With the RGH to Suvla and a meeting with Billy Sing.

We were back again at the National Archive last week. Again, once the official business was over I ordered up the Regimental War Diaries of some of the Yeomanry Regiments that went out to Gallipoli in August 1915. They landed at Suvla  as part of  the now dismounted Mounted Division and were withdrawn at the end of October.

Officers of the 2nd Mounted Division receive orders and briefing before the night attacks on Chocolate and Scimitar Hills 21 August, 1915.

I was particularly taken with the diary of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars. Written by the Adjutant, Lt. Michael Hugh Hicks-Beach, Viscount Quenigton, initially on pages torn from his notebook and only later on the official sheets. He signs himself simply as "Quenington".

Lieutenant, later Captain "Quenington" survived Suvla and continued as Adjutant until his death at the disaster at Quatia, 23 April 1916. More on this in a future post. 

Captain, the Honourable Michael Hugh Hicks-Beach, Viscount Quenington, 

Adjutant Royal Gloucestershire Hussars.

Here's the official  RGH account of their time in Gallipoli (WO 95/4293):

I also rummaged through the diary of the Middlesex Hussars for the same time period. I was pulled up short by this page where Captain Subbins charts the effects of disease.

I was also very pleased to discover that the diaries of the Australian Light Horse Regiments 1915-18 are at the National Archive. Some are photograpgic reproductions (the originals now at the Australian War Memorial, I believe) but a few original pages are mixed in there as well. I called up the Gallipoli diary of 5th Australian Light Horse. This diary was a photographic reproduction done quite some time ago and it did not photgraph well, there being very little contrast between the writing and the background so no images I'm afraid. However, the tone of this Aussie diary is very different to those of British Regiments. Ordinary Troopers are named throughout when they are wounded, sick or do something worthy of note. The naming of "ORs" in British diaries is relatively rare.

I read, with interest, a reference in the diary to Trooper Billy Sing, a Chinese-Australian and legendary sniper known as "The Assassin". The diary entry celebrates Sing's accuracy as he had just increased his tally to over 150 confirmed hits. The entry describes Sing's "modus operandi" (the diary's phrase, not mine). His spotter, armed with a telescope, would train it on a "loophole" in the Turkish sand-bag parapet or any other target that presented itself. Sing would cover the spot with his rifle at ranges between 400 to 1000 yards. When the spotter saw movement he would simply tell Sing to shoot. Sing would oblige and the spotter would record the result. Sing went on to claim 201 kills and earn himself the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Have a read about Billy Sing here. Here he is:

A Trip to the National Archives. Half an hour with the Yeomanry in Palestine.

Yesterday we made our second visit of the summer to the National Archives in Kew. Once the official business was over, I indulged myself by ordering up the War Diary of the Berkshire Yeomanry for the period 1916 to 1918. I knew it was there, I'd seen it in the catalogue, but as it is not digitised I did not know quite what to expect. To my surprise a sturdy box arrived. It contained not only the Berkshire Yeomanry diary but the diaries of 6th Mounted Brigade HQ, 6th Mounted Brigade Signal Squadron,  17th Squadron Mounted Machine Gun Corps, the Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry and the Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars.

I got quite excited. Time was short. It was pushing 5pm and although the National Archive opens late on a Thursday, we had to make our way home shortly as the dog needed a walk. I hastily created a plan of action... find the descriptions in each diary of the action at El Mughar, 13 November, 1917.

The Charge of the  Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Dorset Yeomanry at El Mughar, Palestine. 

By James Prinsep Beadle. 

First, the Berkshire Yeomanry. I hope that by clicking on the photos you may get an image big enough to read. The action is described in the last entry on this page.

 Then next in the box was was the diary of 17th Squadron Mounted Machine Gun Corps.

 The Dorset Yeomanry, the entry for 13 November over two pages.

 A detailed description of the action from the Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars.

The Signal Squadron diary only had a very brief entry but as I opened the Brigade HQ diary, I found this booklet in the back of the file containing the November entries. Published in Cairo in 1918, it is an analysis of the El Mughar action.

 In the back of the booket was a large map of the Palestine theatre of operations and this panorama of the heights as they would have looked to the Yeomanry troopers as they moved towards them. The village of El Mughar, attacked by the Berkshire Yeomanry on foot, is on the right. The cactus hedges that necessitated a dismounted attack are clearly visible. A photograph of El Mughar village, taken during the early 1940s can be found in the National Library of Australia's Digital Collection.

 The Brigade HQ diary entry for the 13 November.

 "Appendix A" in the Brigade HQ diary giving a formal, if brief description of the action at El Mughar.

 For me, this was the prize. This hand drawn sketch map of the dispositions of the 6th Mounted Brigade.

By the time I had found this little lot it was time to go. When we frequented the National Archives back in the early 2000s, the photographing of documents was controlled and one had to apply for a special sticker to put on the Reader's Ticket. I am glad to say that the photographing of documents is now unrestricted. 

As I have published these images online I must now do the decent thing and credit the source. The above pages can all be found in WO 95/4506. 

I shall have to go back..... I've just discovered the diary of the Berkshire Battery RHA. It would be good to get a gunner's perpective of El Mughar!