Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Fred Hamilton-Kenny letter diary, 5 December 1914-26 February 1915
MLMSS 930 / Item 2

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Fred Hamilton-Kenny
Volume 2
Diary
5 Dec. 1914 – 26 Feb. 1915

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H.M.A.S. Fantome
Garden Is
5-12-14

Dear Girl
I landed all right & sent a letter card to you. It was hot, wet & slippery in Sydney & on G. Island – I went there at once to GI & reported & had lunch there. I then paid my mess bill up to Dec 1st & went to town. I went to Anthony’s & bought your few things which I hope you & Mab will like – I think Mab’s hatbox is A1. Green I think looked even better than the brown – It is 22 ins square – The tumblers you will need – also pepper pots – I had a strenuous aftern. I tried to get – "The riddle of the Sands" but could not – you might send it to me if practicable – I got Bernhardi’s "The next war" to study – I had dinner & to bed early –

Friday I was in uniform & off to the Fantome at 9 am – The crew are inboard & the buz is we go out Sunday night – 110-120 all told – We may but I don’t think we shall – The 1st lieutenant I’ve sent to Hospital for Appendicitis – so he cant come – a nice chap - Colton Stapleton – English & Kentish- I have a cabin – a Dispensary – a consulting room & a sick bay attendant – all small save the attendant – I’m not quite sure if he’s the doctor or I am but no doubt our relative positions will turn up shortly – He’s zany & positive & has had wonderful cures & is a Know-all but again fancy he must have weak points somewhere – We shall see –

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I lunched & went to the beach & to Anthony’s & did my own – 2 white suits – 2 white shoes 4/6 per pair leather soled – cheap & good when well whitened – Helmet – Several other small things & then I had finished – I dined & to my room & reread in the SMH the tale of the Sydney & Emden – you should get Rawdon to read that aloud – I know the Sydney & some of the officers. We had a naval dinner on the Upolu at Rabaul – The Emden put up a good scrap but a hopeless one against a superior class of vessel – It’s curious that no other ship came up & chipped in for they were all on the same job of convoy – Australian troops in Egypt – not quite good enough yet for Europe – The spring will see them fit –
My idea of England as the cause – indirectly – of war shows up even here – you can’t get even the best men in Australia ready for European warfare under months & months of training & during that time the strain on our few veteran troops must be enormous – The Encounter is off Garden Island – Destroyers & Una gone out & we follow – Rabaul is I think our place – We’ve no war news here on Garden Island – Well now dear I think things are pretty right for you at G.I. – I hope your cheque has come.

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H.M.A.S. Fantome
Saty 5-12-14 – 9 pm

Dear girl
Leave is up 11 pm Sunday night & I must be inboard – Since I landed on Thursday morng. I’ve had a very strenuous time – Ship & stores each morning & shopping on the 7th aft. This morning it was ship, all ship & nothing but ship till noon – Then I had two stints in town & all the shops shut – The photos must wait – I could not even get near a photographer –
We go north & we shall coal at Townsville or Russel Island in the Whitsunday passage – We do police work in the islands & patrolling – We are going to be away 6 months – 120 all told. Send Spectator (when you’ve read it) A.M.G – N Times if you can get it but not otherwise – easily – Address Garden Island – Put "Please forward" – I shall get them all right for they’ll know where we are – I’ll post you regularly & keep you up to-date in the navy line – The Sealark from Suva is in – She lay near us there – so that - bar the Yarra – Suva so far as we know has no war ships there –
Brig says the Yarra is on a reef – If true Keebley will get scooped we reckon & lose his command. – Still its buz & we know nothing for certain – AE9 wont move I fancy –

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You were quite right about the E class – I hear now there are some 12 of them but the 7 class is not yet in commission –
Blayney & I went to the Zoo this aftn. & the nasty Lama deer spat in my face – I gave him pea nuts which he loved & chewed up into little bits & then spat at me - Wasn’t he beastly rude - Then we went to Coogee & B. surfed it – I wouldn’t – too big a crowd – Dined at Sergeants – then to our rooms – This place is the ‘Rawson Institute for Seamen’ – Officers have the top flat – sleep only – a big reading room & billiard table – cheap & good – A concert is now going on down below – now I think all goes well – you’ll get 29£ per mensem + 9 as interest end of June + Rent from [indecipherable] any time + balance of my acct in bank of NQ. Brisbane – If you see a chance for R or M having a holiday – cheap – by the sea – go for it – Do for yourself – Work out ‘The riddle of the Sands’ – Bar a cheque for £2 given before I came up I’ve signed no cheque & I owe no man anything save a shilling or two to Bruck – Goodbye my love – Kiss the children & tell them to follow me up & take an interest in my movements – It’s genuine work – much love – Fred –

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H.M.A.S. Fantome
Dec 7 – 14

Dear girl
While I think of it – The ‘Lawn King’ is a very good brand of mower – Pay for it out of my Queen St Balance – It’s my little present to the garden – It was hot yesterday – I put it in at Roseville with Blackwell – He’s a pleasant fellow – His wife, a fine girl of just 20 & a boy are all stone deaf – Enquiries come in – none of them can hear you unless you speak very loudly – I saw a man who had just come from England – He & Lord Chelmsford & the Editor of Pearsons had all tried to get evidence of the maiming of children – hands cut off – The Editor he said offered 500 £ for any photo of same – nothing came of it – They never cd. get hold of anything authentic –
At 11 pm I was on board the Fantome – for good – I slept in board & about 5 am got up & studied the situation – I have a good cabin – top side with lots of air – a fan – 6 drawers under my bunk & a table. At 9 am we went out for gun & speed trials – There was a beastly swell outside & dozens were seasick – There are 109 all told of us – We got off the 12 pounders – They are really 5 inch guns or thereabouts – We go by the diameter of the cartridge so that a 13.5 gun means a charge 13.5 inches in diameter –
There was a flash & a roar & a hiss in the air & then a spurt of sea water a long way off –

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Each gun fired 4 charges – It’s a deafening roar & your ears get touched up – You cd. see the men putting their fingers into them – Cotton wool stops the sound waves –
Then we tried the Maxims – quick firers – They are like revolvers fired very rapidly – We had to go back to harbor for our speed tests for it was too rough outside – We go up to Garden Island & may not go out tonight – I got your nice letter written on Thursday & one from Turner – The few moths I got in New Britain he is sending to the British Museum he tells me – This day week is Mab’s birthday – I remember as well as yesterday her natal day – I had but very little scope then for my energy & vitality & I fear I was rather a nuisance – Men with energy – unless use is made of it – are apt to become a nuisance I think – Remember that for Rawdon – He is chock full of joy & ginger & will bubble over & do queer things unless vents are found for it – Well – Mab is quieter – I hope she likes her hat box & that its all right – Mind you get your things safe & sound –
Give Mab my warmest love – I am sure she will be a fine woman – Tell her from me not to worry over the future – its not in our hands – but to be quite true to the present & to enjoy life & all that comes with it – Tell R to wash his mouth out with warm water night & morng & to see Sinfield – Be obedient – clean & play games.

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Part I
H.M.A.S. Fantome
The High Seas
Monday 7-12-14.

Dear girl
We did our gunnery & steam trials & put back to Garden Island – I got a letter from you & Mab & R – Mab got her buttons & R told of his Fort – I am sending R one of my 3 tailed bandages in case of casualties – It may come in handy. Anyway he can learn to bandage from its pretty pictures – I had no time to reply for we put to sea & shant touch land till we get to Cairns –
As soon as we got out – General quarters were announced – gun crews were listed & each man – including myself – had his billet assigned – just as if we were going into action – at once – I have to stand by the Ward room & attend there to all the wounded – The Ship’s corporal & the Sick bay attendant have to cater for me & pick up the wounded & bring them to me – My S.B.A. has already asked me if he cd be put ashore but I candidly told him I wouldn’t lose him for worlds & that if he wasn’t shot I’d make a man of him before the trip ended – He’s a combine of Fool – Coward & Ass I think – Gun crews have to sleep by their guns – Shells are handy & everything is arrayed for instant action – in fact – the sole aim of our life is to be efficient – for action - & everything is subordinated to that point of view – Gun drill – Fire drill – Boat drill –

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Tuesday
8-2-14 The day broke fine & I felt fit – I had slept well & the sea floor was smooth – no Kildi bell on a war ship – Breakfast 8. Lunch 12.30 – Aft tea 3.30 – Dinner 7 pm & you keep the time yourself – Food is very very plain & simple - No fresh meat no courses – two things for dinner & that’s all – we are supposed to provide our own soap. Towels – (10d each) – I’ve bought 3 – We pay for our messing – We’re only allowed a 2nd rate cook (isn’t that rot). When I return I shall claim for my expenses – By the way – if you don’t get 29£ each month – write to Staff Pay Master – Hoare – Garden Island & raise a long, well drawn out, well sustained moan & go on moaning until you get it – The blighters in Melbourne are dead one wd think – At 9 am – The commander read prayers to the assembled crew – Caps off & on he went – This took some 7 minutes – I know we want to be protected against "the violence of the enemy" & get back to our own land & to follow out "our lawful occupations" for Jesus Christ’s sake – Amen –

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Next we had read to us the articles of war – Death or whatever penalty the King thinks fit for sneezing in the presence of the enemy or for not conducting ourselves on any & every occasion in the strictest possible manner – There was one clause which met with my approval & that was we weren’t to rob or molest the captured or civilians or women & children in any way whatsoever – They were to be treated decently – When that was over we were dismissed – I have sick parade at 8.30 & report to the commander at 9 – Gun drill followed & the placing of hoses & what they call coolutions & a lot of things that I haven’t the grip of yet – I put all the Spectators in the Smoke room – They are very good & give a succinct account of the war & have very sane articles – They recognize fully that we maynt win though probably we shall – They urge every man, young or old, to drill – Any man 19-35 who wont volunteer should be ostracised & made to feel his duty – The Spectator is all right I can tell you – It should be widely read – By the way the Captain also told us we were going to Rabaul – Holmes! then to give us Petheridge probably.

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Orders – To convoy troops to Bougainville – to try & capture the Buka a small German boat – then to return to Rabaul & do whatever we are told – ‘God Save the King’.In the aftn I paced the deck with Fitzgerald & he told me we must coal at Cairns – This gives me a chance for my letters & a wire – We are 13 Knots – turn screws & I’m writing this – off Byron Bay – We have a Gramophone to which my share is £1 & we have some 50 records – The officers are a quieter crowd than the Submarine & we have no torrent of filth & marine language that distinguished! some members of that crowd – I’m glad of that – I’m easily senior of all in the wardroom – Cheerful jolly chaps – 6 English – 2 Australian – Fitzgerald has his meals in his own compartment – Fitz is Irish & I fancy an egoist – He knows Maylord & Garde well – Tell Mab to send the girls a card at Xmas – She had a good time with them – I’m reading ‘Germany & the next war’ Bernhardi – Bar my own stock of literature I doubt if there’s any on board the Fantome
– These men are not readers nor thinkers – just plain doers – They didn’t even read the Sydney & Emden stunt.

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Wednesday
9-12-14 Yes – It’s interesting – this life under the White Ensign – a hard, simple life – I was up at 6 am – Had a cup of tea & biscuit – then a salt water tablet. There is no shower - no bath room – We’ve got a screen rigged up on deck & a bath inside which the men fill with salt water & in you go – All is fixed routine – Chow at 8 – Mine was some tinned whitebait – bread & black currant jam – Bread will be off & biscuit take its place until Cairns is reached – Sick parade at 8.30 – I have one man with a Temp 103.8 – ? Pneumonia – I report – on a printed form – to the Commander by 9 am – Then Quarters – Prayers – then physical drill for the men – To-day they ran from the main deck up 10 steps on to the Anchor deck – round & down – then up & round & so on – This took 15-20 minutes – then came gun drill – big! Guns & the quick firers – Of course live shells are not fired but all is gone thro – The magazines are opened & you see shells going forward & aft – The gunner stands to his gun & his orders come crisp & sharp with monotonous regularity – After ½ - ¾ hour – gun drill is over & everything goes back to its ordained place.

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We are very cramped for room in the Fantome – Where they find room for 109 of us I don’t know yet – We were off Ballina & then Tweed Heads, driving North as hard as we could – We don’t want to miss anything at Rabaul & therefore we are doing our best to get up – The sea was smooth & the weather glorious. So far I much prefer this boat to the Upolu – all round – There is discipline & an ordered life – The officers are all right – We have 6 who can play Bridge –

The morning is work – The aftn & eveg have certain duties to be seen to but there is leisure & talk – With this war on I shouldn’t care to settle down to ordinary civilian life – You are in the game & doing your little stunt with the best of the crowd – Stir up all the young men between 19 & 35 to enlist is the game for all of us & also for us senior men to take on whatever job offers – afloat or ashore – I’m making my S.B.A. get out the stretchers & our haversack & having everything put in order for instant service – He’s slowly grasping that I’m boss, with a very strong will & with a certain power of vocal expression – He’s mostly Ass –

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Thursday
10-12-14 Two things happened to day – The first is that we are not going to Cairns – We altered our course at 4 pm & we are making straight for Rabaul – Biscuit & tinned stuff – no letters no papers – The second item we got by wireless – to the effect that an English squadron had sunk the Scharnhorst –Gneisenau & Leipzig off the Falkland Islands & were chasing the Newbourg & Dresden – Very excellent news – if confirmed – It means the freedom of the Pacific E to W – N to South – We got that about 9 pm & promptly drank the health of the men & ships that did the job – It will set free no end of ships – mercantile & warships & relieve the whole of our E coast of the dread of a German attack & it will increase our morale all thro the islands – We are waiting for further details by wireless – The weather is perfect – Until we went out side the Barrier Reef we stuck to the land

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quite close in all the way up – you could watch the white beach & the small houses & even the cattle – We only draw 12 feet – It’s a good point to get to Rabaul quickly for then we get to our job of work – We had to take stations to-day for ‘attack’. My crowd is 4 & myself – I have the SBA – the ship’s steward – the writer – (In pg office) & the ship’s corporal – We stand amidships & have our stretchers ready – The 4 act as pickers up of the wounded – 2 to each stretcher – All the stewards have to become fighters & it was funny this morng to see the chief steward hard at it with his arms full of shells taking them up to the port gun – They have canvas baskets with compartments & in each compartment is a shell – Each basket has 4 & all the stewards are detailed off to carry shells & ammunition to the guns – They have to do it at the double – We haven’t got Lyddite – They say the drop of a Lyddite (?raids) shell was the cause of the Bulwark disaster –

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Lyddite is apt to explode on concussion – Our magazine temperature is kept at 70 deg F by means of ice – made on the ship & a forced draught – You don’t want high temps in a magazine – They repeatedly take the temperature & watch it closely –
We dont do ‘Rounds’ save on Sunday when the Head of each Department accompanies the Commander who formally inspects the Ship – I don’t know that there’s much more to add to my tale – My SBA is not popular – He’s reported to have swelled head & to be above his station – He told me a sailor kicked him to day – playfully – but he wasn’t going to stand it & wanted that sort of thing put an end to – I fear I didn’t console him much – Sailor men don’t care for family pride even in an S.B.A – By the way Garden Island & the Encounter spoke to us in the eveg – We all of us hope very much that the Encounter is not coming up this way – Charles Lewin is not a popular officer - & he’ll be senior to Commander D. of the Warrego or Fitzgerald –

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Friday
11-12-14. We propose to dine in state on Thursday & Saty – On those days we drink the ‘King’ & ‘before the King’ you mustn’t tell a yarn or mention the name of a woman or eat the fruit before desert or not excuse yourself to the President – if late – The fine is – doubles all round the mess – Sat night – if at sea - we drink in addition sweethearts & wives –
No press news came thro on Friday so we’re in the dark as to the naval scrap off the Falklands – Still we know the pleasure that will be felt in Sydney & right thro the Pacific & we well know the drinking & rejoicing in the wardrooms of the Fleet –
We are pessimistic here as to Russia – Russia has so far beaten Austria but not the Germans & if reports are true Germany has inflicted some very nasty beatings on the Russian Army – The Allies may have a very bad time in France if the Russians are defeated & German troops released from the East & sent W by rail – Our weather is fine – We are in the Coral Sea – well within the tropics & steaming direct to Rabaul. The work on the ship is dominated by 2 ideas (1st) that we are in action (2nd) that we are on fire –

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Gun drill – Quarters – Fire drill – Hoses run out – fore & aft – Pumps manned – Every man at his post – Buckets handed down & the hoarse voice of the assistant (indecipherable) & the sharp orders of the gunners – We are simply a fighting unit & so far as we go fairly efficient but we couldn’t go very far – Our blue jackets come from all kinds of ships – Minotaur – Cerberus – Australia, Penguin, Protector. I went ‘rounds’ last night with the Executive officer – I had to crawl almost under hammocks which are slung everywhere – All the blue jackets stand to attention when ‘rounds’ goes by – My own stunt is-one-sick – I’ve made the S.B.A. clean up stretchers & put things in line – Tell Rawdon a flying fish came thro my port last night & fell on the floor – We play ordinary Bridge – for drinks mostly – but I wont drink before 7 pm & this example is being followed – 2 or 3 in the eveg. wont hurt anyone – These officers are a clean minded lot & that’s how they should be – We have 3 men of Devon & 2 of Hampshire besides me of Norfolk in the Wardroom -

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Saturday
Dec 12-14 It’s Saturday aftn about 2.30 – Forward the deck is covered with sleeping men – lying asleep on the decking – One man alone is reading – He’s a cook – Another is using a sewing machine & using it handily – Curious to see such a home loving machine just below a 12 pounder & alongside a Maxim – We are all anxious to hear about the last fight of the Scharnhorst & Gneisenau & who took part in it & we keep the wireless man on duty with his ear pads on to catch the aerial messages – Probably we shant get anything – Our last two messages were between Brisbane & Noumea & in French – The word ‘coule’ bothered us but it means sunk – "Un exadre Anglais coule Scharnhorst – Gneisu Dresden aux les isles Falkland et pourinet Leipzig et Nurnberg". That was our text –
It’s a lovely day – No prayers, no quarters – We holystone – the decks instead & then wash down – Clean up for inspection & prayers on Sunday. Most of the officers are asleep – I’ve lent ‘Bernhardi’ to one & marked the naval chapters for him – Gradually I’m understanding the navy & naval things.

