Into the jaws of death,Into the mouth of Hell.
Into the jaws of death,Into the mouth of Hell.
Into the jaws of death,Into the mouth of Hell.
Into the jaws of death,
Into the mouth of Hell.
THE STAFF OF THE FIRST AUSTRALIAN DIVISION AT MENA CAMPTHE STAFF OF THE FIRST AUSTRALIAN DIVISION AT MENA CAMP.To face p. 22.
THE STAFF OF THE FIRST AUSTRALIAN DIVISION AT MENA CAMP.To face p. 22.
THE STAFF OF THE FIRST AUSTRALIAN DIVISION AT MENA CAMP.
To face p. 22.
All around the hills were green still. Each day they were covered with lines of moving troops. Infantry passed the guns on the road, and Light Horse passed the infantry and wheeled in through the same break in the panelled fence. The Commandant, Colonel Wallace, inspected the units in the making, so did the Brigadiers and the General himself or his representative. Then the State Governor, Sir Arthur Stanley, took a part, and the Governor-General spent an afternoon at the camp and reviewed the whole of the troops. The people flocked in thousands on holidays and Sundays to see their soldier sons. The camp each night was full of visitors till dusk, for those few precious hours permitted after the day's duties were done when family ties might be drawn close just a little longer. Every train and tram was filled with bands of soldiers; the traffic on the roads showed its quota of khaki. Bands turned the people's thoughts to war with their martial music, as they woke the troops with their persistent beating in the early morning.
What it was in Melbourne, so in every State capital of the Commonwealth, where the camps lay scattered on the outskirts of the suburbs. Each State trained its own men for a common interest for the First Division, and in each State the method, like the routine, was the same.
The time was approaching for departure. Camps were closed to the public. All leave was stopped. Nobody knew the date of going, and yet everybody knew it and chafed under the wait. But before the men went they showed "the metal of their pasture." In one never-to-be-forgotten glistening line they swept through the centres of the cities, marching from end to end. What once had been a heavy day—the march out to camp—they made light of now; and while the Light Horse headed the columns, the horses prancing and dancing to the drums, the guns rumbled heavily with much rattling after the even infantry lines. And still it was not farewell. Those tender partings were said in the quiet of the hearth. It could only be taken as the cities' greetings and tributes to the pioneers—those men of the 1st Australian Division—who went quietly, silently, without farewells to the waiting transports in the bright mid-October sunlight—train after train load of them—down to the wharves.
And the people who watched them go were a few hundreds.
Bugle Call
While it was general knowledge that the First Australian Contingent was about to leave its native shores—26th September—no exact date was mentioned as the day of departure. For one very sound reason. The German cruisers had not been rounded up and some of them were still known to be cruising in Australian waters. They could be heard talking in the loud, high-pitched Telefunken code, but the messages were not always readable, lucky as had been the capture early in the war of a code-book from a German merchant ship in New Guinea waters. The newspapers were prohibited by very strict censorship from giving any hint of the embarkation of troops, of striking camps, or of anything that could be communicated to the enemy likely to give him an idea of the position of the Convoy that was now hurrying from the northern capitals—from, indeed, all the capital cities—to the rendezvous, King George's Sound, Albany. That rendezvous, for months kept an absolute official secret, was, nevertheless, on the lips of every second person, though never named publicly. It was apparent that the military authorities had an uncomfortable feeling that though they had blocked the use of private wireless installations, messages were leaving Australia. I will say nothing here of the various scares and rumours and diligent searches made upon perfectly harmless old professors and others engaged inpeaceful fishing expeditions along the coastal towns; that lies without the sphere of this book. It seemed almost callous that the troops going so far across two oceans, the first great Australian army that had been sent to fight for the Mother Country, should be allowed to slip away uncheered, unspoken of. For even the final scenes in Melbourne, where there were some four or five thousand people to see theOrvieto, the Flagship of the Convoy, depart, formed an impromptu gathering, and for days before great liners, with two thousand troops aboard, had been slipping away from their moorings with only a fluttering of a few handkerchiefs to send them off. Still, the troops had crowded into the rigging and sang while the bands played them off to "Tipperary." In every port it was alike. How much more touching was the leaving of the Flagship, when the crowd broke the barriers and rushed the pier, overwhelming the scanty military guards and forcing back Ministers of the Crown and men of State who had gone aboard to wish Major-General Bridges success with the Division. It was unmilitary, but it was magnificent, this sudden welling up of the spirit of the people and the burst of enthusiasm that knew no barriers. Ribbons were cast aboard and made the last links with the shore. Never shall I for one (and there were hundreds on board in whose throat a lump arose) forget the sudden quiet on ship and shore as the band played the National Anthem when the liner slowly moved from the pier out into the channel; and then the majestic notes of other anthems weaved into one brave throbbing melody that sent the blood pulsing through the brain.
