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PRG 214/42 : Photographs relating to Love’s war service. 1915-1918.
Love enlisted in the Australian Light Horse in Adelaide on 9 November 1915. (Items 57, 58, 59) On arrival in Egypt he was transferred to the Camel Corps. He spent most of 1916 patrolling in the desert west of the Nile in opposition to elusive rebels. The monotony was occasionally relieved by the sight of ancient Roman ruins. (Items 17, 19-25, 60)
In December 1916 his regiment was moved to eastern Egypt to reinforce the campaign against the Turks. Throughout 1917 he was engaged in the fighting as the British advanced into Palestine. There were periods of resting on the Suez Canal. (Items 29, 30, 35, 37) ‘Resting’ included patrols in the Sinai desert. In August 1917 he attended an officer training school in Zeitoun, a suburb of Cairo, and was commissioned second lieutenant. (Items 16, 63. Gullett, in The A.I.F. in Sinai and Palestine, page 533, mistakenly says the officer training school was set up early in 1918.) Love took command of a machine gun section in the Imperial Camel Corps. He was promoted to Lieutenant in November 1917.
In March 1918 the Imperial Camel Corps moved from western Palestine down into the Jordan valley, crossed the Jordan near the Dead Sea, climbed up to the plateau to the east and, with some Light Horse and infantry, unsuccessfully attacked Amman. (Items 47-53) For his part in this action Love was awarded the Military Cross. (Before he became an officer he had been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.) In April the Turks made a strong counter attack on Musallabeh, a prominent hill west of the Jordan. This was repelled by the Camel men. (Items 1-5, 8-14, 55, 56)
The Imperial Camel Corps was disbanded in June 1918 and Love’s regiment became the 14th Australian Light Horse. In the final stage of the Palestine campaign this regiment worked north through the middle of Palestine and then to Damascus. Love was wounded on the outskirts of Damascus on 1 October and returned to Australia in January 1919.
The work of the Imperial Camel Corps in the Palestine campaign is included in The A.I.F. in Sinai and Palestine, by H.S. Gullett, volume 7 of The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918.
A more detailed account of the Camel Corps, including its service in western Egypt, and its joint successors, the 14th and 15th Light Horse Regiments, is given in Sand, Sweat and Camels, by George E. and Edmee M. Langley (Adelaide, Rigby, 1976.)
Vivid descriptions of Love’s war experiences are included in his letters to relatives, PRG 214 series 39, items 36 to 82. Some of the information in this list is drawn from the letters.
There are no negatives in series 42. Most of the photos were probably taken by Love. Those numbered 1 to 56 are pasted on sheets from a photograph album, with captions by Love written on the pages. Some other prints bear captions by him. All Love’s captions in series 42 are copied verbatim in this list. Information in [brackets] is by J.H. Love.
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1. Print damaged (by insects?) near left side. [Shelters improvised under projecting rocks on Musallabeh. See also item 11, near duplicate. JHL]
2. [Men apparently relaxing after the battle, Musallabeh. JHL]
3. Officers of 1st Bn. I.C.C. after Musallabeh
4. Light Horse patrol being shelled by Turks. Musallabeh in foreground, Jordan depression in distance. [For a near duplicate in better condition, see item 56. JHL]
5. Graves of Lt. Nield and 26 men of 1st Bn. I.C.C. on Musallabeh
6. “Mt. of Temptation”
7. Print damaged round edges. Shrine in monastery on Mt of Temptation
The album page with items 8 - 14 has a caption ‘Musallabeh’ at the bottom, applying to those seven items.
8. Nowacki and Newport with Lewis gun
9. [Shelters on Musallabeh. See also item 14, duplicate. JHL]
10. [Men posing as in action behind rock sangar; ammunition box in foreground. JHL]
11. [Shelters on Musallabeh. Apparently from the same negative as item 1 but 9 mm longer, showing more of the skyline. JHL]
12. [Group of men standing and sitting outside a shelter under an overhanging rock. JHL]
13. Oliver Hogue & Gowland [Caption on a duplicate is ‘Lt Gowland/ Capt Hogue’. JHL]
14. [Shelters on Musallabeh. Apparently from the same negative as item 9 but lighter, showing more detail. JHL]
15. Capt. J.A. Love. France. 1917. [A medical officer, brother of JRBL. JHL]
16. Zeitoun 1917. [Love in uniform of second lieutenant. See also item 63. JHL]
17. Pte F. Hanley I.C.C. 1916
18. Sgt. Nowacki I.C.C. 1917
19. [Caption written on negative] Bill Pile 14/8/16 ESW [or ELW. These three initials are indistinct. JHL]