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Sunday
13-12-14 A hot stuffy Saty night & the Fantome rolled, rolled, rolled – Clean white suits all round today & the Captain goes the Rounds & anyone who isnt up to the mark gets ‘Scrubbed’. All went well & then we had prayers & then ‘Fall out’ – I’ve informed my SBA that when I say 8.30 for Sick Parade – I mean it - The blighter got my tongue sorely this morning for being late – I dont want any excuses – I want punctuality – I read Spectators & played Bridge till lunch & now I’m writing my journal – No press news – not a vessel seen – We are about? 100 miles off Wrossel Island – S of N. Guinea – We expect to be in Rabaul on W-day by noon –

Monday
11-12-14 Mab is 20 – Dear girl – I’m very fond of her – We must all have a stunt together somewhere when I come back – I like this life but I also like home life – What’s the news? – Nothing doing – We’re somewhere close up to Wrossel Island – We’re a week out – All goes well – The Fantome in every way is far before the Upolu – Ship is far superior – Discipline is A1 – No gooning – All goes as smooth as oil – Sick parade was sharp on 8.30 this morning – By Jove we rolled last eveg. We took both Port & Sherry Decanters at dinner & one terrific roll took nearly half the things off our table – No fresh meat, no decent

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water – all distilled – No bread & yet we’re all right – The majority of men wd look askance at our simple fare – For breakfast I had some stewed pears & a biscuit – For lunch some tinned herring – biscuit & jam & boiled macaroni – I can’t touch their tea & coffee so I have cocoa which is a shade better – However food never troubled me – Fresh meat anyway next Thursday.
Lager beer (Resch) is 7d per bottle & you get 3 glasses – port or sherry 3d – a wine glass – Whisky & G – 4d – I generally play a rubber for my Beer but I wont touch any alcohol before 7 pm - dinner time – Have I any general items of interest - ?
Mr Bompas – Chief Bosun – A.W.O – a very fine stamp of officer is the Coxn in Kipling’s ‘Fleet in Being’. He was in the Palurus & met RK & saw a great deal of him & R.K enshrined him – Bompas is Devonshire – very kindly – very simple – Thinks he can play Bridge – I’m his partner often & for worlds I wouldnt say a word to him but his knowledge is mainly cunning – He must be well over 40 – A very good, God fearing type – One that Kipling or Kingsley wd love – Another good type is Gauntlet – A.W.O. – Gunner – Devonshire – He was at Messina at the Earthquake & rescued some 87 souls – He has a medal – for the Messina stunt –

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Bompas has 2 medals – One for the Gambia & the other he hasn’t said what for – Mr Bompas uses a slight deflection of either eye to convey his appreciation or otherwise – He’s been 25 years in the R.N. & you bet he knows Routine – He can tell you anything but I don’t know enough to probe very deeply – ‘A lovely little ship’ ‘First class tucker’ Never had such a good turn since I was afloat says Mr B when the Paymaster curses the ship, the grub & everything in general & then Mr B looks at me & winks – He’ll tell you ‘Tug Wilson’ made the navy – That the Australia has 12 inch guns & throws an 850lb bomb & 2 of them – that the new 13.5 guns will knock spots out of the Australia & throw a 1400lb bomb – Mr B generally has a pipe in his mouth – addresses the men as ‘my sons’ – is always clean shaved & very neat looking – punctual to the minute & when he gets into position, turns & looks at you & winks –
Our crowd runs thus – Commander F-gerald RN – Navig lieut –Walker R.A.N.R. - Executive lieut Nelson – R.N.R. (Reserve) – Bompas WO-RN – Chief Bosun. Gauntlet WO-RN – Gunner – Lane RN-Pay – Self – Volunteer – Davies – WO – Chief ERA – We all mess together save F-gerald. We have also Gordon – R.N – WO – Gunner – He joins up the Warrego at Rabaul – He’s intelligent –

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We went close in past Wrossel Island – It lay on our Port side – about half a mile off – Green & lovely & is said to have Head hunters living on it – About 2-4 miles out from it you notice – on your attention being called to them – Solitary trees, standing up out of the water – Really they are trees (?Coco palms) growing on a coral fringing reef – Between this reef & the island is a vast lagoon – Gordon was in there with the Warrego he tells me – Our rolling ended when once we got close in – We put in a true naval eveng – cards – beer – talk – Talk of a ribald kind but some of it was very funny – Walker & Nelson have been most everywhere & in all sorts of jobs – got into trouble – N. I fancy has done time in a foreign gaol but you cant believe half they say – Still when it came to having a good time – they had it – anywhere – anyhow – About 10.30 we all turned in & slept well –
Friday

Tues
15-12-14 Beautiful – My SBA is in trouble – Says he’s had a coat stolen – Is also said to have accused the Ships corporal of taking it – This the S.C. strongly resented – My SBA is an ass – I’ve told him to get on with the men – The men call him Mister Johnstone with emphasis on the Mister & this spells trouble for Johnstone – He tells me he has kept them in their place – I have pointed out that he’ll have a rotten

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time unless he can manage to make friends & that no officer can help him – The men skylark & pull his leg & that’s all because he’s no sense – no tact – There’s no room on a war ship for Pride or Swank – You are taken for what you’re worth – The Commander is the only man who is above criticism of a very direct sort – We’re now getting ready for a landing party – Maxim gun being overhauled & all in order – I shall go with them wherever they go & we mean to have a good time if its possible – There are 3 bally pirates ahead of us – Commander & Jackson & Warren – The Encounter with Charles is behind us but our man will give us whatever chance he has can & the Administrator of the Naval Board is over us all – Petheridge is Administrator of N.Ga. & all this part – Holmes is Commandant – We are doing all we know to get up for until we are on the hunting ground the hunt cant begin – All my sick are well & the medical List washed out – I’ve taught my crowd how to put a man on their shoulders & run with him to cover – The fireman’s lift – They loved it –

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Meals came down to-day to one thing – Breakfast – Salmon cakes – Lunch – Tinned dog (Fanny Adams they call it -) No Bread – No fresh meat – no potatoes. Water distilled & warm – How’d the average C.T. on the beach like that? – These chaps never growl – ‘Such a bountiful meal’ ‘So well cooked’ ‘Such refreshing water’ said Mr Bumpus with a solemn wink to me – ‘Such a nice little craft!!’ At 12.30 a function occurred which I don’t believe in & the other officers agreed with me – Two bags of effects belonging to sailors in AE1 were sold by auction to the sailors of the Fantome – The sale realized £8/10/- which is a damned robbery – The proceeds go to the dependants of AE1 – So far, so good – but the beach people shd provide for widows & orphans & not the sailors of the fleet – Men gave 10/- for a damned thing worth 2/ & so on – They did it out of kindness & charity & out of their very scanty allowance of 2/4 per day – The sailor men get very little money – once fitted out they have to provide every new item for themselves wh is just the opposite of the military – They have women & relatives to provide for & they should not be asked in this indirect way to contribute – The country as a whole should & must provide for the fighting man’s widow & children – Once dead it looks as if you & yours are passed down & out – For ever –

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By the way we had Grace before & after dinner on Sunday – I was late & only got the latter – It was ‘Thank God’ – In view of our restricted diet I have suggested another one ‘We are not worthy – O Lord – of the least of these thy mercies’ I heard this somewhere & it comes in handy – now –
One officer – comes across to my room – 2-3 times a day & his invariable remark coming or going is – ‘It’s a hell of a life going to sea isn’t it Doctor?’ To which I invariably reply – Thank God I’m only a volunteer for the war – I certainly would not care to be tied down to the Navy but as a volunteer in war time I’m enjoying it immensely – "Such a wonderful service’ ‘So splendidly paid’ ‘Such an easy life’ says Mr Bumpus

Friday Dec 18-14 – "With our sick beneath the awnings on our road to Mandalay" On Wednesday eveg. I quoted this to our Commander – He & I – the chief engineer - & the navigating lieutenant all lay horizontal on the poop deck – The paymaster was stretched out below & a cook & a steward forward – What happened? All went well until the Wednesday morning – We had prayers – quarters & at 10.30 I was aft in the Commander’s cabin – Soon after I felt sick – I attributed this to the motion of the Screws – Shortly after I had to leave & became violently sick & curiously enough got no relief which you always do in seasickness –

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Shortly after the Commander got very bad & then we found the Chief Engineer was down & the Pay was bad too – This of course meant a common cause – food poisoning – We had all had tinned herring – luckily only a small bit each – for breakfast – The C & I were the worst & when the Navigg. Lieutenant fell down on the deck I couldn’t move – However I told my SBA what to do & about 3.30 I was sufficiently well not to vomit & got up & went the rounds & took charge & then went to bed again – The C. was passing out pure blood so that’ll show you it wasn’t too good –Luckily I was prepared for sickness – my cots were handy & my stretchers & I got the sick taken on to the poop deck & the Bosun (Mr Bumpus) took the Fantome up St Georges Channel & past Herbertshohe & there we anchored – Luckily the storm was over & on Thursday we were on our legs again but neither the C nor I cd. go ashore – That’s the danger of tinned food – 5 officers out of 9 put clean out of action –

[Page 28]
To-day we’re pretty right but for 48 hours I did nothing save my bare duty –
Rabaul is pretty & green – hot & damp – Not a ship was in the harbor – war – or otherwise when we anchored – Presently a boat came off & Lambson (Morru L) was in it – No news save about the S & G & Dresden & Nurnbourg – all sunk – This is excellent for with it out goes all petty useless resistance by small bodies of Germans who relied on the 2nd advent of their armed cruisers – no mail leaves here before January but I hear I can wire – The Eastern – a store ship – came in & the Una (Comet) Capt Jackson has come in – They’ve been at Wilhelmshaven & we were first here – we spotted Capt-T-flew the Senior1 officers pennant – The Destroyers are away up a river in New Guinea & what we are to do we don’t know at present – Coal is the 1st thing – We’ve 18 tons inboard – Food is a difficulty too – We had 3 sheep sent us from a broken down refrigerator & I promptly condemned the lot aided by 2 other officers (3 have to survey but I do the necessary).

[Page 29]
The 1st carcase floated but Mr Bumpus put lead on the other 2 & they sank – "Nice fresh meat" "Such a sweet delicacy" said Mr B with a solemn wink at me –Each of his majesty’s ships carries a seine & two boat crews volunteered to catch fish – out they went but only got about a dozen in all. However we’re going out to-night to a better spot & our luck will be better I fancy –I got a letter of yours – 2 Times & a SMH. Yours was dated Oct 30 & has enclosures from Paulleine & Ethel about Arthur – I read them all con amore & in the Times was a lot of good stuff –
I slept well last night & am quite a new man this morning & I am glad to say all my crowd are well too – They rallied wonderfully once they had discharged everything – My SBA worked hard & did good work but he dosed them on his own when I couldn’t talk – I’ve warned the officers not to take any medicine from him on his own – not even a pill – He announced to all & several when he left G Island that he had an infallible cure for seasickness

[Page 30]
Under an hour the prophet was vomiting badly himself & then came to me for a cure – I told him I hadn’t one – I’ve just had a bottle of Tasmanian Cider – A most excellent drink – I had no idea we had it –

Coaling is just starting & we shall be dirty before its over – Niggers coal us – Mr Bumpus views this with disgust - ‘Kiki – Smoke-O – Rest O’ – says Mr B & winked solemnly – "Better use our own men"
We had a thunderstorm last eveg. Temp at 6 am was 89o F – Generally its like a wet February in Q-land with a breeze from the NW – N.W. monsoonal weather –

Sunday. Dec 20-14.
Since I last wrote a few things have happened – of gossiping interest mainly – About noon on Friday we went up alongside the Eastern who lay at the Rabaul pier – where the old Berrima lay in Sept – We were to take coal from her – This interesting but dirty operation continued all Friday aftn. & eveg. till 2 am Saty. & finally ended about 1 pm on the Saty. Slow work but we couldn’t help that – Any rig is allowed – Bathing costume is a favorite one – Shouting – Singing – Language – It’s an ordered pandemonium of half naked men –

[Page 31]
We officers put on our dirtiest rig & proceeded to make the best of it – newspapers take the place of cloths in the ward room – Every man bar the Commander & Doctor has to work & the Doctor has to stand by for accidents – However I wanted to visit the Una on the other side of the wharf – I left word & cleared over & down to the pier – I went past the old Sumatra & was promptly hailed by Lambton & I went inboard & had a drink – I met him & Livesay – the paymaster of the Berrima – All seems well but no outside news save about the Scharnhorst – G – L – Like us they regard the Pacific job as a wash out now & want to get back to Sydney – Not a word of any European news & no out mail before January & you cant send a wireless without special permission – Troops at Rabaul are quite well – There seems to have been some little trouble with the Germans about the Natives & the Police – All this has been stopped by the destruction of their cruisers –

[Page 32]
We hear but we don’t know definitely that the Inflexible, Indomitable & Invincible – All Battle Ships of the Australia class did the wiping out – They’ve all got 12 inch guns. Here again you see it’s far superior gun fire that has done the trick – The German crowd wd. not have had a chance against one of these ships with their steel conning turrets & they had 3 against them – They asked me to lunch on the Sumatra but I was bound for the Una which lay astern & here I met Dr Skeete well & hearty – also Patrick – 1st Lieut – I had lunch with them – a nice lunch – The first decent meal since I left Sydney – Chinese cook is their happy lot – after lunch I went off to the P Office – to try & send a message thro to you – no luck – they had orders not to take any messages – wash out –

[Page 33]
I didn’t feel too strong so I just quietly walked to the old square with the Casuarinas on 3 sides where I saw the flag hoisted & had another look at it – It was quite quiet & very green – The Poincianas with their green flat tops flaring with red bloom attract your attention – Nature is revelling in the warmth & moisture & Crotons & Mangoes & Euphorbias vie with each other in growth – At the P. Office skiving in & out in the small garden were a mob of small swifts or martins - So swift & so small – They looked to me at first like big butterflies – Tell Rawdon I heard a Cooee bird the other morning – He’s an Indian migrant – a black cuckoo – Remember him at Gayndale –

[Page 34]
‘Wont you greet a friend from home
Half the world away?’ –

I liked quiet Rabaul – It was damp – green – beautiful – none but our Tommies were in the streets or roadways – our Tommies – Japs & Chinese – My old tailor called on me & I ordered 2 more suits, white

Interlude - 9. am. All hands mustered – officers at head of companies – ‘Shun’ – Commander & No 1 (1st L) walk up & down & inspect the ordered rig of the day – About – turn – The backs of the assembled men come in for the same critical inspection – Starboard side comes first – then Port side – Stewards are all lined up & examined – Then ‘Stand at ease’ – ‘Toll the bell’ Bell is tolled & everyone takes position & stands at ease – Out comes the C. prayer book in hand - ships company ‘Shun’ Caps Off – On go the prayers for some 7 minutes – the finish – ‘Ships Company’ On Caps

[Page 35]
‘Dis-perse.’ Right & Left about turn – At the double – fall out – Then came a meeting of the mess about monies & ratings – I listen to Mr Bumpus – a mine of cunning knowledge & worldly wisdom resides in his head – I follow his line & support him right there – He winks sagely at me every now & again – ‘A curious world’ ‘Got to be most careful’ ‘Never rush a thing’ ‘We may be out for months & we’ve lots of time’ I can hear him say or think with his most expressive countenance – We soon finish – I decline to play in a cricket match. No, I love to ‘Wanderjahr’ with a knife in the gardens & perhaps do a little looting among the plant life – Will I make a 4 for Bridge on the bridge – Blighters it’s but 10 am & on the Sabbath but I’m your man – I was in the old square on the Friday aftn. but shortly I went inboard & rested – I was much stronger on the Saty but stayed inboard all day – The Commander

[Page 36]
was very kind & I stayed in his room all morning – I just put in a quiet day & watched the ship finish coaling – then we went out – Wash down ships – ‘off shoes – on hose’, said Mr B – "A nice little ship in 10 minutes’ – ‘So sweet, so clean – such a pleasure to live in’ By 4 pm we were fairly clean & then the whole ship’s company rested –
Well I played Bridge – the ordinary B suits us best for the other means more gambling in our naval crowd & we cant run to that – Its just over – I lose 2d on the money’s play & a bottle of Tasmanian cider – value 1/3 – It’s a strong, rough life, this one. Our menu for breakfast was – grape nuts – steak – t or coffee – The cook cant cook one single atom & what I’m afraid of is food trouble – However I’ll do what I can but if we’re out for months on tinned stuff we’ll have to be careful –
We are going out on a stunt - working - We may get a scrap – the commander says -

[Page 37]

I’m going to post this because goodness knows when I can next communicate with you – Don’t worry if you don’t hear – Bar accidents we’re in a good ship, with real good men – Eight bells has gone & they just piped to dinner & I must do ditto –

Monday Dec 21-14 It stormed & rained all the Sunday night & to-day is tropical – I have written in my letter to you about our food troubles so there remains but to record that the men of the Fantome played the men of the Una at cricket on the famous square at Rabaul & inflicted a severe defeat in the one innings – Everyone was too exhausted for a second – The chief thing was the immense energy of the men – They ran up the pitch in thick heavy boots – They both ran the same side very often & dodged like footballers. They hit like demons – if they actually got hold of the ball it went for 6 & if they missed they fell over with their tremendous action –

[Page 38]
They bowled like Spofforth – at his worst & they hit like Bonnors & they cheered everything alike – good – bad or indifferent – with running comment on style – I was 1 Umpire & a man had to be bowled or caught – I gave them – well in – not out – under any other circumstances –
Then I blew in on the Una & had drinks & talked & saw a paper of Dec 12 with some account of Sturdee’s job of work – We don’t believe in that Submarine attack on Dover – nothing doing – We all came off at 6.30 – Gramophone in the eveg & bed –

Tuesday
22-12-14 I am going to end this section – Posting is out of the question – The censorship is very strong – It is impossible to say why – of course there are troops & sailors & they are indiscreet without intention very often – I was ashore & in the Gardens in the aftn – Everything is growing like mad & reeks with heat & damp – The wet bulb here is equal to & often a degree above the dry bulb – Tell Rawdon that sailor men call gas, electricity ‘Juice’ They sing out ‘Turn the juice on’ ‘Turn the juice off’ & so on – It’s expressive – The ‘juice’ is off for 2 hours & the fans wont work & its very hot – Commander F gave a dinner party to Holmes – Jackson, Lambton last eveg on the Fantome – We go to New Ireland to-morrow on an expedition –

[Page 39]
Part I
HMAS Fantome
& 7 to 22 –

- pages 31 –

[Page 40]
HMAS Fantome
Dec 22 – 14

Dear girl –
Ship’s company including self are all in the best of health & spirits –
To duly economise the time of the censor I wont say more save carry on as usual –

- Fred -

PS
Post regularly – we lack news – W.Times – Spectator – AMG & your own – Saty’s SMH – I shall get them safe – F –

[Page 42]
HMAS Fantome
Rabaul
Dec 21 – 14 –

Dear girl
The Matunga came in yesterday & brought your note of Oct – You’d got Hordern’s bills – Well I hope you like the things & that the King Lawn mower now moves in stately fashion over our small lawns I hope you’ve got my back pay & my present pay – Stir up Rawdon to see the N B in Melbourne if you don’t – Love to the children – Let them order their young lives – We’ve set their feet on the road & they must go on – no slackness – Early bed, early rise – To each his or her duty & then play & pleasure – I think of you all daily but so far I’ve had no means of communicating – You cant send messages from Rabaul – we came straight - even by wireless – Against orders – I doubt if you’ll get this before the 2nd week in January – Our trip up to date sees us all right but I am very dissatisfied with the food problem – Ten days out – We were minus fresh meat, bread, rice, potatoes – no water save distilled – The whole arrangements are exceedingly bad – We have no cold storage, no refrigerator – At Rabaul we got some ice & a little frozen meat – I’ve condemned the frozen!!! Mutton twice – throwing 4 sheep overboard – Five have been down with food poisoning – luckily they

[Page 42]
all pulled thro but if we are going on a long trip – in the tropics – much more care should have been exercised in selection, in storage & in handling – Our cook is absolutely incompetent – Our stewards mean well but they know very little – Our menu is – one thing for breakfast – tinned probably – there may be grape nuts or porridge – One for lunch with cheese – two for dinner – mostly tinned – To show the mismanagement I may mention that there may be rice stowed away somewhere under a hatch & I’ve asked for it daily for a week – This is rather long about the food but I’m struggling against a great repugnance to even go in for the meals – I dislike them so & that’s not a healthy state of affairs & I know many others think the same – You’ll say – Alter it – but there’s a cast iron system & you’re in the grip of it – Last night there was strong growling at ???Supper – Dinner at 12. Pork fresh – B & butter pudding (of the slush kind) All went well – We’d had a real top notch dinner for – us –

[Page 43]
I’ve kept a detailed journal but am posting this as well – We got to Rabaul on Thursday Dec 17 – Not a vessel in the harbor but during the day the Una (Comet) came in & the Store ship Eastern –
I was ashore & visited Dr Skeete on the Una & then the P Office & the old Square & had a walk round – Rabaul is still in military occupation & so far I cd judge as dead as mutton – Men in Kharki everywhere but no one else save Japs or Chinese – When at sea we learnt that the Scharnhorst G & Dresden & Nurnbourg had been sunk by Ad. Sturdee’s lot – Good luck to them – That sets the Pacific free & stops little isolated risings among Germans who looked to seeing their cruisers come back – What is our job – Police & patrol – We may go round the Admiralty islands – thence to Eutete on the N Guinea coast – then Wilhelmshaven – thence Rabaul or we may not Dear girl – No one knows – Well much love – Kiss the children - Fred –

[Page 44]
We had a cricket match & I was umpire in the aft – Supper 7 – Tinned brawn only & cucumber – I took a small bit & asked for vinegar – for my cucumber – We’ll see if there is any Sir!! Where’s the bread? We’ll see if there is any thingSir – Well what else is there to eat – Nothing Sir My language was quite polite but very forceful – I stuck to my guns amidst a lot of talk & I trust some good will result – I’ve been asked if I will be mess caterer & provided I have the necessary executive power I’m quite willing I said but for all that – with no decent provisioning of the Fantome – No provisions to be got at Rabaul & no fresh meat or cold storage I mightnt do much – You’ve got here to start right & then you can carry on – We cd easily have lost two lives out of the five & better catering wd have stopped all that – Now I’ll stop – I am going to write an article for the AMG on the subject – at least I think I will –
Weather is – Wet season – hot steamy – thunder rain

[Page 45]
Journal Part 2 –

HMAS Fantome
Wednesday Dec 23 – 14 – A naval brigade man died & we sent a detachment to the funeral under Mr Bompas at 8.30 – "The assembled ships company on this mournful occasion – will – at the cemetery – churchyard – stowaway or whatnot – assume an air – at once cheerful & subdued – cheerful – because our comrade has gone to a better land – subdued – because he forgot to pay his mess bill before he went" –
Corporal Nunn came inboard yesty. He looked very well & we had a nice yarn – He expects to go back to Sydney & I hope he will take my journal with him – After some iced beer has been drunk we reviewed service matters – Presently I was called away to join up a seining party made up of a whaler, skiff & tow boat – 25 men & 4 officers including the commander – We went to Matupu – an island about 3 miles down the harbor. It came on a tropic downpour but as the rig of the day was – bathing costume – it didn’t matter – We had a good time, swimming, pulling in the seine but as a fishing party it was a dead dead failure – However it was a great outing both for men & officers – We got back by 7.15 & had grand appetites

[Page 46]
I got some huge star-fish – weird – red tuberculated beasties & they now lie drying in my cabin – By the way its quite impossible here in Rabaul to get \p-cards – photos or any curios – It’s also far too hot to go into the Bush even if allowed – When we got back we found our fellow officers – inboard – very lively – very cheery & good hearted & shouting drinks for us - . I had a drink & then awoke to the fact that they’d all put in time at Bridge & Cocktails & the Cocktails accounted for much – never mind – we put in a good, good, eveng in true ‘roaring ranting’ naval fashion – By Jove, this is a life on its own – The man on the beach knows nothing of this life – of course on a gunboat with a small crowd of us, we must all pull together & this we Fantomians do with a vengeance – We’ve improved the mess as much as we can & for the rest say nothing but when we get a chance to get a meal – outside – we take it – True sailor philosophy.

