Pte Roy Davies (Wandin), 14^th Battalion: Is evacuated from the field to hospital in Belgium suffering from rheumatism.

The following local soldiers leave Australia bound for Europe on the HMAT Themistocles:

Pte Albert Hawkey (Lilydale), 3^rd Pioneer Battalion

Pte Frank Rance (Wandin), 5^th Battalion

Pte Edwin Hill (Gruyere), 7^th Battalion

Pte Bernard Johnson (Gruyere), 7^th Battalion

Pte Charles Mooney (Gruyere), 7^th Battalion

Pte Frank Turner (Mt Dandenong), 7^th Battalion

Sgt Charles White (Lilydale), 7^th Battalion

Lt Francis Johnson (Seville), 58^th Battalion

Pte Clement Morey (Lilydale), Australian Flying Corps

Cpl Albert Atkinson (Lilydale), Australian Army Medical Corps

Spr William King (Lilydale), Tunnelling Company

Sister Dorothy Moroney (Lilydale), Australian Army Nursing Service: Arrives in Egypt from India. In a letter to her sister: ‘Well, at 11 am the other day, a wireless message was received with orders to disembark at Suez. There was great gloom, as we had hoped to have gone closer to the front lines. However, we flew round and finished packing, and were the only passengers to leave the boat. Those remaining on board lined the rails and gave us a great send off, which rather affected some of us.  

We landed at Port Tuelig, and invaded the only hotel for afternoon tea; we eventually boarded the train for Alexandria – a ghastly journey of eleven hours; five in a very small compartment, and no sleepers. The rails run parallel to the Canal for some miles, and we passed the ‘Malwa’ en route, and there was much waving. Oh! the fascination of it all – and the coloring – quite different from India. The sunset behind the desert! Oh, the colors, and that beautiful golden and pink light that one sees in the pictures of the places, and the tall palms, and the donkeys, and camels, while the Arabs in their gowns and hoods look as though they had just stepped out of the Bible. The irrigation of course, is marvellous, and it is wonderful to see that part of the desert on one side of the line that is irrigable blossoming like the rose; and on the other side nothing but an illimitable stretch of golden sand.

At several stations we saw Australian hats, so we hung out and ‘coo-eed’, which of course, brought them along, and it was lovely to see them. We had a shocking night journey, but when one of the others would say ‘What sort of a time are the boys having’ and then there would be no more complaints. Well, we arrived at Alexandria about 6 am and drove to the Khedival Hostel, which was originally an Egyptian prince’s palace, then a hotel; and now it is a home for stray army nurses, and there are literally swarms and swarms of them, and nothing else to break the monotony. There are sufficient notices posted on the bedroom doors to paper a house and break any ordinary girl’s heart, if she tried to keep them’.