Britons never, never will be slaves
Britons never, never will be slaves
Britons never, never will be slaves
Britons never, never will be slaves
blared the bugles, and the drums rattled and thumped the bars with odd emphasis till the ribbons had snapped and the watchers on the pier became a blurred impressionist picture, and even the yachts and steamboats could no longer keep pace with the steamer as she swung her nose to the harbour heads.
All this was, let me repeat, in striking contrast to the manner in which the ships in Sydney Harbour, in Hobart, in Port Augusta, and from other capitals had pulled out into the stream at dusk or in the early hours of thecold September mornings and hastened away to the rendezvous. Before the final departure I have just described on the afternoon of 21st October there had been a false alarm and interrupted start. The reasons for this delay are certainly worth recording. The Flagship was to have left Melbourne—the last of the Convoy from Eastern waters—on 29th September. That is to say, by the end of the month all the details of the Division had been completed, and were embarked or ready for embarkation. Indeed, some had actually started, and a number of transports left the northern harbours and had to anchor in Port Phillip Bay, where the troops were disembarked altogether or each day for a fortnight or more. For the reasons of this we have to extend our view to New Zealand. It was not generally known at the time that a contingent of 10,000 men from the sister Dominion were to form portion of the Convoy, and that two ships from New Zealand had already left port, when a hasty message from the Fleet drove them back. Now it became the Navy's job, once the men were on the ships, to be responsible for their safety—the safety of 30,000 lives. It had been arranged that the New Zealand transports should be escorted across the Southern Ocean to Bass Straits by the little cruiserPioneer—sister ship of thePegasus, later to come into prominence—and another small cruiser, as being sufficient protection in view of the line of warships and destroyers patrolling the strategic line north of Australia, curving down to the New Zealand coast. The German cruisers, admittedly frightened of an encounter with theAustralia, had been successfully eluding that battle-cruiser for weeks, and were skulking amongst the islands of the Pacific destroying certain trading and wireless stations, and apparently waiting for an opportunity to strike at the Convoy. One scare was, therefore, sufficient. The Dominion Government refused to dispatch the troops without adequate escort, and in consequence all the programme was thrown out of gear, and theMinotaur—flagship of the escort—went herself with theEncounterand the two original cruisers to New Zealand and brought across the whole Maoriland Contingent. The alteration in the plans resulted in a delay of three weeks, for the warships had to coal again before proceeding across the Indian Ocean. However, it was better to be safe than sorry, and the delayedAustralian Convoy was released in the third week of October and the ships commenced to gather at the appointed rendezvous.
