In Great Spirits

by Archie Barwick

  We were about an hour here & then we moved on again. We marched about 3 miles & nearly into Albert & bivouacked out on an open piece of ground for the night. We just simply threw ourselves down & slept as we were, & to many of us it was the first time we had closed our eyes for 6 nights so you can imagine how we looked.

  27th July. The Colonel lined us all up & for the first time in his life he reckoned we had done a marvellous thing — how he praised us up. He said we had now, by taking this Pozières Wood after the English had twice failed to take it, covered ourselves & Australia with glory, & we had upheld the old Gallipoli reputation in the grandest of possible ways & have quite settled the old favourite argument of a lot of critics that we could not stand heavy shell fire.

  This famed Pozières Wood was a stumbling block in the way of our advance & had to be taken somehow so that’s how they decided to give us a chance to prove ourselves. To look at it, it is nothing more than a straggling line of trees all stripped of every leaf & branch they might have once possessed by the torrent of shells that had been poured into it. There was an odd orchard scattered about it & a small village or two in it. The German line ran round the edge of it, & inside it was all trenches & guns, a most formidable thing to tackle. The night of the charge the whole horizon was lit with the flame from the bursting shells & the air was charged with the sweet-smelling lachrymatory or tear gas, & also heavy with a sort of chloroform. A most uncanny state of affairs but it made no impression on us Kangaroos.

  The roll was called out here & we had 350 left out of 1100 men who went into action. Myself & another Corporal were the only 2 N.C.O.s left in our platoon, while some of them had only a Lance Jack in charge. 6 officers were left, so we had lost our share, but the 5th Batt suffered even worse than we did for only 7 officers & 128 men turned up at the muster. Some going eh. We had lost the second heaviest then the 3rd Batt next. The others had all lost heavily too.

  28th July. It was a very hot day, one of the hottest I have felt in France. We had a good long march but it is more of a pleasure than anything else in France for the country is so beautiful. All the crops are scarlet & blue with poppies & a pretty little flower about the same size as a carnation, & here & there we march through an archway of beautiful beech trees that completely shut the sun out.

  It was about 9 o’clock when we arrived here, & shortly afterwards we had tea & went to bed. Soon all were asleep, thoroughly tired out.

  29th July. What do you think of this for gameness. A poor chap was being carried out on a motor, his leg was smashed, both arms broken, & he had a nasty cut on his head, yet when he passed a lot of us he said, “What do you think of this. Walk in & get carried out in motor cars.” A lot of men would have turned it in right away, but our chaps are fighters in every sense of the word.

  The march this morning was a very fierce one. We were unlucky for we had to march with full pack up & the other Battalions were in marching order & some in battle order. The distance was a little over 9 miles & the boys were as near done as it is possible for men to be. They just simply threw themselves down, thoroughly exhausted.

  From where I am writing this it is a lovely little spot. I am sitting under a plum tree in a grassy orchard & the shade is bonzer. The name of this little village is Bonneville.

  This afternoon I & a few more went looking for a little creek about a mile from here, so as we could have a wash. We found it & by Jove it was bonzer, nearly ice cold. There were a lot of Tommies there, & they reckoned the water was icy cold, & wouldn’t strip off & go in, but we lost no time about diving into it. They were surprised for they thought us being Australians we could not stand cold water.

  31st July. Last night a most wonderful thing happened to me. A messenger came down & said that Capt McKenzie wanted to see me. I thought at the time that it was something about my second stripe, but when I got to him he told me the Colonel wanted to see me at Headquarters at once. What on earth is the matter now, I thought. I reported at once & the Colonel told me to wait a little & he would see me. There was another chap waiting there also & he had been sent round for the same as I had.

