Published: London, Zonophone, June 1915.
Description: 78 rpm record, copyright and tax stamps to label, total recording time approx. nine minutes.
Condition: very good, a few scuffs.

“we ought to have a bosker time here, and very likely get a pot at the Turks…”

Descriptive record with A-side “The Landing of the Australian Troops in Egypt” and B-side “For Auld Lang Syne! Australia will be there” sung by Stanley Kirkby.

An exceptionally rare “journalistic” record featuring what purports to be an account of the Australian troops first arrival in Egypt. The script is rather heavy-handed, full of “coo-ees” and jokes about kangaroos, the whole interspersed with popular songs including “Advance Australia Fair”.

The recording starts with the troops coming alongside the dock and making fast, before being welcomed ashore by a band and some jovial Englishmen. The tone throughout is full of bombast – “I hear on the wireless that the Sydney has sunk the Emden” [cheers] – and although most of the narrative is clearly a studio production, there do appear to be several passages in which actual troops might well be providing some background colour. The website “anzacsightsound” suggests that this may be the earliest extant recording of “Advance Australia Fair”.

This appears to be a very rare item, although another is recorded in the State Library of Victoria, with a comment on the catalogue note that the piece was composed by Walter William Francis. One is also held in the National Film & Sound Archive, noted as a “fascinating concoction” and included in the 2007 Foundation List. An online community of 78-enthusiasts provides a likely publication date of June 1915.

References: http://anzacsightsound.org/audios/the-landing-of-the-australian-troops-in-egypt; NFSA (online); Trove.