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Sunday 28th February 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
26 February 2010 by Janice Farrer.
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Diary of an ANZAC
Please note: Care has been taken to transcribe these entries without alteration to preserve the original language of Herbert Vincent Reynolds.
Australian infantry marching during a dust storm, which is known in Egypt as a 'Khamseen'. H02732
‘Church Parade at 10am. A heavy wind has been blowing all day and that means being unable to see for dust here on the desert. After dinner Pete was to come out but we missed each other somehow. After waiting at the tram terminus for some time I went up to the pyramids and climbed the Great Pyramid of Cheops, on the top I met 2 Sebas. chaps W Raine and F Stevens. The Cheops Pyramid is said to be 471 ft high, each of its sides at the base measure 820 ft and it covers an area of a little under 75,000 square yards. It is estimated that the number of stone blocks used in its construction is 2,300,000, each averaging about two and a half tons in weight. The space on top is about 6 yards square and the whole surface of the top stones is marked with the initials of tourists and visitors. One of the guides most important details is the late King Edward’s mark on one of the top stones, they never fail to point to it as one of the most interesting details of the Pyramid. The sides of the Pyramid resemble a stairway but the steps are huge in proportion being 2ft6 to 3 ft in height. Sent a small glass souvenir home today from the Mena post office. Spent the evening at the Empire picture show. The whole 3rd Brigade marched* out of camp at about 9pm, their destination is unknown to us but some scene of active operations they are bound for.’
*With many troops beginning to move out battle began to weigh more on the minds of the men at the camps.
For the classroom: How would you feel if you were about to be sent off to battle?
Saturday 27th February 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
26 February 2010 by Janice Farrer.
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Diary of an ANZAC
Please note: Care has been taken to transcribe these entries without alteration to preserve the original language of Herbert Vincent Reynolds.
Men of the 3rd Brigade, 1st AIF, preparing to leave Mena Camp. P02800.005
‘On picquet duty 2am to 6am also 2pm to 6pm, relieved from guard at 6pm. The whole 3rd Brigade are preparing to move out of camp.’
Friday 26th February 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
26 February 2010 by Janice Farrer.
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Diary of an ANZAC
Please note: Care has been taken to transcribe these entries without alteration to preserve the original language of Herbert Vincent Reynolds.
Two soldiers, possibly members of the 2nd Light Horse Brigade, beside a stack of full sacks and rows of unpacked stores on the desert sand. P02359.010
‘Spent the morning on ration fatigue* and was detailed for guard at 10m.’
*Feeding and clothing everyone in the First AIF was a massive undertaking. For this reason some men carried out their service facilitating the logistical side of fighting, such as the management of supplies, equipment and mail.
Thursday 25th February 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
25 February 2010 by Janice Farrer.
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Diary of an ANZAC
Please note: Care has been taken to transcribe these entries without alteration to preserve the original language of Herbert Vincent Reynolds.
The Wassah, Cairo By George Lambert ART02755
‘Granted leave to visit Cairo, then went out to Helopolois to see Pete, we spent the evening at Luna Park again and had a thoroughly good time.’
Wednesday 24th February 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
24 February 2010 by Janice Farrer.
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Diary of an ANZAC
Please note: Care has been taken to transcribe these entries without alteration to preserve the original language of Herbert Vincent Reynolds.
White cotton brassard with applied scarlet cotton Geneva Cross. Beside the cross, written in black ink is, 'N.R.Howse, Col., A.D.M.S., Australian Division'. RELAWM06037.002
‘Spent morning on Mena flat erecting tents. The full equipment was put up for the purpose of an inspection by the A.D.M.S.* General Williams, after waiting long after the arranged time we packed up again and were almost back to camp when the head of his staff came upon the scene, however we were not called upon to go over the performance again, much to our relief.’
*ADMS stands for Assistant Director of Medical Services.
Monday 22nd February 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
22 February 2010 by Janice Farrer.
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Diary of an ANZAC
Please note: Care has been taken to transcribe these entries without alteration to preserve the original language of Herbert Vincent Reynolds.
‘Spent the day at tent practice and Mena flat.’
For the classroom: Other than the practical purpose of building a tent what other benefits might this activity have?
Sunday 21st February 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
19 February 2010 by Janice Farrer.
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Diary of an ANZAC
Please note: Care has been taken to transcribe these entries without alteration to preserve the original language of Herbert Vincent Reynolds.
Church parade in the grounds of the Abbassia Hospital in Cairo. P00228.002
‘Church Parade at 10am.’
For the classroom: Activities such as a Church Parade were included in a soldier’s daily life. Why do you think the Church Parade was important?
Saturday 20th February 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
19 February 2010 by Janice Farrer.
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Diary of an ANZAC
Please note: Care has been taken to transcribe these entries without alteration to preserve the original language of Herbert Vincent Reynolds.
An unidentified farrier from the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade with his two pet monkeys at a camp near Cairo. C01521
‘Obtained leave from 10am for 10pm, went out to Heliopolis and visited old mates in the 14th Battalion, all the 4th Brigade are camped at Heliopolis. Found Pete Hodgetts in camp and we spent the evening at Luna Park.’
*Peter Hodgetts was from Ballarat, Victoria and part of the Division Signal Company 2, Section 2. Pete served in both the Gallipoli and Western Front campaigns but was killed in action on 7th July 1917 in France.
Australian War Memorial Fromelles tour, 2010
19 February 2010 by Peter Burness.
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Battlefield Tours,News, cemetery, ceremony, Flanders, Fromelles, Pheasant Wood
A unique and remarkable ceremony of Australian national significance will be conducted in France on 19 July 2010. It will be the culmination of the long search for those killed, and whose bodies were never recovered, in the disastrous Battle of Fromelles in French Flanders 94 years ago. Now discovered, 250 bodies are finally being laid to rest in the specially constructed Fromelles Pheasant Wood Military Cemetery.
