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[Page 281]
think of that, at last we reached the railway line, & laid down while our boys pasted the second line with shells, we had not long to wait, but it seemed hour's to us laying out in the open waiting for the fire to lift, at last the fuses were lengthened, & like a pack of hounds the boys rushed the trench our objective, but there was very little in it & it was ours in a few minutes, at this period over came the 3rd Batt. closely followed by the 9th 11th 12th. their objective was in front of us again, & scores of our Battalion went on with them to the wood which was just in front, we started straight away to consolidate our position so as to be ready for the counterattack which usually follows the charge, by daylight, we had a fairly good line dug out & organised & were ready for them to try their luck against the scum as they had sneeringly referred to us in their papers.
[Transcribers' notes:
Page 5. Estaminet – French word for a small café
Page 3. Saps: Narrow trenches, normally for communication, made by digging at an angle from the existing trench.
Page 12. Kut-el-Emara, now known as Al Kut, a town in SE Iraq, on the Tigris River.
Page 19. Walcha is in NSW about 120 kms inland from Port Macquarie
Page 25. Sailly is probably Sailly-sur-la-lys about 6 kms west of Fleurbaix (or Fleurbeaux as spelt in the diary – see page 132). There is a Sailly-le-Sec which is just north of the Somme River about 25 kms east of Amiens and about 8 kms north east of Villers-Brettonneux. It might also be Sailly-Laurette about 1km to the east. However other places mentioned in the diary are west of Armentieres, so it is more likely that Sailly refers to Sailly-sur-la-lys.
Page 28. Kelleway is Charles Kelleway (1886-1944). Played 26 tests for Australia as an all-rounder between 1910 and 1928.
Pages 51 and 52. Wallon Cappel (should be Wallon-Cappel, Hazebrouck and Morbecque are three villages about 25 kms west of Armentieres or about 50 kms WNW of Lille, on the French/Belgium border.
Page 68 Steenwerck is about 20 kms NW of Lille France on the way to Dunkirk and about 5kms NW of Armentieres
Page 99 Kut is a city in eastern Iraq, on the left bank of the Tigris River
Page 107 A "Bradshaw" is a railway timetable
Page 112 The Show Shop(1914, a play by James Forbes.
Page 120 Taubes or The Rumpler Taube (German, "dove" – its wings had a profile like those of a bird) was a pre-World War I monoplane aircraft, and the first mass-produced military plane in Germany.
Page 124 Minnewerfers should be Minnenwerfers. These are small German mortars.
Page 132 & 142 Fleurbeaux should be spelt Fleurbaix and is about 10 kms SSE of Steenwerck an about 6 kms SW of Armentieres. The correct spelling is used from page 162.
Page 144 Sailly – probably Sailly-sur-la-lys about 6 kms west of Fleurbaix (or Fleurbeaux as spelt in the diary until page 162 when it is spelt correctly).
Page 144 Pioneer Battalion – according to the UNSW website on the Australian defence force, "Pioneer battalions performed construction tasks in the forward area not requiring the special equipment of engineers..."
Page 176 Bac St. Mair – there is a Rue Bac Saint-Maur about 2.5 kms NE of Sailly-sur-la-Lys and about 3 kms NW of Fleurbaix.
Page 176 Mangels – Mangelwurzel or mangold wurzel (Beta vulgaris), is a root vegetable
Page 203 The word Tibbie does not appear in the normal dictionaries or encyclopaedia
Page 215 Outersteene, correct spelling is Outtersteene, 8-10 kms NW of Sailly
Page 218 Bailleul is about 4 kms NE of Outtersteene
Page 221 Hazebrouck is about 12 kms west of Bailleul.
Page 224 Tel-el-Kebir ("great mound") is located 110 kilometres north-north-east of Cairo and 75 kilometres south of Port Said on the edge of the Egyptian desert at the altitude of 29 meters. During the First World War, Tel el Kebir was a training centre for the First Australian Imperial Force reinforcements, No 2 Australian Stationary Hospital, and also a site of a large prisoner of war camp.
Page 224 Seraphium should be spelt Serapeum. It is on the Suez Canal about 120 kms ENE of Cairo.
Page 224 Fieneilliers Candas. These are two villages about 1 km apart. Fieneillliers should be spelt Fienvillers. They are about 30 kms due north of Amiens. The distance from Hazebrouck to Candas is about 60 kms and the train has travelled almost due south.
Page 225 The village of Domart-en-Ponthieu is about 8kms WSW of Candas
Page 230 Peronne is about 50 kms east of Amiens on the Somme River
Page 231 Vinacourt is Vignacourt about 9kms SSE of Domart-en-Ponthieu
Page 235 Allonville is about 20 kms SE of Vignacourt and about 7kms NE of the centre of Amiens
Page 244 Wallory Bailon is Warloy Baillon. It is about 15 kms NE of Allonville and the march would have been about 18 kms
Page 245 Sir Ian Hamilton (1853-1947) was Commander in Chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in the unsuccessful campaign against Turkey at Gallipoli.
Page 249 the 18th General Hospital was at Camiers not Cameaies. Camiers is a short distance north of Etaples in France on the west coast and about 100 kms NW of Amiens.
Page 249 Highwood is about 1.5 kms SE of Martinpuich and 1.5kms NW of Langueval and about 23 kms ENE of Warloy Baillon
Page 269 Contalmaison is about 4.5kms NE of Amiens and about 1km south of Poziers]
[Transcribed by Miles Harvey and Lynne Palmer for the State Library of New South Wales]