The soldiers were aroused from
their slumbers and were served with a last hot meal. A visit to the mess
decks showed these Australians, the majority of whom were about to go
into action for the first time under the most trying circumstances,
possessed at 1 o'clock in the morning courage to be cheerful, quiet, and
confident. There was no sign of nerves or undue excitement such as one
might very reasonably have expected.
At 1:20 A.M. the signal was given from the flagship to lower the boats,
which had been left swinging from the davits throughout the night. Our
steam pinnaces were also lowered to take them in tow. The troops fell in
in their assigned places on the quarterdeck, and the last rays of the
waning moon lit up a scene which will ever be memorable in our history.
On the quarterdeck, backed by the great 12-inch guns, this splendid body
of colonial troops were drawn up in serried ranks, fully equipped, and
receiving their last instructions from their officers who, six months
ago, like their men, were leading a peaceful civilian life in Australia
and New Zealand 5,000 miles away. Now at the call of the empire they
were about to disembark on a strange unknown shore, in a strange land,
and attack an enemy of a different race.
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