Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Alan Langley Pryce diary, 21 December 1914-27 April 1915
MLMSS 3444 ADD-ON 1255 (MLK 3095 / Item 1)

[Transcriber’s note: Pryce does not say a great deal, restricting his entries to short phrases but does refer to the riot by 4,000 soldiers in Cairo on 2 April 1915. The other interesting fact is how many funerals there were on board ship on the way to Egypt – four plus one soldier who had his throat cut while ashore.]

[Page 3]
kattar berak thank you many thanks
sieda good night etc
mesquice no good
maalesh never mind
fath valouse no cash
quir[indecipherable] very good

[Page 4]
December
21st Left Broadmeadows enroute for Albany per S.S. Thermistocles.
26th Arrived at Albany
31st pulled out this morning. on sentry go rotten job
January
1st Still on guard will be relieved soon. I hope the boys played merry hell last night. sports this morning our Co donkey kicked at tugowar. funeral tonight chap from one of the other boats.
4th still going good weather beginning to get warm.
8th heavy rain, was inoculated this evening the second time\9 rainy & windy
10th another funeral
January
11th Our Co on sentry go again escaped myself & am a sweeper for the day which is a good job there being nothing to do.
12th Our Bos’n pegged out today. he was a good old sport.
13 Colombo at last. hundreds of the lads from all the ships went ashore with out leave
14 another funeral two of our own chaps this time.
15 The fleet got under way again all the miscreants having been brought on board their various ships their fines vary from £2/10 to £9 so their trip ashore was expensive

[Page 5]
January
17 Steaming along Indian Coast
18 Another General in this ship. are now in Arabian sea.
20 funeral at 3pm on this ship
22 Go on sentry duty funeral this ship
23 Arrived at Aden 11.30am pull out 6pm
24 In the Red sea passed Hells Gates & are now drawing abreast of 12 apostles.
[Inserted on the side of the page] Have been mess orderly during these days
have not been well
Have been in hospital the last three days
28 Arrived at Suex are lying too.
29 have been travelling along the canal all day but have come to anchor again tonight
29 Anchored at Ismailla or some such place on one of the bitter lakes

Jan
30th Port said are lying to boats not allowed to come alongside. Canal guarded by Indian New Zealand & territorial troops
Good advice read out to us regarding certain diseases Nice subject at tea time. A French aeroplane flew over us low down two or three times this evening.

31st We left Port Said some time last night and are making for Alexandria none of the ships are in sight. Alexandria 2.40 are being towed to moorings.

1st great preparations for disembarking.

[Page 6]
Camped at El Abbasia between 7 & 10 miles from Cairo.
Feb
1st Disembarked at 10 oclock entrained for Cairo
arrived at camp ¼ past 6pm
2nd wandered about Barracks looking for something to eat
fatigue work in the evening
3rd did some drill with packs up
had a look around in Cairo. came back an hour late am now under open arrest to appear at orderly room if called on to do so.
4 tent orderly
5 Chap found by the Terriers to-day with his throat cut. Thought to be one of the New Zealanders from this camp
unloading horses this evening a great game
6 Went over to Heliopolis for a walk about.
7 doing fatigue work this morning, stacking kit bags belonging to the 7 & 8 Bats.
9th march from Abbassia to Mena to join the Battn.
10 Waiting to be Medically Tested. explored the interior of the great pyramid.
11 pronounced medically fit
Climbed to the top of the pyramid.
looked through the temple of the Sphinx & the tomb of the Iman of the Pharaohs who built the second pyramids etc etc

[Page 7]
12th writing & fatigue work
13 Climbed up the pyramid again.
14 Sunday investigating etc
15 on sentry go
16th was vacinated
17 writing letters
18 went for walk on the flats among the palms
19 to 22nd general leave but have no cash.
Have got to go to work again medical inspection another holiday in fact.
23 Run, shooting passed all right but did not get anything surprising.
24 a holiday today got paid late went to Cairo
25 route march at night
26
27 outpost work [indecipherable]
29 The 3 Brigade has left camp to night destination unknown
March
1st Battn field firing
2nd A. Co. on duty. have got the influ
3rd field firing at Tigers Tooth
4 took down tents went out in the afternoon found [indecipherable]
5 Bivouac starting 2 oclock
6 finish rotten failure
7 Co doing div. guard
have a bad cold.
8 am still crook
Batt gone on a route march. beastly day enjoyed a warm bath

[Page 8]
9 Still unfit. batt went out but came back early
10 Our chaps been digging trench working in the heat like the devil.
was to crook to help them so stayed in camp
11 still no good
12 Went out to look at the trenches but did not do any digging. we returned to camp early.
The Batt has occupied the trenches. 2nd Batt making attack some time in the night. did not go out myself as I considered myself unfit.
13 holiday but did not go out.
Went to the doctor this morning he told me I looked neat & respectable. I am wondering how to apply the compliment.
14 Co mounted Div guard this evening; I prefered not to do picket.
15 got snapped up for fatigue work but did not do much.
16 had morning off filled up trenches in the evening.
17 Brigade movement in the desert came back ½ past 2

