PERSONAL LIFE

Arthur James Sims was born in Murwillumbah on 20^th September, 1888, son of James & Sarah Jane (Pollock) (Lundberg) Sims. He had 1 brother, 1 stepbrother & 2 sisters. His father died in 1894, and his mother married John Lundberg, a well-known resident of the Tweed district for many years. Many members of the family are buried in Murwillumbah cemetery

ATTESTATION

Arthur travelled to Brisbane on 10^th June 1916 to complete his application. He answered several questions on the document, and we find out he was born in Murwillumbah, was, 28 years old and a single man. He gave his occupation as farmer. His next of kin was his mother, Sarah Jane Lundberg, of Murwillumbah. He had been previously rejected for service due to a hernia

He then signed a declaration confirming he had answered the questions correctly and was willing to voluntarily agree to service in the Military Forces of the Commonwealth of Australia

OATH

On the second page of the Attestation Paper, he made the following oath in the presence of the Attesting Officer: “I, Arthur James Sims, swear that I will well and truly serve our Sovereign Lord the King in the Australian Imperial Force until the end of the War, and a further four months thereafter unless sooner lawfully discharged, dismissed or removed therefrom: and that I will resist His Majesty’s enemies and case His Majesty’s peace to be kept and maintained; and I will in all matters appertaining to my services faithfully discharge my duty according to law

SO HELP ME, GOD.” 

MEDICAL EXAMINATION

His medical showed he was 5ft 9 inches tall (1.75m), weighed 160 lbs (72kgs), with a medium complexion, grey eyes & light brown hair.  His eyesight was good & he was dentally fit

Arthur was Wesleyan and had a scar on the outside of his left knee, another below his right elbow, various small scars left shin, a large scar 3 inches below knee left leg, 2 scars right knee cap & VI inside right knee

 CERTIFICATE OF COMMANDING OFFICER

This is completed during the recruits training. The officer certifies that this attestation of the abovenamed person is correct, and that the required forms have been complied with. He accordingly approved, and appointed him to 2^nd Light Horse, 25^th reinforcements with service number 3192

WAITING FOR TRAINING

For men like Arthur who enlisted in mid-1916 for the Light Horse, a long wait before embarkation was quite common. From June 1916 onwards, the Light Horse reinforcements were seriously bottlenecked - Egypt was already full of reinforcements and horses after the Sinai campaign.

Reinforcement drafts were held back in Australia because the Light Horse units were being reorganised and some converted to artillery or infantry training. The 25th Reinforcements (Arthur’s group) were finally assembled late 1916 when shipping became available again

TRAINING AT RIFLE RANGE CAMP, ENOGGERA

As was the case with men from the Northern Rivers district in New South Wales, they trained at Rifle Range Camp, Enoggera near Brisbane. Artur would have started his training about August

The Barracks Block was built as accommodation for men in two dormitories, each 36 feet by 22 feet (10.97 x 6.7 metres). Beds or bunks were not provided, instead each man slept on a palliasse with ground sheet on the floor. For many it was their first time away from home. Men from every walk of life, from clerks and teachers to factory and shop workers, were crammed together

Now training for the new recruits began. Firstly, the men received their vaccinations for smallpox, rabies & plague, then a recruit had to be inducted into military forms of discipline, command, and order. This was partially achieved through a program of basic training carried and, in a sense, was maintained for a long as a man was in the service. It involved marching and drilling with the rifle, cleaning and caring for personal equipment and being supervised and inspected in ways quite different to ordinary civilian life. For example, no boots should be allowed to get in a bad state of wear but must be sent to the bootmaker without delay for repair. Men who were found with hair long and unshaven had to have a haircut and shave

Secondly, after basic training there followed the far more serious exercise of turning a man into a fighting soldier at least partially prepared for the kind of warfare he was about to experience overseas. The topics and exercises in the syllabus of training were a world away from their former lives and included daily physical training, entrenching, wiring, firing rifle grenades, firing the Lewis light machine gun, dealing with gas attack, using hand grenades, using the bayonet, and the routines to be followed in the trenches.