  After a little time the Adjutant came outside & called me in. I entered & saluted the Colonel. He started to question me, & I was wondering what on earth he was driving at. When he had finished, he asked me if I would care to enter an Officers’ Training School. I nearly fell through the floor, as you may imagine. I thanked him for the offer & accepted it. What do you think of that for luck. When he had finished he said to the Major put him down for 3 months training. I was then dismissed. Just imagine my feelings if you can at the prospect of a rise like this: I seemed to be walking on air. I never dreamed of getting so high, & I made up my mind there & then that if I was accepted I would leave no stone unturned to make it a success, & all going well I will carry it out properly.

  A small mail came in this afternoon. I got a couple of letters out of it & very welcome they were too.

  Saw Ferguson again tonight & had a good long yarn to him. He is a fine fellow & a mate of mine. He is one of the old originals.

  1st August. Another beautiful & glorious morning, not a cloud to be seen in the sky, & the birds are singing sweetly in the shady trees all around me. The world is not a bad old place after all.

  2nd August. I think today the Brigade starts Divisional training, which will mean plenty of route marches & bayonet fighting.

  Another beautiful morning, & everything is so quiet & restful after the trying ordeal we have come through. I am sitting on lovely green grass & clover fully a foot high under the shade of a fine old apple tree. In front of me the old & grassy orchard runs for about 200 yards & finishes up at the end of a reserve of beech trees & at the foot of the orchard runs a little clear river with plenty of fine trout in her. Every here & there little columns of smoke are rising up towards the bright blue sky showing where the boys are camped & are cooking their breakfast. I can see them sitting round about in the shade, & doubtless a good few like myself are silently contrasting the difference between Egypt & this lovely land. On either side of me are lovely crops stretching right away to the horizon & broken here & there by little clumps of trees & great long avenues showing where the roads are running. Above, all the birds are singing for all they are worth, & the sun shines brightly over all.

  I can see the French women & girls at work in the fields, some reaping, mowing, hoeing, some at work with the teams helping cart the hay & clover in, others leading their cows home to be milked. It’s wonderful how quiet the stock are here. I suppose they have kept the same breed of cattle for so many years that quietness is bred in them. I would like to see the Australian cattle here where there are no fences. How long would you have them — not 5 minutes I’ll wager. They would be at the other end of France in no time from what I have seen of them. But the stock here are that quiet that they will hardly get out of your way & so contented & fat. Grass goes to waste here by the tons.

  3rd August. There has been a bit of fun down in the south of France with our chaps in the lead. It started this way: the Tommies have charge of the camp, & they crucified 2 of our boys, that is to say they were stretched out both hands & feet & kept off the ground (that is a part of 1st field punishment). When our chaps saw this they got together, & gave the officer in charge of the camp 10 minutes to cut them down or take the consequences. They refused to do it, so the Australians about 300 strong rushed the joint, cut their mates free, & smashed the things to pieces. They then started to muck up, & smashed everything they came in contact with. They nearly killed the 2 Tommy Sgt Majors who were responsible for it, & the officers came in for a rough handling — one General had one of his eyes knocked out. All the Tommies cleared for their lives. They reckon our boys are demons but I reckon they were quite right. I’ll guarantee they will crucify no one while the Australians are about.

  If you are in a big camp & ask a Tommy where the Australians are camped, he will tell you to go down the lines till you come to some fellows wearing big slo
uch hats & wristlet watches, & calling one another B—B—. They are the Australians, or Orstralians as they call us.

  I believe it is very funny at the big concentration camp of Etaps. They are all Tommies in charge & our fellows lead them a dog’s life — they simply can’t stand their instructors. The Tommies say they will break our boys’ hearts but they have a pretty stiff job on. One or two of the instructors have learnt a pretty severe lesson already, & won’t come back to Etaps again. They are not drilling poor inoffensive little English lads when they have got our boys — just imagine some of the burly & rough boys from outback taking lip from some of them Imperial men. Why it’s like a lamb fighting a dingo. Of course all the instructors are not the same, & finer fellows you could not meet than a lot of them, but they have a few bullies there who have been at it all their lives & they think they can play the same game on the Australians. The English lads are amazed at the way our boys treat these bullies, & I am sure they regard the boys as wonders. It’s very seldom you will hear a Tommy say anything bad of an Australian, or our boys of the Tommies, with the exception of a few who are being taught a much needed lesson. They’ll not forget the Australians in a hurry I’ll wager.

