"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 35.
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 - The general action, after four days slackened and both sides strengthened defences. Our casualties for 4 days were Lieutenant Colonel Miell and 7 Other Ranks killed, 2 Officers and 26 Other Ranks wounded. Total 36.
Killed in action:
1523 Private Henry James Carroll, 28
361 Squadron Sergeant Major William Edward Harvey, 39
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - 0400 “A” Squadron passed through outposts towards enemy positions but meeting heavy fire Regiment fell back onto outpost line. Numbers of Turksd seen moving in redoubts and towards Bir el Abd.
0600 Enemy aeroplane flew overhead and dropped several bombs, one dropping close to “C” Squadron horses. After circling round it attacked one of our planes which was brought to the ground.
1900 Remained on line until 1900 when 8th Light Horse took over post and Regiment returned to Abu Dhahab for night.
1917
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Tel el Marakeb
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Finals of Boxing Tournament.
Smith, Lieutenant PT, left for Cavalry Course, Imperial School of Instruction, Zeitoun.
Brigadier, Maygar, Lieutenant Colonel LC, VC DSO, inspected the Regiment in lines.
1918
Sunday, August 11, 1918
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Bluff
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - 0330, Regiment stood to arms. Everything quiet. Posts report all clear.
0700, Heavy machine gun fire on our aeroplane fired from direction of El Baghalat.
0700 - 0745 Our artillery shelled enemy positions on Bakr Ridge and El Baghalat.
0930 - 1030 Enemy artillery fired 26 77mm HE on Sq X8a occupied by reserve Squadron. [“A” Squadron] Moore, 1579 Lance Corporal JP, was slightly wounded but not evacuated and no other damage done.
Patrol of 30 men observed in Sq W16 grazing horses. This was reported to our heavy batteries and fire brought to bear on them. They moved later north west into the hills.
Luxmoore, Captain EM, [sick] evacuated to hospital.
1919
Monday, August 11, 1919
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Adelaide
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - 0900 Regiment paraded near back entrance of Adelaide Main Station for inspection by the State Commandant [Antill, Brigadier General JM] who expressed appreciation of appearance and steadiness of the unit.
0930 Marched through streets of Adelaide by way of King William Street, Grenfell Street, Pultney Street, Rundle Street and then down to the train through the back entrance of the Adelaide Station. The populace was very enthusiastic and cheerful.
Entrained for Keswick where finalisation effected. On arrival at Keswick Barracks the Regiment formed close mass and was formally dismissed by the Acting CO, Brinkworth, Major TA.
Diaries of AIF Servicemen, Bert Schramm, 11 August 1918 Topic: Diary - Schramm
Diaries of AIF Servicemen
Bert Schramm
11 August 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's Handwritten Diary, 11 - 18 August 1918
[Click on page for a larger print version.]
Bert Schramm
Sunday, August 11, 1918
Bert Schramm's Location - Bluff, Jordan Valley, Palestine.
Bert Schramm's Diary - Were heavily shelled this morning got right among our bivvies but nearly all solid rock here and plenty of good cover no damage done.
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - 0330, Regiment stood to arms. Everything quiet. Posts report all clear.
0700, Heavy machine gun fire on our aeroplane fired from direction of El Baghalat.
0700 - 0745 Our artillery shelled enemy positions on Bakr Ridge and El Baghalat.
0930 - 1030 Enemy artillery fired 26 77mm HE on Sq X8a occupied by reserve Squadron. [A Squadron] Moore, 1579 Lance Corporal JP, was slightly wounded but not evacuated and no other damage done. Patrol of 30 men observed in Sq W16 grazing horses. This was reported to our heavy batteries and fire brought to bear on them. They moved later north west into the hills. Luxmoore, Captain EM, evacuated to hospital.
