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Monday 29th March 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
29 March 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 whole division minus the 3rd Brigade was drawn up in formation on the desert at 9.30am while General Sir Ian Hamilton inspected us, we then marched past a saluting base back to camp. The late Pte. Pickles kit was sold by auction today, 1510 pistres was received, which will be forwarded to his people at home.’
For the classroom: Once the war begins do you think every family will receive compensation such as this?
Sunday 28th March 1915- Dairy of HV Reynolds
28 March 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 soldiers in a dust storm. P00702.011
‘Church Parade was interrupted this morning by a really severe storm* commencing in the middle of it, it has been almost unbearable during the day.’
*Extremes in weather experienced in the Egyptian desert were nothing compared to the conditions they would face at Gallipoli. Over the 8 months of the campaign the men would face blistering heat and sub zero temperatures.
Saturday 27th March 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
27 March 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 burial of a soldier at Old Cairo Cemetery. P00152.017
‘The funeral of our late comrade Pte. E pickles who died at the Mena House hospital, took place from there at 10am, being on duty in camp I could not attend the funeral.’
For the classroom: How might a funeral affect the morale of the troops?
Friday 26th March 1915- Dairy of HV Reynolds
26 March 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 morning on a route march and has the afternoon free of parades.’
Thursday 25th March 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
25 March 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.
'Mosque at Aleppo' By David Barker ART00074
‘Obtained leave to visit Cairo. Went out to the Citadel with R Clarke, we spent a most interesting time there, especially with some Indians. They showed us through their hospital and we had a good long talk to 2 officers. One had been trained at the military college at Sandhurst, England and spoke the English language equally as well as we ourselves, they spoke on many subjects, and gave us a great deal to think about over many things we have given little though to. They both said much about our attitude towards their nationality in respect to the White Australia Policy. All the patients here were wounded in the recent fighting on the Suez Canal and though mostly all of them were unable to make themselves understood they nevertheless gave us to understand we were welcome.
After leaving the hospital we has a look through the Mohamed Aly mosque. At the gateway to the courtyard you are compelled to acknowledge the ancient custom and slip on a pair of carpet slippers. In the centre of the large courtyard is situated a sort of well which is used as a place for the followers of the Mohamedon religion to wash their feet at before paying tribute to Allah their God. Upon entering the mosque itself one is struck by the weird oriental vastness surrounding you.
The place gives one and uncanny feeling, underfoot the magnificent carpet yields beneath your tread and around you is silence dead as the grave, to describe the interior as beautiful is all that can be done. It is necessary to see it to realize in full its beauty. The interior of the walls are mostly alabaster, and away above you the dome, fitted with beautifully arranged coloured lights gives the place a remarkable appearance, then in the middle hangs a magnificent glass chandelier, said to have been presented to Mohammed Aly by King Louis of France. One wonders what the appearance of the interior must be when it is lighted up, it must be really magnificent. In the corner of the entrance, enclosed in a beautifully worked partition id the tomb of Mohammed Aly, only on very rare occasions is the partition ever opened.
After leaving the Citadel we went through Mahmudich mosque, it is a very ordinary one and is not to be described as altogether clean. We climbed the minaret of it and had a fine view of the city, though an equally fine view of Cairo is to be had from the citadel which overlooks the city. The feature of viewing Cairo from the minaret of the Mahmudich mosque is that it stands below the Citadel and the Mohammed mosque but far enough away to give you a splendid view of them. Against the sky the twin minarets and the great dome of the mosque stand out above the citadel and upon turning around, the surrounding city with its hundreds of minarets is in full view. Just across the road stand two fine mosques, so we made our way to one of them the El Rifare mosque, which no one is allowed to enter except on special occasions. We managed to see the inside of the chambers containing the tombs, the tomb of the previous Khedive being one of them. There are 2 chambers being magnificently fitted up, silver being lavishly used in the process. The place is kept well locked up and a guard accompanies all visitors when they are inside the place.