This training was then put into practice during what were called ‘Field Days,’ when men would practice using the skills they had acquired in mock attacks both by day and by night. How well men had learnt to use their weapons, in cooperation with each other in training, would be tested in the harsh reality of the front line. Training would take several months

The recruits were issued with their uniform: a khaki woollen jacket, heavy cord breeches, and the famous slouch hat – turned up on the left and featuring a plain khaki band, chinstrap and “rising sun” badge. A soldier’s equipment also included a dixie (mess tin), water bottle, mug, .303 Lee-Enfield rifle and bayonet.

HOLSWORTHY LIGHT HORSE DEPOT
As shipping delays dragged on, men were transferred to the Australian Light Horse Training Regiment at Holsworthy. Here they drilled in extended order tactics, reconnaissance, and care of mounts under field conditions.

Those months were tedious: a lot of route marches, rifle practice, and stable duties while waiting for reinforcement orders.
Arthur would have been part of these reinforcement drafts sitting in limbo until the February 1917 embarkation orders came through.

VOYAGE OVERSEAS FROM SYDNEY TO EGYPT

On 3^rd February they embarked on the RMS Karmala. Alongside his comrades, Arthur marched aboard, his boots ringing on the gangway. As the ship’s lines were cast off and the quay began to slip away, the reality of war lay ahead, but for now, the sea breeze carried only the sound of voices and the excitement of men bound for adventure, duty, and the unknown.

The epic voyage across the ocean has been described as “the longest journey to war in the history of the world.” They thought it was the start of a new adventure- for many it was their first time so far away from home. However, after some time at sea the biggest problem turned out to be boredom. On the voyage, due to overcrowding, training was limited to mainly to lectures and a little physical training.

Sleeping & Living Arrangements

Recruits likely slept in a crowded troop deck below, where rows of hammocks or three-tier wooden bunks were crammed close together.

Air below decks could be stuffy, especially in warmer climates, and seasickness was common during the first few days.

Daily Routine

Reveille early each morning, followed by physical exercises on the open decks (weather permitting). There were parades and inspections—officers ensured uniforms, rifles, and kit were clean and in order. Training was a little problematic—drill without much space, rifle maintenance, lectures on military discipline, signalling, and trench warfare theory. The ship’s decks were used for marching in tight circles or practising bayonet thrusts into stuffed sacks. Rifle shooting was impossible at sea, so soldiers learned to strip and clean their weapons until it was second nature.

Meals

Three hearty meals a day were served; breakfast usually consisted of porridge, stew, and tea. Lunch included soup, meat, vegetables, and pudding. Meat, bread with jam and tea was served for dinner. The meals were served in shifts from the ship’s galley. Queues were long, and eating on a rolling ship meant many tried to eat quickly before nausea set in.

Health & Sanitation

Shipboard hygiene was critical—every man was ordered to scrub his section daily to prevent disease. Saltwater baths were the norm, with freshwater rationed for drinking.

The Voyage Experience

Entertainment included church drill, concerts, singalongs, card games, and makeshift cricket matches on deck when the weather allowed. To keep up morale, an area of the ship was roped off where regular boxing and wrestling tournaments were held. This became commonly known as the Stoush Stadium. No letters could be sent until they reached port, but men often wrote diaries or unsent letters to be posted later.

The troops engaged in lifebelt drill; a cookhouse on deck; soldiers on fatigues peeling potatoes 'spud bashing'; going to the dentist; barber, pay day; soldiers cleaning personal equipment; medical inspection

CROSSING THE EQUATOR CEREMONY

The crossing the Equator ceremony, ‘Neptune’s Journey,’ was played-out on each troopship.

SIGHTS AT SEA

On the way to Egypt the ship would pass through the Great Australian Bight, cross the Indian Ocean, and stop at Colombo (Ceylon now Sri Lanka) for coal and supplies.

SECURITY

By late 1914, German raiders were active, so lifeboat drills were frequent, and lookouts kept watch for suspicious ships. Troopships generally sailed in convoys or at least took zig-zag courses to make torpedo attacks harder. Ships often travelled under blackout conditions at night, with lookouts specifically watching for periscopes or torpedo wakes.