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:
9th LHR, Roll of Honour, Geoffrey Travers Topic: AIF - 3B - 9 LHR
9th LHR, AIF
9th Australian Light Horse Regiment
Roll of Honour
Geoffrey Travers
Geoffrey Travers's name on the Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial
Geoffrey Travers
Service number: 367
Rank: Corporal [Cpl]
Unit: 9th Australian Light Horse
Service: Army
Conflict: 1914-1918
Date of death: 11 August 1916
Cause of death: Died of wounds
Cemetery or memorial details: EGYPT 2 Kantara War Memorial Cemetery
War Grave Register notes: TRAVERS, Cpl. Geoffrey, 367. 9th Australian Light Horse. Died of wounds 11th Aug., 1916. Age 23. Son of Dr. Geoffrey Frederick and Ida C. S. Travers, of Bedford Rd., Ringwood, Victoria, Australia. Native of Melbourne, Victoria. A. 119.
Source: AWM145 Roll of Honour cards, 1914-1918 War, Army.
A brief military biography of Geoffrey Travers from The AIF Project:
Regimental number
367
Place of birth
Armadale, Melbourne, Victoria
School
Haileybury College Brighton Beach, Victoria
Religion
Church of England
Occupation
Jackaroo
Address
Glen Huntly Road, Elsternwick, Victoria
Marital status
Single
Age at embarkation
21
Next of kin
Father, G.F.Travers, Glen Huntly Road, Elsternwick, Victoria
A Rare Coloured Cigarette Card Displaying Cotter's Bowling Action.
Another retelling of the Gezireh Sports Club story is to be found in:
Headon, D. ed., The Best Ever Australian Sports Writing, 2001, pp. 498-9.
TIBBY COTTER AT BEERSHEBA
by 'Sergeant'
When Johnny –‘Won't- Hit-Today’ Douglas comes to write his memoirs, ‘My 97 Years of Cricket at Home and Abroad’, I bet he won’t remember a certain cricket match played on the sands of the Mediterranean coast of Southern Palestine between the British Yeomanry and the Australian Light Horse. Both divisions were having a short rest and clean up on the coast. The Yeomanry, led by Gentlemen from the Very Best Families of England, sent the Light Horse Commander a challenge to a game of cricket. Our scouting parties had seen the Tommy officers sporting themselves in flannels in the cool of the evening. Anyhow, we took them on.
Douglas was a Colonel of the Yeomanry, although I never rightly knew whether he was in the Warwicks, the Worcesters, or the Gloucesters. He was always there when it came to a cricket match or a fight according to the Marquis of Queensberry.
We had a few sets of cricketing tools bought out of certain regimental funds—never mind whose funds. The desert sand, watered and stamped with tibbin by the Kamleelah wallahs, made a pretty fair concrete pitch.
The Yeomanry team, all officers, was a treat to see in spotless flannels. The officers were always punctilious about appearance and cleanliness even in the desert. How they carried their boudoirs about in the desert was a marvel.
Our team looked like a mob of Murrumbidgee whalers who had lost their swags. A few of the officers were in khaki slacks and shirts, and the other ranks wore their old blue-grey flannel shirts, riding strides with the knees out for the most part, no leggings, and their knitted socks hanging down over their ankle boots.
Our fellows won the toss, and had a bat. They put up only 57, Douglas getting most of the wickets.
Then the Yeomanry took block. That's about all they did take. Tibby Cotter, a trooper in the 12th Light Horse Regiment, bowled with the wind behind him, and the Tommy officers never saw which way he went. They just walked in and out in a dazed manner. We had four men behind the stumps to stop any risk of byes getting into double figures.
Clive Single, Colonel of our ambulance, bowled from the other end. He had been high in Grade cricket in Sydney and had a good University career—as far as cricket went, anyhow. He bowled a mixed over of slow and medium balls breaking in from both sides.
Cotter and Single bowled the Yeomanry all for 4, including one bye.
'Who is this Cotter man?' they kept asking. Douglas had spotted Cotter the first time he made his characteristic long run before bowling, but thought it wise not to break the news to the batsmen beforehand.
They took it like sportsmen when they knew. It hardly seemed fair. They squared it off with us later—but that is another story.
Poor old Tibby Cotter was given out at Beersheeba later. He was in the front of the mounted charge.
The Melbourne Evening Sun, November 1924
The last paragraph is a matter of contention and will be discussed in another post. Cotter was quite a character and his natural larrikan behaviour will become very apparent.
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