om Brigade Headquarters directed that
the Battalion would proceed "overseas" on the 3rd September. All surplus
stores were at once got rid of, and spare baggage collected to be handed
over to the care of the Australian Base. The Regimental Orderly-room
Clerk, Staff Sergeant S. S. Thompson, was detailed and departed for duty
at the Australian Headquarters in Egypt, where he would be responsible
for the proper keeping of Battalion records.

The 2nd September witnessed the departure for Alexandria of a small
advance party, under Lieut. H. E. C. Ruddock, charged with the duty of
making all necessary arrangements for the reception of the troops when
arriving at the wharf. Tents were struck that afternoon and a bivouac
formed for the night.

After the evening meal on the following day the Battalion fell in, and a
check of the _personnel_ was made. Previously a number of sick, and the
few men in detention, had been struck off the strength and shown as
transferred to the Training Depot. It was now found that three or four
men were missing. As time did not permit of a search being made, a
report was sent to the A.P.M., and the additional names were also
removed from the roll.

Late that night the move commenced to Qubba station, where the train was
boarded. Each man was bearing a heavy burden. All ranks were fitted with
web equipment, carrying in their packs great coats and a few necessaries
and personal belongings, and bearing a blanket, waterproof sheet, three
days' rations of biscuits and preserved meat, together with an emergency
ration in a sealed tin, and (for those with rifles) 200 rounds of
ammunition. Officers carried revolvers, field glasses, prismatic
compass, and various other extras. They were also allowed to place their
valises on the train but, according to rumour, it was doubtful if they
would ever reach them on Gallipoli.

The entrainment was expeditiously carried out and, with the usual amount
of discomfort, the journey to the quay at Alexandria was completed by
daylight on the 4th September. Here Lieut. Ruddock was waiting and,
after some delay, the Battalion embarked on the transport in a similar
manner, minus the sympathetic crowd, to that witnessed at Fremantle.

CHAPTER V.

GALLIPOLI.

At this stage it is necessary, in order that the future environment may
be fully understood, to give some account of the Gallipoli Peninsula and
of the events of the 25th April, 1915, and later.

The Penins