[Page 47]
The seining & outing has done me a lot of good & Richard is his self once & again & played a fair game of bridge last eveng & smoked cigarettes & drank – Lemon squash & soda – By the way Lemon squash is in bottles 1/8 each (about). We pour a lot & fill up with soda & its good, cheap & quite the sound drink – never exceed in alcohol – if you feel anyway heady – the signal is – Stand by –
The censoring of letters is going on – I’ve written a nice little account of "An outbreak of Ptomaine poisoning on a man of war" but its publication will be delayed because I read it over to Fgd & he said – Better wait – ‘There is a little criticism in it & the naval board might have a pang’ – Its all right but it must wait –
We go out at 6 pm & all is in readiness – I’ll wind up with a Bluejacket’s wit when the storm opened up yesterday – "Quartermaster – send a couple of hands aloft & have that noise stopped"

[Page 48]
I wrote in the forenoon but I have more to add – I heard an epigram in the smoke room which is good even if not original – ‘Work is the curse of the drinking man’!! said a 30 year old philosopher –
Well now the ‘juice’ is on & all is serene & good –
About 2 pm – Skeete of the Una & Lts Patrick & Powell came off in a motor launch towing a boat full of niggers & the C & I joined up & off we went – We went down harbor about 3 miles & got between the island Matupi & the main land – We traveled to a certain corner where we cd see steam coming up off the surface of the sea – It was a hot spring – I cd see the water boiling in it – We got up close – tried the temp & in we hopped – Tell R – though – we had sounded & got 10 feet I struck my chest at 5 feet & scraped the skin off – A rock came up – no great harm & we swam in the hot water & now & again scuttled like anything from a boiling patch – It was an unique experience for most of us – One saw steam bubbles coming up in certain parts & those spots were hot spots – Leakage from the cauldron –

[Page 49]
I got to the lava beach at one spot & the basalt rock was hot as an oven – There is a live crater close by – I collected a handful of small shell fish from these rocks – We then got inboard & went lurking fish – we had an expert dynamiter aboard & the niggers were to collect the fish – The boat went ahead now – 4 niggers pulled quietly. Powell was the dynamiter & the rest watched – We – with a Chinese engineer – of the placid, clean shaved, close cropped type – steamed very quietly in the rear –
After some time the niggers grew excited & Powell stood up – lit a fuse to which was attached 2 small plugs of dynamite & threw this into a shoal – In one minute there was a muffled roar & over 10 yds fine fish were thrown into the air – Then you should have seen the excitement – over went the niggers, over went the white men – A thin yellow streak flashed

[Page 50]
past me – It was Chinese – Naked as an infant – agile as an eel – he more than held his own, swimming, diving collecting fish from the bottom China was easily among the first & how he loved it – He grinned, he chattered – His whole nature bubbled over – He was the primitive hunter once again – In addition to our mob this shot awoke a native village just on the shore line & down came every male inhabitant – Shouting, gesticulating – yelling – Hand over hand they came to us – Many carried fish spears – Boys galore – All talking at once & collecting the fish – Some bit the fish in the head if he wd not keep still – We got 43 – fine fish that shot & no fish was under 3 lbs – A splendid lot – Then inboard & China was again the philosophical engineer –

[Page 51]
We tried a second shot with no result – but a third shot gave us a fine lot of blue tails - ?Mullet – Again the primitive man showed itself – China once again threw off his mask & was a first class sport – A second village on the shore emptied its male inhabitants into the sea & how they loved it – A catamarran turned over & this was the signal for shrieks of merriment – Well we had to get inboard & away for steam was ordered for 6 pm – We went up to Rabaul with a load of glorious fish – The green mountains towered around us & the cocoa palm plantations look resplendent – On the bow of our launch stood a naked black Adonis – broad shouldered – narrow hipped – black as coal with a flaming Zinnia red waist cloth – He formed a magnificent statue.

[Page 52]
We smoked cigarettes & talked – The instant we got to the gangway we heard the Eastern was aground & had sent for help – Our anchor was up – Our Commander got instructions & out wewell
went – full belt to the rescue – Night closed on us & the velvety heaven was star spangled & I had my mattress – right aft – I had the centre of that mattress opposite a stanchon so as not to roll right off into the ditch & I slept the sleep of the pure in heart –
When our boat came alongside the gangway I asked the 3 officers to have a drink – It was a rush & I never saw 3 men get outside a bottle of cider in quicker time – By Jove it was good – We’re going to work the Eastern for our Xmas dinner & keep ours for New Year – The thing to say is – We have only biscuits & a few lemons – Real – hard up – hard grafting – British Seamen –

[Page 53]
Xmas Day 1914 We are at Kawieng – the capital of New Ireland – a very pretty spot - Rabaul is known as the furnace of of the islands but this Spot is paradise – A coral isle – beset by treacherous reefs – The Eastern got on & got off without our help – lucky for her – you should see the combers on the reefs – We anchored off the Governor’s residence & presently a lot of us went ashore – New Ireland was German but is now British – An outpost is here & is to be relieved – I went to the hospitals & saw several cases of disease – Ellis is the orderly & a very decent man – He showed me everything – gave me claret & biscuit – By the way I’ve got for you a lovely silver coin – size of a 5/ piece – New Guinea company coin – rare & will be rarer – On the reverse is a bird of paradise in full outspread plumage – I have a smaller one for Mab – They’ll make lovely brooches & be quite unique – now – Word has just come by wireless that a German ship is within 100 miles – We have cleared for action – Awnings, stanchions & rails down – all ready for instant work – Guns out – loaded – Maxim ready – Everything tiptop readiness – My SBA broke his leave last eveg – Drink I fancy – He’ll get scrubbed – All his leave is gone – He’ll be up & toe the quarter deck & the Commander will do the talking – He’s a true ass –

[Page 54]
Here’s a naval song - roared by the mess –

‘Pass around the grog my boys & never mind the score’
‘For when your money is all done we’ll go to sea for more’ –
‘Here’s to him who’ll never merry merry be’
‘And will not taste of joy –
Sing – sing – Ye jolly sailors (ye silly blighters) – Sing –
God – Save – the – King

Well Xmas eve was a roaring one on HMAS Fantome & the grog went round & down I can tell you – I kept all right – for I always think of the future & besides I am in charge of a good deal –
Its 10 am Xmas Day – There’s to be a grand native festival ashore – I saw the pigs being roasted on hot stoves by the natives – I don’t know whether we’ll get ashore again – I want to get this thro to you if I can – That’s my main point this Xmas day – I’ll drink your sweet self & the children – Don’t worry – I’ll take every chance to communicate –

[Page 55]
Part 2
Pages 10

[Page 56]
Part 3

H.M.A.S Fantome
Sat. 26-12-14

Well – Xmas day was fine, cool & rainless – There is no doubt but that I put in a very good day – I saw much that was novel – Dinner was at 1 pm – I’ve kept the menu & on its back is inscribed the names of all the officers present – Duck was there & Tomato Soup & plum pudding – A man who wanted more was is a Sybarite –I went on shore about 10.30 – I had two jobs of work – one of which was seeing that you got some mail from me - quietly - I fixed all up & felt a free man – Natives had come in to Kawieu from all parts & there was singing & dancing – Many of the masks & Head dresses were very fine – I saw one – made of the feathers of the Torres Strait pigeon – black & white – very fine indeed – I spotted cockatoo & parrot & swamp pheasant feathers – I tried to blow their bamboo trumpets but c- not get a note – They get a rumble like thunder – The women & children came in – I gave cigarettes

[Page 57]
to the best looking Marys – They smoked them very nicely – How the men danced – not the women – I only saw one woman dance. Some of them - seated on their crouching with bent knees – They had coconut shell strung on bamboo & this they rattled & chanted a monotonous sing song – Yes – I also saw a body of girls, with some elder women, with flowers in their hands – form a circle & chant weirdly – Some men – had wax masks tight fitting – military – scarlet – tunics & then bunches of green fern all round their waists hanging down – They were armed with old rifles & gave a military dance – rocking – swaying, crouching, jumping up & hurling forward – then sinking & swaying & all the while the tom toms beat the time. This went on all morning & all the aftn – In the aftn rice & biscuit was served out & roast pig & finally the Administrator distributed trade tobacco & then finale – Thorold is the administrator –

[Page 58]
I told you we were cleared for action & in instant readiness – still – I got ashore both am & pm – I learnt how my SBA had been behaving ashore – pretty disgracefully – My estimate of his character was more than correct – Mr Bumpus calls him ‘au ullage’. you can look up ullage in Webster – Mr B generally knows what he is saying –
"This isn’t Harry Lauder’s navy – my son" – is another of his sage remarks –
About 5 pm a gun recalled the crew – Smoke had been seen on the horizon – The Blue Peter was up at the fore & a single blast from a 4 pounder soon had every officer & man tumbling inboard from whaler & cutter & skiff –
For a bit all was excitement & then it washed out – Two rounds of revolver cartridges have been served out to each officer in case of boat attacks – I have mine nice & handy – I wonder what it wd feel like to shoot a man – perhaps several men –

[Page 59]
The talk on shore was local – They had no news – you remember a missionary being badly beaten by some Germans including a German Doctor at a plantation on this island some weeks ago – The culprits were arrested – Corporal Ellis – AMG – saw the missionary – He dressed his sores – He was badly beaten – Well – 4 of the culprits were stripped & publicly flogged in the square at Rabaul – Every German was compelled to be present & hear the sentence but was not compelled to witness the flogging – The Dr got 30 on his bare buttocks with a rattan cane the others 25in
in diminished ratio – the least guilty was flogged privately –Serve them quite right – It was a just punishment – That will protect Britishers in out of the way places. This spot Kawieu is the capital of New Ireland – Some 30 well built houses & stores – an hotel – closed at present – Fine promenade along the beach – Casuarinas flank it on both sides & give great shade – There is a good breeze –

[Page 60]
Tell Rawdon I again saw - - our familiar black & white fantail – He wagged & jerked his tail & said ‘sweet pretty creature’ in New Ireland just as well as at Glen Innes – I also saw another sight at sea – Huge numbers of white ? gulls or terns, intermixed with huge black birds - ? Skua gulls – They were attacking a shoal of fish – There were hundreds of them wheeling, dipping Screaming – White as snow drift & but every now & again a swift – arrow winged black kite of a bird swooped & got his share & as much more as he could seize –
I’ve felt the want of a camera very badly – The whole of yesterday’s native dancing wanted the camera – You cd have got no end of negatives – They had a clown with a cocoa nut face & I saw an Albino & examined him – No pigment – poor chap – white hair – red irises – photophobia – Red & white very harsh skin -

[Page 61]
In the aftn Fitz – Gordon & self – got put ashore on Nusa Island – Islands exist all around us – Gordon tackled the reef for shells – It was too covered for F & self so we walked around the island – I wanted a camera badly now & again to reproduce – a solitary native – perched on a rock – spear in hand – working fish – The Pacific – sullenly breaking, with a vast spume of foam & a thundering roar – on a jagged coral coast line – The spray & foam go up 30 feet & more – I gathered botanical specimens & we knocked in cocoa nuts & drank the milk - By the way my Botanical curiosity did us a good turn the day we landed – I spied on the pier a bag of green nuts & I at once examined them – Limes said I – Grand – Let’s collar the lot said Gordon – So we did – Got the skiff alongside & sent it off to the ward room & now we’ve a sack full of lovely limes – 7 lbs of sugar were used up zest in lime drinks – we’ve got to look after that wardroom – Their original destiny we learnt was the Eastern but they wont see them – ever – At 5.30 we left Nusa & got inboard – Bridge – I won every rubber – 10d – p.c.

[Page 62]
My SBA got a days pay stopped & 21 days leave – Serve him right – He’s a degenorate – He lied right thro his explanation to the Commander – He’ll go on to the Beach when we get back to Sydney –
Another bluejacket was charged with a most serious offence – He entered the house of a German – Pulled down a flag & collared a pistol – He was drunk of course – He’s remanded –Fitz had the whole ship’s company aft & lectured the men severely – It’s a few always who play the fool & cant behave themselves – They’ll get scrubbed I can tell you in war time –

Sunday 27-14 – At 6 am F - self & Gordon got a skiff & went to the beach & bathed – G & I had previously jumped from the gangway of the ship – I got some ferns & Chinese lantern (Hernandia) fruit – A very fine tree – Barringtonia with its square fruit grows here & some fine Screw pines but the Sea fringe is the true home of the Coco nut palm – Everything in the floral world yields pride of place to this glorious, beneficent palm. Humans, pigs, rats, crabs, beetles, flying foxes & other organisms look to it for sustenance & don’t look in vain –

[Page 63]
Its about 9 am & we are off – out to sea – There is some talk of Germans & a G-ship outside – "Give peace in our time" says Mr Bumpus with a solemn wink at me – Well – we’re off out God knows where – but this ship’s company is as fit as fiddles & our guns carry ? 7000 yards – Out we went & I saw the most wonderful masterpiece of seascape I have ever seen – There are no end to the reefs & islands but this particular vista was a vista that ran between two islands – palm fringed – The Fantome, the deep blue sea with its coral bottom – then green of the greenest water & white foam – then the islands & reefs & foam & beyond more white strung breakers, then the deep blue again of the Pacific & then main land with fine huge mountains right in the back ground – The day was a superb one & the play of light & color over this vast panorama added to its superb beauty –to be seen

[Page 64]
We are right away to the N of New Ireland in straits called after Byron after (Admiral B) – you don’t travel by night – only by day – You have a man always up at the foretop & the foretop & the bridge are joined up by telephone – These parts are very little visited – What impresses me is the hugeness of the pictures – the vastness of Nature’s masterpieces – You can – from a boat – view the sea bottom – coral – all coral – Coral with green tipped prongs – purple tippedowls prongs – so beautiful in life but dull grey in death – When we bathe we wear sand shoes or your feet wd soon be cut to pieces – in addition you may put your foot on a sea hedgehog & then you’ll know it – One or two did that at Rabaul & where the spines entered lay remained dark marks –
We’ve 2 police boys & a prisoner on board. The prisoner is said to have made ‘Kiki’ of his mother in law – He looks a ferocious sort of chap –

[Page 65]
but we have no details about his trouble with his wife’s family –
Well we stood out to sea & in the eveng got into touch with Rabaul & got orders by wireless – We were to steam back to Kawieu & put our police on shore – we darkened ship & I went to bed early – My SBA says he has Appendicitis - what he is after is some medical comfort – I’ve ordered starvation & distilled water (So harmless & nice says Mr B) & as he’s not much to do he can rest – I cant very well cut him open aboard ship or I would –

Monday D 28-14. Back to Kawieu & put off our prisoner & police & now its ‘up whaler’ & off again to Somewhere – Thorold & Manning came off but not inboard – ‘Exercise for action’ Guns out – Ammunition served out – You’ve to be careful on the poop deck at night – Aft – its sides are naked – All stanchions & chains down – ready for action – Gun’s crew has to answer to their numbers any time & they do it too –

[Page 66]
I lie & squint at them – A blast of the hooter & we all have to rush to quarters – every man on the ship – Such is life under the White Ensign in war time – with either a Jap or a German warship! in your vicinity. The Navigator has had a bad attack of – Malaria – he calls it – Alcoholic vomiting & malarial vomiting are much the same & A.V. far the commonest – That’s his trouble anyway. We’re off – out again to the deep blue water but where to I don’t know – I’ve reread Major Barbara & Candida but the best thing I’ve ever read is the life of Socrates – His ‘Memorabilia’ by Xenophon – Its absolutely modern, very direct & simple & as a guide to life & conduct I’ve never read anything so good – When you’ve read it your eyes get wide opened to much that was dim before – He was a wonderful man –Defaulters were up before the C. this morning – The man who entered a house in Kawieugot 60 days detention – It starts on his arrival in Sydney – He’ll spend 59 nights in the ‘jam pot’ on Garden Island & be told what

[Page 67]
his job will be during the day – A court martial they say wd have given him 18 months –
Our job is to pick up the Eastern & act as her convoy to various places – We are not sure where She is but we’ll get hold of her somehow – nothing doing all day – I had to jettison those star fish of mine – They smelt very very badly – Darken ship means early bed on the poop in the air – These sailor men are gradually follg my example & sleeping out but they are singularly fond of stuffy cabins – They also believe in being ‘moon’ stricken whatever that may mean – It’s a relic of medievalism – My SBA’s appendicitis is gradually going – chiefly due to my lack of sympathy – I inspected the dispensary yesty & my remarks to him on his want of tidiness will I trust bear fruit at an early date – Fancy any drawers or boxes of mine being untidy – Its quite unthinkable to me –

Wednesday D30-14 – All Tuesday we travelled towards an island known as Pleasant? Some 500 miles to the E of Kawieu– We caught a little Press news – It gave a few details about the naval scrap at the Falklands.

[Page 68]
It told a little of the "ebb & flow of human misery" in N W France & Eastern Prussia – Great fighting at ‘Bizura’. It isn’t on our maps – In the enemy wireless told us there was a Jap – ship in our vicinity – Some 5-6 miles off but we saw nothing of her or any other ship – At midnight we stopped – We’re half way & ought to meet the Eastern – It’s 10 am & we are still here – All is well on board – Dinner last eveg was – A tin of whitebait – some rice – They opened a tin of sheep’s tongues & I got one & did all right – I had rice & some marmalade for breakfast – One doesn’t want very much but I take no risks – The cook is the trouble – He is quite useless – We are close up – within a degree of the equator – Fitz. tells me we are not going - N. of it – There is an agreement he states between the British & Japs that the latter are to remain in military occupation until the end of the war – However I know we’ve been to Yap in the Yap Carolines which is just on 10 ° N –

Thursday D 31-14 – Here we are – flapping our wings no Eastern – no news – nothing – Some roll, heat humidity within 53 miles of the Equator.