APPROACHING EGYPT

After several weeks at sea, the men finally saw the dusty shoreline of Port Said or Alexandria. The reality of leaving home truly sank in. The recruits would soon exchange the ship’s cramped decks for the sandy training grounds of Egypt, preparing for what lay ahead.

EGYPT MARCH 1917

Arthur & the other recruits disembarked at Suez on 11^th March 1917. Once in Egypt, the Light Horse reinforcements were marched to the 2nd Light Horse Training Regiment at Moascar Camp, near Ismailia on the Suez Canal.
There, Arthur would:

·       Draw his desert kit and new horse.

·       Continue training under the fierce desert conditions.

·       Await posting to the field regiment, usually at the Palestine front.

2^ND LIGHT HORSE REGIMENT APRIL 1917

Arthur was transferred to the 2nd Light Horse Regiment. By 28 April 1917 he had joined his unit in the field at Shellal, south of Gaza.

Arthur did reach the front area and may have experienced the conditions of active service — heat, flies, dust, long hours with the horse lines — but there is no evidence he engaged in combat. His service fits that of many Light Horse reinforcements who arrived just after a major action and were struck down by illness before the next campaign began.

HOSPITALISED INFLAMED STOMACH JUNE 1917

Barely a few weeks later Arthur began suffering from stomach complaints that would plague him for the remainder of his service. On 2 June 1917 he was admitted to hospital with what was described as “inflamed stomach,” and over the next months he was moved between a succession of hospitals — the Anzac Receiving Station, 26th Casualty Clearing Station, 24th Stationary Hospital at Cairo, and finally the Citadel Military Hospital. A brief period of convalescence followed, after which he returned to his training regiment at Moascar, though he was soon again unwell.

DISCIPLINED MAY 1917

While still in Egypt, Arthur ran briefly afoul of army discipline. On 26 May 1917, while on active service in Cairo, he was found guilty of being absent without leave from barracks until his arrest that evening. The offence was minor — he forfeited seven days’ pay — but it illustrates how the long months of illness and hospital routine could test even the most patient of men.

RECURRING ILLNESS

In July 1917 he rejoined the 2nd Light Horse Regiment, but the recurring illness again forced him into hospital at Fukhari and later the Light Horse Field Ambulance and Anzac Clearing Station in the field. In September a medical board classified him as suffering from gastritis and placed him on light duties. He was subsequently detached to base depots at Esani and Ludd, but his condition continued to worsen. A final series of hospital admissions followed — through the Yeomanry Mounted Division Field Ambulance, 35th Casualty Clearing Station, and 14th Australian General Hospital in Cairo — where the diagnosis was extended to include hypertonic dyspepsia and debility.

RETURNED TO AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 1918 MEDICALLY UNFIT

It was clear that Arthur would not recover sufficiently to resume active service, and he was returned to Australia aboard the H.M.T. Ulysses, sailing from Egypt on 15 February 1918. A Medical Board in Australia recommended his discharge as medically unfit, not due to misconduct, which was carried out on 27 April 1918.

Like many members of the Light Horse who served in Egypt and Palestine, Arthur’s war was marked not by battle but by the physical toll of harsh conditions, poor rations, and constant exposure to heat and disease. Gastric illnesses such as his were among the most common causes of repatriation from the desert campaigns. He returned home to Murwillumbah weakened in health but honourably discharged, having served faithfully despite persistent illness.

FOR HIS SERVICE

For his service Arthur was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, and the Victory Medal and his name is recorded on the Tumbulgum First World War Honour Roll

HOME LIFE

Arthur married Martha Elizabeth Swaysland at Murwillumbah in 1924.  Arthur was aged 36 years and Martha was aged 20 years.

Arthur passed away at Murwillumbah on 31st December 1944, aged 57 years. He is buried in Murwillumbah General Cemetery Presbyterian Plot C 42

If you have any additional information about this individual, we invite you to email us at rsl@msmc.org.au.