Item 02: Henry Frederick Wallace Tucker diary, 1 January - 31 December 1916 - Page 159

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[Page 159]

Thursday 3 August 1916
2nd L.H. Brigade left Camp at 2-30 a.m. Our Screen came in touch with Enemy 2 miles this side of Katia.
One N.Z. was killed & 3 horses shot. The Turks are in force around Katia & an attack is expected at any moment.
Two of our Officers were on night partrol to-night with a Troop of N.Z. The Turks took the N.Z. by suprise & during the night surrounded them & killed most. Word received at 1-30 midnight to Stand to Horses, as Enemy was approaching.
Large Bodies of Infantry are coming from Kantara to support us.

Friday 4 August 1916
At 2-30 a.m. sniping commenced & at daylight the Enemy attacked E. Maler. The engagement was severe & the L.H. found themselves in some tight corners. All Day the Scrap continued & at nightfall the Enemy retired. Among the killed was Oliver of M.G. Wounded, Perry,. Major Windeyer of 7th. Brig. Royston had a bullet enter his knee but continued supervising operations. At nightfall Col. Meredith took charge of our Section, & He proved to be a miserable sort of creature.
Taubes violently Bombed R.H. & different camps, hoping to hit our big Guns but little damage was done.

Saturday, 5 August 1916
At 4-30 a.m. we commenced Scouring the Country for Enemy. Many Turks surrendered & others were found wounded & helpless. At 2-30 p.m. orders were out to take Katia. The 6th, 7th & N.Z. did splendid work but at nightfall had to retire.
Col. Fuller, Col. Onslow, Rock, & about 20 others of our Reg. were wounded, & 6 killed. The Enemy were in strong force at Katia & had many machine Guns. They also severely shelled us with high Explosives & Shrapnel. Most remarkable very few Horses were hit. Strong reinforcements on the Turks side assisted in keeping us from entering Katia, & we returned to Camp at El Maler about 9-30 a.m.
The Col. though badly wounded in thigh rode to Camp over rough ground about 6 miles. We took Him to 2nd L.H. F. Ambulance at once, but the Dr. would not extract Bullet as it was embedded behind knee. He will be evacuated to Pt. Said to-morrow. The L.H. are knocked up owing to no sleep or food. Water was very scarce & the heat during day went hard with both man & Beast.
Later. The Official Casualty list for 6th Reg. is 8 killed & 45 wounded. The 5th Reg. on right flank ran into a number of Enemy entrenched. 6 Officers of Reg. were wounded. The Turks left a large quantity of

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