[Page 9]
18 Went to ciro on F.L. came back to late to mount guard.
19 got pinched for picquet.
20 shooting. Batt in route march in the morning
21 went on church parade
22 went digging trenches in the morning.
23 another scheme for all night
24 home for breakfast payed some tin
[The entries for the 25th-28th have been crossed out]
25 another wretched scheme for the night am pretty sick of them
26 all day doing nothing did it very well
27 did nothing well till ½ past 6 in the evening then what & enjoyed another scheme returned to camp about 3am
28
24 did nothing all day
25 Went out at 6pm for some more fun in the sand returned to camp at 3pm.
26 went to town & had a walk through the bazaars
27Went to the Mueseums
29 brigades reviewed by gen E. H.
1 April inlying picquet field operations

[Page 10]
2nd April Good Friday
riot in cairo some shooting done by mounted terriers
4 or 5 chaps shot or wounded. batt packing up. everything upside down.
3 have orders to move at once. moved off 6 oclock marched to Cairo entrained to Alexandria, arrived about 5 on the 4th.
4 on board the SS Minnewaska taking on horses everything horribly [indecipherable]. A bit better, scored a fine dinner, & a corner in a horse pontoon , wherein to sleep
Have been having a good time but can’t get plug tobacco
10 left Alexandria
11 making for the Dardanells
12 tobacco [indecipherable] very flush plug unatainable are lying to east Limnos Isle in Port Iadros (Mudros village)
13 Coy out in the boats unfortunately I missed this [indecipherable] out of position
rain last night got badly wet heavy wind also.
14 slept comfortably in the wheel house. went ashore with the Coy went through a village had dinner ashore
15 pontoons swung overboard. [indecipherable]
16 everybody going ashore caught for guard at the last moment.

[Page 11]
17 April went ashore with [indecipherable]. had a fine time & green hills and flowers are much better than sand
18 Sunday several chaps went ashore & are now doing time
a quiet little bay shut out from the rest of the world by low & in some places rugh green hills & connected to the outer sea by a narrow channel only & on its shores we can see five villages as old fashioned as the people that live in them. it was a treat to go ashore to walk through the farms if only to see the beautiful red poppies which grow so thickly among the wheat
April 19. On a sentry job not to bad this time managed to score a cup of coffee in the officers quarters & early
20 blowing half a gale. letters & paper soon Drill
21 still blowing & very wet. am wondering where I shall sleep tonight. Hymettus went gracefully ashore also a tug.
22 Still cold but rain has stopped.
23 beautifully sunny today but unfortunately have to do pickett.. Takes 87 men to guard the ship. Ships are leaving fast our turn will come soon.
24 Left port about 5 this morning. heavy wind blowing & pretty cold.

[Page 12]

24 are now laying in waiting for (what) on the opposite side of the island about 15 miles from our destination we will possibly land tomorrow morning
25 The fun has started we are preparing to land firing commenced about ½ past four a wounded C. Sgt of 3rd Bgde has just been brought aboard. 3 casualities so far.
Its now about 9 oclock we have landed & one or two of our Co have burned bits of shell. The 3rd Bgde has done well so far clearing the ridge behind us or at least in front of us I hear the 12 bat had a very hot welcome. The hills are low but very steep and broken, a gun boat close in to us has fired a good of metal at a fort or Battery which has succeed in getting two or 3 shells close to us they have a nasty visious hiss I have seen several wounded chaps they seem pretty jolly on the strength of it
26 We had a splendid day yesterday with as much shrapnel as we could wish for its beastly stuff a knocked a lot of our chaps over our own guns were not landed save one mountain Battery which did not last long, things may be different today the gun boats have

[Page 13]

been talking some, & Queen Lizzie has been hurling her ton weight missles over our heads the row she makes is something like an overgrown thunder clap our chaps are banging away still no sleep last night one continual fusilade. I myself have seen no one to fire at, we are handicapped with heavy scrub, it makes splendid cover for snipers got a bit of a grueling this evening.
27 are pretty comfortably dug in the guns as well as we as far as we can judge have been giving the turk particular hell –

Killed by a sniper on the 28th April

[Transcriber's notes:
El Abbassia page 3 – is probably El Abasia which is a NE suburb of Cairo.
F.L. page 6 – furlough ie leave.
Gen E. H. page 6 – General Earl Haig
Heliopolis page 3 – is a kilomtre or two from El Abasia.
Iadros (Mudros village) page 7 – Mudross is spelled Moudros and is about 20kms east of Myrna on the coast in a bay, the main city on the island.
Ismailla page 2 – is Ismailia which is on Timsah Lake which forms part of the Suez canal.
Mena page 3 – Mena Camp is in Giza, very close to the pyramids.
SS Minnewaska page 7 – built in 1909, it was an ocean liner for the Atlantic Transport line. It was damaged by a mine on 29 November 1916 while serving as a troopship.
Riot 2 April 1915 - As 2 April 1915 was Good Friday, many ANZAC troops waiting to go to Gallipoli were on leave, and many of them went to the Birka (the red-light district) in Cairo. About 4000 troops rioted and wrecked and burnt many buildings, and threw prostitutes and pimps out onto the streets and their possessions after them. The riot started about 4 pm or 5 pm. and ended by 8 pm.
Tigers Tooth page 4 – This was one of the many places around Mena Camp that had been named by the Australian troops various areas were called such names as Observation Hill, Jackall Valley, Sentry Point, White House, Daydream and Crosspath Hill etc.]

[Transcribed by Miles Harvey and Judy Macfarlan for the State Library of New South Wales]