[Page 69]
No – the Eastern went to Pleasant island right on the Equator & may have gone on to Ocean island – The probability is we wont melt.
"May the Lord – stiffen - at an early date - the commander who sent us on this stunt" is the pious prayer of Mr Bumpus –
If the Eastern does not turn up we must go to Rabaul – for coal - & we are ? 3 days journey E of Rabaul -Its rather a difficulty to put in time – Reading is almost out of the question in the heat – The smoke room & wardroom are sweat boxes – The best thing is early bed on the poop with the stars in the velvety blue above you –
Our dinner on New Years eve was – some ham, beans & rice pudding – Then we passed the Port & drank – The King – then we had several more ports – the bottle going round freely – then we adjourned & had the gramophone out on the rail of the ship – Pay came along & said he had an announcement to make – We went into the wardroom & found he had N. Year greetings from the Ship’s company –

[Page 70]
I was selected to draw up a suitable reply – Off I went & soon did it – When I came back – port – was going round freely & the chief Steward had been asked to have a glass – several glasses – My composition met with general approval & was promptly typed & sent forward to the Ship’s Company –Rain had come on – We darken ship at 7.30. We sat in the wardroom – coats off & talked & drank – At 9.45 I retired promising to join up at midnight & drink toasts – I went to bed & was called at 11.50 – turned out & in I went – At midnight or just before a bugler played the revelly – then the last post – then the revelly again & then the Ships Company joined in with cheering & pots & pans banging & a general pandemonium – We drank

[Page 71]
to the King – Wives & Sweethearts – Absent ones – The Navy – The Allied forces – I cleared out then & turned in & woke up nice & fresh at 6 am – Jan 1-1915 & had my cocoa & a small bit of biscuit –
Friday Jan 1-1915 - Had a hose bath – Read the ‘Memorabilia’. Breakfasted on a bit of bacon & some rice & coffee – Sick parade – My SBA knows his exact position now – Give him an inch & he’d go to Hell – I make him do physical drill with the men & told him I want no complaints & also told him to cultivate by every means his physical powers & I’ve locked up harmful drugs & taken the keys from him – I’m making a man of him – He’s bad material – ‘Au Ullage’ says Mr Bumpus every now & again –
We had prayers & then Fitz & I walked & talked. He’s going to hang on so long as his coal lasts – We cant get Rabaul or the Eastern by wireless – We’ve stuck here 3 days but it must be Rabaul before long for coal is going out –

[Page 72]
One grasps very much the difficulties & hardships of German cruisers with no coal – no stores – no water – hunted from spot to spot by the British & then a watery grave –
1915 is going to be an awful year for the Earth. It will probably see a series of Waterloos & God knows how many of us will see 1916 – I’ve been now on ‘active service’ in the Australian naval section of the Fleet since Aug 22nd. My baptism & even confirmation may be said to have been successfully conducted – I am rapidly progressing in wisdom & knowledge – I wonder how long I shall remain a Naval Officer – I am proud & glad to be a Volunteer – but I shouldn’t care to be a real service man – By the way I shall get the New Guinea medal for being with the Fleet in Sept & they say we shall get something – a bar - ? – for the present job – I wonder if we shall? – If we go into action something extra I believe – Fitz wont run if we meet the cruiser Cormorant & they say she can scoop us – Our men are dying to meet the Germans – We may –

[Page 73]
The day wore on slowly -but till about 5 pm when we again sent our our call thro Space – Crack, crack, crackgoes went the electoricflame messenger just like an X-ray machine throwing a ten inch spark – This time we got a reply & from the Eastern too – It’s a wonderful thing – Where was she? – About 8 pm we got her position in code & Mr Bumpus picked up her recognition signal at 3 am on the 2nd - & now she is behind us & we both proceed to Rabaul – together – We got an important bit of news viz that the German cruiser Cormorant is interned at the American island of ?Guam in the Carolines – for the rest of the war – Our other enemy the ?Eifel Frederick is still at large – whereabouts is not known but supposed to be coming this way – we darkened ship at 7.30 &

[Page 74]
steamed about 6 knots per hour – West – we are now doing 11 – We had some Bridge in Fitz’s room last eveg but it was far too hot & we soon washed it out & went to bed on the poop only to be washed out by the rain at 3 am –

Saty Jan 2nd 1915 – Convoy is the order of the day – we lead & the Eastern follows so that this stunt has turned out all right –
No prayers Saty morning – Holy stone instead – We all have our feet bare – pants turned up & wade about while the men scrub down & clean up for Sunday –
Sick parade 8.30 – no one save a lad of 17 who has been seasick off & on since we left Sydney – I’ve given him very light work – none at all if necessary – No one else sick – It’s hot & sticky & I think of the clean heat of Glen Innes & its lovely nights & I reread my journal of 1914 telling what happened – Any races at Deepwater this year?

[Page 75]
Sunday Jan 3-1915 – The hook is down – we are anchored on our old spot – Rabaul harbor – for the third time – The Eastern went up to the pier – no news at all – no mail – The Matunga goes out on the 5th & will carry a Sydney mail – You’ll get a lot of mail all at once – I expect you’re a bit worried – not hearing – but it cannot be helped in war time –
What’s the buzz – Well – this – that the Una will go to Sydney for repairs & that we shall go to Wilhelmshafen in N. Guinea & on to the Admiralty islands & then back here – ‘quien sabe’ I say – What we want - is – fresh food – Fanny Adams – (I told you tinned dog is called F.A. in the navy) gets on your nerves – meal after meal – I manage fairly well – rice is my staple article of diet –
‘Though your sins be as scarlet yet shall they be white as wool’ said the Chief Engineer to the mess gathering as we all got our bills & everything was squared – Wash out – all sin – all indeed – all ‘frantic boast’ & foolish word’

[Page 76]
on the 1st of each month – Clean bill of ladinghealth & on we go –
I was asked to report on my SBA to Jan 1 – The lowest is ‘inferior’ next ‘moderate’ & so on to "very good" – A lot of words – I gave him ‘moderate’ – I have evicted him out of the dispensary & locked it up & keep the keys – He is quite untrustworthy, untruthful & distinctly non moral – On shore I should give him notice – Here I’ll watch him & block him – Given an honest, upright, moral SBA much good can be done – I distinctly am of opinion that this man panders to the low instincts of ignorant men – I shant stand that –
Rabaul is green as green can be – hot & humid – Washing is off – excellent – for clothes dirty so – We coal at 6 am Monday – Leave is granted – in uniform – till 6.30 pm – I am writing an article on Kawieu & its natives & Xmas day there for the Qd Nat. Hist Socy

[Page 77]
I was out with a dynamite fishing party this afternoon & we got some great hauls of red pointer, blue striped garfish & big spotted trevally – The Commander – Skeete - self & a lot of us went & had a grand time – Once inboard I got a note from Corporal Nunn – He’ll take anything I like to Sydney – You’ll get the big silver N.G coin Mab the small one – R. the triangular bandage – I’ve written an article to the M. Journal on our ptomaine stunt – A second that I’ve sent to Turner – on Xmas day in New Ireland & on the natives. He passes it on to the Nat. Hist Soc of Brisbane – Its for them – I am going to wind this up here – Carry on as per usual – See that you get my pay 29£ p m – We maynt be home for months – All is quite well & I’m most careful – We had fish & a bit of steak for dinner – Fancy putting your teeth into fresh meat – Lovely - Fred –

[Page 78]
Journal – Part 4 - HMAS Fantome
Wednesday –
Jan – 6-14 – I have nothing special to narrate – no ship so far has left here for Sydney – the effect of that is that none of our friends can get word of us before the 4th week in Jany. We are sending to Sydney for more food – more supplies – Rumor has it we wont be home for the next six months – we are all jolly & well – My SBA asked the Captain for leave to return to Sydney – Fitz sent him on to me – I said – no – You’ll see this stunt thro & be all the better for it – I advised him to volunteer for every bit of hard physical drill & graft going & to swim whenever he got a chance – I’m afraid he’s an utter waster –
Mab & the boy wd have felt pleased seeing me handling the cutter going to the beach yesterday – 12 oars – I was in charge – Instead of bow & stroke. You say Port & Starboard – They pull all the way - hard - Its half a mile – "Easy – Ship port oars & she

[Page 79]
glided sweetly along side the pier & they all wait for me to get out – We’re in uniform which is a damned nuisance for every soldier or every other one salutes you & you have to salute in return & you get fed up after a bit – never – mind – We managed to coal on the one day – I was out for 2 hours in the aft & got caught in a tremendous rain fall – I took refuge in a Chinese laundry & sat there an hour & a half – Coaling & drinking in the ward room go hand in hand – We were up alongside the Eastern & the hospitality & conviviality was immense – One officer will get scrubbed for overdoing himself – Fitz tells me that when a lad of 17 he could take a bottle of whisky a day & thought nothing of it. !!!! – He’s taken to me & I dined with him Monday night & last night he again sent for me – I got him to play Bridge – we are going to start learning Auction so as to

[Page 80]
hook the unwary – we wont play for money – at any rate – for some weeks – a chap lost 2000 points here the other night at 5d per hundred – That’s not good enough – as a game – to put in time –
Fitz is of very good Irish family – training – a gentleman – also an egoist – whether it’s good or bad that he has been engaged in – He tells me his navy record is far too rotten for him ever to get big command – All your doings – from the moment you enter the training ship –is are recorded by the Admiralty & they work on that – It shows the necessity for inculcating self control & truth & a sense of responsibility even in young lads – Think of all that for our lad – Rawdon –
Tuesday aftn I called on Dr Strangman – PMO – He’s just up – I went to the hospital – 35 men in it down with Malaria – There’s a lot of Malaria here – the bad cases seem to come from New Guinea – Wilhelmshafen –

[Page 81]
It seemed to me that there wanted more organization in his department – He told me microscope work wd take 7 hours a day – He’s a good man I could see but in this climate – you want much help – You want organizers & clinicians & then behind them you want the bacteriological staff – to do nothing else but blood work – Malaria is a disease of man – the worst & commonest in the tropics – transmitted from man to man – by the Mosquito – no mosquito – no malaria – not every mosquito gives malaria – The genus Anopheles is the one – The cause of the disease is an animal parasite, that lives – part of its life – in the mosquito & - part – in the red blood corpuscles of man – He ruins & destroys red blood cells & everything else goes to ruin – as a natural sequence in the body –
The blood of every single case has to be examined & on that exam is based all the treatment –

[Page 82]
As per usual I picked up a good many practical hints – The men lie on ambulance stretchers on the floor – The sooner the authorities make a base at Cairns or Townsville & transmit the sick there out of this fever den the better I should have thought –
I talked a good bit to Dr Fitzherbert (Captain) S. is Major – He was a jolly young chap but didn’t seem to relish his job - I advised him to keep right up to his work & learn all he could & not to worry – It’s the humid heat that takes the energy out of the men – Water 80 – air 84 – wet bulb 81 – A lot of moisture – If your fan don’t act in your cabin you’ve got to leave – The juice failed at 2 am this morning & I had to take my bed & clear – I couldn’t stick it at all – After seeing & hearing all I could – I joinedwith Gordon & Gauntlet & we walked to the Gardens & the native Hospital which seemed filthier than ever – then we went

[Page 83]
inboard the Fantome & had Beef – Mutton Steak ?pudding or pie - no one could tell – but we got the meat & some beer - & then I ordered out the Port & Sherry to be put in front of me & sent them round twice & this made a cheery crowd – cheerier & we had a pleasant evening & all went well – P & S only cost us (duty free) 3d per glass & it certainly does no harm a couple of wine glasses. At 7 am I leapt from the rails of the Fantome into the ditch – Dam the sharks. One other officer & I do this every morning – Of course we go like blazes to the gangway & get on it – I don’t think there’s any danger & it is so refreshing to dip in the briny – Jackson lets all his crew jump over-board daily & I urge Fitz to keep our men fit by swimming & bathing – The men quote me to their officers "The doctor says it’s better than his medicine – so healthy – Sir" –

[Page 84]
I’ll wind up with a little true yarn – Bumpus & I were on the quarter deck – 3 men came up & saluted – What’s up said B – "Its about a box – Sir – Who is the owner? – Sir" – Right-Oh said I – I’m a T.P. I’ll hear it –
A had a box – B says he’ll give 5/ for it – Right says A & hands over box – B hasn’t 5/ just at the moment but says he’ll pay – B has box – In mean time C meets A & says he’ll give A 10/ for box – A wanted B to return the box on the grounds (1) that he wasn’t paid – (2) that he’d get 10/- for it in place of 5/- - Whose box is it Sir – please??
Judgment - C washes out – Transaction is between A & B – B owes A 5/- Carry on –
Arent they funny, just like children? – Quite satisfied – they went forward – A ship like this is a big doll’s house – you get to know each dolly intimately & each dolly gets to know every other dolly – go easy & they are the simplest crowd to me – the most sociable & most loyal to their mates – Officers & Ship

[Page 85]
One of our dolls was going over to the Una yesty. He was transferred – It was the aftn. He wasn’t a very popular doll – He’d argue too much for his mates – As he & his hammick went over the side – one wag of a doll got the bugle & gave in full blast – ‘The Admiral’s Salute’. This is a well known call – Officers stood to attention & the Commander rushed out wondering what was up – The bugler doll got 14 days no 10 this morning for his infernal cheek – All his spare time for 2 weeks he drills – but really I think he ought to have got clean off – his sense of humor must be good =
2 pm – Raining like only the tropic can rain – The Matunga has gone out - At last - Went out this morning after endless delay & carries belated letters to Sydney – She’s got a move on anyway – We’re supposed to go to Bougainville to-morrow but I fancy we wont move just yet =

[Page 86]
Well I’m going to post this – Note how the stamps have OS perforated on them - On Service - Those stamps years to come will be of value – On S. in the great war - - The Eastern ought to go out to-morrow or Friday & she will carry it –
Carry on as per usual – Sell Peggy & Breggy for our agreed on price – Make R. clean – truthful, helpful – Tell him I’m always thinking of you all – I met Travers – I called on Holmes. He was away but Capt Travers is a brother of Sydney McGregor’s late partner - He came inboard to us & had cider – I asked him why they didn’t get a mob of cattle over from Cairns or Townsville & have fresh food – Ditto cows – Ditto sheep – He said they hadn’t thought of it – It was a good idea – The military train is hide bound by red tape – Well I’ll keep going – I jumped into the ditch this eveg – Very good – Tell R. to skip to swim – sleep out – shoot with rifle with an adult – See to nice clean clothes & shoes – teeth & sweetness – Much love – Fred –

[Page 87]
Part 4

Journal

Menu of Xmas dinner –

Officers names on back

Keep Menu

[Page 88]
Friday Jan 8-15 I’ve reopened my Journal – The Eastern awaits the Morinda coming in & we are waiting as well – It means mails – Wednesday it rained heavily & I remained inboard. We started Auction bridge – We thought we ought to learn it because when well played it seems a pretty sure source of income & we must look to the future – One man played with farmers ashore & got 15£ - It involves much more cunning & insight as to the declarations & opens up the road for what is known as Bluff – A Machiavellian game – I don’t quite know whether my intelligence department approves of dissipating its energy that way –
I was the cause of a rumpus among the military on Thursday – It came to my knowledge that my Bluejackets got thro the pickets ashore to Houses of ill Fame – Japanese – I promptly reported to Fitz & he as promptly told the Military – They denied that this could happen & went into the matter but Fritz & I stuck to our guns – told them what

[Page 89]
was going on & last eveg our liberty men were confronted by pickets everywhere round the honey jars – "Cant do it Johnny – Got very strict orders – No ‘ope" –
Blamed if I go ashore again said one seaman to me – "Cant go nowhere" – "Musnt look at anyone next" Just wicked children who’ve got to be taken care of by their officers – I know Rabaul & its limitations & take no chances –

I met Basil Holmes in his Ford car yesty – He looks well – He & the Brigadier return by the Eastern to Sydney – He hopes to go to the front in Europe –
Buz has it we’re going to New Guinea – join up the Destroyers & search for the Lubeck which Lubeck has 10 – 4 inch guns & 14 – quick firers & 2 submerged torpedoes – She’d finish us quick & lively but the Destroyers might make her sit up – by night attack – Quieu Sabe – We had a guest night & it was great – Sailor men, enjoying themselves - After the King anything

[Page 90]
can be said or done – For absolute freedom of discourse & comment give me a naval mess – We wind up at 11 pm – Lights out & bed – Fitz let all the Ship’s company over the side yesty – This is very good for the men – I have just sent to Sydney for 6 lbs of Quinine. Fitz thinks we ought to have a good bit & so do I especially if we go up Rivers – I was a the Hospital yesty & saw Strangman & Fitzherbert again & talked Malaria – I’ve never had any dealings with Malaria – I got some good hints – of course here I cant do any blood work – mine’s simply clinical observation & treatment –
The S.S. Sumatra has had queer treatment – The naval brigade officers had it her as barracks – They’ve been put out in the stream & some 120 malarial patients shoved inboard with them – Lambton is furious & I’m with him. Fancy sleeping close to 120 malarial cases & a ship full of mosquitoes who bite & transmit – Fitzherbert has already had an attack of malaria –

[Page 91]
Sat Jan 9-15 It’s 11 am – The point is when does the Eastern go out? – 4 pm is the time favored – Still the Morinda was got by wireless last eveg & she will be in on Sunday – I chance nothing & I am off to the Eastern & part 4 of my – J goes with me & will be posted in Sydney by a friendly soldier man – All is well – You may or may not hear from me for a month or more – Don’t worry – All will go well – if otherwise you’ll hear – Fitz had a great night at the Club last eveg – Holmes was being farewelled – We cd hear the cheering in the ward room – F will want several hairs of the dog before he’s quite normal – A roaring night I should say – F responded for the Navy – The Navy is very popular – Our hospitality is proverbial – The rule is that – if possible – each & every guest – is happy when he leaves –
We fished with dynamite yesty aftn Fitz Jackson & self – We got a lot of good mullet – Goodbye – Kiss the children – off to Eastern

Fred

[Page 92]
Part 4

To Jan 9–15

[Page 93]
Sunday Jan 10-15 – Journal Part V –

Just in time to get off Part 4 by the Eastern – A friendly hand will drop that in a Post Box in Sydney – Eastern went out 3.30 pm sharp on 9th. I went dynamite fishing with Fitz & Jackson but this time we had no success – not a fish. No shoals about – Five shots & no result – However – the harbor is far before the beach this weather – we are naked save for a Rami (waist cloth) – We went into a native hut – nothing much but fishing implements – In the eveg I played Auction Bridge – Only lost 1000 points – that’s all – However I wont play for a bean until my intelligence department tells me I am properly equipped – even then I doubt if I can energise enough to keep level with the younger keener brain which attaches so much to the win & more to the stakes I fear –The Morinda came in 4 am & we got our mail 7 am – Mabs Dec 10 – you 13th & 20th & Mrs Atkinson – Spectrs 3 – M.J. of A 3 – Good – Many thanks. I have written to Mrs HDA – I sent a cheque for - £5/5 – to her which will appear in due time in pass book – I’m asounded at their being 16£ to my credit in Brisbane. Put out at interest in S.B. all over some 15£ in hand – Give R – 2/6 – 1/ for Prize & 1/6 for getting so many firsts. Get a book or books – not lollies – You’ll see – Yet he’s

[Page 94]
smart enough but at Geography he should be easily first – ditto history – Geography – Maps – Places he ought to know – Go over an Atlas with him – You may get several Medical Journals of Aust – all of the same date – Send me one only. In it will be an article on ‘Ptomaine poisoning on a war ship’ my article –
I’m not taking the BMT or MJA this year – Keep Spec & Sphere going for ourselves –
Thank Mab for the handkerchief - & her nice letter – also for yours – This is Jan 10 – We’ve got news up to Dec 19 – not a word after that – we know absolutely nothing – No press news thro- We hear that the Censorship is off – letters here – Fitz – after divisions told the S.C that the ’Dresden’ was adrift & might come this way – If ashore & a gun fired – Commandeer any boat, any how & get inboard instantly – We’re ready for a scrap but of course are utterly outclassed & haven’t a hope. I think none of us save Fitz went to the beach to-day – It rained torrents – We played both varieties of Bridge & jumped from the rail into the ditch & I went to bed at 9 pm –

[Page 95]
Monday Jan 11-15 – Fitz did himself well yesty at a stunt on the beach – Champagne & mixed cocktails – His liver wont be too good – The motto here I tell him in order to keep health is ‘watch & pray’ – no sickness inboard – Our distilled water is bad in color & tastes of tar-rope – It’s better than Rabaul water anyway – Cooler to day but a cauldron rather than a furnace describes Rabaul – we are all dying to get to sea but the Una’s engines are Kronk & she’s our consort – I rowed over to our old pier where Haggard & I used to dive from & jumped once & again from the spring board – delicious – I then rowed back & we had a good curry for breakfast – one dish only – but fresh mutton in it – I then had sick parade & divisions & prayers & then I studied the Spectator – Russia doesn’t seem equal to the burden laid on her & the Allies want a lot more men before they – in their turn – can break thro the German lines- It’s going to be a gruesome spring & summer – England will probably have to adopt strong measures if she cant get recruits – we want several millions –

[Page 96]
That raid on Scarboro wont do England any harm – it will wake up the masses to the fact that if they don’t kill they’ll be killed – Its rumored that the Japanese & Australian fleets have both gone home – The Sydney was at Gibraltar - Nothing - either on sea or land – is any where near Settlement at present – British men must drill – Keep in condition – be ready for active work anywhere – After lunch a rubber – Auction bridge – we are getting good at it – It’s much more cunning a game & requires more sustained effort than ordinary B – you have to switch off & on in Declaring – The essence of course is constant drill & practice till you get absolutely automatic – Our pay is very good at it hence his Geelong stunt at 2/12/- per week with the simple farmers of G – At 4 pm I went to the Gardens & examined them again I saw the whale skeleton & the water buffaloes & a wonderful fig tree – It was like this – [Diagram]. The roots were from above 30-40 to more feet long & covered a front of nearly 15 yards. The roots came from limbs & these limbs supported other smaller limbs & so on to the spread of foliage – The long roots were white & grey & the effect most imposing – 80-90 feet the whole tree –

