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[Page 2]
Extracts From My Rough Diary Compiled During My Service With The Australian Imperial Force.
(Recorded by Cpl O. Rhodes, 20th Bn.)
Particulars Of Service: Enlisted 26.4.15 at Victoria Barracks, Sydney. Entered Camp at Liverpool 27.4.15. Transferred from Infantry to Signalling Depot 28.4.15. Finally attached as Signaller 20th Battalion 5th Brigade. Left Sydney on s/s "Berrima" 26th June 1915. Service in Gallipoli, Egypt and France. Wounded with loss of left leg at Butte de Warlencourt, France, 25.2.'17.
At Sea:
1:7:15 – Rough sea all day with strong head wind. The latter has been encountered all the way – things not all violets aboard – being very damp slept below in consequence.
2:7:15 – Reveille sounded to the tune of a howling gale with heavy rain and a high sea. Shipping heaps of water down mess deck. Great amusement amongst men who by now are beginning to get their sea legs. At about 8.30 a.m. a great rain-storm appeared on the western horizon and travelling with great rapidity soon enveloped the approaching ship in a dense cloud of rain, hail, and brine. The wind blew with hurricane force but the good ship "Berrima" stuck to her task. The disturbance passed as quickly away as it had meteorically appeared and within the space of 15 minutes had disappeared eastward leaving us panting on the surface of the cruelly beaten sea.
6:7:15 – A pleasant day on the calm bosom of the Indian Ocean. A gentle S.W. zephyr did little to disturb the tranquility of the day. The blue dome above was unflecked by clouds and reflected itself unsparingly in the unruffled water. A lazy swell which to the troops had the effect of a sweet lullaby on a new-born child predominated throughout the day. One accident marred the day – we lost our mascot "Miss Wallaby" overboard. Whether this be an ominous sign we do not know – at any rate her loss was soon forgotten which spells much for the optimism of the troops.
10:7:15 – Another hot day – calm sea – awnings necessary on 'well' and boat decks. Boxing contest "B" Company in the afternoon. Colonel Lamrock and other Officers present. Some good "stoush" with a minimum of skill. One clean knock-out. Despite the uneventful voyage with its monotonous daily life, the troops display a remarkable buoyancy of spirits. Whether they realise the seriousness of the work before them in a few weeks, they do not show it by their attitude on board. One would think they were on a huge picnic or harbour excursion. Their happy disposition speaks volumes for their heroic self-sacrifice for the great cause.
11:7:15 – Rose at 4.30 a.m. The stars shone white, and as dawn broke across the placid surface of the ocean I felt a new self arise in me – the morning was so peaceful and majestic. The sun as it arose threw a golden glory over the distant horizon, and finally appeared in a great white disc in all its glittering heat. A ragged edge of clouds, low down, burned like red-hot coals, and the sea between the ship and the distant flaming orb became a molten mass, magnificent in its grandeur and at which the eye could but gaze but for a second, so powerful was the sheen. A new self – yes, "like dead scales the superficialities, the falsities, the habits of the life of the world I have left behind seem for the instant, whilst I gaze upon that awe-inspiring scene, to drop from me. Romance and a keen observation of beauteous nature engendered and fostered in me from that moment a feeling of love for all things beautiful and serene, and I offered a silent prayer to heaven that I was alive to appreciate the mighty splendour of that glorious sunrise."
14:7:15 – Anniversary of establishment of French Republic and fall of the Bastile. Half holiday on board.
15:7:15 – Fresh westerly with heavy swell. Boxing semi-finals on