4th April 1915

In Egypt one hundred years ago, on the 4^th of April 1915, the 1^st Australian Division and the units of New Zealand Expeditionary Force who combined to make the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) were at this commencing to sail northwards across the Mediterranean Sea from Alexandria. Their destination was Lemnos Island. (Much of this is covered on page 15 of my book.)

NZ's and Australian's confront the Redcaps at "The Battle of the Wozza"

The long awaited orders to move to the Front had finally arrived on the 1^st of April. After the “Battle of the Wozzer” described in an earlier post (here) the soldiers got on with the task of dismantling their tents and organising their gear for transport to Alexandria. Piles of kit bags, etc grew beside the road at Mena and Zeitoun. The once busy areas occupied by these units were now deserted. Arab shopkeepers who had set up their shops outside the camps (an occurrence still happening today outside our camps overseas) looked on bewildered, as the respective areas were tidied, emu bobbed and the rubbish burnt in big pits.  The members of the Australian Light Horse and NZ Mounted Rifles asked enthusiastically when they would be going as well. But all they got was a shake of the head; for, at this moment, only the infantry brigades were moving. Men who had been using excuses to exempt themselves from certain duties (malingering) were seen to be lining up in front of their unit RAP’s in the hope of being found fit to go with their units. Nobody wanted to miss out on the adventure, and get away from Egypt.

Troops embarking at Alexandria.

Throughout the night and morning of the 3^rd of April as the time for the first few units to move arrived, the men formed up and marched off to the Cairo train station. It took four days to move the entire 1^st Division from Mena Camp, leaving only the 3^rd Light Horse Brigade, the 4^th Light Horse Regiment, and a few other small units.

The news was splashed across the Cairo newspapers. Security was out the door. The whole world, including the enemy, soon new that ANZAC was moving. The men crammed onto troop trains at Cairo and were soon enroute to Alexandria. The British and French navies so dominated the Mediterranean that the ships sailed without an escort.

This proved to be sufficient, for there were not many instances where the Allied troop movements were threatened. On one occasion however on the 17 April, as the SS Manitou, carrying British 29^th Division artillery units, was a day out from Lemnos, a Turkish torpedo boat, the Timur Hissar, slipped through the “net” and drew alongside. It was a time when chivalry still existed; a Turkish voice shouted “I’ll give you ten minutes to leave the ship, then I will sink you.” With that the troops aboard began to hastily man the life boats.

One boat with sixty men aboard crashed heavily into the sea smashing itself to pieces and 53 men drowned. As it turned out the Turkish torpedo boat fired three torpedoes and they all missed, then some British destroyers arrived and chased it off.

Thus it was that ANZAC was taking the last steps towards its ultimate fate. 

Arrival in Egypt

One hundred years ago this week the Australians and New Zealanders of the first convoy arrived in Egypt after their long journey by sea.

British and Indian troops already garrisoned the Suez area, so the ANZACs were not required to do that task here. The ANZACs  were supposed to go on to England to train and organise before heading to the fighting in France. However, the allocated accommodation in England had been virtually washed away by torrential downpours, so it was decided to waylay the  force in Egypt until conditions improved in England.  This news was received with bitter disappointment. 

The first ANZAC troop convoy leaves Albany, WA.

One hundred years ago today, the first convoy of Australian and New Zealand troops departed Albany bound for England and the war in Europe.

Leading up to this were a number of events which were to effect the fate of this convoy.

Many years previously, the European nations had split into two distinct groups - Russia, France and England formed the Triple Entente; while Austria-Hungary leagued with Germany to form the Central Powers.

The Ottoman Empire was under the control of a group of "Young Turks" including Enva Pasha, since a coup a few years earlier. With their Empire in decline, the Ottoman's looked for a suitable ally.

Russia and the Ottoman Empire were still enemies from the days of the Crimean war (1850's) so this made it almost impossible for Turkey to align with the Triple Entente so they secretly signed a pact with Germany and became their ally.

The Ottoman's ignored the ultimatum.

Meanwhile in the southern hemisphere the threat posed by the German Pacific Fleet had been removed, and Australia and New Zealand could begin to move their troops by sea in readiness for the journey to Europe

HMS Minotaur of the British Royal Navy also escorted their convoy.

note: While I use the nickname "Kiwis" here this term in the early part of the 20th Century was not generally used in reference to people from the "Land of the Long White Cloud". Instead they were usually referred to as "Fern Leaves" 
or "En-Zeds".

On the 1st of November 1914, the combined New Zealand and Australian convoys departed Albany for the War in Europe. The troops all cheered excitedly as they weighed anchor.
This large convoy consisted of 38 troop ships and was escorted by four warships - The Japanese warship Ibuki, HMS Minotaur of the British Royal Navy and two Australian battleships - HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Sydney.

 They sailed across the Indian Ocean toward Colombo, Ceylon (now called Sri Langka), aware that the German raider "Emden" was still operating in these waters. The Emden had built a reputation as a dangerous foe and if the convoy was attacked there could be a disaster.