"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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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 146.
Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 146.
[Click on page for a larger print version.]
This chapter deals with Hüsnü observations of the Turkish response to Beersheba on other parts of the battlefield.
Diaries of AIF Servicemen, Bert Schramm, 30 November 1918 Topic: Diary - Schramm
Diaries of AIF Servicemen
Bert Schramm
30 November 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:
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - 0630 McDonald, Lieutenant JM, MC; Cattle, Lieutenant HJ, DCM; and, eleven Other Ranks left on six days tour across Lebanon mountains to Baalbek via Besherri. Whole party intended riding their horses right through to Baalbek.
1015 - 1115 Commanding Officer's inspection. One Troop A Squadron proceeded to the beach to swim. Forty four Other Ranks marched in having arrived at Tripoli by boat from Kantara. This brought the strength of the Regiment up to 29 Officers, 412 Other Ranks. General health of the Regiment during the early part of this month was by no means good. The unhealthy surroundings of Damascus contributed largely to this. Much of the sickness was recurrent malaria and general debility. Towards the latter end of the month there was a decided improvement in the general health of the ranks. Trips to beach, Tripoli and the Mountains were inaugurated to further this improvement.
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:
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 - Warm and sunny again. Commanding Officer still waiting to proceed Mudros. Adjutant also under orders to proceed to Imbros - waiting final instructions. The line of Turkish trench is very hard to see owing to the snow. Tunnels [funk holes] are being dug 16 feet underground from the firing line to support trenches.
1916
Thursday, November 30, 1916
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Bir el Malha
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Daly, Major TJ, returned from hospital and resumed duty as second in command. Parsons, Major HM, returned to A Squadron. 1600, two enemy aeroplanes passed overhead flying very high north east.
1917
Friday, November 30, 1917
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - El Burj.
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Stood to arms 0445.
At 0500 touch was gained with 54th Division by a patrol from the Gloucester troop. Enemy very active during the day sniping and machine gunning and throwing rifle grenades. Enemy shrapnel and high explosive shells bursting in and around El Burj at frequent intervals during whole day. Much enemy movement observed throughout early morning and midday.
At 1600 orders received to move Regimental sector to the left. 6th Light Horse Regiment relieved A and B Squadron posts. A Squadron relieved the Gloucester troop who rejoined their regiment. B Squadron took up a position in Sq J13 on the left of A Squadron. One machine gun subsection was attached to C Squadron and another to A Squadron.
Relief was completed by 2000. B Squadron put down lateral line to 54th Division thus giving lateral telephonic communication on right and left of Regimental sector. The enemy was very active during early part of evening. At 2000 much enemy small calibre gun fire concentrated on road 500 yards south of El Burj.
3rd Light Horse Brigade War Diary -
At stand to arms at 0430 the situation was quiet and remained so throughout the day. Very little enemy activity was observed with the exception of an occasional burst of machine gun fire from Shilta, and intermittent shelling by two small field guns from Suffa.
At 1900, 4th Light Horse Brigade took over the right half of the line held by the 3rd Light Horse Brigade. The 8th Light Horse Regiment and 9th Light Horse Regiment closed on the left of the 9th Light Horse Regiment and the section of the line now held by the Brigade was strengthened.
On 155th Infantry Brigade being relieved from the line, 1/4th Royal Scottish Fusiliers under Richardson, Lieutenant Colonel S, remained as reserve to the 3rd Light Horse Brigade. At 2200, 29th November this battalion reverted to the command of the 52nd Division, but remained in the vicinity of Brigade Headquarters at El Burj.
The weather was remaining fine and dry. Bivouacking in the stony hills was a new experience. Men not actually on observation post gained good rest during the day.
An enemy attack on that part of the line now held by the Australian Mounted Division was expected and preparations were made for such by getting reserve of ammunition sent into the lines. Every available rifle man was now either in the front or support line. Transport horses and vehicles of the Brigade were grouped together and remained under cover of the high hills 500 yards south west of El Burj. Although the enemy had - shelled this area intermittently throughout the day no casualties were incurred. The majority of the enemy shells burst to the rear.
