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[Page 35]
May 1915
16th – in Dispensary. Boats left at 5pm. Only two with troops. Deserters on board supposed to be twenty or thirty of them. Bed about 8pm. Dead beat on a/c of no sleep for week.
17th – Reveille six am. Fall in after well deck 9am. Very dirty boat the Lutzour. German throughout & crew chiefly Greeks & Italian. Spattering of others also. 2046 troops aboard, packed like sardines. Guard of troops armed on look out fro submarines. Busy in dispensary all day. Sick parades etc. Dispensary dirty NZ men previously using it. During afternoon, passing through Greek archipelago. Supposed to go to Lemnos, there to get instruction. Rumours of large army landing there.
18th Passed jagged rock about 9am. Large sick parade again. Kept going all day.11am parade for stowaways. Allotted to different units & regts. Passed cruiser about 5.30 & empty transport pm.
[Note in margin:] Firing
18th – Heading for land about 5pm. Flashes of fire from guns plainly visible on twilight. Twilight till about 8.15pm. Anchored about 8pm midst large number of transports. Heard artillery fire later on & distant booming of guns. Also saw flashes & illuminating rockets late on in night. About 4 to 5 pm. Passed high white cliffs also saw several aeroplanes hangars & tents of camps. Aeroplanes apparently returning after reconnaissance.
19th – "Reveille" (Silent) at 5am. Another transport swinging with wind & being empty scraped side of our boat the 'Lutzour' with her nose, smashed starboard gangway & scraping cleaning paint off. T'port F. 18 French boat which did the damage.19th Raining lightly. First rain since arriving in Egypt. B'de orders . Fall in 6am. Breakfast 7am. Disembark. Anchored off Cape Helles.