Item 01: T. J. Cleary diary, 8 March 1916 - 15 August 1917 - Page 54
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[Page 54]
and are doing their best to acquire a new Kit, a man wants the eyes of Argus to watch & the arms of Briarius to defend his kit. Someone will have to provide that Blanket. We have 2700 men on board that would be a lovely haul for a Submarine. With the crew we have 3000 souls. This probably accounts for the number of escorts we have had all through the trip we have been handed on from one to another of these there is sometimes 3 in view at once. several times we have passed the Trawlers mine sweeping frequently they zig zag in front of us for a time. The most comical sight of all is to see a big Troopship with a fussy little Torpedo boat running round & across her like a little pup gambolling around its mother. I heard a funny expression from Sapper Edwards this evening something relating to holding a cat the meaning being this is my business. In the extremely cold weather just before the evacuation of Gallipoli, sometimes the parapets of both trenches would be lined with benumbed soldiers incapable of firing a rifle. The Trenches being flooded with icy water. Running a house