Yet I am loath to think that this alone was the reason for the delay. One can read now into events happening at the heart of Empire a very significant cause for hesitancy to send this Australian Contingent to England for service in France. For matters in Turkey were already unsatisfactory. On 25th September messages had reached London of the preparations of the Turks on the Sinai Peninsula and the activity of the Germans in the Ottoman Empire, led by that extraordinary personality Enver Pasha. It was certain that every effort was being made by Great Britain to preserve peace with the Turks, but the Porte was taking a high hand, and it appeared that war would become inevitable. How far the Australian Government was taken into the confidence of the Foreign Office one can only guess. It must be supposed that Major-General Bridges, the Prime Minister, and Minister of Defence, together with the Governor-General of the Commonwealth, were in possession of the main points of the diplomatic relations between Great Britain and Turkey. Matters, too, in the Persian Gulf were very unsatisfactory in the beginning of October, and by the time that the last ship of the Convoy had left port it was certain from the attitude of Turkey, as reflected in the reports of Sir Louis Mallet, British Ambassador at Constantinople, that war would be declared. Military preparations pointed to an attack on the Suez Canal being pushed forward with all speed, and it was therefore necessary to have a large defending force available to draw on. So far as it is possible to read the inner history of events, this was the actual reason for the holding up (strange paradox as it may sound) of the Convoy until the destination of the 30,000 men should be determined. For it must be conceded that, with the Cape route open, not very much longer and far safer, with the venomousEmdenraiding Indian waters and the German Pacific Fleet ready to dart out from the Northern islands, it was more feasible than using the Suez Canal with such a vast convoy of ships. As a matter of fact, this was the route chosen. True enough, when the time came, the landing of this army in Egypt for training "and war purposes" must have carried great significance to the Turks; andthe plea of the badness of the English climate at the time preventing training in England, served as good an excuse as did the German cruiser menace in New Zealand waters. For while there may have been a lingering suspicion in Lord Kitchener's mind that perhaps the camps at Salisbury might not be ready, it was a trump card to have a body of 30,000 troops ready to divert either at once or in the near future to a strategic point against Turkey. Be all this as it may, the combined Convoys did not leave Australian shores until 1st November, and on the 30th October Sir L. Mallet had been told to ask for his passports within twelve hours unless the Turkish Government dismissed the German crews of theGoebenandBreslaufrom Constantinople. So actually when leaving the last port the Convoy were directed against Turkey. Yet I suppose no one for a moment read in all the portents of the future even a remote possibility of the landing of the Australian troops in Turkey. Later it was admitted that while training they would simply defend Egypt—to German plotting the one vital point to strike at the British Empire.
Let us return, however, with an apology for the digression, to the gathering up of the Convoy. King George's Sound, the chosen rendezvous of the fleet, is a magnificent harbour, steeped already in historical associations. It offered as fine an anchorage as could be wished for the forty transports and escorting warships. The harbour might have easily held three or four times the number of ships. Yet was this host of forty leviathians sufficient to find no parallel in history! True, the Athenians in ancient times, and even the Turks in the sixteenth century, had sent a fleet of greater size against the Order of St. John at Malta, had entered on marauding expeditions, but hardly so great an army had they embarked and sent across the Mediterranean. Here was a fleet crossing three seas, still disputed—though feebly enough, it is true.
Anchorage in King Goerge SoundANCHORAGE OF AUSTRALIANANDNEW ZEALAND TRANSPORTSINKING GEORGE SOUNDALBANY, OCTOBER 31st1916
ANCHORAGE OF AUSTRALIANANDNEW ZEALAND TRANSPORTSINKING GEORGE SOUNDALBANY, OCTOBER 31st1916
ANCHORAGE OF AUSTRALIANANDNEW ZEALAND TRANSPORTSINKING GEORGE SOUNDALBANY, OCTOBER 31st1916
Of many thrilling scenes it needs no great effort of memory to recall that Albany Harbour as those on the flagship saw it first through the thick grey mists of the early morning of 26th October. Almost the last of the Australian ships to enter port, the wind drove the waves over her bows and cast the spray on the decks. Most of the Divisional Staff, barely daylight as it was, were on deck, peering through the mists to catch the first glimpse of the host that they knew now lay atanchor in the harbour. First it was a visionary, fleeting glimpse of masts and funnels, and then, as the coast closed in darker on either bow and the beacons from the lighthouses at the entrance flashed, I could see ships gradually resolving themselves into definite shape, much in the way a conjurer brings from the gloom of a darkened chamber strange realities. The troops were astir and crowded to the ships' sides. They stood to attention as the liner glided down the lines of anchored transports, for the mass of shipping was anchored in ordered lines. The bugles rang out sharp and clear the assembly notes, flags dipped in salute to the General's flag at the mast-head. It was calm now inside this refuge. A large warship was creeping under the dark protection of a cliff like a lobster seeking to hide itself in the background of rocks, and the men learned with some surprise it was a Japanese cruiser, theAbuki. She remained there a few days and then steamed out, lost in a cloud of dense black smoke, while in her place came the two Australian cruisers, theMelbourneandSydney. Each night the troops watched one or others of these scouts put to sea, stealing at dusk to patrol, and not alone, the entrance to the harbour wherein lay the precious Convoy.
