Sunday 21st March 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
19 March 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.
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.
6 Comments
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.
Friday 19th March 1915-Diary of HV Reynolds
19 March 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.
The Bouvet at the Dardanelles P00369.014
‘B and C Section bearers spent the morning doing field work in some trenches out on the desert. A route march followed to Mena Flat where we found the remainder of the unit had the full ambulance equipment erected, here we had dinner, after which we packed up and returned to camp. Detailed for guard duty at 6pm. Bad news came to hand today to the effect that two British battleships HMS Ocean and Irresistible and the French battleship Bouvet have been lost at the Dardanelles.’
For the classroom: As news spread about the sinking of these allied ships how could this affect the men?
Thursday 18th March 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
18 March 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. A group of tent mates from D Troop, A Squadron, 5th Light Horse Regiment, cleaning up in readiness for a parade. C00383
‘Up to the present we have been in square ridge pole tents in this camp, but today we had to pack them up and return* them to ordinance, bell tents being supplied in their place in most cases. The occupants of No 2 and No 1 tents (the latter being ours) have to share the space of one of our large tortoise tents. Spent the evening at the Pyramids picture show.’
*In preparation for the landing, camps were being set up on the island of Lemnos. This was intended to be a support base for the operations on Gallipoli.
Wednesday 17th March 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
17 March 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.
‘The routine* here is very similar from day to day, first parade of a morning is before breakfast when we fall in on the parade ground, then have a short march up the sand hill towards the pyramids, at the top of which we have quarter hours physical drill and then return for breakfast. The next parade takes up most of the morning, these vary slightly from route marches to lectures etc. as do the afternoon parades. Today was spent on Mena Flat, tent Pitching etc.’
*Routine is a big part of any soldier’s life. Structure and routine are essential for men about to enter into a sometimes chaotic situation. If the routine is built in it becomes second nature.
Tuesday 16th March 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
16 March 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 morning on a route march over the desert in the direction of Sakara. A couple of fairly heavy showers fell early this morning and the day has been glorious, having no dust and sand blowing about has been quite a change. This is the first rain I have seen over here, though the 1st Division when it arrived here first met with some pretty wet days.’
Sunday 14th March 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
14 March 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.
‘The Sebastopol* lads in camp here held a reunion in A Coy. 8th Batt lines at 2pm, and we all decided to have a group photo taken in front of the Sphinx, it was very unfortunate that so many were unable to turn up. Those present being J Allen, F Stevens, B Smith, W Madden, J Raine, J Kernick, J Humphries, J Kimberly, E Jensen, B Telfer, R Reardon, P Renfrey, J Whidburn and myself.’
*Throughout his diary entries Herbert makes reference to fellow ANZACs from the Sebastopol area. Many soldiers fought hard to keep any links with the familiar.
Saturday 13th March 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
13 March 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.
‘The new field service caps were issued, they are after the style of the Tommies’
*Tommies is a nick name for the English soldiers.
Friday 12th March 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
12 March 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. Erecting marquees for the 2nd Australian Stationary Hospital. J03004
‘Spent the day on Mena flat erecting tents*.’
*While in battle few of the men sleep in tents. The tents they were building are more likely to have been used for aid stations.
For the Classroom: Why don’t the men sleep in tents while in the field?
Thursday 11th March 1915- Diary of HV Reynolds
11 March 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. A dust storm at the Stationary Field Ambulance Hospital lines at Mena. H00721
‘The dust has been blowing again and in fact was even worse than last Monday. Granted leave but did not go out of camp till after dinner when I took a run into Gizeh and visited the Zoological gardens. The place though not large is very beautiful and the collection of animals is not very large though what they have are really fine specimens. All the pathways are laid out in beautiful designs of coloured pebbles bedded in concrete. Two bridging pontoons captured from the Turks in their effort to cross the canal recently are on exhibition in the gardens and they show signs of having been in a pretty rough corner.’
