Item 01: Eric Susman war diary, 1 January 1915-4 April 1916 - Page 47
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[Page 47]
Saturday 23 January 1915
Early this morning, I caught my first glimpses of Arabia. Indistinct at first, a large mountain gradually became quite plain, and as we came nearer and nearer, the details of a huge, bare, barren, rocky headland became quite visible. Except in the near vicinity of the lighthouse, there was no [not] a trace of green – absolutely nothing to relieve the monotony of the grey and brown tones of the rock. The fleet anchored, not in the harbour of Aden, but in the roadstead. Mails went ashore, the naval officer in charge of the convoy went to Aden for orders, we received a visit from an officer of the Aden Port Trust, and from the medical officer. Of course the niggers put in an appearance and quickly disposed of their stocks of dates, Turkish delight, tinned fruits, etc.
During the afternoon, the principal transport officer returned on the submarine. By a combination of flash steering and a choppy sea, the little craft got underneath our stern, with the result that the wireless was put out of action, the conning tower being slightly damaged. A little after four in the afternoon, anchor was weighed, and the fleet started for Suez.