On the morning of the 28th the New Zealand Convoy, consisting of ten ships, arrived, and anchored just inside the entrance of the harbour. From shore the sight was truly wonderful. Three regular lines of steamers, each crammed with troops and horses, were lying in an almost forgotten and certainly neglected harbour. What signs of habitation there were on shore were limited to a whaling station on the west and a few pretty red-roofed bungalows on the east; while the entrance to an inner harbour, the selected spot for a destroyer base of the Australian Navy, suggested as snug a little cove as one might wish. Opposite the main entrance behind the anchored Convoy was the narrow channel leading to the port where the warships anchored, protected from outer view behind high cliffs from which frowned the guns of the forts. It was from these forts, commanded then by Major Meekes, that I looked down on to the ships—that was after nearly being arrested as a spy by a suspicious vigilant guard. Each day three ships entered the port to coal, until the bunkers of the whole fleet were filled to overflowing, to carry them across theIndian Ocean. All was in readiness. It only needed the signal from the Admiralty to the Convoy and its escort and the army of 30,000 would move finally from Australian shores. This was the mustering of a complete Division for the first time in the history of the young Dominion. It had not as yet even been operating as an army in the field, but here it lay, taking thirty ships to transport (with ten more ships for the Maorilanders), in the same historical harbour where as early as 1780 a British frigate had put in for refuge from a storm and for water. It was this port, too, that two Princes of royal blood had visited; while later, at the beginning of the present century and a new era for Australia—the Commonwealth era—the King of England, then the Duke of York, had come. His visit was as unavoidable as certainly it was unexpected, for he had sought refuge, like the ancient British frigate from a violent storm; but, liking the spot, the King decided to stay, and festivities were transferred to Albany in haste. In 1907 the American Atlantic Squadron, under Rear-Admiral Speary, during its visit to Austral shores, had anchored in the broad bay. Thus had tradition, in which this assembly of the First Australian Expeditionary Force marked so deep a score, already begun to be formed round the beautiful harbour.
It will not be out of place to quote here the disposition of the troops and the ships bearing the men of the Contingent. It was the largest of any convoy during the war, steaming over 6,000 leagues. The records need no comment beyond pointing out that the indicated speeds of the ships show how the speed of the Convoy had to be regulated by the speed of the slowest ship—theSouthern—and that the arrangement of the three divisions of transports was based on the pace of each, the object of which is apparent when viewed in the light of the necessity of the Convoy scattering on the approach of enemy ships, and avoidance of slow ships hindering those of greater speed.
In the closing days of October the message was flashed through the fleet that the Convoy should get under way on 1st November, and that right early in the morning, for Major-General Bridges, no less than Captain Gordon Smith, who had command of the Convoy (he was Second Naval Member on the Australian Naval Board), was anxious to be off to his destination. Thatthat point was to some degree fixed when the ships left port I have no doubt, though the masters of the transports actually did not know the route until they were some hundred miles clear of the coast and theMinotaurset the course to the Equator. Incessantly all through the night previous the tug-boats had churned the waters round our vessel's sides, darting off now to the uttermost ship of the line—theMiltiades(she had English reservists on board), now to return from the lighted town which lay behind the Flagship with rebellious spirits, who had come near to being left behind, to explain away their return now as best they might. To and fro panted the motor-boats, with their eyes of red as if sleepy from overwork. The General of the Division, in fact all his Staff, were up late settling these cases. I wondered at the matters that needed his personal attention; even though the ships were to be together for weeks, still they were in a sense isolated. When the last tug had departed and the last lingering soldier been brought from the shore and sent off to his own ship, there stole over the whole sleeping fleet a great peace. It was Sunday morning.