  4th August. This day 2 years ago England declared war on Germany. How it has dragged along since then. I wonder when it will all end, but there is no doubt about who has the upper hand now. Germany won the first 18 months of the dust-up, but what does it matter if we lose 49 battles & win the 50th & last, that is the one that counts, & the one which England always wins, & so it will be this time again. Germany is undoubtedly getting weaker & weaker, while we are, there is no doubt about it, getting stronger & stronger.

  5th August. Got my second stripe today & am now a full Corporal. That’s not bad, considering it’s only 7 weeks ago since I got the first one.

  It’s all over the place about me being recommended for a commission — the Headquarters Signallers let the cat out of the bag. Got orders to pack up & be ready to move off at any time, probably tomorrow, for we generally move of a Sunday.

  6th August. Today is the anniversary of Lone Pine, the fiercest battle that was fought on blood-stained Gallipoli, & by far the most frightful of the 3 great dust-ups I have been in. There were trenches in the Pine where our own boys & Turks lay 3 & 4 deep, & on top of these we had to fight for our lives. When the fighting died down there was over a thousand dead men moved from this Hell, & it was no more than 2 acres in size, but a valuable position to have.

  Church parade this morning, & it was held in a very pretty little place. Just imagine if you can a brilliant sunny morning, & us marching smartly down a fine road lined on either side by beautiful shady trees & a nice little river running alongside one row of trees, & every here & there you would pass quaint old French farmhouses with their tiled roofs, & pretty flower gardens around them. After a mile or so of this we come to the enclosure, where the service is to be held. It is no more than an acre in extent & like all the rest of France is beautifully grassed & clean. On 3 sides of this square we are walled in by bonzer green trees, & the other is bounded by the road & railway. As we march in our markers are ready, & we have formed up in 2 shakes. In a few minutes the other Battalions make their appearance, shortly followed by the Brigadier & the padre.

  While the service was being held we could hear our boys practising with the machine guns — their sharp & snappy bark can be heard for miles — & aeroplanes were humming & droning over us, like a well-oiled sewing machine, while the church bells were mingling their mellow tones with the rest. Over all a great peace & beautiful sun was shining. The padre’s sermon was chiefly on the new phase the war has entered upon & the great name & fighting qualities of the Australians & especially our old 1st Division. He urged us to keep it going.

  This afternoon we had a lot of Tommy clothing come in, but the boys practically refused to wear it. We all prefer our own Australian clothing, even though it may be all dirty, torn & ragged.

  9th August. This morning we packed up & moved off from Halloy-les-Pernois towards the firing line. It was a scorching hot morning, & the dust was something awful — far worse than the marching, which was quite stiff enough for anyone.

  We passed a lot of our artillery, & the 5th Brigade on the way back. They did not get the cutting up we did. We had a good long spell on the grass while the artillery passed us.

  We are now in billets about 6 miles from Halloy.

  10th August. This morning we left our billets in La Vicogne. It was just starting to drizzle, so the order was given for everyone to put their waterproofs on. I had none for I dumped it at our last billet on account of the weight, so I had to fall back on the old chaff bag, & she kept me as dry as a bone. It was a very stiff march & the roads were greasy & slippery, which made the walking anything but easy. We passed on our way through Herissart, a fair-sized village. Reached our destination, Louvencourt, & everyone was about knocked out.