From 2000 to 2400, 30th November, the situation was very quiet as the enemy only occasionally sniped and shelled at positions, but no incident happened either during the day or evening which pointed to the determined attack, which the enemy made on our position soon after midnight
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - 0630 McDonald, Lieutenant JM, MC; Cattle, Lieutenant HJ, DCM; and, eleven Other Ranks left on six days tour across Lebanon mountains to Baalbek via Besherri. Whole party intended riding their horses right through to Baalbek.
1015 - 1115 Commanding Officer's inspection. One Troop A Squadron proceeded to the beach to swim. Forty four Other Ranks marched in having arrived at Tripoli by boat from Kantara. This brought the strength of the Regiment up to 29 Officers, 412 Other Ranks. General health of the Regiment during the early part of this month was by no means good. The unhealthy surroundings of Damascus contributed largely to this. Much of the sickness was recurrent malaria and general debility. Towards the latter end of the month there was a decided improvement in the general health of the ranks. Trips to beach, Tripoli and the Mountains were inaugurated to further this improvement.
1919
Sunday, November 30, 1919
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Adelaide
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Regiment disbanded.
Australian Imperial Forces, Marching Songs, The quest for an authentic Australian marching song Topic: AIF - Marching Songs
Australian Imperial Forces
Marching Songs
The quest for an authentic Australian marching song
Harry Lauder
In Melbourne, and I believe it must have been much the same elsewhere in Australia, folks didn’t know what they were to do, how they were to take this war that had come so suddenly upon them. and rumours and questions flew in all directions
- Harry Lauder
The war broke out and Australia had no marching song. In response, the public turned to the song that had been adopted by the British Army as its favourite marching song, It's a Long Way to Tipperary.
It's a long way to Tipperary, It's a long way to go. It's a long way to Tipperary To the sweetest girl I know! Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square! It's a long long way to Tipperary, But my heart's right there.
But this was a British song. Indeed a whole genre of English patriotic songs flourished, all competing for the hearts and souls of true Englishmen, where ever they may reside.
Here is one popular song of late 1914 called For an Empire Beloved written by EA Henty (Mrs Edward Starkey). It reaches out to the Empire with its lofty words:
'Tis near Springtime in Australia, with the night air wattle scented 'Neath Southern Cross as fairest flowers unfold; Or in further Northern Country there are misty days of Autumn When God's touches turn the maples to a world of red and gold. Can you hear them? They are coming, and the loyal hearts are beating, 'Neath dusky starlit Heavens from radiant lands in Tropic's glow, With green palm leaves softly waving and bamboo rustling gently, Wood by night winds in hushed silence, as they softly come and go.
Even though one stout group of solid Englishmen in Australia strongly identified with all things that belonged to "Home" as England was called, the complex mix of the Australian population meant that this identification excluded a large part of the population. The largest group in this mix, Irish Australians, could not identify with these sentiments, especially when notions of sectarianism and "Home Rule" were the major issues of the day.
The problem was to implement the notion of inclusiveness. The first attempts created some strange and often juxtaposed fusions. One writer, Morley Roberts, wrote a song called Australia which was set to the tune of a popular Irish ballad that spawned an Australian offspring called the Wild Colonial Boy.
The word came up from Melbourne Tower That shines by Hobson's Bay And sunlit Sydney cheered the news Which Brisbane heard that day; And Adelaide, whose broad land runs To Arafura's sea, Took up the cry and sent it forth To Perth and Kimberley.
While hijacking the Irish tune, the Robert's song never gained traction because of the excessive English patriotic sentiment contained within the song. While some Australians were excited by the war, most of the population were indifferent and could not identify with the feigned excitement expressed in the lyrics. Australians were concerned about the drought, a rural crisis, water shortages, government indebtedness and high unemployment. The beginning of the war may have been a pleasant diversion allowing the people to enjoy a carnival like atmosphere but that was not the answer to every day concerns. Patriotism did not put food on the table, pay the rent or put water in the dams. Any excitement created by the announcement of the war died down very quickly. A marching song needed to reflect these personal problems in the lyrics.
To be a successful marching song, there must be a few elements present. The tune needs to be simple, the cadence to the march pace and the words should be identifiable in the lives of the men marching to the beat. Tipperary fulfills all these requirements. No lofty ideals, just a simple tune about a boy who misses his sweetheart while away from home, something most soldiers can identify with while on active service.
In Australia, one of the more neutral marching songs that was highly popular amongst the men was the old American Civil War favourite, Marching Through Georgia. This motiff was employed by the first AIF sanctioned marching song called Cooee, Cooee, here come the Kangaroos.