[Page 97]
I saw a similar one at Suva & on a smaller scale at Lake Eacham in N Q-land – The S. American Caesalpuna pulcherrima was a mass of yellow & red flame - That & the Poinciana regia stand out easily first for color effect – All vegetation is lush & luxuriant – Breadfruit trees to Coco palms & giant Pandani & Rubber trees & chocolate trees & Castor oil Shrubs – I gathered some ferns but time is necessary for collecting & one cant spare much – It was a very fine walk indeed – the best I’ve had so far – Inboard by 6.45 & dinner Lambton was a guest – He returns to Sydney in 3 weeks he says – Wants to run a Naval Brigade to Europe – I’ve asked him to take me as medico – Probably that idea has been mooted & is turned down by the powers that be –
Beer flowed rather freely till 10 pm – Bridge & Gramophone & talk & dancing – all at the same time – No wonder at times you forget you held the 13th card or mused as to what trumps were & what the devil your partner was doing – Life after dinner flows very merrily in a naval mess – Bed – 10.30. very much rain I alone slept top side –

[Page 98]
Tuesday Jan 12-15- Inboard all day – It rained & then heated up & was beastly – Swim in the aft from the rail with the S.C. Dr Skeete sent a message off in the eveg to ask if I wd exchange with him as the Fantome might be going South – Showed it to the Mess – We don’t think we’re going South but as I’m comfortable here – very comfortable & my mess mates are of the best I’m going to see the Fantome thro – I know the officers & men & I do some good I feel sure & of course they know me – I refused – I fancy the Una will go South – Her engines have been messed up by an incompetent lieutenant of E – Engines – Horses – Humans want handling easily & well within their limitations if you want them to keep going for any length of time –
At 5.30 in came an oil ship – from Wilhelmshafen therefore the destroyers are not far off therefore movement will occur – Bed at 9.30 –

W-day – Jan 13 – Jumped from the rail – A gloriously fine day – bright sun – Such a relief from mist & gloom – Yarra (Destroyer) is coming in – We lose Gordon & 4 of our men – I’ve examd them – They are in good health & we send them off – Really they are relief & sick left behind & now returned – The Commander & I ought to have climbed ‘Die Mutter’ this

[Page 99]
morning – I was ready & no end willing but it washed out – Too much wine & cocktails are deadly enemies to muscular & nerve vigor next morning – My breakfast – half a round of bread!! raspberry jam & a small cup of coffee – The simple life – Got some Press news by wireless – Formidable & all her S.C. 500 in no- gone to the bottom – That’s bad – very bad –

Thursday Jan 14-15 – Its 2 pm – mail for Sydney closes 3 pm – no censor – Note the stamps NW Pacific & Marshall Islands – Yesty aft I got Rawdon 2 name plates from the gardens – two not needed - Leguminosae (The Order) Erithsyna pieta - E is the Genus = Coral tree – pieta = Species – meaning ? – Place is ‘Tropen’ = Tropics – R must be – anyway – a systematist – These 2 simple name plates show how every organism in organic nature – on this Earth is named – Now there’s a big – useful – general bit of knowledge – A truth from Tropic to Pole – Guests to dinner – Bed early –
Swim & off to the beach, then to Elax –

[Page 100]
All those ships are named after a shell. Elax is a species of Shell – Look it up in ‘Mollusca’ book – Then to Fantome – At once off to Yarra – Examd – 3 men – Malaria – Ordered them to Hosp & volunteered to take charge – Did so & learnt a bit about transport – Got them safe there & saw all well with them – Then to Yarra – lunch with Keetly (Commander) then – at his request – I addressed the Ships Company – On Malaria – On water & Japanese ladies – Talked hard for five minutes to the men & probably did a bit of good – Then to the Fantome & did up mail – Young Nunn I saw this am – you must wait for those medals but his mail wh I gave him went – He’s in grand health – He’s a Sergeant too – Goodbye – No word as to our destination so far but S.C & self all well.

[Page 101]
Journal

-Part V-

To Jan 14–15

[Page 102]
Friday Jan 15-15. Journal Part 6 – The S.S. Morinda has gone out & we I feel free – The Warrego & Parramatta have come in – What is our next move? – I don’t know –
I went to the Beach at 4 pm on Thursday & went to two hospitals & held converse – ribald & otherwise – with young Captains of the Medical Staff – Their moan is like own – A Commissariat moan – no supplies in Rabaul – nothing to be had for love or money – Why a ship was not run fortnightly between Townsville & Rabaul & fresh provisions – tinned fruit & the hundred & one necessities of life brought up God alone knows? – Why have men to lie on the floor of verandahs & rooms? – men down with malaria – Why not have sent up 200 beds – in 3 pieces & a thin fibre mattress – Four nurses are up from Townsville – Twenty are wanted – Where’s the Grantala? She’d be some use now with her 200 cots & swank staff – Here are all the Destroyers in & no fresh meat for the men

[Page 103]
no onions – no potatoes!!! We got 2 bucket fulls from the Elax & they’re the first we’ve had since Dec 14th. You couldn’t buy a bottle of lime juice ashore for gold – I tried yesterday –
I had a good walk up to the Governor’s residence & back by the Chinese quarter – My friend asked me if I’d like to see a Japanese House of ill fame – We went & were warmly greeted with a hand shake from 3 nicely dressed – very clean looking Jap – girls – I inspected them & their sitting room & one bedroom. All was clean & in good order & so far as I know they were in good health. You buy one for 10 marks – Officer’s price – 5 marks – Soldier or Sailor –
They were dressed in Jap fashion, nice Kimonos & Skirts & Sandals – nothing

[Page 104]
suggestive or immodest – white toothed & black eyed – House in the main street – I’d been past it dozens of times & had never seen a woman even – It is regarded by these girls as a legitimate source of revenue until they marry & this they hope to do sooner or later –
"What is crime at Clapham is chaste at Katmandu" – I was regarded as an inspector but my companion – a young man – as legitimate prey – However we talked a little – quite nicely - & then said goodbye – The sitting room was clean & neat – Ordinary Jap pictures hung on the wall & it might have been a Jap Sunday school – The bedroom I inspected was very clean – very unpretentious –We had Destroyer officers to – dinner & Bridge after it – We washed out about 10.30 & & went to our cots – mine – a naval one – swung on the poop & very comfortable -

[Page 105]
This Friday aftn Fitz & I took the skiff & went dynamiting fish on our own – We pulled pair oar alternately – Fitz got the cartridges & fuse ready – Then he found he had forgot the matches – I said – Let’s go to that German’s house & get some – He said – Wd you mind going & asking? I had but my pyjamas on & said – certainly – but you must lend me your shoes – off I went - Saw German got matches & talked to him 3 very nice flaxen haired children – I told him I was a Doctor & out fishing – The two little ones took each a hand & back we went to our boat – I kissed both of them – Charming little things – no shyness. They spoke English – It was Fitz & my first time dynamiting on our own – Fitz said if one exploded near me what wd happen? I said your head wd probably be blown off badly – He was a bit nervous – The great idea I said is not to hang on when once the fuse is lit but to get rid of the thing in the middle of a shoal of fish – Well I pulled & we saw a shoal & Fitz dipped in – Two blanky matches failed but the 3rd time the fuse lit & Fitz chucked it.

[Page 106]
I was too occupied to feel anxious but all went well – There was a big explosion but no fish – However Fitz had learned how to chuck the hand bomb & that was good – When we left the Fantome I said what about a bandage & some wool? but we didnt need it – Only one soldier has lost his hand up here so far – by dynamite – We got back to the Fantome & were then ordered out to sea at 8pm to patrol – The Yarra called me to see some sick – more malaria – Off I went – Dinner – Up anchor – Darken ship – When that happens I creep – into my cot – I’m useless & so is everyone else – on a darkened ship –
I didn’t mention I lunched on the Elax with the Captain – I christened him Ajax – He’s a Hull man – Yorkshire to the back bone – A good bold man – very powerful – shrewd but ignorant – English to the back bone – He told us the latest news when we first met –

[Page 107]
He believed it you could see but no one else did – 3 items were good – America had declared war - The Germans had been specially ordered by the Kaiser to give no quarter – No 3 was great - 70! Doctors, Nurses & Orderlies had all had both - hands cut off by the Germans & were all of them now in Luimon town being treated at the hospitals – Oh – Sancta Simplicitas of the sailor man – No 1 item had a dissenter or two but items 2 & 3 were received as being just about up to the Germans. Ajax gave us a nice lunch & was most hospitable. He listened to me because I’d been up here & at Suva & knew all about the Fleet – I saw some of his people who were sick & I was most careful not to injure his feelings in any way by seeming to doubt any statements – the result is that Ajax & I are sworn friends – How these North Country sailor men can stow their drink & what hardy devils they are – The Germans have a bit to reckon with –

[Page 108]
Ajax told me it was no surrender – If a German came up he was to run & if overhauled to burn his ship so Ajax had a tub of Benzine fore & aft to turn over & put a match to & then tumble into the boats but said he – I’ve fixed the firehoses up so that if the blighters cleared out we could tumble inboard again & put – these self created fires! out & off we’d go – He was great fun – He’d tell wonderful tales ‘what King George said’ what Earl Roberts had said & so on – Give him enough Beer & he’d go on & on & never repeat himself –

Saty Jan 16-14 – Cocoa at 6 am – Back to Rabaul – I’m off to the Yarra – My patients better but they’ll be bad again tomorrow – 3 malaria & one ? rheumatism – Then off to the Warrego & saw Commander & - Cumberledge – He’s been 430 miles up the Kaiserin Augusta River – in G. N Guinea – He’d been in touch with tribes that had never seen a white man before.

[Page 109]
He’d been past vine scrubs – Huge wide savannahs with clumps of trees - & a mile clumps - & again partial open forest country – The natives were numerous – quite naked – All they wanted were axes – to cut out canoes – A woman was bartered against an axe but refused by our side –
The Palm Cockatoo was comon – He’s a rare bird Microglossna aterrimus? – Look him up – He’s coal black save a red naked patch round eye – Goura pigeons were quite common – They ate them – One fed 6 hungry men on Xmas day – They weigh anything up to 10-12 lbs – I knew them instantly from their beautiful grey (French) crests which spread like a fan –
I talked to him & examd a Rifle bird & a Bird of Paradise & his spears & a bow & then I dressed a chap’s head & went to the Beach & on to the Garrison Hospital & saw Strangman & was most polite because I am naturally courteous & sweet & in addition I wanted to get my Bluejackets looked after & be able

[Page 110]
to push a lot more in – we talked malaria & I picked up a good deal by judicious questions & asking advice & I am to turn up at his Sick parade on Monday & bring a client or so – Its clever scientific work – malarial – A man may have several infections & be bit by mosquitoes with the infection at different times – This means that these parasites mature at different dates – all on same day or otherwise. You have to spot all this by the blood exam & then arrange your treatment so as to hinder the maturation of the spores – This means – the blood part – means – delicate work & accuracy could only be got by long work – It wd suit me – the science & the instant practical outcome of it – I saw my men – There isn’t 1 bed in that Hosp – all on stretchers on the floor!!! A damned rotten shame & so hard to nurse –

[Page 111]
Well – its war time – Something may have been done – They’ve had from Sept to now to get beds up – Why the devil they haven’t done it nicks me – My men want to sling their ‘ammicks there & asked me but I’ve no authority off a ship – I told Commander D. & he said lying on the floor alone wd make him ill – His costume is a singlet & a Rami – His navg lieut – wears a Rami only – I believe Rami is feminine & Lava Lava is the male garment but it matters not. Sports this aft – I’m going so I will spell on - I went – The sports were held at No 2 pier – What spoilt the effect was that at least ¼ of the men were nude – now ‘lava lava’ costume was the one thing needed & it should not have been omitted – The Administrator (Pethbridge) was present – I stayed some time – Swimming – Catamaran racing – Our men in our whaler won the oar contest by 4 lengths – This is due as I tell Fitz to physical drill & constant exercise – Keep it going I say –

[Page 112]
After a bit No 1 Pay & self left for a walk – I was guide & took them right round the Gardens & showed them a lot – No 1 (Nelson) is – like me – from Norwich – Very good hearted & queerly intelligent – you’d think he’s a fool but he’s keenly intelligent in a limited range – He wont try mental excursions – I handed him a Spectator – "A bit too much for me he said" – "You know I don’t understand it" "I don’t think I’ll mind thank you" I’m not given much to heavy reading & so on – Almost every naval man is the same – He was interested – Pay was frankly bored to death – However we blew in at the Officers mess & had aft tea & sat back & talked – Why is Camaraderie so much more marked in the navy than the army? No 1 gave an efficient answer – Because a sailor don’t care a dam for anybody or anything & says what he thinks – Boat form Yarra for me – Went to the Destroyer & shifted 4 men into their whaler & off I went to the shore -

[Page 113]
The Destroyers & Una are out for a 10 day stunt & we have to guard!! Rabaul – Lucky we’ve wireless – I did that job – If I hadn’t been there I don’t think those sick wd have ever left the pier – I sent men out to collar transport in the shape of trucks – They came back with a hand cart & a truck without a deck – Sailors are fools – The wheels of the handcart dropped thro the planks of the pier & what damned good the bottomless truck was God knows – I told a few men to come with me – In five minutes I had seen a truck – ¼ mile off – I told the men to bring it along – This they did because I’d told them to & it was a definite job – I got my sick inboard with their ‘ammicks & off we went – Got to hospital & discharged cargo – piled their ‘ammicks in a corner – got my shore crowd together & off I went to the Fantome – Fitz had asked me to lunch on some chickens he’d got – First chicken I’ve had – Jackson, Bond, F & I enjoyed 2 chickens & cold beer – Then we went to the Una & jumped from the ship’s side &

[Page 114]
had a grand time – There we had aftn tea then a Jap Captain came off – He lives here – He brought his wife & kid – I was introduced. She shook hands & bent herself nearly in halves – We all had Beer & said ‘Banzai’ which is equivalent to Cheer.Oh – in Japanese – Then Fitz Bond & I went to the Beach & walked & I showed them the gardens & Bond (a Lieutenant & good chap) aired his ignorance of Botany – He’s been accredited with knowing plants – I listened I enjoyed his talk muchly – He was invariably wrong – He suddenly discovered that I was his master in that line & he subsided incontinently though I am sure I was quite nice & deferred to him right thro – I showed Fitz & him the giant Ficus – Fitz adopts the nil admirari where anything German is concerned which is very misplaced – anyway as regards these gardens & experimental plots -

[Page 115]
We blew in at the Officers club & had drinks at Bond’s invitation & then inboard & supper & Bridge & bed at 10.30pm – A wet night I only got spray & some splash –

Monday Jan 18-15 – Quartermaster called me at 5.30 – I was awake – Fitz & I took the skiff & went off bathing – After breakfast I was busy but got to the Beach at 10.30 – Saw Fitz. He told me some of the sick had been discharged & were adrift – I told him I’d see to things – I was bound for the Hosp & found that 5 of our men had been discharged – I asked where to & where are the men – God knew – Apes – Fancy discharging a Bluejacket & not giving information to the Senior Ship. However I went over to the Naval Brigade people after going round the Hospital & telling every sick Bluejacket to regard the Fantome as his temporary home when discharged – I fixed up with the N.B. people to find the wanderers & send them to my boat at 11.45 – At 11.45

[Page 116]
I had them all in hand & pushed off to the Fantome & landed my sick five – I soon made them comfortable inboard & gave them all chocolate & milk – We’ve 14 in all, in the garrison hospital – I go up daily for I must keep in touch with them. The destroyers wont be here for 10 days & I want them to have their men fit & well – I saw Dr Martell this morning & asked why the hospital was so badly organized – I said I know a man who’d get you 100 stretchers made inside 2 weeks – He said it was due to a congestion in the Administrative department & they couldn’t help it – I wish I were PM O – I’d alter all the organization inside a week & have & have my sick look & be respectable in a bed & not lumped on the floor anyhow –
Another lovely bit of maladministration – All the garrison in Rabaul is on half rations & no fresh meat in the place until the Eastern arrives & she has not left Sydney – At a time when

[Page 117]
everyone wants to be fit & hearty so as to resist fever he’s put on half rations – Ye administrative blighters!!!
I’ve got hold of a nice little case holding 5 Mauser bullets – sharp pointed – loot of course & I trust to get hold of a Mauser rifle – DV=shortly
Hurrah-Hurrah –We’ve kicked the cook out & made him a 2nd class stoker – We had him up on the quarter deck repeatedly & complained – to-dayhe got disrated & put in the Stoke hole – I’ve suggested putting him in the fiery furnace like the Hebrew youths & see if his Cooking God could save him – We’ve suffered under that infernal scoundrel from Dec 7 to Jan 18 – The language he’s caused!! I’ve heard every man in the ward room & the stewards in the pantry all cursing him at once & language in the navy is not the mild stuff you hear ashore – Mr Bumpus is very quiet but when he’s finished you may reckon not only the culprit but his family is ended –

[Page 118]
Tuesday Jan 19-15 – Fitz & I swam at 5.45 am – After sick parade I went to the Garrison Hospital – I saw Strangman & then I learnt that several patients had been discharged who should not have been discharged – He told me this himself – I had suspected as much – Young inexperienced chaps had acted – I then left & went inboard the Sumatra – the usual glass of lager – then to the Fantome – There I found 3 more dischargees from the G. Hospital – At the Hosp they told me none had been discharged – This will show the incoherence of the management to say the least –
In the aftn I personally returned one of the sick – Do you think I cd get hold of a medical officer? Not one – I wrote a note to Strangman & left – I took a stretcher party with my SBA & I gave him the benefit of naval language (acquired by me since Aug 22) on his gross mismanagement – It is so characteristic of Johnson – He pretends to know how to run things but is beastly incompetent

[Page 119]
I soon picked up all the points & I can swear as well as any N.O – Don’t tell R. this – It’s only a naval detail –
By the way Fitz told me Johnson had been up before him & showed him my ‘moderate’ in his character sheet – Johnson said he’d like a committee!! to inquire into his ability – Fitz said he was satisfied as to my knowledge of J’s abilities & dismissed him – ‘Right about turn – quick march’ shouts the Corporal & off poor – J – goes - He is a fool - Talk – Dinner – Bridge & bed but coupled to this I had a lot to do looking after the men & getting them comfortable & fixing them up – Eventually I got things square – Johnson here is the difficulty – They all hate him & wont do what he says – They say they’ll chuck him over the side one dark night – However I got thro –

Wednesday Jan 20 Fitz & I swimming – Then a sick parade at 7.30 – Another at 8.30 – Got things squared up – Sent to G Hosp for a kit & ’ammick left behind – Got a reply that the man was to return to Hosp at once & they wouldn’t return clothes – Right said No 1 (Nelson)

[Page 120]
Part 6

P- 18

[Page 121]
‘Send the man’!! – Not much, said I – I take no orders from the military – "the junior service" – It’s like their damned cheek – Quite right – said Fitz who had come up – "I’ll complain to the Administrator" which he very promptly did – He’s Senior Naval Officer & I’m Senior Naval Surgeon at Rabaul & they’ve got to treat us – only one way - & that’s the right way – with respect – Mind you – as I told Fitz – We’ve had nothing in the way of a request – written or otherwise – It will all wash out of course – in our favor –

The Military medical administration is the weakest – feeblest thing, I’ve ever seen – The Ward room says I shall get the Iron Cross for obstinacy & strong mindedness – Anyway I’m careful to do all I can myself & I consult Fitz on naval points & then Mr Bumpus & I feel I have a little power in my own line to run my own show – successfully –

[Page 122]
By Jove it has rained & torrented & gone on doing it but we’re all jolly & comfortable =
There We have no news at all – of the world – or the war – nor of our relatives – You’ll have mine by now which is a comfort – (Jan 20) We’ve steamed out to sea – suddenly - 12 noon probably to pick up messages from the Destroyers – Tell R. Fitz & I for days past have got up at 5.30 & rowed by ourselves to a pier – We have nothing on save a ‘Lava Lava’ & tie our boat up & then I jump from a spring board but Fitz falls in – often – with a horrid guttser – Fitz cant dive but I’m improving him – We are back on the ship by 6.30 & then feel jolly – Sea is 80 Air 81 ° F

Thursday Jan 21-15 – We messed about – some – all last night – Turned round & went back & then returned – Why I don’t know & also I don’t care – Darken ship – Goodnight said I – Nothing further save that a small meat safe got adrift & fell - on me - about 2 am – no harm done – Fine morning – Cocoa – Hose bath – Sick parade 7.30 – Johnson says he dont feel like work – If he lies on his back & keeps quiet he’s all right on this summer sea – So am I – but – the country is in a state of war –