20. Pte J. Dixon I.C.C. 1916.
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21. No. 3 Section: No 1 Coy I.C.C. 1916 [Ten men in a tent. JHL]
22. Walter Baker Bryce / Love Pearson Owen / 1916
23. Ruins of Roman fort and tombs / Ain Dubani / Libyan Desert / 1916
24. Hanley Owen Hammer Pinnington Dixon Bull / Embly Jones Hopkins Baker / Pearson Coad Pile Love / I.C.C. / Libyan Desert / 1916
25. Ain Dubani / Libyan Desert / 1916
26. Bada: Sinai 1917
27. McAuliffe 1917
28. Deutchman Newport
29. Serapeum 1917 [Shows Egyptian sailing boats. JHL]
30. Newport Garland / Suez Canal 1917
31. Lewis Gun Section: No. 4 Coy. / 1st Anzac Battalion / I.C.C. / 1917 [Love riding camel, others standing beside squatting camels. Enlargement of item 36. JHL]
32. Lt Gowland & section: I.C.C. 1917
33. Mageibra 1917
34. Pte. Skelly, Cusack, Lee, Searle, Goldsmith, 2/Lt Love, Pte Slocomb, Kendall, Atherton, Cpl. Hassler, / Pte Newport, Souter, Garland, O’Rourke, Hinge [?], Jackson, Dickinson, Woonton / Lewis-Gun Section; No. 4 Coy., 1st Anzac Battalion, I.C.C. [1917. Men standing, some kneeling, with three Lewis guns on the ground. See item 61 for near duplicate in better condition. JHL]
35. Suez Canal 1917 [Shows Egyptian sailing boats. JHL]
36. Lewis Gun Section, No. 4 Coy., 1st Bn., I.C.C. 1917 [See item 31 for enlargement in better condition. JHL]
37. McAuliffe with throw-net / Suez Canal / 1917
38. Lts Mattews [sic: i.e. Matthews JHL] & Gowland / April 1918
39. Palestine Jan 1918 [17 men, tents in background. JHL]
40. No. 4 Section, No. 4 Co. I.C.C.
41. Camel Corps Sports: Rafa, Palestine Jan 1918 / Brig. Gen. Smith V.C. / Mackenzie / Love Nowacki [Love with pipe in mouth. JHL]
42. Heliopolis [Buildings amid palms and other trees. JHL]
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43. Outpost camp of I.C.C. Wadi Auja: Jordan Valley [April 1918 JHL]
44. Typical scene in Judean Hills: Terraced garden, village on hill crest.
45. Bethlehem [March 1918 JHL]
46. Solomon’s Pools (Eccles. II - 6) / near Bethlehem
47. Crossing the Jordan: Makhadat Haila (sic) March 1918 [Gullett spells the second part of the name Hajla. JHL]
48. Crossing the Jordan (J.R.B. Love) [Mar 1918 JHL]
49. Bedouin Arabs of Moab [Mar 1918 JHL]
50. [As for item 49. JHL]
51. Preparing to go into action at Amman March 1918
52. Retreat from Amman [Mar 1918 JHL]
53. Ain es Sir: Circassian village near Amman [Mar 1918 JHL]
54. Hong Kong - Singapore Mountain Battery: Wadi Auja [April 1918 JHL]
55. View from Musallabeh [Apr 1918 JHL]
56. Light-Horse patrol being shelled. Musallabeh in foreground [This appears to be a duplicate or near duplicate of item 4. JHL]
57. [Private J.R.B. Love. 1915. Bust. JHL]
58. [Private J.R.B. Love, full length, wearing leggings and hat but no feathers. 1915. JHL]
59. Base Light Horse Exhibition Camp / Dec. 1915 / J.R.B. Love [In the Exhibition Building, North Tce, Adelaide; Love is sitting in front of the fourth pillar from the right, holding a pannikin in his right hand. JHL]
60. [Love riding a camel, holding a rifle. 1916-17. JHL]
61. Lewis-Gun Section: No. 4 Coy., / 1st Anzac Battalion, Imperial Camel Corps. 1917 [This appears to have been from the same negative as item 34. The background right has been trimmed off but on the extreme left is part of a man of whom only part of his hat is visible in item 34. This man is not named in item 34; no names on this print. Second Lt Love fifth from right. JHL]
62. [Half-tone print. Lieutenant J.R.B. Love wearing hat with Australian Light Horse emu feathers. 1918. JHL]
63. [Second Lieutenant J.R.B. Love wearing hat, holding an officer’s baton. Studio photo by Sedefgian Cairo Egypt. 1917. Compare item 16. JHL]
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64. [Australian War Memorial number and caption] B 01066. Officers and other ranks of the 14th Australian Light Horse Regimental Headquarters on parade with a road behind them. [No date. Mounted on card endorsed on the back ‘B 1066 Australian War Museum’, a photographic order number and details for mounting. JHL]
65. [Australian War Memorial number and caption] B 01443 Hurley, James Francis (Frank): Australians of the Imperial Camel Corps on the march across the sandhills near the Mediterranean Sea. [No date. Mounted uniformly with item 64, endorsed ‘B1443 Australian War Museum’ and the same photographic order number as item 64. JHL]
66. [Love riding camel, holding rifle; water canteen on side of saddle. 1916-17. JHL]
67. [Arab women and children, three of the women wearing nose rings and necklaces. Shadows of Light Horseman’s hat and other men in foreground. JHL]
68. [Line of women beside a building. JHL]
69. [Group of eight men, each with a towel over his shoulder. Love in middle, wearing pith helmet. JHL]
70. [Caption not by Love] The Last Load of Camel/ Saddles Finish of the / Australian Camel Core (sic) / 1918/ Kelo 295 [The significance of ‘Kelo 295’ is not known. JHL]
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