Heaving up her anchor at six o'clock by the chimes of the distant clocks on shore, the Flagship led the way from port. The waters were calm. No white-winged yachts came to circle round the fleet, only a tug with a cinematographer on board waited for the ships as they slowly went forth on to the perilous deep, each ship dipping its flag, paying tribute to the General on the Flagship, even down to the New Zealand transports, painted all a dull warship grey. The cruiserMelbournelay in harbour still, while the other warships had gone ahead to the open sea, theMinotaurandSydneygliding gracefully through the dull waters, leaving in their wake a terrible wash of foam, as warships will. The bugles still rang in our ears, though the wind from the south blew the notes astern. Amongst a group of officers I was standing on a skylight of the dining saloon watching the moving panorama behind. To bring the fleet, anchored facing the head of the Sound, into motion meant the gradual turning of each ship so that they passed one another, and because the entrance to the harbour was not quite wide enough, the Flagship went out first, barely making 10 knots, followed by theSouthern, and the others in their line behind. We watched her bows buried in the sea one minute and then
DISPOSITION OF UNITS OF THE 1ST DIVISION IN THE CONVOY AND PLACES OF EMBARKATION.No.Name.Tonnage.Speed.Embarking at—Troops.O.M.H.A1Hymettus4,60611½Sydney, Melbourne, and AdelaideA.S.C. and horses5106686A2Geelong7,95112Melbourne and HobartMixed471,295—A3Orvieto12,13015MelbourneG.O.C., Infantry and details941,34521A4Pera7,63511SydneyArtillery horses590391A5Omrah8,13015BrisbaneInfantry and A.S.C431,10415A6Clan MacCorquodale5,05812½SydneyHorses6113524A7Medic12,03213Adelaide and FreemantleTwo companies Infantry, Artillery, A.S.C. and A.M.C.28977270A8Argyllshire10,39214SydneyArtillery32800373A9Shropshire11,91114MelbourneArtillery42794433A10Karoo6,12712Sydney and MelbourneSignallers and A.M.C.13388398A11Ascanius10,04813Adelaide and FreemantleInfantry651,72810A12Saldanha4,59411AdelaideHorses452274A13Katuna4,64111Sydney and HobartHorses594506A14Euripides14,94715SydneyInfantry292,20215A15Star of England9,15013½BrisbaneLight Horse25487457A16Star of Victoria9,15213½SydneyLight Horse26487461A17Port Lincoln7,24312AdelaideLight Horse19351338A18Wiltshire10,39014MelbourneLight Horse and A.M.C.35724497A19Afric11,99913SydneyInfantry, A.S.C., and Engineers481,3728A20Hororata9,49114MelbourneInfantry661,986118A21Marere6,44312½MelbourneHorses480443A22Rangatira10,11814BrisbaneArtillery, Infantry, and A.M.C.15430450A23Suffolk7,57312SydneyInfantry329798A24Benalla11,11814MelbourneInfantry and A.S.C.491,18510A25Anglo-Egyptian7,37912Brisbane and MelbourneHorses6105492A26Armadale6,15311MelbourneLines of Communication———A27Southern4,76910½Sydney and MelbourneHorses5136281A28Miltiades7,81413Sydney and MelbourneImperial Reservists—600—
DISPOSITION OF UNITS OF THE 1ST DIVISION IN THE CONVOY AND PLACES OF EMBARKATION.
