Gelding, Harold Graham (Sergeant, b.1893 - d.1917)

Collection relating to the First World War service of Harold Graham Gelding. Gelding enlisted at the age of 22, on 15 May 1916, with the 1st Australian Machine Gun Company, 6th Reinforcements. He embarked on 20 October 1916, from Port Melbourne, aboard the HMAT A17 Port Lincoln. This is the point at which Gelding’s collection, a diary, starts. The diary is a small leather-bound notebook, which covers Gelding’s three week voyage on the Port Lincoln, from departure on the 20th of October to arrival in Cape Town on the 16th of November 1916.

Gelding’s daily entries are very descriptive and read almost like a letter, an epistle. He talks about receiving two boxes of cakes from a young woman as he boards, followed by the crowd on the wharf singing ‘Should Auld Acquaintance be Forgot’ as the ship sails. Gelding’s entries are cheerful, he talks of singsongs on deck, tug-of-war games, boxing contests, after-tea concerts, card games, dominoes, chess and quoits. Although sometimes the conditions are harsh - the cold at night, sparse bedding, the rolling waves, the sea-sickness - Gelding’s overall sentiment is one of anticipation and excitement. On the third day of the voyage he mentions putting ‘on another stripe’; promotion to Sergeant. However he chooses not to sleep in the Sergeant’s quarters, as these are located at the stern, with too much rolling during the wet and stormy weather. He talks about his duties as a regimental orderly sergeant; tutorials on the mechanism of guns; learning morse code; and lectures on discipline. Occasionally he illustrates his entries with small sketches. As the ship pulls into wharf at Durban, on Sunday the 13th of November, Gelding’s entry reveals the excitement of experiencing such a new, diverse culture, describing in detail the landscape and indigenous people. The final stop on Gelding’s voyage is Cape Town, on Thursday 16 November he writes ‘… I am closing this epistle in a hurry as I want to catch the mail from Cape Town, we should arrive there about daybreak tomorrow.’