[Page 123]
Sympathy don’t exist in the navy – I’ve notified Johnson that he’ll be buried at sea – no landing party & a walk to a cemetery for him – just lead & the deep sea –
I’ll tell a short tale – A very notable person died & a party of bluejackets were offered 5/ each to walk with bowed heads & bent backs – slowly pacing behind the coffin – off the cortege went – Heads down – Backs curved – on & on - & on – "Blime me don’t it smell" said one Bluejacket – "Keep yer blanky ‘ead down or they’ll cut ‘arf a crown off" said the Petty officer – On they went for another mile only to find – that – at a cross road – they’d lost the original mourning party & with bowed heads & slow steps they had been following a manure cart going back to a farm – This is a good tale but the wily bluejacket probably got to a Pub – not to a farm –

[Page 124]
I held 7.30 sick parade in a uniform but 8.30 in ordinary rig – No one really ill but a lot of odd jobs – Johnson had no Temp & a quite clean tongue so I wouldn’t give him any Aspirin which he wanted but told him he cd – have a cup of cocoa – I think I am very nice to Johnson – He wont die yet I’m sure – He’s far too healthy – If he goes over the side it will be a moot point – murder or suicide or insecticide – I have contracted a great liking for the Ship’s corporal – He is the Naval policeman & arranges everything & works drunks, drifters, swearers – He is quite young – Smooth cheeked – rosy – a simple man – very quiet – I’ve never seen him smile – He thanks you quietly when you give him a list of blighters who maynt have leave – To get round him you must be an officer – No one below an officer has the faintest hope – He is very wise – I asked

[Page 125]
him once if he thought Johnson was drunk – No – Sir – said he – not drunk – but the worse for liquor – you see Sir a man in the nay has to be Drunk or Sober – no – Sir – Johnson had had a lot – but he was Sober – Sir – I’ve got a good eye – Sir –
The Corporal to look at is the most inoffensive of men – He does a lot but does it thro others – He reads the defaulters list of crimes & then calls the witnesses – He says never a word himself – When the Captain gives his decision – He repeats the decision – "10 days no 15 – right about – quick march" & then he resumes his sad recountal of another blighters downfall – No – Sir – he said – Women is no use to me I was never given that way – He stands in dark places & has an office aft where you see him poring over his lists of crime – He isn’t popular nor yet unpopular – He somehow conveys an impression that in each case he is carrying out a peculiarly unpleasant duty which he wd give worlds not to do

[Page 126]
but yet somehow I think he likes his peculiar job – I ‘ave to keep to myself he tells you in a sorrowful manner – He plays the game quite fairly – the victims see to that – but all the same I shouldn’t care to be a naval policeman in a ‘man of war’ where Johnson declares the language & the horse play to besimply far worse than that of any Williamstown larrikins –
The men don’t mind if you play the game fair – Johnson doesn’t – A stoker – under me – automatically had his leave stopped – Stoker knew this was a rule of the service – He also decided to chance it as I was a volunteer & didn’t know all the rules – so he polished himself up & stood in line with the liberty men – Johnson came to me & said this man wanted to know from me – quietly – if he cd – go ashore – I made inquiry & said – no – So – J – went & told the man the Dr said he was to fall out – Now the unfortunate stoker never asked J to ask me – J did this purely out of spite – I only found this out afterwards when the Stoker threatened to split J’s head & kill him out of hand – J is an ass to act like that – It’s not the game –

[Page 127]
We are steaming along the coast of N. Ireland – close in on our Starboard – We are going somewhere & shall get cattle & fresh beef for our crew – N. Ireland is densely wooded – You cant see an opening & five miles in the inhabitants are cannibals – Heritage told me he asked an Admiralty cannibal what part he liked best of the human & the aged blighter said "the breast of a young girl or the Kidneys of young people" –
About 4 pm we steamed up a channel & anchored off Myoke - Duke of York island – Fitz Heritage Walker & self pushed off to the shore & called at the small station – We were all but naked & quite unashamed – 3 Germans live there – They have taken the oath of neutrality – They were glad to see us & we had Beer – They asked us to dinner & we all accepted – Then we bathed – diving swimming – H – is a whisky bird – good chap – Tasmanian – Like Fitz he is an egoist – The breed know each other – However he was in S Africa & I talked to him & drew him out & learnt a good bit –

[Page 128]
We dolled up for dinner – Fitz & Walker in blue – Self in white – We had Vodka – not a bad drink – like a liqueur – before dinner – The dinner was Fanny Adams – no fresh stuff but in a big airy room – Give me German Lager – There’s not a qualm in a couple of bottles – We drank, we talked – Heritage remarked England was going to win – "I not think so" said one of the Germans which is a straw showing that the German in the Pacific has not yet lost all hope & thinks positions may be reversed – later on – we shall see – We were all very friendly, very courteous – We gave them every atom of news we could - At 10 we shoved off – They had small earthenware cups -? Really an Advt for some drink – which they used as liqueur cups – I asked our host if I might keep mine as a memento – He gave it me instantly & seemed pleased – I said I will give it

[Page 129]
to my wife in memory of a very jolly eveg in the Pacific with a German friend – We parted – the best of friends – I saw him again this morning & asked him to let me know if he wanted any drugs, lint or wool, or if I could do anything for him – We walked round his garden – I had only a lava lava on & was much admired by several dusky ladies – at any rate they stood & gazed on the white man with his white skin & scarlet lava – I named his plant life for him – Most of it I knew – Fitz – H & I bathed & swam & then off to breakfast – Sick parade took 1 1/2 hours but only small things – I’ve allowed Johnson’s stoker foe to go to the beach – Here the women cease from troubling – Not in Rabaul said I to the Corporal – Oh – No Sir – said the Co? – with a sigh – as if he felt it personally – we musnt let them ashore in Rabaul – Sir – If I thought anyone here was religious, which I don’t, the Corporal might be thought to have prayed for ‘all stokers’

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I’ve got the small liqueur cup away among my other things – On it is – in German – "Drink – yet again – A little drop of Wilhelm Ziemers – Handel Henkel – Topschen"

"Trink doch noch ein Tropschen aus Wilhelm Zieuner’s – Henkel – Topschen"

?Drink once more a little drop out of the small handled cup made by Wilhelm Ziener" That may be the correct translation – You will know – The little cup for the little drop – Topshen & Tropschen

Friday Jan 22-15 – Its lovely – Of course I bathed – Mine eyes have dwelt on much beauty in the Pacific & this is very beautiful – not so fine as seascapes as at Byron’s Channel but still isle on isle –
"Where the sea egg flames on the coral & the long backed breakers croon – their endless ocean legends to a lazy locked lagoon" =
It’s all here – Coral & Palm & transparent Sea – Birds & beauteous trees & the Sun sets off everything with jewel =fringe =
I mentioned a wonderful Ficus at Rabaul – Coming up this channel – another giant Ficus – stands out on a hill top – quite alone – a great

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land mark. This ficus was silhouetted in green & grey & gold against the skyline as we steamed past – Landscape is beautiful but seascape still more so – It dies away in mist & dream land & you are haunted by the idea that the same exquisite beauty goes away back for an unknown distance – You get the dream land mist of Turners pictures – Always I think of Turner & his work as I gaze at on nature’s handiwork in these parts. Some 60 Catamarans were round the Ship this morning but they have nothing to exchange – I find that the very dark – black – natives are Solomon islanders while the browns are N. Britain & New Ireland – They laugh & talk & are certainly well nourished & seem very vigorous – Some of the men are very fine – The Marys you don’t see –

Shore leave is granted & it’s a good spot for walking & bathing & will do our malarial chaps good – Johnson you’ll be glad to hear is quite well again & rather more useful than usual but it’s not well to build hopes on J –

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Nelson & I went to the beach of an island about 3.30 pm – We carried an ancient shot gun with which I secured a pigeon – a fruit pigeon – of a species not known to me & Nelson a shining starling – I took both of these to the Ship & skinned them & made two fair specimens to show Rawdon –
Pigeons have their home in this Australian region – Also the Shiny Starling – We shot a flying fox which however – we did not recover – Even dead they hang by their hook like claws to the top of a tree. We had a jolly tramp – I saw a screw pine (Pandanus) new to me – It had leaves like an agave of the very darkest bronze green I also got a few fine Polypodies – of the climbing sort. We went to a village – Saw a native with a stump for an arm – dynamiting fish he said – I saw a native church – the worst in the world – the rudest & crudest – A pulpit only in it made of a few rough boards – nailed together anyhow – The natives sit on mats -

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We took our hats off as we went in – The whole village followed us in our rambles – Nelson addressed me as Doctor & presently the village knew it – ‘This way Doctor – you shoot him Doctor & so on’ - Its an Irish life – Sport – wandering – laughter & to-morrow for itself –
There is no dense jungle on these coral islands – Coco nut palms – Screw pines – Some huge tree I dont know – Mangrove – Ipomea pes caprae – A sand & beach loving Convolvulus. He grows & trails everywhere with huge leaves – bifurcated at the end like a Bauhinia. Inboard at 6 pm. A drink – Dress & dinner – then I skinned my birds – played 2 rubbers of Bridge & bed at 10.30 –
Saty Jan 23-14 Up at 6. Major, F & self to the beach for a swim – I took chances last night & jumped into the ditch – I was hot & sweaty & the ditch tempting –

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Walked & talked – I should love to collect here but I’ve no implements & no real time – I saw Butterflies I wanted badly but I’ve left my Poison bottle somewhere – Things get adrift at times though I am careful – too much so at times – Fitz & the Major cant dive & fall flat & get horrid gootsers& turn red – The beach shelves instantly & you dive from a small pier – I cant touch bottom at all – even with a dive – Inboard – Big Sick parade – Fitz says its because I give some of the sick whisky – Nothing serious – The men want good food not medicine & its an infernal shame the way both garrison & sailors lack fresh meat, potatoes & onions – Half rations – The Commissariat arrangements of No 1 Contingent will excite comment when known – Damned rot a few days form plenty – No press news – We go to sea this aftn Back to Rabaul I fear -

[Page 135]
SAME AS PAGE 134 (COPIED TWICE)

[Page 136]
What makes Rabaul bad – is – that it is the bottom of a crater – we are at the bottom of a huge funnel – It’s probably the only crater harbor – in this part – anyway – The weather is fine but hot & the air full of moisture – Our fans act or we could not stay in our rooms – Fitz is particular about officers wearing their coats & socks – This I think rot & as soon as F is well out of sight off comes my coat – Fitz has a little book with orders in it & he sends this round by a quarter master & calls attention to his ruling – So far I’ve not been honored – One of my socks has 12 holes in it I know – Holes don’t count – Socks do –
Its 11 am – the hour of Defaulters parade – The Corporal looks sadder than ever – I hear that the assizes are over & everybody honorably acquitted – hence – I say – the C’s sadness – He’s like Dennis in Barnaby Rudge – While I think of it I want to put on record a physical feat – a diving feat – performed by a native

[Page 137]
of some 12-13 summers – Several of the lads were good at diving – They swim straight down. This particular lad was the smallest of the lot – a little bigger than Rawdon – He jumped off his catamaran & swam down – He picked up a tin of meat from the bottom in at least 9 fathoms [equal to] 54 feet of water - Our anchor is down to the 12 fathom mark & has slanted a bit no doubt – It was questioned on board the other day when I mentioned a white man who had done 7 fathoms – a great feat – Here’s a boy does it easy – He came up like a cork – The pressure on his ear drums at that depth must have been very great – Very few men care to dive more than 3 fathoms.

Well we went back to Rabaul – Got some clean clothes – I had a swim in the ditch with the men & then out we went to sea – We weren’t in much over an hour – Ajax came off with a fresh leg of pork – for me – I’d been his doctor

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We had it for dinner – It was good – Darken ship – 2 Rubbers Auction B. I lost 800 points – Bed –

Sunday Jan 24-14 – We all feel nice & good – We have decided to suppress swearing & ribald talk in the ward room – I think we’re exhausted & full up of chesnuts – The last bottle of sherry was opened & circulated by me last night for ‘Wives & Sweethearts’ – We are off to Kawieng – spelt I am told with a g – I’m the cheeriest in the ward room for they’ve all to go on watch & do duty & they curse moving up & down – burning coal – However I tell them not to desire anything to happen but what does happen – When you’re the servant where’s the use of growl? –
Sick parade 8.30 – Johnson has to work nowadays & earn his money – Unbeknown to J I heard him using the same bad language that he condemned in his mess & reported to me – Someone threw a bucket of water over him this morning – accidentally – I fancy – J - I – wont go to sea after this trip –

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We landed Heritage at Rabaul – not at all a bad chap but a bit of a bore I should think – Fitz has an idea he’s twisted his inside!! – what he’s done is fall flat on the water & bruise his abdominal muscles & he feels it when he moves – Getting into a boat from the water is also a young active man’s game – not a flabby fat one’s – I’m nice & thin – I think I weigh less than when at GI –
Breakfast - Biscuit – treacle – cup of coffee – Finish. I’ll tell you a curious fact in connection with the 1st Australian Contingent – Not a padre – not one – Here’s 1500 men – more - & many of them used to a religious Service – but not a service ashore – no worship & this is British – A good padre is a most helpful chap – Some live padre should come up & go round – He’d do a lot of good & be heartily welcomed by men & officers – There’s sick & dying men here & anyone of us reads the Burial Service – There’s more for a Padre to face up here than in Europe – I know –

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Well we got to Kawieng about 3 pm – Thorold – the administrator came off – At 4 pm we put out to sea without having landed – The weather was perfect – Once & again I saw those wonderful seascapes that attracted me so much the first time – To day – they were clear cut as cameos & as beautiful as ever – Seen thro driving mist with the roar & lash of the combers I think the effect is even more magical – We are chasing the Destroyers with a message for them & wireless went – crack – crack – every 15 minutes all night until we got them at dawn – We have changed our course & are said to be going back to ?Rabaul – War without wireless seems impossible –

Monday Jan 25-15 Up at 6 am Cocoa – Then I read – I always read if its cool enough – Reading the words of great writers

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Grasping their ideas does me at any rate much good – It stiffens you me for the day’s work – Sick parade at 8.30 – J. barely punctual – What a born parasite, waster & loafer lurks inside his weary skin!! I hate a person I cant trust & I cant trust – J – Well – never mind – I work him & that’s the best thing to do – The sea is as molten glass & I like being at sea – I keep my crowd healthier – I am very anxious to have a good record of health & to lose no one – Tell R – I sang out to the Physical Instructor this morning to look at the men’s mouths - All open – Shut them I told him – Breathe thro their noses – He made them quick & lively - When a man is all out - every atom out - breathe anyhow I think – otherwise use the nose –

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Nothing much doing all day – Auction Bridge at intervals – Some animated discussion on my Sick Bay & Sick mess – I have to do a good deal of battle for them – Service Routine is always being dinned into my ears – Damn S R say I when it conflicts with common sense – If S R were a Divine institution & revelation I’d give in but as I see many defects & much foolish crass conservatism I reckon it’s human & as such I mean to criticize what I understand – freely – I mean to have my sick - well fed well messed – well looked after – That’s my pidgin & to that end – I inspect – talk to cook – keep J on the run – My sick are comfortable & say so

Tuesday Jan 26-15 - Back to – RabaulMioko – We got here about 1 pm – you see how we are cruising up & down – Glorious cool day – About 4 pm a party of us went to the pier – opposite the German residence & bathed – We talked to Herr Peter Teuchitz & swam & dived & then to the ship – I took a header off the ship’s ride to finally cool off – Dinner – Bridge – Bed –

Wednesday Jan 27-15 – Swim – Breakfast & then out to sea & gunnery practice – 4 inch guns

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made good practice at the Target erected by the whaler’s crew about 1500 yards off – I stood by with cotton wool & offered it to any who liked their ears plugged as I do mine – One cartridge jammed & one missed fire –
The Maxims are wonderful you should see the bullets dropping all around & blow the target at 1500 yards – Absolute annihilation for any boats crew at a mile – probably more – The splash of the shell & bullet was well shown & you saw the shell or bits of it ricochet for miles – Round & round we circled firing Aft & then Port – Starboard & forward guns – The niggers were out in their catamarans but when "the debil-debil-speak very loud" – they got – I got into a catamarran yesty – They are quite easy to manage& I paddled away like primitive man – I had previously watched how they hold their paddles – One hand close to the paddle

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itself & the other right at the end of the handle – Each paddle measures – handle & all – 5 feet about – [sketch follows] We are off now, back to Rabaul – We got to Rabaul at 3 pm – I went to Fitz & asked permission to go to the Hosp & see about the kit of two of my men (The military wanted the men back) – I also wanted to find out about my other men – Fitz consented & put two men at my disposal & a manned boat – Off I went & marched to Hosp – Made my men stand to attention & as I thought would happen – everyone was most respectful & I got my men’s kit & found out about all the others – All went very well & the slight breach between Army & Navy was healed – Work out as I told you –
By the way I find that my mail to you up to Dec 25 has not yet left Rabaul – The bearer went to Herbertshohe & got Malaria – I saw him in Hosp. to-day & he told me he hadn’t had a chance. That will show you how things go – The man expected to be & should have been invalided home long before this – Well you’ll get it some day –

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Back to the Fantome – then I saw the Destroyers come in – I was asked to dine on the Elax – I did this & then we took some grub ashore for a sick man – The want of food is very bad – The sick in the Garrison Hosp to-day had Rice & Tea – There was nothing else to give them – no sugar. The Garrison is on ¼ rations –
The whole of German N.G & islands want fresh meat – Potatoes – Onions – Officers – men sick – convalescent want meat potatoes onions – There is no fresh meat in Rabaul – Herbertshohe no onions & no potatoes & yet Australia is but 3 days off – The feeding of the garrison has been very very bad & is worse to-day – The sick cant recover or the convalescent get better unless fed – I’ve fed my sick & given them whisky & milk & they have recovered – The w & milk gave them an appetite. If I could I’d placard Sydney - Rabaul wants "Fresh meat – Potatoes – Onions" – Herbertshohe w same & Wilhelmshafen wants same. The well want same. The sick & so on –

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We went to a Garrison sing song & then to the Club & had Beer – Ajax becoming declamatory & telling his press news & vaunting up Old England & the militia & Hull – we went off to the Beach – Who goes there? Friend – Advance friend & we got to our boat & to the Fantome & then gave Ajax a night cap & sent him to his own Elax – Ajax wants looking after ashore – at sea he’s reliable enough but ashore he’s adrift – Ajax gave me potatoes & onions & has promised me more pig – Ajax likes me & I understand these Sailor men & their ways –

Thursday Jan 28-15 – Fantome went down Simpson Hafen 4 miles to Matupi to coal – We shall take some days at it I fancy – The Una came in last night – Here we are – 5 ships of war – What’s our next job? We got up alongside the Matupi pier – then Fitz & I went to the hot springs & bathed – Boiling salt water issuing from the rocks & steaming & smellful like a laundry -

[Page 147]
It was hot at 9 when we got back – I had breakfast – It hardly counted & then Sick parade – I had to sit on J. this morning fairly strong – I told him I thought him incompetent & untrustworthy – He resented his being thought incompetent but his character he didn’t mind about – He may improve now he knows my candid opinion but I fear he wont – Coaling day you dress as you like – Mine is pyjama rig – We’ve no news but expect the Matunga in shortly & then the Eastern – The garrison wants to get away badly – They are being relieved by older men – known as Druids – The yarn runs that a boy came across Grandad – He was surprised till G Dad said he’d come to relieve him – hence the elderly term – Druids –

Friday Jan 29-15 We filled up with coal – our 4th coaling – We pushed off by 9 am – I got Rawdon some shells – They were given me by a native whose leg & foot I dressed – One is a fine one – We got back to Rabaul & anchored well out – I went off to the Yarra & sent one man to Hospital – In the Aftn in our ship we had a little turmoil –

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A man – or rather lad – handed over by the Garrison Hospital to me refused his food & medicine & generally played up – He really belonged to the Una but I had kept him for treatment – I did this because I don’t like any man to leave me unless quite sound – His disease had been contracted willfully & in addition he shammed some – Well the Navy doesn’t stand that – It’s a punishable thing to refuse food & treatment – even imprisonment is given – The trouble is that a sick man always has sympathizers – ignorant but sympathetic – However the officer of the day & I got things in hand & reported to Fitz – Fitz interviewed the blighter & then ordered his return to the Una – I took him over – The Una was not pleased – The man’s record was rotten – He had only done half a day’s work since he joined – Eventually they sent him up to the Garrison Hosp & asked them to keep him & discharge him to Sydney on the first chance –

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There’s a lot of wasters about like that in all expeditions – However they generally get a very rotten time & often wind up in gaol – I blame Johnson for a good deal – His absolute want of character makes him a cats paw among the men & he glides from lie to lie & plausible ones too like a snake from hole to hole – I had him up before an Officer & J remarked that I didn’t seem to believe him & I said ‘No I don’t – I believe very little that you tell me – the greater part may be true or it may not’ – Why a bad character like this goes with any expedition I know not – I took the man up to the Hosp from the Una as as Skeete & the military don’t let it – This time I had my men well in hand – "Shore party will stand by Stretcher until ordered to proceed". That kept them together – I got the man shifted – "Shore party will now man stretcher & return to the whaler – Quick march" I kept them all moving & shoved off & the job was done –

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In the evening I went to the Warrego & talked to Cumberledge – Commander D – He’s the oldest man in Destroyers – 14 years – He showed me a lot of things he had collected bracelets – hair combs – necklaces – He knows a good deal & is very interested – I spoke to him about the Sea scapes we had seen & he was very enthusiastic – He said it beat Alpine for in the Alps unless you were on a summit the view was limited but in sea scape the tremendous infinite fading distance impresses one immensely –
I asked him if his nerve failed in a Destroyer & he said – not – so far – He said I am very cautious – In navigation in strange waters I take very possible precaution – I take no chance at all – Of course in war time you have to take risks but there’s no good even then rushing at a stone wall – He said Englishmen had great caution – innate in them –

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& that was why when ‘Skying’ in Norway or Switzerland no Englishman was so good as a native in the tremendous leaps taken in that game – When absolutely necessary an Englishman will take risks but not otherwise – I said I thought we elder men developed caution in ratio to our responsibility – especially where life was concerned – I left him after some more talk & beer & went to the Ward room & played Auction – Life on a Destroyer is not so good as on a gunboat – It’s very hot in the rooms & the decks are all iron – The decks have slats [Sketch] like this all over them to prevent men slipping – Feet must be covered from the heat – men slide over the side – They picked up their last in 4 minutes D told me, which is very smart –
By the way I talked about Commissariat to him. The Navy will be all right – We manage better than the Army –

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Saturday Jan 30-15 – Swim at 6.15 am – I am Medical Guard to-day – This means this ship flies a signal & any ship in harbor who wants a doctor sends off for me – I have to remain inboard 7 Bells to 7 Bells – i.e. 7.30 am to 7.30 am & do what comes along – There’s a little innovation started which I have not previously mentioned – We found we had a bugler on board & that he got 3d per diem for bugling – He now has to start the revelly at 5.30 & right thro the day till 7 pm you hear the calls going out – Each evolution has its call Divisions – General quarters – Fire – Gunnery – Evening quarters at 7 pm & so on –
All hands are piped to dinner & to fold ‘ammicks by the same style of pipe as in Nelson’s day – a pipe much like a pipe but the stem ends at the top of the bowl – [Sketch]. It takes time & practice to use the pipe efficiently – They are made of Silver & only issued by the Navy – [Sketch]
The day was hot & heavy & the Ward room disgusted me by its talk about Sydney – mails & girls – I wanted volunteers to climb Die Mutter 3300 feet & got no encouragement – I cursed them for soft girls & townies.