No.Name.Tonnage.Speed.Embarking at—Troops.O.M.H.A1Hymettus4,60611½Sydney, Melbourne, and AdelaideA.S.C. and horses5106686A2Geelong7,95112Melbourne and HobartMixed471,295—A3Orvieto12,13015MelbourneG.O.C., Infantry and details941,34521A4Pera7,63511SydneyArtillery horses590391A5Omrah8,13015BrisbaneInfantry and A.S.C431,10415A6Clan MacCorquodale5,05812½SydneyHorses6113524A7Medic12,03213Adelaide and FreemantleTwo companies Infantry, Artillery, A.S.C. and A.M.C.28977270A8Argyllshire10,39214SydneyArtillery32800373A9Shropshire11,91114MelbourneArtillery42794433A10Karoo6,12712Sydney and MelbourneSignallers and A.M.C.13388398A11Ascanius10,04813Adelaide and FreemantleInfantry651,72810A12Saldanha4,59411AdelaideHorses452274A13Katuna4,64111Sydney and HobartHorses594506A14Euripides14,94715SydneyInfantry292,20215A15Star of England9,15013½BrisbaneLight Horse25487457A16Star of Victoria9,15213½SydneyLight Horse26487461A17Port Lincoln7,24312AdelaideLight Horse19351338A18Wiltshire10,39014MelbourneLight Horse and A.M.C.35724497A19Afric11,99913SydneyInfantry, A.S.C., and Engineers481,3728A20Hororata9,49114MelbourneInfantry661,986118A21Marere6,44312½MelbourneHorses480443A22Rangatira10,11814BrisbaneArtillery, Infantry, and A.M.C.15430450A23Suffolk7,57312SydneyInfantry329798A24Benalla11,11814MelbourneInfantry and A.S.C.491,18510A25Anglo-Egyptian7,37912Brisbane and MelbourneHorses6105492A26Armadale6,15311MelbourneLines of Communication———A27Southern4,76910½Sydney and MelbourneHorses5136281A28Miltiades7,81413Sydney and MelbourneImperial Reservists—600—
DISPOSITION OF UNITS OF THE 1ST DIVISION IN THE CONVOY AND PLACES OF EMBARKATION.No.Name.Tonnage.Speed.Embarking at—A1Hymettus4,60611½Sydney, Melbourne, and AdelaideA2Geelong7,95112Melbourne and HobartA3Orvieto12,13015MelbourneA4Pera7,63511SydneyA5Omrah8,13015BrisbaneA6Clan MacCorquodale5,05812½SydneyA7Medic12,03213Adelaide and FreemantleA8Argyllshire10,39214SydneyA9Shropshire11,91114MelbourneA10Karoo6,12712Sydney and MelbourneA11Ascanius10,04813Adelaide and FreemantleA12Saldanha4,59411AdelaideA13Katuna4,64111Sydney and HobartA14Euripides14,94715SydneyA15Star of England9,15013½BrisbaneA16Star of Victoria9,15213½SydneyA17Port Lincoln7,24312AdelaideA18Wiltshire10,39014MelbourneA19Afric11,99913SydneyA20Hororata9,49114MelbourneA21Marere6,44312½MelbourneA22Rangatira10,11814BrisbaneA23Suffolk7,57312SydneyA24Benalla11,11814MelbourneA25Anglo-Egyptian7,37912Brisbane and MelbourneA26Armadale6,15311MelbourneA27Southern4,76910½Sydney and MelbourneA28Miltiades7,81413Sydney and MelbourneDISPOSITION OF UNITS OF THE 1ST DIVISION IN THE CONVOY AND PLACES OF EMBARKATION.No.Troops.O.M.H.A1A.S.C. and horses5106686A2Mixed471,295—A3G.O.C., Infantry and details941,34521A4Artillery horses590391A5Infantry and A.S.C431,10415A6Horses6113524A7Two companies Infantry, Artillery, A.S.C. and A.M.C.28977270A8Artillery32800373A9Artillery42794433A10Signallers and A.M.C.13388398A11Infantry651,72810A12Horses452274A13Horses594506A14Infantry292,20215A15Light Horse25487457A16Light Horse26487461A17Light Horse19351338A18Light Horse and A.M.C.35724497A19Infantry, A.S.C., and Engineers481,3728A20Infantry661,986118A21Horses480443A22Artillery, Infantry, and A.M.C.15430450A23Infantry329798A24Infantry and A.S.C.491,18510A25Horses6105492A26Lines of Communication———A27Horses5136281A28Imperial Reservists—600—
DISPOSITION OF UNITS OF THE 1ST DIVISION IN THE CONVOY AND PLACES OF EMBARKATION.
