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This is a short history of the 18th.Batt. 1st A.I.F. written In 1914 by my father who from 1914 till 1919 was No. 612 Sgt. John McGregor of B Coy. 18th Batt. He was 83 years old when he wrote this.It is based on his own memory of events & by referral to all the original letters he wrote from 1915 to 1919 from Egypt, Gallipoli, The Somme and England.These letters are all intact and are mainly written in indelible pencil.They are easily readable and in good condition even though they are over 75 years old.
"To the best of my memory & referring to letters I wrote home between 1915 & 1919 I will attempt to describe some of my experiences serving as an infantryman dating back to the year 1910.
In that particular year all men 16 years of age were called up to serve 5 years (by Law) in the Citizens Military Forces (C.M.F.). This was, of course, part-time Military Service.
When war was declared on 4th August 1914 we were called up and our duties were to protect the fully equipped coastal shore batteries at various points. I was included in a section which did duty behind Casemate Battery which was situated between Georges Heights and Clifton Gardens. Due to the nearby hotel at Clifton Gardens we considered we were conveniently placed as we were able during our hours off duty to enjoy a beer at 4d. a pint.
Together with a number of other lads we decided to transfer from the C.M.F, and go overseas with the A.I.F.
After our training at Liverpool Camp-during which I nearly drowned in a waterhole whilst swimming-we left for Gallipoli.
Apart from rifle practice on the shooting range our training there was of little use.
Our ship, the "Ceramic" took exactly one month from Sydney through the Suez Canal to Alexandria. Thence we went by train from Alexandria to Heliopolis.Here we trained a further fortnight in the desert then returned by train to Alexandria where we Joined the Cunard Liner "Allaunia", transhipped at Lemnos to the HMS "Partridge" which landed us close to shore into barges which were then towed to the beach.
We landed at about midnight and spent the next day , Saturday, sheltered in a gully. At dusk we were ordered to dump all our. surplus gear, packs and all our personal belongings and set off in battle order towards Suvla Bay. Dawn was breaking when we arrived and were ordered to advance towards the enemy. The intended objective, Hill 60 was not only gained but passed against fierce enemy opposition. The Turks counter-attacked almost immediately causing heavy casualties- our attack failed. Five days later we were again prepared to attack which we did at 4pm. In spite of valuable assistance given by the British warships our casualties were terrific.Our total losses for both stunts were 750 killed, missing or wounded. The missing were never accounted for as at that time the Turks did not follow Red Cross principles or the Geneva Convention and consequently made short work of prisoners.
We were temporarily attached to the British 29th Division during the Suvla Bay landing and we were mixed up with New Zealanders, the Lancashire Fusiliers, Connaught Rangers, Ghurkas and Seiks.
The Connaught Rangers recaptured Hill 60 but were driven back and finished up in the support line we were holding. The landing at Suvla Bay had failed and we returned to our main Australian position at ANZAC.
Our Battalion was stricken with dysentry and with that and casualties within 4 weeks our total strength was reduced to less than 50.