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About 5 pm I went to the Warrego to see a sick man & saw two officers I knew & asked them to climb Die Mutter in the morning with me. They said yes – Right oh – I’ll call for you at 5.45 am tomorrow morning – Right –

I went off to the Fantome quite happy & told the sickly girl blighters – We put in a good evening – 2 card tables & guests & all very jolly – My fellow countryman – Nelson of Norfolk said he’d climb Die Mutter with me –
To climb Die Mutter you must be sound in wind & limb – It’s just physical drill in a hot climate & Officers should be ready to do this sort of thing –
Sunday Jan 31-15 – I had got all ready & was up at 5.30 – Called Nelson – Dressed – Shirt – Boots pants – hat – a drink of water & a bite of a corned beef sandwich – Boat ready & we went to the Warrego – Got Gordon & Baker – both hard goers & then to the pier – Start at 6 am – Up hill to the Hospital & then by a narrow track thro virgin jungle – then track got lost & we went up a gully – It was hot & steamy – I advised getting on the ridges & climbing up them – This we did & by 8 am

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we were really at the foot & had only a mile or so to go thro cane grass – up hill – Gordon & Baker as I expected were A1 but poor old N. had all but had enough – However I let G & B go ahead & N & I took it slowly – By 9.15 am N & I joined hands with G & B on the top of Die Mutter. No one had had breakfast – I carried some sandwiches & a bottle of beer & two onions – While we were there 4 boys of the Naval Brigade came up – They took their shirts off & wrung them out – We then lit a fire took 2 photos – had the most glorious panoramic view & started back – G & B went ahead but N had to go slow so we hung together – By 12.30 N & I got back to the Hosp & the resident Surgeon (Fitzherbert) gave us a bottle of Sparkling Moselle when he heard of our trip – A quart to the two of us – It was good – We came to the last mile – to the pier – oh – splendidly -

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We met a ‘Sumatra’ chap – He asked us where we’d been – we were dirty & torn & sun – Up Die Mutter we said – He said Come & have a drink – N & I had a bottle each of Lager – Well this was A1 & privately I told Nelson we ought to go round the fleet & say we’d been up Die Mutter. However we sent a signal to the Fantome & got a boat & inboard by 2 pm – I jumped into the Ditch to cool off & had a very good time – Bumpus & Gauntlet – cursing loudly because I woke & splashed them blow their scuttles "with very big feet" – at least so they said – I I did not know about it at the time –
I had a second go in the Ditch with Fitz about 5.30 & went to bed early – Die Mutter is the big volcano that towers over Rabaul – you look over sea & island & the main lands of New Britain & New Ireland. The view is superb but you must earn it, by a couple of hours, even 3 – of hard physical graft –

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Monday Feb 1-15 – No mail so far – Swim at 6.30 with Fitz – I am medical guard & Commander D is under my care – Chief act this morning was my having Johnson up before the Captain & the end of J’s career - he is to be recommended for "Dismissal from H.M.Service" – I gave him his character in full on the quarter deck & said I regarded him as distinctly harmful to the quiet & efficiency of the medical service of the ship – I also remarked that if a direct lie was of no avail half a dozen statements – mostly false – wd act in the same way – In a way I felt sorry to do this but he’s no use to any doctor on a ship & the sooner he was ended the better – By all accounts he was sent to the Fantome so as to be got rid of – you cant get away from your characterhowever – either on sea or land – in fact – the sea & your mess will write your character quicker than anyone else – "Cap on – Right about – "Dismissal from Service" Quick march – Exit Johnson – SBA – Dismiss.

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Well, the day was not over by a long chalk – The Matrunga & the Eastern came in & were vociferously cheered by the men – We had guests to dinner & as per usual a lot of drinking – The month had started & everyone made a new start – Talking made us drink & the drink made us talk – I dont think for years I’ve laughed so immoderately as I did last evening – A discussion on religion arose – The navigator got talking & told us that Mary Magdalene was conceived by the Holy Ghost – He got quite amazed at the laughter & sent for his Bible - to prove it - That display marked out the discussion in toto – It’s a fair specimen of naval knowledge outside a man’s own job –
About 11 pm we got to bed & one man got a light to see that all the girls were in bed & went from room to room with his light – some times he fell down – Right – darling – you’re in bed & so on & on – One chap had a photo on his wall – I fancy it was his wife & he wanted it admired & pointed it out – The man with the lamp looked at it & said loudly ‘Well that’s the blanky limit in women’ – I laughed till I nearly dropped – You must never ask a chap to admire anything or anyone or you’ll get an awful shock like our chap did –

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Tuesday Feb 2-15 – I was up early & studied my mail – Yours of Jan 10 & 17 I’ve gone thro – Also Wetwan & Turner – I was very glad indeed to get yours – You had Journal part 3 – 1 & 2 are still in Rabaul I know – I’m so glad all goes well – you need not put ‘please ford’ – just Garden Island – They’ll come – in time – I swam at 6.30 – then back – then route marching – men in full rig – Rifles & all gear – Maxim gun – Ammunition – I need not have gone but it’s learning something & in addition I know round Rabaul – I made J. bring Stretcher & Haversack – We filled a launch & a cutter with men – We marched for an hour – I took them to the celebrated Fig tree in the gardens – I like to hear the steady tramp of armed men – Two officers besides myself – We marched right thro Rabaul on our way back & got to a pier & let the men strip & swim & then we all went inboard – I went off at once to the Warrego & Yarra & saw

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patients – I sent 3 to Hospital at once – The men want better food – meat – potatoes & onions – D. commandeered 4 bullocks the other day & had them served out to the Fleet & we got some – Cold beef & beer – One didnt talk – You just ate & drank – D. will kill every bullock in the island if he can get hold of it & quite right too – I would in his place – However the Eastern has meat on her & we’ll do for a bit anyway –
I’ve been rereading your letters & thinking – my life with all these devil may care men & their joy at fighting & drinking & their lovely language & views on life – It’s about as rollicking, jolly a life as a man could have under discipline - Cheeriness is the one thing demanded of a man – Blood will flow like water this year but none of the men mind it – Our crew wd cheerfully shoot-bayonet or be bayonetted & enjoy getting the chance to kill or be killed – The officers must be with them & all go in together – That’s all they want – If they could get a good feed & beer after it none wd be happier –

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What’s really annoying the Fleet is – not America nor Russia nor Germany – but why has the blanky Government allowed the blanky publican to put up the price of Beer – in Sydney – Now that’s annoying – Pay has not gone up but Beer has & Whisky & S. is 9d – Deep indignation is expressed & we’re going to discuss the thing & perhaps boycott the publican – You’ll hear more talk on that subject than on any other – The Navy simply has to do what it’s told to do – hence fighting or peace is all one to it – fighting is preferable for it stirs things up – The Navy trusts its Head Serangs & dont waste time save on looking after its Body What shall we eat & drink – I question if he has a soul –

Wednesday F 3-15 – Weird rumors are afloat that the Fantome & Destroyers are going back to Sydney – I’m sending this by a trusty friend. All is well – Drs Fitzherbert Donaldson dined with me last night – a great night – I’ve been hard at work doctoring to-day – Kiss R & Mab – Thank them ever so much for their letters – I have a Mauser rifle from the German trenches at Kabakaul – I’ll write again but this may go – Jan 17 is your latest.

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Part 7

to Feb 3-15 p 57

[Page 162]
Wednesday Feb 3-15 – Oh – this is a variety show & we just come & go – I was very fit this morning because I had been most careful last eveg – Nothing wd make me take a drink after dinner – only a lemon squash – Besides I had two young medicoes with me – The guests were happy when they left - very happy as we saw them down the gangway – Serve them right said No 1 – they were very hospitable to us & it was up to us to see them ‘out & under’ – That’s the naval Spirit – I was up early & held sick parade & then got the whaler – 8 men & I went about the harbor in style – visiting ships where I had patients – I finally pulled up at the Garrison Hospital with a Sailor man who had a bad arm – I opened it there & dressed it & then signalled Fantome & they sent a boat in for me – On going inboard I found that the Fantome was to return to Sydney – Presently Skeete of the Una sent me a note saying I was going to the Una & he to the Fantome & asked me to lunch on the Una – The Una is to be up here a year – I am told – Fairly cool I reckoned – There had been a Buz about the Fantome going South

[Page 163]
some days ago & I had thought it over – All the destroyers will be gone – Only the Una left under the orders of the Administrator – The military will do all the inshore jobs – What wd remain for me? – Very, very little – No I had thought of volunteering to remain another 3-4 months but decided against it or the end of the war – A year – too! I’ve done some good work & I know my energy & willingness to go & do anything has been appreciated – Well I put my brains to work & got all that washed out - I am to remain on the Fantome – That’s best I think – They are shifting – Gauntlet – (Gunner) Lane (Pay) to the Una – Some stewards & a lot of stokers & A B men – We take to Sydney – all the crooks & stiffs & rubbish & land them on the beach – The Destroyers go down too – A trusty friend will post Parts 1 & 2 – 6 & 7 of my Journal – The troops all leave inside a week – It’s wash out in the Pacific I can tell you – The S.S. Navua comes from Auckland to Rabaul – 7.6 - & will shift troops – The Eastern & Matunga ditto -

[Page 164]
The Maringa is also in & will carry troops so you see our small world is in a ferment of excitement – It’s a man’s world & a man’s life – Shouting – sweating – swearing men shifting camp & all in the cheeriest of moods – Still there is a cloud – that raising the price of drinking in Sydney – that’s one below the belt both Tommy & the Bluejacket are agreed upon – We shall have a tremendous lot of hard work before we get away but Rabaul "aint the blanky Garden of Eden" as one hand remarked =

Thursday – Feb 4-15 Out at sea – Patrol duty – Went out at 4.30 am – Back in 24 hours – It’s 2.30 pm & I’ve been at work since 8.30 – clearing up patients, getting things in order – We have shifted some 40 men to the Una & every damned ullage the Una had is aboard us – One blanky ruffian said he’d come to be ‘tuk’ to Sydney medically – He’s doing full duty in the stoke hole & will stop till he drops – They’ve struck the wrong ship if they fancy they’re fooling round in a motor car – Sitting back & enjoying the scenery – If I say they’re fit for work they’ve got to or go to prison – Splendid – when half the blighters are Sydneys loafers & larrikins – Mr Bumpus says ‘As a variety show it beats the ‘White City’ easy’.

[Page 165]
I’m mess caterer now – I know nothing about it but I’ll come out right – The Chief Engineer takes the Wine – Well this 24 hours at sea is a Godsend we can work quietly – no visitors & no calling – The Fantome is the ship in the harbor that entertains but now we’ve got to think of ourselves. We had got up a new lot of stores & we’re selling every single thing the mess has – We cant sell in Sydney – As soon as we leave Rabaul we shut right down & lead the simple life – Keep all expense down & go for Sydney – Hell for leather – We are going to sell Gramophone & Soda Water machine – You’ll get a wire days before we land – Stop all mail – I shall wire when we get to Sydney which cant be before the 20th Feb – (There is a buzz we are going into a new Commission & go to help Africa – E up at Mombasa or W at Walfish Bay Keep this to yourself - Its Buzz - ) The Destroyers go - any time – so I’ve to be ready – I’m going to get all the Destroyer sick on the Fantome & bring them down – poor chaps – By God it’s an awful life on a Destroyer – Work like Hell – nothing much to eat & any quantity of Malaria – The boat is jammed with men - & the sick lie in the turrets of the guns -

[Page 166]
Part 8
To Feb 3-15

PS. You ask about Fitz’s rank – He is a senior lieutenant – plain Mr on shore – at sea by courtesy - Commander or Captain or C. Officer – He’s an egoist – I like him & we get on well together – as a navigator he knows his job & all of us have great faith in him – In an emergency I think he’d be cool & collected –

Its Friday 6th – We shall be back in Rabaul by 10 am – Its 6 am now – Weather very fine but hot –
We’ve to coal – It may be the end of Feb before we get to Sydney so don’t worry –

Fred

[Page 167]
Sunday Feb 7-1915 – Part 9

Friday we came back to Rabaul – a landing incident off Herbertshohe was ‘The passing of Ajax’ – The Elax went out - bound for Singapore – We saw her off white Herbertshohe – a solitary oil ship with some very stout hearted white men inboard – She saluted the Flag & stood out - All was bustle & rush in Rabaul – Orders poured in on us from Commander D – The Destroyers were to go out at 2.30 pm – I got my mail & wire thro by a bit of luck – The Yarra wanted quinine – I filled the bill – At 2 pm they (Yarra) also needed a doctor – I filled that bill at once – As I went over the side up came their gangway & clang went the engine room bells & the screws revolved – The Fantome boat picked me up – It was fine seeing those Destroyers – in perfect time – at 18 knots going down harbor & round Matupi Point – I’ve to bring their sick along –
Well then on board the Fantome there was trouble – Lane was to go to the Una – He’s our Pay – Our Stores were inboard £120 worth – What

[Page 168]
was to be done – Sell – Right-O – I & another chap got Bills & lists & made out what to sell & how much for & went ashore - I directed proceedings – to the Officer’s mess – I asked to see their Caterer – He was out but I recognized Colonel Paton & spoke to him – He put me on to another chap & I sold the lot – So long as we cleared our Sydney Bills we didn’t care – Then we blew in on the Eastern & drank – icy drinks – Then to the Fantome – I made out lists overnight - Saty morning with sick parade over – One officer saw all stuff up – Another into a whaler – I took that whaler in – Put a man in charge & soon got a mob of niggers & off they went & I delivered my goods & got them tallied – An officer asked me what I was? I said

[Page 169]
‘A – runner for Bird & Co of Sydney Can I sell you anything to-day?’ –

After lunch came the tug of war – We had to get up & send off two boats laden with stuff – I got ashore & got niggers & got the stuff to its home & the sun blazed & blazed – 3 of us did it between us – For a working job let me pick my men on a war ship – Well – I need hardly say we wanted drinks when this was all done – We got cheques on Sydney –
This Sunday morning - Another chap & I went right thro our store rooms & took stock – wet & dry – We then wrote it up – Said what we’d keep & what sell & then we got a statement out & had it after Kiki at noon & now I’m ashore to sell & sell – Medicine is child’s play to this game – I’ve a lot of odd sick

[Page 170]
but nothing serious – Johnson has a boil on his face which gets worse when he treats it but better when I look at it but he’s such an infernal conceited ass that I wont advise unless he asks me – Now I’ve to see the PMO [Principal Medical Officer] – He wants me to hold Quinine parade – Dr Maguire lost 4 lives going to Sydney thro not holding one says the PMO – All my Q – is now ashore & to be dissolved – All the Ship’s Company – Of & men have 10 grams at 7.30 am & a lot of Rum after it – no Q – no R –
You remember the two young Chaps we entertained. They got back to Hospital so jolly – so happy – so a la Fantome – that they proceeded to pull other medical Officers out of bed by their feet & the whole place was in an uproar & they got reported – When the PMO heard they had dined on the Fantome however he washed it out – saying he knew the Fantome –
I’ll wind up with a tale for Rawdon – A chap had been chucked out of the navy because he

[Page 171]
couldn’t learn the bugle calls – He told this to a group of listeners who thought he was very badly treated – An old bluejacket was going by & said the chap had learnt 3 but didn’t seem to take no interest in their other calls – What 3 was it Mister he learnt & couldn’t learn no more? –

Oh, said the Old Tar – the easy ones – ‘Cooks to the galley’ ‘Stand easy’ ‘Liberty men fall in’ He knew them right enuf – but his Superior Officer chucked him –

My queer client & desperate ruffian (Darmody) who threatened to kill Johnson got ashore yesterday & was adrift till it suited him to come off – His excuse was he’d been asked to dinner on the Eastern with the ‘Prince of Wales’ – It turned out he hadn’t had the heart to refuse a good dinner with the ?chief stoker (alias P of W) on the Eastern – As you drink on these occasions all the (stolen & ullaged) liquor you can lay hands on no wonder he overstayed his leave & that he came aboard quite happy – So many consequences have been crowded into his life that a few more wont matter –

[Page 172]
I’m just putting on record a fact – The Ward room has 7 Officers – Add to that Fritz = 8 – In 6 days the Beer (Resch’s lager) drunk & to be paid for is 157 Bottles i.e. – 3 Cases & 13 Bottles – Of course there were guests – thirsty ones – Also of course Beer was not the only drink – Gin & Bitters – G & Vermouth – Lemon Squash & whisky – Brandy (rarely touched) – Soda water made by ourselves – Truly its marvelous – my own notion is – that – though the Officers pay – yet others drink as well – who don’t pay – Nevermind – Cheer-O – The Country is in a state of war – A favourite drink is the one that Captain Cook had – when he first landed – "a little gin" – Vermouth & Gin are known as ‘Virgins’ - & asked for as such –

Monday Feb 8-15 – No word of our moving on – I put in the morning over the Mess accounts – fixing things up – Going ashore & squaring bills – The difficulty is German money – We want English – It seems that the Chinese like English gold & hoard all they can get & it goes out of circulation – I have refused to be paid save in English currency or cheques on Sydney – I had Lieutenant Creswell to dinner – He wanted to get hold of our gramophone records but we would not sell records only –

[Page 173]
It rained torrentially on Sunday – I see Holmes gives Rabaul a very bad name – I don’t think it is nearly so bad as he makes out. If men wd drink less – have a better commissar & listen to the medical reason duly set forth – residence wd not be too bad – As regards building Germany cannot teach us anything – their beds – windows are mostly atrocious – To day has been fine & as wet seasons go this has not been a bad one –

Tuesday Feb 9-15 Very hot to-day – Into the ditch – Sick parade – Johnson got his infected sore on his upper lip still bad – Came to me for treatment – To the Beach – Got in 59 £ gold for sales – Went selling again & sold right out to the military mess – Arranged to deliver 2.30 pm – To the Garrison Hosp – Arranged to send men to Eastern – Eastern leaves & this goes by it – 10 am Feb 10 – Arranged to get Quinine & Rum for Fantome – Off to Fantome – Got up everything we had for sale & listed it as per invoice – By 2.30 I was ashore & the Sergeant saluted me – All went right & I sold the lot of the Fantome stores & hold the gold – Inboard – Defaulters parade – A blighter refused work & called the Dr of the Una in his defence – Poor blighter he failed badly – Got 90 days in the jam pot – All is well – We coal at Matupi tomorrow – may sail any day we cant be in Sydney before 25th anyway – Fred –