No.Name.Tonnage.Speed.Embarking at—A1Hymettus4,60611½Sydney, Melbourne, and AdelaideA2Geelong7,95112Melbourne and HobartA3Orvieto12,13015MelbourneA4Pera7,63511SydneyA5Omrah8,13015BrisbaneA6Clan MacCorquodale5,05812½SydneyA7Medic12,03213Adelaide and FreemantleA8Argyllshire10,39214SydneyA9Shropshire11,91114MelbourneA10Karoo6,12712Sydney and MelbourneA11Ascanius10,04813Adelaide and FreemantleA12Saldanha4,59411AdelaideA13Katuna4,64111Sydney and HobartA14Euripides14,94715SydneyA15Star of England9,15013½BrisbaneA16Star of Victoria9,15213½SydneyA17Port Lincoln7,24312AdelaideA18Wiltshire10,39014MelbourneA19Afric11,99913SydneyA20Hororata9,49114MelbourneA21Marere6,44312½MelbourneA22Rangatira10,11814BrisbaneA23Suffolk7,57312SydneyA24Benalla11,11814MelbourneA25Anglo-Egyptian7,37912Brisbane and MelbourneA26Armadale6,15311MelbourneA27Southern4,76910½Sydney and MelbourneA28Miltiades7,81413Sydney and Melbourne
DISPOSITION OF UNITS OF THE 1ST DIVISION IN THE CONVOY AND PLACES OF EMBARKATION.
No.Troops.O.M.H.A1A.S.C. and horses5106686A2Mixed471,295—A3G.O.C., Infantry and details941,34521A4Artillery horses590391A5Infantry and A.S.C431,10415A6Horses6113524A7Two companies Infantry, Artillery, A.S.C. and A.M.C.28977270A8Artillery32800373A9Artillery42794433A10Signallers and A.M.C.13388398A11Infantry651,72810A12Horses452274A13Horses594506A14Infantry292,20215A15Light Horse25487457A16Light Horse26487461A17Light Horse19351338A18Light Horse and A.M.C.35724497A19Infantry, A.S.C., and Engineers481,3728A20Infantry661,986118A21Horses480443A22Artillery, Infantry, and A.M.C.15430450A23Infantry329798A24Infantry and A.S.C.491,18510A25Horses6105492A26Lines of Communication———A27Horses5136281A28Imperial Reservists—600—
ORGANIZATION OF CONVOY.
No.Name.Tonnage.Speed.Officer Commanding Troops.1st Division.A3Orvieto12,13015{Lieut.-Colonel D. S. Wanliss{(Flagship of G.O.C.)A27Southern4,76910½Lieut.-Colonel R. T. SutherlandA4Pera7,63511Lieutenant E. W. RichardsA26Armadale6,15311Major P. W. SmithA12Saldanha4,59411Lieutenant P. A. McE. LaurieA13Katuna4,64111Major S. HawleyA1Hymettus4,60611½Major A. A. HoldsworthA23Suffolk7,57312Lieut.-Colonel C. F. BraundA25Anglo-Egyptian7,37912Lieutenant W. Standfield2nd Division.A18Wiltshire10,39014{Lieut.-Colonel L. Long{(Divisional leader)A7Medic12,03213Major A. J. Bessell-BrowneA11Ascanius10,04813Lieut.-Colonel S. P. WeirA15Star of England9,15013½Lieut.-Colonel R. M. StoddartA2Geelong7,95112Lieut.-Colonel L. F. ClarkeA17Port Lincoln7,24312Lieut.-Colonel F. N. RowellA10Karoo6,12712Captain H. L. MackworthA21Marere6,44312½Captain C. H. SpurgeA6Clan MacCorquodale5,05812½Major A. J. Bennett3rd Division.A14Euripides14,94715{Colonel H. N. McLaurin{(Divisional leader)A8Argyllshire10,39214Major S. E. ChristianA9Shropshire11,91114Colonel J. J. T. HobbsA19Afric11,99913Lieut.-Colonel L. DobbinA24Benalla11,11814Lieut.-Colonel W. K. BoltonA22Rangatira10,11814Lieut.-Colonel C. RosenthaA16Star of Victoria9,15213½Lieut.-Colonel J. B. MeredithA20Hororata9,49114Lieut.-Colonel J. M. SemmensA5Omrah8,13015Lieut.-Colonel H. W. LeeA28Miltiades7,81413Major C. T. Griffiths
NEW ZEALAND TRANSPORTS.