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[Page 10]
again all night long, I did not sleep very much as there was continual firing until morning broke, one chap got hit through the thigh of H Company.
Sept 12
Reveille at 4.30 am, the crowd started looking round for what they could get for nothing, lots got some good things, the men entering houses as the Germans had all fled, & one could see by the half cups of Tea left & shaving things about & the very appearance of the rooms that the Germans had left in a hurry, & snatched a few things together & off.
guns & revolvers, clothes, money, medals, swords & all sorts of things were taken by the troops, one chap showing me a nice lot of medals, one being the Iron Cross another having a large Gold medal, chickens & ducks, pigs etc. were being cooked in all sorts of ways, about 12 noon we went on board the Berrima all the niggers who were wounded were taken to the native hospital, some of them had got awful wounds, & it was marvellous how some of them lived after the way they were lying about all over the place, some of them had crawled to the shelter of the bush after being wounded, & their wounds had got fly blown & full of grubs, after going on the Berrima at 12 noon & having dinner we up anchor & sailed down the Harbour towards Rabaul, we arrived there just about dusk & landed two companies of the right half Battalion, they had only been ashore 1 Hour when two officers came aboard on stretchers wounded but not seriously.
Sept 13
Everybody busy writing letters as we were told a mail leaves soon. In the afternoon we all land, sailors & all the staff officers, we marched to an open square & there the Union Jack was hoisted & saluted by the warships in the Harbour, a few germans being present, we gave three cheers for the King after the [The Germans did not remove their hats & were not noticed by the Colonel who said afterwards he would have had them taken off & jammed on their heads.]