So keen were the military authorities to see this song adopted, the words were printed off and circulated to all the troops of the 1st AIF Contingent. It missed the mark because it reverted back to the old Enlish patriotic theme.
Pull yourselves together, boys, we're marching to the front, Off to join the British Tommies in a little hunt, Kaiser Bill will have to leave his sauerkraut and shunt; Cooee my boys for dear Australia.
Cooee, Cooee, here come the kangaroos, Cooee, Cooee, we never get the blues, When we're marching home again, We'll bring the best of news Cooee my boys for dear Australia.
When the soliders received their copy of the song, it appears as though it was sung with little enthusiasm. At the troop level, the words were spiced up to give it a more identifiable flavour. Rather than lofty words, it utilised the every day language of the men. The transformation added to the enthusiasm. In the first verse, there were substitutions of words that were far more earthy than intended.
Pull yourselves together, boys, we're marching to the front, Off to join the British Tommies in a little hunt, Kaiser Bill will have to leave 'cos he's a f***ing c**t; Cooee my boys for dear Australia.
Obviously not the version to be sung in public. It employed common language that under a prudish officer would earn a criming for swearing, a military offence. However, the corruption of popular tunes to add more earthier concepts was undertaken all the time. The Colonel Bogey has been subject to a tremendous number of earthy corruptions as was Mademoiselle From Armentieres.
On the homefront, songsters were churning out patriotic pap to bolster recruitment. Edward H Tyrrell turned out these tunes by the dozen. Just in 1915, his catalogue included Cooee! Cooee! You're Wanted at the Dardanelles, Heroes of Gallipoli, Our Heroes (at the Front), Rainbow March, New South Wales Lancers March, and Soldiers of the Southern Cross. They sold many copies in Australia but in Egypt and the Dardanelles where the daily reality was different, they were barely ever heard. The stinking trenches of Gallipoli presented a different reality, articulated by Ion Idriess in his book Desert Column:
We have just had "dinner". My new mate was sick and couldn't eat I tried to, and would have but for the flies. I had biscuits and a tin of jam. But immediately I opened the tin the flies rushed the jam. They buzzed like swarming bees. They swarmed that jam, all fighting amongst themselves. I wrapped my overcoat over the tin and gouged out the flies, then spread the biscuit, held my hand over it, and drew the biscuit out of the coat but a lot of the flies flew into my mouth and beat about inside. Finally I threw the tin over the parapet. I nearly howled with rage. I feel so sulky I could chew everything to pieces. Of all the bastards of places this is the greatest bastard in the world. And a dead man's boot in the firing-possy has been dripping grease on my overcoat and the coat will stink for ever.
No lofty flags, patriotism or love for old Mother England, just the daily grind of survival which is the lot of the common soldier at the front line.
The Gallipoli experience was so profound that it filtered through into the soldier's own songs. One of the best expressions of soldier written marching songs of January 1916 was the Marching Song of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade:
Verse
Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Signallers, Field Ambulance and Train We did our bit at Anzac, where we’d like to go again, For though we got it in the NEK, we’ll fight with might and main, To square our mates who took the count before us.
Chorus
We are, we are, the Third Light Horse Brigade. We face the odds with ne’er a man afraid, We lost our gallant comrades and there’s many a score unpaid, Undaunted still we’re out for what’s before us.
This marching song reverted back to the safe musical score of s were played to the tune of Marching Through Georgia, an echo of the earlier march song but updated to reflect a reality. The men were angry and wanted revenge. It was reflected in the hostility and sadness in the song.
After the split between the Infantry who went to France, and the Light Horse who remained in Egypt, the concept of a marching song became quite remote. Infantry marching as a group find it relatively easy to sing a simple song as a bonding exercise but the task is far more difficult when a regiment of horses are marching where even in line of Troop, it is difficult to hear something from one end to the other over the din of horse movement and the space required to travel. So instead of Light Horse Marching Songs, the Light Horse slipped into poetry, a solitary activity which required individual experience. It was now the time when Trooper Bluegum and Gerardy came into their own.
Ah well! We’re gone! We’re out of it now. We’ve something else to do. But we all look back from the transport deck to the land-line far and blue: Shore and valley are faded; fading are cliff and hill; The land-line we called ‘Anzac’ … and we’ll call it ‘Anzac’ still!