[Page 174]
Thursday Feb 11-15 – Part 10 Rabaul

Heavens – All my 3 lbs 6 oz of quinine away on board the Navua & I with but an ounce left – Rabaul – empty swept & garnished – not a soul in her – The Eastern & Navua gone & everybody with them – The Fantome & Una left – We are off on Saty.
I’m mess caterer & put 8 bottles of Beer in the ice chest & one was stolen inside 12 hours & I talked freely & insisted on the fact that some steward stole this (I’m certain) – I’ve been told that my thoroughness & strictness wont be liked to which I’ve retorted that when thieves fall out honest men come by their own – That makes 104 bottles stolen on the Fantome & 129 stolen on the Eastern – value Eastern bottles 6-17-6 for which I have to pay my whack – I’m out – looking for honest men – now for a connected story –

W-day 10th To Matupi to coal – started 6 am. got ended by 8 pm & back to Rabaul (4 miles) by 4 pm – Ashore with Nelson (No 1) – To Lauris to sell our Soda water machine – I induce .L. to come & see it – I to meet him 10 am at pier & [indecipherable] him off – Then to Garrison Hospital

[Page 175]
& find my Quinine gone – Also every patient gone – Rabaul is washed out – As we steamed back to Rabaul twixt 3 & 4 pm we saw the Navua (Union S.S.Co) go out – She had over 1000 souls on board – Skeete was on her so I’m the only Naval Dr in Rabaul – The men on the Navua cheered the Fantome vociferously but we were not allowed to cheer – Naval discipline of the wrong sort – We should have returned cheer for cheer & the Captain – if necessary – should not have heard it – No other officer would I know –
Well then N & I went up to the top Hospital to say good bye to Fitzherbert & Flood – We did it over bumpers of Moselle – Back to the town (1 mile walk) Aboard – Dinner – Then Walker the navigator came off – 4 sheets in the wind – with 3 white cockatoos which he had promised to take to Sydney – We other 4 officers sat on the ship’s rail & abused the birds & him

[Page 176]
By Jove it was funny – I laughed till I cried – Fancy taking white cockatoos to Australia!! – He wanted them up on the poop – Bumpus & I swore we’d send them adrift inside 10 minutes & we would too – Eventually he got them away forward & pays a man to look after them – After this – quiet – cider – at Walker’s expense - & bed –

Friday 11th/15 Up 6 am – Swim – Sick parade – To the beach at 9.15 – Up to the Hosp – Saw PMO – So long as he gives me a chit to say where the quinine has gone I don’t care a damn – It will save me trouble – He says he can get me more–I don’t know whether he can – I’m to see him tomorrow –
Down to the pier – Met Lauris – took him inboard – Got the Chief Engineer & we made Soda W in his presence & sold him the lot for £15 – Then I took him up & liquored & oiled him at the expense of the mess – I’d have sold the Gramophone only that bally ass Nelson has broken

[Page 177]
the main spring & this makes it awkward to sell – Nelson is an ass. When he’s ashore he drinks too much & gets maudlin & wants a tune & the results to the machine are dire – we curse him – Well – Davies – Bumpus & I have sold everything bar the gramophone – We are the Saviours of the Fantome mess – I was so pleased when last eveg Fitz sent for Gin - I’d bought up all that was left – for self & pals – not much – None in the ship – Sir – I sold every drop of Brandy ashore –
The climate is hot – depressing & men will drink & you can only stop them by not having it - Fitz can go & buy stuff for himself & not sponge on the ward room so far as I’m concerned =
I said Rabaul is empty – I saw the troops land from the Berrima last September & I saw them leave to-day – The main street of R. had not a soul in it – not a soul in the side streets – no salutes – A calm, a quiet, a peace unknown since the war came has descended on hot Rabaul –

[Page 178]
I was talking to Colonel Paton & asked him if the troops wd go to Europe. He said it wd be best – They wanted to fight & would not settle down in civil employment until they were fed up on fight – The vast majority are in good health & cd go at once –
Did I mention that the Eastern has 160 Malaria on her & 1 doctor- The Navua has 3 doctors - !!! – Ginger Burns is on the Eastern (His hair is ginger) By George its hot & sweaty & at 3.30 I’ve to see that S.W. machine to the pier & inform the purchaser & then collect fifteen of the best – Alone I did it –

Friday Feb 12-15 We go to Sydney tomorrow – General feeling of relief – I swam & held Sick Parade & then to the Beach – I collected in gold 15 £ for Soda water machine – I went to the Hospital & deposited safely a man named Bates with Malaria – He had been landed on me from the Una last eveg. As the PMO was not there I didn’t worry over Rum & Quinine – I washed it all out & left – Took my rum beakers (biggish barrels) on to my boat – Shoved off – Got soaked thro – my jobs are done – I’ve got 121 £ in for

[Page 179]
for the mess by personal exertion in 7 days & I know the mess are grateful so that’s something – I used up some of my energy – that’s all –
2 pm – 3 passengers off the Una to come with us – The Administrator is coming inboard to say G.Bye – to all the officers - I’m the Senior Officer – Yah!! This event occurs at 10 am – From Alpha to Omega I’ve seen the New Guinea Stunt right thro – Admiral to Administrator – Patey to Petherbridge – Berrima come in – Navua go out – Mind you it’s been a real fine stunt & the Fantome bit the best of the cheery lot – Yes – the old Fantome has been all right from Truck to Kelson & no error –

Sat Feb 13-15 – Finish – a close hot day – we got orders for steam at 10.15 then postponed till 12 then 1.15 – Finally anchor came up at 2.45 & we were off – The "Matunga" kicked off just before us but she goes to Samaria – so we shall be down first –
Petherbridge came inboard at 10 – We had a guard of honor & we had the royal salute & we had a look round the ship & I was

[Page 180]
introduced to him with the other chaps & that was all –
Then we drank cider – Tasmanian cider – a lot of it – We walked & we talked & said goodbye to all & to all & sundry who came to see us – One funny incident occurred – We only allow 8 bottles of Beer per diem in the mess – We let Fitz have 3 for his guests – Suddenly a boat load was seen approaching No 1 & I saw them & hailed the wine Steward – In a second we took up those other 5 bottles ourselves – Fitz had cider 1/6 per 13 – No beer Sir said the Steward – We saved our lunch & dinner Ale – 8d per 13 – by prompt & effective action –
A chick for dinner fell overboard – His life was saved by the prompt action of a gallant AB – I got him at the gangway – The gallant AB was allowed to smell the chicken’s breath & felt compensated – Fitz had lunch on the Una – By using his

[Page 181]
name – thro his steward – on the beach we secured 3 extra bottles of whisky at 2/6 each (This was our own stuff sold & resold) We shall sell it tot by tot to the mess & make a good profit on each bottle – No other incident occurred save that on passing Matusi point where a battery is being erected we waved our pocket handkerchiefs to some friends & Fitz reproved us – saying it was orderless – No one said anything but we cursed him afterwards for a silly blighter full of gin & whisky up to his top waistcoat button – Really I think it was silly of him – I got up on the poop & had a last lingering look at Rabaul – It was absolutely empty save for the Una – Both town & harbor are deserted – The blight & curse of war is on them & there is nothing doing – I’ve had some real good times in Rabaul but I don’t want to see it again – in the torrid summer –

[Page 182]
In looking back I see I made no mention of a 6 mile walk yesterday (Friday) – on my own – thro the bush – across a neck of land – I started at 2 & got back at 6 & had a swim in addition – I got a maiden hair fern & also a golden fern both new to me here – Coming back I met the Administrator in his car & he offered me a lift – I declined for I wanted the walk & I wanted to see the plant & native life – This was my last time ashore in Rabaul & I was & am very content – I know Rabaul fairly well –

Sunday Feb 14-15 Saty night was a beaut – hot – damp – we darkened ship – I slept on the poop deck & had to shift in the night for the rain – you break your feet up in the dark – I put in the morning at sick parade & then at the accounts – I’m glad to say we are on the safe side – completely – thanks to our sales in Rabaul – Our ice is done – Beer but 14 bottles left – Fresh meat leaves us to-day – a week of low diet – The cider seems to me to have soda Salycilate or Boracic Acid in it – I seems to depress a little – so we – who know – are selling it – Its a good drink but one doesnt want too much of it – The sea is calm but its hot – I’ve nothing on but a singlet & am just nice – at least nice & cool -

[Page 183]
I’m debating as to what I shall do next – Unless offered something decent I shall wash out – I’ve shown capacity & worked for 6 months & seen the N.G. trouble through – I have decided not to strive or cry – just to see if I’m offered anything that will pay & if not to go ‘on the land’ once & again – That’s definite & best =
W-day Feb 17-15 – The weather is cooler – A level sea – A fair passage to date – We are off Townsville – to the East of that place some 300 miles - What is doing? Getting ready for Sydney – I’ve given orders that the present mess winds up on Sunday Eveg 21st= This gives us exactly five (5) days to finish up Dry & Wet Stores & by next Sunday Eveg the Ward Room Stores will be gone – That is as it should be – My little experience has given me an insight into much that I dont like in the catering line – Enough is not paid to the stewards to keep them honest – consequently they make it up by commissions – by various dodges – in consequence there is wastage, knavery – lying & gross imposition – The worst is – you cant sheet it home & if you could a dead set wd be made against you by a

[Page 184]
lot of the men in the service –
I can see how I could run the ‘wine’ successfully without leakage but I doubt very much if I could a mess – when you let your Steward ashore & he has to buy for the mess & puts it down in a ‘market book’ which he keeps & shows you now & again – I am told that ‘pillage’ exists in every single department of the Service & I am inclined to believe there is truth in the statement & that it is mainly a reaction against small pay to Warrant & Petty Officers & winked at by officers above them!!!!
Well I’ve got my little lot in order – anyway – Time hangs – I am reading – "The Riddle of the Sands" is Rot with a large R – I cant stand it & have chucked it up – The style is execrable & the matter & conclusions drawn very questionable. We’ve lost Gordon & Lane – two good Bridge men – Only 1 of the 3 we’ve got can play & his game is weak – Every man on a ship shd cultivate his Bridge – It puts in time splendidly –

[Page 185]
I’ve seen nothing of Fritz since we left on the Saty – He’s a queer compound – His egoism is so marked that at times I wonder if he’s quite right – He had a fracture of his skull years ago – He drinks a bit – When you’re in Command – unless you’re careful – you are very apt to get swell headed – Living by yourself – Having your own steward – Giving orders & no one contradicting you may bring out the best but also may stimulate many very questionable qualities – A chap in the Ward Room cant develop eccentricities – He’d get too much laughed at – He’s got to be very level or he soon becomes a butt for critics –

Friday Feb 19-15- Beer ran out on Shrove Tuesday – Whisky expired on Thursday aftn. Cider some 18 Bs left. A little Vermouth & Benedictine & all is over – We had a bad day on Thursday – a gale from SE & we took water over & rolled for all we were worth. To-day it is better & the weather fine –
I understand that we have the news by wireless that the Eastern got in only on Thursday am – She & the Navua - if they got our gale – may have had a bad time – especially invalids –

[Page 186]
We are abreast of Marybro (Double Island) as I write this – Sunday eveg or Monday morning seems about our time – all being well –
The more one reflects the more one sees that the Pacific is washed out – The Grantala is discharged – The Submarine AE2 has gone home – All Imperial!! Naval men (Why Imperial, why not British?) have been recalled – One destroyer only is in Sydney we believe – No war ships are here – What on earth is left for us to do? Nothing save dull, deadly, ordinary routine – I’m off =
Talking things over with others I touched on a point that many agree with – Is it a good thing to denude Australia of its fighting men in toto? – especially of its volunteer crowd – we can & may do it but is it advisable in a young land which wants population? – Why not compel the villages of the cities of Great B & Ireland to drill & fight & save our men for their own country – There must be tens of thousands of hoodlums at home who should be rounded up, trained & given a fighting chance –

[Page 187]
Saty Feb 20-15- Fitz is bursting himself to get in I dont think he’s quite normal – Told Davies the chief engineer that he had received a message to get in with the greatest despatch – we’ve had no wireless thro & not sent any signal so that no one believes him –
Its a beautiful day & the sea is smooth & we are bowling along at over 12 knots – The Ship is dry – not a single drink in it I am glad to say – Sold out to the last dram – The last of the Ward room dry stores go to-night so that we’re all right – If the Fantome pays off we shall be inboard for several days discharging Stores –
To day we are all cleaning & clearing up – The health of the ship’s company is excellent – I’ve only one case of malaria & he’s pretty good -
Strangman’s idea of Quinine & Rum all the way down fell thro & as events turn out – quite happily – I never did believe in it – faithfully – but as he was an expert I gave right in – All’s well that ends well & my flock is well tended – Bumpus & Davies are the two sound reliable officers – Walker & Nelson I should get rid of & Fitz I am doubtful

[Page 188]
about – Lane the transferred Paymaster is a good man & Gordon & Gauntlett real good sober men particularly Gordon – Gordon, Bumpus & Davies are far & away better than the rest – a very solid trio –
We’ve had prisoners – One refused duty & one insulted his Superior officer (Both these men are deserters & rejoined at the war - ) We’ve several weary & stiff whom I shall nominate to the authorities & recommend for Discharge – One will be [indecipherable] Johnson –

Sunday 7.30 am. 21st-7-1915- We are up – going at this moment to No 9 Buoy for Anchorage – 7 days & 16 hours out from Rabaul - Saty we steamed magnificently & all went very well indeed – We were all up – dressed in clean white & on the quarterdeck soon after 6 am – We passed the Heads at 7 – I’ve been 6 months in the Navy to-morrow =
11 am Mails have arrived – I have one from Rawdon & three from you – Papers galore – Give Rawdon my love & say his shooting was all right – I have no more cartridges but they can be got 6 – a packet – anywhere – Sing or Utz –

[Page 189]
Your latest is Feb 14 – you’d got my wire – All seems well with you – I should think if your Mother just goes slow she will be all right – A glass of Port wine might help her –
We are going alongside the wharf at Garden Isld – tomorrow at 9 am – The 3 Destroyers are here – Transports are all gone & the whole aspect of the place different to what it was in November – Well I’ll end my Diary – I have had a very good trip – seen & done a great deal & got a good deal of fresh experience –
Last word – We pay off – All guns are to be put ashore – This means a week’s work. I’m ashore – Going to see Hedley - & take him & some Mollusca Finns collected at the Matusi hot springs –

[Page 190]
HMAS Penguin
Feb 28-15

Dear girl
Note change of address – The Fantome is no more – We paid off yesterday & you can tell the C.O to go to blazes without any fear of consequences – Paying off washes out everything – Tickets free – Captain Henderson is my CO & I’m going to get a drop of leave in a few days –
I enclose my flimsy from which you will see I done my duty – When duly admired put it in the museum with my [indecipherable] of the Submarine stunt –
Its 6 am - I’m writing in the Smoke Room of the Fantome though I grub on the Penguin – The old Fantome paid off at 11 yesty - & then the men fell in for Chow & then went on board the Canberra to go to the Melbourne Depot – Our friend Darmody you’ll be sorry to hear – remained absent till 11.30 am yesty – He’d been on a bender - & broken his leave since 7 am Monday – Of course he had to toe the line – Even then though he stood to attention – he was "too full for sound or foam" – As he marched aft I noticed his gait was troublous but his

[Page 191]
manner was quite cheerful & his face gave no indication of repentance – We sent him off with the others & Darmody waved his hand to me & wished me good by –( - old iodine) - I suppose we’ve all had a certain sympathy for this undisguisedly cheerful ruffian – What he’s been doing – besides drinking – during the whole week God & the Police alone know –
You see by the papers that Doctors are much needed & therefore you may be sure I shant go short – I shall be ashore a lot & see the drift of things – Of course my pay goes on – They paid me £24-2 – yesterday – I must go into accounts – What date are you paid up to? Probably Jan 29 or thereabouts –
I suppose you got my last bit of journal – Did R get his Ambulance triangular sling –
Get & give your Mother a bottle of Port wine – One glass +oz ter die sunendus [three times a day] – with or after food – She’s very strong & of good constitution – After paying off, in the eveg I went to see Hedley & got a joy ride back to my wharf with Dr Kestevery – Old Brick wanted me to do a Locum but it wd be too flat to leave the fighting men unless compelled to – Love to all – Fred –

[Page 192]
I’ve just looked at my flimsy – Walker’s was of such a nature that he’d never get another job in the service – Very naturally he tore it up & put the bits carefully in the ditch –

Fred

[Page 192]
HMAS Fantome
Feb 25-15

Dear girl

I got your letter this evening. You should have got mine on Tuesday but mails seem to me to be funny things – Glad to hear you got those N.G. bits of money – I got them at Nauring – N. Ireland. Our guest night has washed out – We were going to have such a beauty – I had got down on paper all the drinks – Gin & Vermuth – Beer – Ginger ale & Soda water – Port wine & whisky – I was going over quantities when in came an ‘Order’ – 70 of our crowd go to Melbourne on Saty & others go all over the shop so it was up & get at it & shift your selves – Hedley & Chapman were coming but it’s all a wash out –
I dined last eveg with H & C at the University Club & we did ourselves well – very well -
Several of us dined together tonight & again we did ourselves well – very nicely indeed -
I’ve just looted a bottle of beer & am waiting for Mr Bumpus when we’ll drink this – I fancy it belongs to Walker but we’re going to drink it anyway – I’m mess caterer & have been hard at it getting things square – paying bills – getting discount – I got 50p on 200£ from one firm for which I received the thanks of the mess – It is unusual

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they tell me to get a discount but I thought differently & got it by patient talking & a silvery tongue –
The days fly – unloading a warship – you wont be surprised to hear that my Stoker friend Darmody is adrift again – All goes here just as at sea – Liberty men fall in & get leave from 4.30 pm to 7 am – Darmody we noticed was shaven & polished up & in great spirits – His stay of leave had run out at sea – He was adrift with the P of W you’ll remember – He was cautioned to turn up – "Yes Sir – I’ll be most careful – I’ll not miss the boat Sir" – Darmody has been away – for certain – 24 hours – I fear that the world, the flesh, & the Pub are far too strong for Darmody – Did I mention that at Matusi, one of the bunkers got jammed – This was due to Darmody trying to introduce a native maiden thro the port hole when he should have been working in his bunker –
Fitz has gone to Melbourne to see the Naval Board on business – My future is quite undecided – I shall go for a drop of leave on Saty – We travel free now so that’s a bit of all right =

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Pay Rawdon his loan – you’ll be pretty comfortable – Save every bean you can but don’t deny yourself or the children any necessity. Go for the garden & get a small but strong lawn mower – Strive for that absolute neatness & order that sets off the beauty of the flowers – The close mown grass – Make the mower my Xmas gift & yours to the family – Don’t over do things by digging or too much lifting – I sent Mab the buttons of Lt Scarlett of AE1 – In memoriam poor boy – The Cuff & Pin are for you – also the [indecipherable] – Mab & all of you must be cheerful & optimistic – Take what comes along & make the most of it – Never moan if possible – Rawdon will turn out the average boy as time goes on – Take my tip & talk the Canon K & other parents about the school – I don’t like boxing in place of drill – I don’t like boys buying or selling fruit or drinks – That’s bad form – A big boy may soon bully a small one unless he spends money in buying from him – Alone a parent cant do much but several parents can do a lot – I want a good sound body for R & character.

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Go for strict order & neatness with him – Get him not to let things lie about or adrift – When he uses a tool, a book or anything have it put in its place – Have his drawers & room tidy – He is not to read in bed or be up late doing home work – Have those shoes whitened make him do it – also his boots – Don’t be too soft with him – Don’t quarrel at all either you or Mab with him – Be firm & very kind & he’ll do I’m certain –
Saty morning It is 6.30 am – I get up early & do things – I go to G.I at 9 & fix up things – I then return & may see Hedley – To-morrow I go & see Blackwell – I shall write you & when at sea keep a journal – Under the white ensign – life – I can see will be far different. I shall grasp all I can & record it – Eventually I may make a small book of all my wanderings & ideas – I shall post regularly – I loved being with you old dear – You were very very nice & good & sweet & loving & I am very much in love with you my sweetheart – You shall have my best at all times – afloat or ashore –

Much love – Fred -

[Transcribed by Gail Gormley, Judy Macfarlan for the State Library of New South Wales]