"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.
The Australian Light Horse Studies Centre site holds over 12,000 entries and is growing daily.
Contact:Australian Light Horse Studies CentreLet us hear your story:
You can tell your story, make a comment or ask for help on our Australian Light Horse Studies Centre Forum called:
WARNING: This site contains: names, information and images of deceased people; and, language which may be considered inappropriate today.
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Bert Schramm's Diary, 11 December 1918 Topic: Diary - Schramm
During part of the course of his military service with the AIF, 2823 Private Herbert Leslie Schramm, a farmer from White's River, near Tumby Bay on the Eyre Peninsular, 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 1918 breakout 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.
Bert Schramm's Diary, 11 December 1918
Bert Schramm's Handwritten Diary, 8 - 14 December 1918
[Click on page for a larger print version.]
Diaries
Bert Schramm
Wednesday, December 11, 1918
Bert Schramm's Location - Mejdelaya, Tripoli
Bert Schramm's Diary - No news. I have a devilish head cold and we are moving camp tomorrow.
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Advanced parties proceeded to prepare new bivouac site. Parsons, Major HM, DSO; Burns, Lieutenant AG; Stephen, Lieutenant HH; Gibney, Lieutenant BE; and, nine Other Ranks proceeded on seven clear days leave to Port Said and Egypt. Parsons, Major HM, commanded Divisional Party.
Darley
Darley, TH, With the Ninth Light Horse in the Great War, Adelaide, Hassell Press, 1924.
Review of the 5th Otago Mounted Rifles before General Godley in Tahuna Park, Dunedin, 21 August 1914
[From: Auckland Weekly News, 3 September 1914, p. 36.]
Formation
The Territorial Volunteer Regiments.
The first Territorial unit, known as the Otago Cavalry was formed on 4 November 1864 but the name was quickly altered to reflect the nature of the unit, that is as light horse rather than full cavalry. So on 17 December 1864 the formation was renamed the Otago Light Horse.
About 1885, the name was changed again to the 5th Otago Hussars, again, reflecting the role expected of the Regiment.
After the lessons of the Boer War filtered through to the New Zealand military structure, on 14 September 1900, the unit was renamed the Otago Mounted Rifles. This was to distinguish the unit from a mounted infantry role which required the added mobility and use of the rifle. Two weeks later, on 1 October the government gazetted two Battalions were gazetted to be raised from the Otago region.
Another name change occurred on 13 September 1906 when Battalions of Mounted Rifles were to be henceforth known as Regiments, thus came into being the 1st and 2nd Regiments, Otago Mounted Rifles.
The last change prior to the Great War occurred on 17 March 1911 when the New Zealand compulsory military training program commenced. Three Regiments were to be raised to form the Otago Mounted Rifles Brigade. The three Regiments formed were: the Otago Hussars centred in Dunedin; 7th Southland Regiment located around the Invercargill region; and, a newly formed Regiment based upon the hinterland to the west of Dunedin called the 12th (South Otago) Mounted rifles.
Otago Mounted Rifles Squadron Recruitment Catchment Areas
The Otago Mounted Rifles utilised the Volunteer Territorial structure to recruit members into the three squadrons gazetted as establishment in August 1914. Below is a listing of the three squadrons inclusive of the distinguishing squadron badge.
5th Otago Mounted Rifles Squadron
Badge for the 5th Otago Mounted Rifles Regiment
The Territorial Volunteer unit known as the 5th Mounted Rifles, or more commonly by the Territorial name, the Otago Hussars provided the men for the 1st Squadron while also establishing the Regimental structure for the Otago Mounted Rifles. After seeing service at Gallipoli, it was the 5th Mounted Rifles that remained a mounted formation when the Otago Mounted Rifles were disbanded in March 1916. The Squadron went to France where it became brigaded with the "B" and "D" Squadrons from the 4th Light Horse Regiment. These three squadrons formed the composite regiment known as the II Anzac Corps Mounted Regiment. [See: Aus Units - 22nd Corps]
12th Otago Mounted Rifles Squadron
Badge for the 12th Otago Mounted Rifles Regiment
The 12th Otago Mounted Rifles Regiment as a Territorial Volunteer formation came into being on 17 March 1911 when the New Zealand compulsory military training program commenced. The 12th Otago Mounted Rifles Squadron was recruited from the same Territorial region which included the area north and east of Dunedin.
7th Southland Mounted Rifles Squadron
Badge for the 7th Southland Mounted Rifles Regiment
The 7th Southland Mounted Rifles Regiment was founded on 1 October 1900 when it was gazetted as a new regiment although with its roots in the Otago Hussars. The 7th Southland Mounted Rifles Squadron was recruited from the same Territorial region which incorporated the south and west of Dunedin and was centred on Invercargill.
Machine Gun Section
The Machine Gun Section was drawn from recruits over the entirety of the Otago Mounted Rifles catchment area.
