Marsh letter diary, 14 January-2 March 1917 / Henry James Marsh - Page 5

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[Page 5]

There was a warship anchored ½ mile off us, and a wireless station ¼ mile away, also I had some practise at signalling reading whenever they were speaking to one another. The wireless is very fast with the lamp signalling which goes from the top of the wireless pole, the semaphore arrangement on board is a good invention. I can read it easy enough now, no morse signalling is used on board the boat, every man on board troopships including privates have to learn semaphore signalling, and some of the men take great interest in it. That is the sort of work we signallers get at times, they make instructors out of us. On Saturday night 23rd Dec. at 10 p.m. the ship started on her journey, but had not gone very far when she broke down. Anyhow the Captain got her back in the Harbour safely by 3 a.m. on Sunday morning, and at 9 a.m. she started again on her journey, with the result we are still going.

When we left Sydney we were sailing South until the 3rd day, then she turned to the west, just after a sighted Cape Howe Lighthouse we turned, we all thought we were going into Melbourne, but we didn't strike luck there. It turned very cold after we left Sydney with the result I caught a cold it must have been the change of climate that gave me it. Just as it was getting better I caught another fresh one but I am sticking to my work alright. We struck a day of rough weather in the Australian Bight but it wasn't much we soon passed through it safely.

we called into Freemantle for water as the tanks had

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