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[Page 3]
[Transcriber's notes:
This diary covers the period from 1 August 1917 to 31 May 1918 when the 55th Battalion was engaged in trench warfare in northern France and Belgium. The diary includes descriptions of enemy bombardments, allied offensives, aerial combat, battalion casualties, military police duties, destruction of villages and towns, weather conditions, and army food, clothing and pay, as well as Herbert Harris's health and outlook on the war and his personal situation. He notes letters to and from his family and friends, including his wife Nell, sons Jack, Tony and Carol, and brother Viv (Vivian Glen Harris, Service Number 3076).
Herbert Harris describes in some detail the fighting and heavy casualties during the Battle of Polygon Wood in September 1917 (pages 17 to 22) and the battles in and around Corbie, Aubigny and Villers Brettonneux in April/May 1918 (pages 80 to 88). He also briefly notes other world events: the Russian Civil War and Swedish elections (page 14), Germans dropping propaganda leaflets from balloons in December 1917 (pages 44, 45), his "Yes" vote in the December 1917 Australian referendum on conscription (page 45), and the arrival of the first US soldiers on his sector in May 1918 (page 90).
Almost every day he notes in his diary the amount of pay he is entitled to, both readily accessible spending money and "deferred" (set aside until completion of service). On his promotion to Sergeant in September 1917 he records his delight at his new, higher rate of pay, 4/6 per day rather than 1/- (page 13). However, on 24 December of that year, adding to gloom that he had not received any Christmas mail or parcels, he discovered there had been a problem with the allocation of the portion of his pay to go to his wife and family (set at not less than 3/5 of his pay at enlistment). It had not been calculated correctly, and as a consequence he was in debt by a significant amount which would have to be made good (page 49). It's not clear whether this was an administrative error or a misconception on his part as to how much spending money he was accumulating, but subsequent diary entries note his calculations of how much he still owes and how lack of spending money means he can't apply for London leave. He finally cleared the debt in early April 1918 (page 81).
The diary ends on Friday 31 May 1918 (page 99) and is followed by several pages of notes and addresses. Also included in the diary is a separate sheet of paper that was inserted near the front of the diary that lists the places in France and Belgium where Herbert Harris served (page 2) and notes of dates letters to and from his family (page 3; not transcribed). Herbert Harris' subsequent diary begins on 31 May 1918 and concludes on his arrival outside Botany Heads 25 May 1919.]
Please send this diary to
Mrs H H Harris
70 Bridge Rd
Camperdown
Sydney
Australia
Wednesday 1st Aug 1917
sent diary's to Nell 3 of them also Bible & post cards to them all.
Still raining Beast of a place Europe Its all alike, Thank God when we get home again.
Thursday 2 Aug 1917
still raining
Went to Palladium yesterday going to Bank to day.
Friday. 3 Aug 1917
Similar
Saturday
£10 hasnt arrived yet
Raining like hell darn the place.
Sunday
Should have gone back this morning but no one called me.
Monday 6 Aug/17 5. pm
am back again in France & feel rotten What haven't I suffered this day, just feeling awful