After seeing this place we decided that we had seen enough of the mosques for one day so got on a tram and went into the main parts of the city and saw what is almost beyond believing, but seeing is believing and it is the only way yo realize what sot of a place certain parts of this city really are. It is impossible to try and describe it, the streets are filthy and very narrow being only a few feet wide on most cases. The buildings are rotten hovels at the best and the whole place reeks from filth which is everywhere allowed to collect and remain, the place is positively loathsome, even the atmosphere is intolerable. It is something of a shock to have to realize that such a place exists, a huge fire would do the world a good turn if it swept through certain parts of these cities and consumed all the contained.’
Wednesday 24th March 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
24 March 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.
A brigade signal section driver being photographed with pack. C00572
‘A kit inspection took up the morning, a check being taken of missing articles of equipment. Pay day. Spent the evening at Red Cross Pictures.’
For the classroom: Why do you think the men’s equipment was inspected? What could have happened to missing items?
Tuesday 23rd March 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
23 March 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.
A YMCA blackboard showing details of the performance of 'Hang It'. P03569.003
‘Granted leave but spent a lazy day in camp, went to the picture show at the Empire theatre after tea. There are 5 picture theatres in this camp. They are extremely roughly constructed, but nevertheless serve their purpose, they go under the names of Empire, Red Cross, Pathes, Pyramid and the Coliseum.’
*Entertainment was important to alleviate the boredom of the troops.
Monday 22nd March 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
22 March 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.'General Chaytor's tent, Kantara camp' By George Lambert ART02831
‘Spent the day marking out our camp boundaries with large lumps of limestone, the previous boundary being covered by the drifting sand*.’
*Herbert had never experienced conditions like this. Life in the desert was a new experience for a lot of the ANZACs.
Sunday 21st March 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
19 March 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 ambulance taking sick soldiers into Mena House Hotel, which was occupied by No 2 Australian General Hospital (2AGH). J02139
‘Spent the day in camp being detailed for duty on the emergency stretcher squad. Two patients, one at 10.30am, the other at 7pm were taken to Mena House.’
For the classroom: Do you think the experience on duty in Egypt would help Herbert in a battle?
Fromelles: identifying the fallen
19 March 2010 by Aaron Pegram.
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News,Wartime
Earlier this week the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Allan Griffin announced the results of the first Joint Identification Board held to identify the remains of 250 Australian and British soldiers killed during the battle of Fromelles on the night of 19/20 July 1916. The remains were recovered from a recently discovered mass grave at Pheasant Wood where 203 were identified as Australians, and through DNA testing, 75 were identified by name. News of the results bought closure for the families of the men who had been officially missing for nearly 94 years and have now been reinterred in the newly-created Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery. A final burial will take place during a ceremony to mark the 94th anniversary of the battle on 19 July 2010.
In December 2008, the Memorial’s official magazine Wartime ran several feature articles on the discovery of the mass grave at Pheasant Wood by key researchers involved in the project: Lambis Engelzos, a retired Victorian school teacher, wrote of his research which ultimately led to the discovery of the mass grave at Pheasant Wood; Dr Tony Pollard, the Director of Battlefield Archaeology at the University of Glasgow, wrote the story of the archaeological excavation conducted in May 2008; and Peter Barton wrote of his research in the archives of the Bavarian Kriegsarchiv in Munich, Germany. Memorial historians Ashley Ekins, Nigel Steel and Peter Pedersen gave accounts of the battle itself.
Due to the high level of public interest, copies of Issue 44 of Wartime are no longer available, but the magazine can be accessed here in digital form free of charge.
It is intended that the Joint Identification Board will continue DNA testing until 2014. People who believe their relative may be buried at Fromelles and have not already registered should do so at www.army.gov.au/fromelles or by calling the Australian Fromelles Project Group on 1800 019 090.