The Light Horse poets struck a chord within the ordinary trooper in a way that no marching song could ever achieve.
Australian Imperial Forces, Marching Songs, It's a Long Way to Tipperary, It's a long way to France Topic: AIF - Marching Songs
Australian Imperial Forces
Marching Songs
It's a Long Way to Tipperary, It's a long way to France
Soldiers at the YMCA Tent singing It's a Long Way to Tipperary at Enoggera, 1915
[From: The Queenslander, 3 April 1915, p. 22.]
To get over the mood of the Great War to the population of Australia and strike up a tune that had universal appeal and soon to become the quintessential anthem of the British Army, many Australian newspapers published the lyrics and the music score to It's a Long Way to Tipperary. Here is one example.
It's a Long Way to Tipperary
[From: Adelaide Chronical, 10 October 1914, p. 44.]
The song, It's a Long Way to Tipperary was never Irish despite using the name of the Irish town Tipperary. The song was written in 1912 by Harry Williams and his partner, an Irishman named Jack Judge, a music hall lyricist who never spent time in Ireland. It proved to be immensely popular once it was released. Very soon, not only London music halls but many cities throughout the United Kingdom had this song in their routines. It was guaranteed to get the audience singing along with the chorus, the ultimate aim of all good music hall songs.
Only two other songs gained such universal appeal during the Great War, they being "Lily Marleen" and "Colonel Bogey". The popular British anthem, It's a Long Way to Tipperary was possibly the favourite amongst all the warring nations.
It's a Long Way to Tipperary
Words and music by Harry Williams and Jack Judge, 1912
Up to mighty London came An Irish lad one day, All the streets were paved with gold, So everyone was gay! Singing songs of Piccadilly, Strand, and Leicester Square, 'Til Paddy got excited and He shouted to them there:
It's a long way to Tipperary, It's a long way to go. It's a long way to Tipperary To the sweetest girl I know! Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square! It's a long long way to Tipperary, But my heart's right there.
Paddy wrote a letter To his Irish Molly O', Saying, "Should you not receive it, Write and let me know! If I make mistakes in "spelling", Molly dear", said he, "Remember it's the pen, that's bad, Don't lay the blame on me".
It's a long way to Tipperary, It's a long way to go. It's a long way to Tipperary To the sweetest girl I know! Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square, It's a long long way to Tipperary, But my heart's right there.
Molly wrote a neat reply To Irish Paddy O', Saying, "Mike Maloney wants To marry me, and so Leave the Strand and Piccadilly, Or you'll be to blame, For love has fairly drove me silly, Hoping you're the same!"
It's a long way to Tipperary, It's a long way to go. It's a long way to Tipperary To the sweetest girl I know! Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square, It's a long long way to Tipperary, But my heart's right there.
Extra wartime verse
That's the wrong way to tickle Mary, That's the wrong way to kiss! Don't you know that over here, lad, They like it best like this! Hooray pour le Francais! Farewell, Angleterre! We didn't know the way to tickle Mary, But we learned how, over there!
After its popularity was cemented, another rival song arrived in 1915 using the same tune, called Pack up your Troubles. Written by George Asaf and the music score by Felix Powell, when published by by Chappell & Co. in London it became an instant success.
Private Perks is a funny little codger With a smile a funny smile. Five feet none, he’s and artful little dodger With a smile a funny smile. Flush or broke he’ll have his little joke, He can’t be suppress’d. All the other fellows have to grin When he gets this off his chest, Hi!
Chorus (sung twice after each verse) Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag, And smile, smile, smile, While you’ve a lucifer to light your fag, Smile, boys, that’s the style. What’s the use of worrying? It never was worth while, so Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag, And smile, smile, smile.
Private Perks went a-marching into Flanders With his smile his funny smile. He was lov’d by the privates and commanders For his smile his funny smile. When a throng of Bosches came along With a mighty swing, Perks yell’d out, “This little bunch is mine! Keep your heads down, boys and sing, Hi!
Private Perks he came back from Bosche-shooting With his smile his funny smile. Round his home he then set about recruiting With his smile his funny smile. He told all his pals, the short, the tall, What a time he’d had; And as each enlisted like a man Private Perks said ‘Now my lad,’ Hi!
Both these songs became favourites with the AIF whilst serving in France alongside their allies.
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