Over There with the Australians

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''Over There'' with the
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Title: "Over There" with the Australians
Author: R. Hugh Knyvett

Release Date: December 3, 2005 [eBook #17206]
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"OVER THERE" WITH THE AUSTRALIANS
by
CAPTAIN R. HUGH KNYVETT
ANZAC Scout Intelligence Officer, Fifteenth Australian Infantry

[Frontispiece: Captain R. Hugh Knyvett.]

New York Charles Scribner's Sons 1918 Copyright, 1918, by Charles
Scribner's Sons Published April, 1918

BILL-JIM'S CHRISTMAS
(Bill-Jim is Australia's name for her soldier)
Here where I sit, mucked-up with Flanders mud, Wrapped-round with
clothes to keep the Winter out, Ate-up wi' pests a bloke don't care to
name To ears polite, I'm glad I'm here all right; A man must fight for
freedom and his blood Against this German rout An' do his bit, An' not
go growlin' while he's doin' it: The cove as can't stand cowardice or
shame Must play the game.

Here's Christmas, though, with cold sleet swirlin' down . . . God!
gimme Christmas day in Sydney town! I long to see the flowers in
Martin Place, To meet the girl I write to face to face, To hold her close
and teach What in this Hell I'm learning--that a man Is only half a man
without his girl, That sure as grass is green and God's above A chap's
real happiness, If he's no churl, Is home and folks and girl, And all the
comforts that come in with love!
There is a thrill in war, as all must own, The tramplin' onward rush,
The shriek o' shrapnel and the followin' hush, The bosker crunch o'
bayonet on bone, The warmth of the dim dug-out at the end, The talkin'
over things, as friend to friend, And through it all the blessed certainty
As this war's working out for you an' me As we would have it work.
Fritz maybe, and the Turk Feel that way, too, The same as me an' you,
And dream o' victory at last, although The silly cows don't know,
Because they ain't been born and bred clean-free, Like you and me.
But this is Christmas, and I'm feeling blue, An' lonely, too. I want to
see one little girl's sly pout (There's lots of other coves as feels like this)
That holds you off and still invites a kiss. I want to get out from this
smash and wreck Just for to-day, And feel a pair of arms slip round me
neck In that one girl's own way. I want to hear the splendid roar and
shout O' breakers comin' in on Bondi Beach, While she, with her old
scrappy costume on, Walks by my side, an' looks into my face, An'
makes creation one big pleasure-place Where golden sand basks in that
golden weather-- Yes! her an' me together! I do me bit, An' make no
fuss of it; But for to-day I somehow want to be At home, just her an'
me.
(From the Sydney "Sunday Times")

CONTENTS
An Introduction Mainly About Scouts

PART I
"THE CALL TO ARMS"



CHAPTER
I.
The Call Reaches Some Far-Out Australians II. An All-British Ship III.
Human Snowballs IV. Training-Camp Life V. Concentrated for
Embarkation VI. Many Weeks at Sea



PART II
EGYPT
VII. The Land of Sand and Sweat VIII. Heliopolis IX. The Desert X.
Picketing in Cairo XI. "Nipper"

PART III
GALLIPOLI
XII. The Adventure of Youth XIII. The Landing That Could Not
Succeed--But Did XIV. Holding On and Nibbling XV. The Evacuation
XVI. "Ships That Pass . . ."



PART IV
THE WESTERN FRONT
XVII. Ferry Post and the Suez Canal Defenses XVIII. First Days in
France XIX. The Battle of Fleurbaix XX. Days and Nights of Strafe
XXI. The Village of Sleep XXII. The Somme XXIII. The Army's Pair
of Eyes XXIV. Nights in No Man's Land XXV. Spy-Hunting XXVI.
Bapaume and "a Blighty"



PART V
HOSPITAL LIFE
XXVII. In France XXVIII. In London XXIX. The Hospital-Ship XXX.

In Australia XXXI. Using an Irishman's Nerve



PART VI
MEDITATIONS IN THE TRENCHES
XXXII. The Right Infantry Weapons