The first burials of these Australian and British soldiers commenced on 30 January this year. After the fighting in 1916, the Germans had gathered the bodies into pits. Now, these soldiers have been reinterred through February, one by one, with each subsequent day’s burials conducted as a formal military funeral with a bearer party and padre in attendance.
Photograph of ceremony at Fromelles, February 2010, courtesy of Dr Annette Becker, FranceEvidence has been taken from each of the bodies which may lead to some of them being identified. From April permanent headstones will be placed over the graves, and it is expected that some of them will bear soldiers’ names.
The main concluding ceremony in July will commemorate the battle, honour all those who took part, and formally mark the completion of the archaeological excavations and the reinterment of all those whose bodies which were found on the outskirts of Pheasant Wood at the edge of the small village of Fromelles. A large attendance of dignitaries, families, locals, and public is expected. British, French and Australian media will cover the event.
I will have the privilege of attending the ceremony accompanying a battlefield tour group arranged by the Australian War Memorial, and Boronia Travel Centre. Anyone can join the party, and you are encouraged to sign up early by contacting the agent ph. +61 (03) 9762 2111) or the Memorial ph. +61 (02) 62434 3243).
The occasion will have special meaning for me. I have made the journey to the Western Front more than 20 times and have seen numerous battlefields. But the Fromelles ceremony will be a unique event. The war cemeteries adjoining battlefields are always deeply moving. Sometimes I have had the honour of being in the company of veterans or those whose father or a relative fought there. Looking at the surviving evidence, after considering the battles that were waged and the lives that were lost, one also sees the immense effort that occupied a generation of workers to ensure that those killed were remembered. The cemeteries are still meticulously maintained. The new Pheasant Wood cemetery is a revival of that activity; it is the first Commonwealth War Graves Commission First World War cemetery constructed since the immediate post war years.
Travelling in an Australian battlefield group is sometimes emotional, often fun, and always fulfilling. Joining a group with a common interest and mutual sense of pride creates strong bonds. I will accompany the group in my familiar role as historian-guide. Our agent, the most experienced in the field, is there to provide personal attention and to ensure a high standard of accommodation, meals, and travel. It is reassuring to know that things will go right.
Fromelles, and the unique ceremony there, is the special focus for this tour. However it is important to remember that this was just one of many major battles fought by the Australian Imperial Force on the Western Front. Most were longer and in many the total casualties were higher. Places such as Pozieres, Bullecourt, Ypres, Zonnebeke, Passchendaele, Amiens, Villers-Bretonneux, Peronne, and Mont St Quentin are among those of similar importance to Fromelles. They too will be remembered.
The battlefield tour runs from 5 – 22 July. It will go to all the First World War places of major importance to Australians. We will visit the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux and participate in the Last Post ceremony at the historic Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres. I will be there to provide historical background, an explanation of each place visited and to introduce you to our friends in France. There will also be time to see Paris and go to Verdun and the famous Champagne region.
Battle of Fromelles in brief:
Australians were thrilled by the stories of their troops’ exploits on Gallipoli in 1915. The next year, in early 1916, the Australian divisions finally joined the British army in France and Belgium. At last they had arrived in the war’s main battle theatre. Here, on the Western Front, they met a new form of fighting.
At first the Australians were in a relatively quiet sector in France. Still, there were periods of stiff fighting, shelling, and some heavy raids; by the end of June over 600 men had been killed. But by now the British main efforts had shifted to the Somme 100 kilometres away to the south. Resulting from heavy British losses, the Australians were soon drawn in.
While three divisions went to the Somme, the most recently arrived division, the 5th, remained in French Flanders. There it went into the trenches opposite the shattered village of Fromelles which sat on commanding ground behind the German front line.
British troops had fought around Fromelles in 1915, with heavy losses, but the village would soon give its name to a fresh disaster. On the evening of 19 July the Australian 5th Division and the British 61st Division attacked the Fromelles ridge in a diversionary attack intended to draw German attention from the allies’ Somme operations.
The two divisions chosen for this battle were both new to the sector and lacked local battle experience. The men had to assault over open fields criss-crossed with drainage ditches and in the face of heavy machine-gun and artillery fire. Many fell, while others were overwhelmed by German counter-attacks. The attack failed, with 5500 Australian casualties, and no ground was taken. It was a cruel introduction to major combat, one from which the 5th Division was a long time recovering.
Brigadier General H.E. “Pompey” Elliott, a veteran officer who commanded the 15th Brigade in the battle, later said:
“Practically all my best officers, the ANZAC men who helped build up my brigade, are dead. I presume there was some plan at the back of the attack but it is difficult to know what it was”.
Extract from: Peter Burness, ANZACs in France, 1916. (2006).
Peter Burness is Senior Historian at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra
More information:
- Peter Burness’ post from 2009 called Fromelles’s missing
- The Fromelles section of the Australian Army website
- Issue 44 of Wartime, the Memorial’s official magazine, contains many articles about Fromelles
Friday 19th February 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
19 February 2010 by Janice Farrer.
No comments
Diary of an ANZAC
Please note: Care has been taken to transcribe these entries without alteration to preserve the original language of Herbert Vincent Reynolds.
‘Spent the day similar to yesterday*.’
*Training is important in the preparation for war. From now until the beginning of the Gallipoli campaign the soldiers of the First AIF would endure rigorous training in the Egyptian dessert.
