Item 02: Cameron Robertson war diary, 21 December 1914-16 December 1916 - Page 42

[Page 42]

the spare animals. No proper parade was called and when at last we were ready to move off, we were given the command "walk march". If this had been obeyed the whole of the convoy would have soon been in utter chaos. However the training the majority of the drivers saved the situation and we moved off in the correct way. To make matters decidedly worse, several staff officers both English & French were standing by watching our departure and of course the 4th Pioneer Battalion Transport left the Staging Camp the laughing stock of the Australian Army. The trek was also a farce. The column which was only a half mile long, soon extended to anything between 4 & 5 miles. Eventually I got the convoy into a bit of formation but as per usual another man received praise for it. About 7.15 we reached La Boiselle where we camped for the night.
It is broad daylight here from about 3.15 am till 10 pm. So very little artificial light