  Before we were dismissed, our officers gave us a lecture on how to behave & etc. It was of not much use for no sooner had they got their packs off than up the apple trees they went like monkeys & soon the apples were coming down in showers. This was forbidden fruit to the Tommies & they were afraid to touch them. They stood with their mouths open when they saw the boys rocking the apples, hardly able to believe their eyes. There was a garden close handy with peas & etc in her, they were not long in finding it; the same with the town, she was full of our boys. In less time than it takes to tell the Tommy police tried to stop us. I can see trouble ahead for them if they are not very careful, for the boys are not to be trifled with & are liable to do nasty things when once started.

  11th August. I can see a row or two here if the Tommy police are not careful how they order us about. They, or I should say some of them, are very officious, & seem to take a delight in their rotten crawling cold-footed job. How the infantry hate these police for as the old saying has it: “They neither spin nor do they reap”. I reckon they make the boys play up & you can’t blame them.

  16th August. This morning General Walker told us where we were going to: Etaps, the great Australian training camp, is to be our first stop & there we are to have platoons & companies to drill before going into the Training School. We are to have a 6 week course in the Old Country somewhere, & then if suitable will be given a commission. I am going to do my damndest to win mine for it is a chance of a lifetime.

  18th August. Arrived at Etaps at 5 o’clock & had to walk 1½ miles to our camp & we were all very glad when we reached our destination. We were 36 hours doing 90 or 100 miles, what do you think of that. It seems funny to hear the bugles calling again after being away for so long from them.

  Everyone down here knew that I had been recommended for the commission long before I got here. Len tells me Capt McKenzie told all the boys that I was getting a “star” & that he had seen that I had the interview with the Colonel before he left for hospital. I know for a certainty now that it was him that recommended me, & once he was my greatest enemy, but this old world is full of surprises, but this was the greatest shock of my life, for you don’t know how bitter we were to one another. Even now it has got me beat, for it seemed an impossible thing one time that he & I could be friends, or even on speaking terms, & now he appears to be my best friend this side of Australia. He admits now that he was led astray as regards to me & I am thankful to know that he was in a position at Pozières to see how thoroughly he was mistaken, for there I did what is known among the boys as a few of the “mad acts”, & was right among the thickest & fiercest of the fighting that was waged mercilessly & without quarter to either side by Teutonic & Colonial soldiers.

  I shall never forget the mad intoxication one seems to be in at such a time. You see absolutely no danger & will do almost anything, for the roar of the guns is ringing in your ears, & you can smell the salty fumes from the powder stinging your nostrils, & this combined with the shouts of the boys & the peculiar & ghostly lights of the many coloured flares among which the green,
white, red & blue stand out prominently, & under this tangle of coloured lights you can see Boches getting for their life. These are moments when I reckon a man lives 10 minutes of this & it seems to be at the time worth a year of ordinary life, but the reaction sets in afterwards & nearly all men feel a faintness come over them once the scrap is over & they realise what they have been through. This don’t last long either & you are soon itching for another smack at the rotten Hun.

  19th August. Was at a concert last night given in the Y.M.C.A. & I could not help feeling wild at the injustice of things, for here were hundreds of men in the pink of condition loafing round about the camp & huts, while up in the trenches their mates were being killed & wounded in hundreds. Many & many a poor devil up there in the trenches was only fit to be in hospital but their indomitable spirit kept them where they were wanted, & you hear very few complaints from them as regards tucker & hardships, while down here they live like Kings compared to the men, & grumble & growl all day long (not all of them, you know, but the majority). How I would like to grab some of these malingering cows & shoot them fair into Pozières. They would have something to talk about then I’ll guarantee.

  You should hear some of them talking about the terrible battles they have fought in & the men they have killed & rescued under fire. I dropped across one of these last night; he was holding forth to a mob about his doings on the Peninsula & Pozières. He did not notice me, for I knew all about him & his wonderful doings & so on. At last I could not stand it any longer, & I hops in & exposes him properly to the boys. He nearly fell through the ground & turned all the colours imaginable, what a shock he got. He was one of the biggest squibs imaginable. I’ll bet he is more careful next time he starts skiting.