Embarkation
The original Otago Mounted Rifles Regiment embarked to Egypt on 16 October 1914.
In Egypt additional training occurred at Maadi Camp.
Gallipoli
As mounted troops, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles were considered to be unsuitable for work in Gallipoli. The mounted troops volunteered to operate as infantry and thus were sent to Gallipoli with the Otago Mounted Rifles landing on 12 May 1915. Only once was this regiment used for offensive activities which occurred during the two attacks on Hill 60 in August 1915. For the balance of the time the Otago Mounted Rifles remained at Gallipoli, the unit played a defensive role.
Commanders
Lieutenant-Colonel A. W. Bauchop, 1914 Lieutenant-Colonel R. R. Grigor, D.S.O., 1915-16
(In France)
Lieutenant Colonel Stanley George Hindhaugh
Attachments
Formed August 1914.
Attached to the New Zealand and Australian Division from December 1914 to April 1915. Attachment ceased on the Division's deployment to Gallipoli.
Attached to the New Zealand and Australian Division at Gallipoli from May 1915 to February 1916.
Disbanded March 1916.
Campaigns
After Gallipoli, the honours are attributed as part of the Corps Cavalry, 2nd Corps Cavalry and 22nd Corps Cavalry.
Gallipoli:
Anzac
Defence at Anzac
Suvla
Sari Bair
Gallipoli 1915-1916
Egypt:
Defence of Egypt.
France
Messines 1917
Ypres 1917
Broodseinde
Passchendaele
Lys
Kemmel
Marne 1918
Tardenois
France and Flanders 1916-1918
Disbandment
The Otago Mounted Rifles fought as a Regiment at Gallipoli but subsequent to the evacuation from the peninsular, the Regiment was disbanded and absorbed into the newly formed 2nd Battalion of the 3rd (Rifle) Brigade. The 5th Mounted Rifles Squadron remained as a mounted formation for the specific purpose of being sent to France as part of the Corps Cavalry and later to be known as the 22nd Corps Cavalry.
Acknowledgement: Thanks are extended to Steve Butler and Greg Bradley for the excellent site New Zealand Mounted Rifles Association and their consent to use information and images from that particular site. Steve Butler has kinldy provided the artwork for this entry.
A further thanks are extended to Steve Becker for his excellent work and article called: The XXII Corps Mounted Regiment and the 2nd Battle of the Marne.
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 - Orders received that the Brigade would move to the beach on 12th December 1918. The mud and general sloppiness of the Regiment's present bivouac was adversely affecting the condition of the horses therefore this projected move on to the sandy beach was much appreciated.
1919
Wednesday, December 10, 1919
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Adelaide
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Regiment disbanded.
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 156.
Colonel Hüsnü, Yildirim, Page 156.
[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.
Bert Schramm's Diary, 10 December 1918 Topic: Diary - Schramm
During part of the course of his military service with the AIF, 2823 Private Herbert Leslie Schramm, a farmer from White's River, near Tumby Bay on the Eyre Peninsular, 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 1918 breakout 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.
Bert Schramm's Diary, 10 December 1918
Bert Schramm's Handwritten Diary, 8 - 14 December 1918
[Click on page for a larger print version.]
Diaries
Bert Schramm
Tuesday, December 10, 1918
Bert Schramm's Location - Mejdelaya, Tripoli
Bert Schramm's Diary - Fine weather again and we will have a chance at getting things dry again but I believe we are to move camp shortly.
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Orders received that the Brigade would move to the beach on 12th December 1918. The mud and general sloppiness of the Regiment's present bivouac was adversely affecting the condition of the horses therefore this projected move on to the sandy beach was much appreciated.
Darley
Darley, TH, With the Ninth Light Horse in the Great War, Adelaide, Hassell Press, 1924.
The Australian Light Horse Studies Centre is a not for profit and non profit group whose sole aim is to write the early history of the Australian Light Horse from 1900
- 1920. It is privately funded and the information is provided by the individuals within the group and while permission for the use of the material has been given for this
site for these items by various donors, the residual and actual copyright for these items, should there be any, resides exclusively with the donors. The information on
this site is freely available for private research use only and if used as such, should be appropriately acknowledged. To assist in this process, each item has a citation
attached at the bottom for referencing purposes.
Please Note: No express or implied permission is given for commercial use of the information contained within this site.
A note to copyright holders
The Australian Light Horse Studies Centre has made every endeavour to contact copyright holders of material digitised for this blog and website and where
appropriate, permission is still being sought for these items. Where replies were not received, or where the copyright owner has not been able to be traced, or where
the permission is still being sought, the Australian Light Horse Studies Centre has decided, in good faith, to proceed with digitisation and publication. Australian Light
Horse Studies Centre would be happy to hear from copyright owners at any time to discuss usage of this item.
Wednesday, December 11, 1918
