June 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 Diary

Finding more about a service person. See:

Navigating the National Archives Service File 

Bert Schramm's Handwritten Diary, 10 - 16 June 1918

[Click on page for a larger print version.]

Thursday, June 13, 1918

Bert Schramm's Location - Ain Ed Duk, Jordan Valley

Bert Schramm's Diary - Have had a day off today. The weather has been terribly hot. Everything much as usual.

9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary

9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Ain Ed Duk, Jordan Valley

9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Orders received for relief of 3rd Light Horse Brigade by New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade.

Hank, 2115 Trooper RH, died of illness.

9th LHR AIF War Diary, 13 June

Darley, TH, With the Ninth Light Horse in the Great War, Adelaide, Hassell Press, 1924.

No Entry.

Previous: Bert Schramm's Diary, 12 June 1918

Next: Bert Schramm's Diary, 14 June 1918

Sources Used:

Bert Schramm's Diary

National Archives Service File.

Embarkation Roll, AWM8.

Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour

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:

Australian Light Horse Studies Centre, War Diaries and Letters, Site Transcription Policy 

Further Reading:

Bert Schramm Diary

Bert Schramm Diary, Album

Bert Schramm's Photo Album

9th Australian Light Horse Regiment, AIF

9th Australian Light Horse Regiment, War Diary, Day by Day Account

Battles where Australians fought, 1899-1920

Citation: Diaries of AIF Servicemen, Bert Schramm, 13 June 1918

Posted by Project Leader at 12:01 AM EADT

Updated: Monday, 30 May 2011 11:44 AM EADT

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