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[Page 3]
[Transcriber's note:
This diary covers the period from Wednesday 13 September 1916 when Private James Marshall travelled by train from camp to Sydney, prior to embarkation of his unit on the troop ship "Mashobra", to Friday 24 November 1916 when he travelled to London from a camp on Salisbury Plain on embarkation leave before transfer to the front.
He gives quite detailed descriptions of life on board ship, in the ports they visited, and in camp in England. On the journey to England they called in at Durban on 6 October 1916 (pages 19 to 27), Cape Town on 11 October 1916 (pages 29 to 33) and Dakka on 24 October 1916 (page 50). He also describes in some detail the Crossing the Line festivities on 19 October 1916 (pages 39 to 46).
After disembarkation at Plymouth on 2 November (page 70) his unit was in "depot camp" at Wareham from 2 to 7 November 1916 (pages 70 to 84) and in Hurdcott camp on Salisbury Plain (outside Wilton) from 7 to 24 November 1916 (pages 84 to 106). His description of life in camp includes complaints about the lack of food (pages 88 to 101) and descriptions of the first snowfalls of the season, with snowball fights and sledding (18/19 November 1916, pages 97 to 100).
He moved to another camp (near Wilton) on 20 November to await departure for France (page 103) and had a final leave in London, worried that he had no money, on 24 November 1916 (pages 106 to 108).]
J. Marshall
49 Dolphin St
Coogee
[1916]