Eric Rapkins' World War I diary is a harrowing account of the 1915 Gallipoli landing and the five days that followed.

His entries are at times candid and at times gut-wrenching. Now his great-grandson John Rapkins shares those recollections.

Eric Rapkins' notes about Gallipoli shed light on what it was like for the Anzacs. ( Supplied: Rapkins family )

My grandfather Eric Harold Rapkins enlisted in the Australian Army on October 21, 1914 at the age of 23.

The Tweed River cane cutter found himself among 600 Queensland and Tasmanian volunteer infantry men in the 15th Battalion, eventually becoming part of the 4th Brigade, New Zealand and Australian division, landing at Gallipoli six months later.

Eric left Western Australia for Egypt on New Year's Day 1915 and on that day, began a detailed diary of his experiences and feelings.

The small, fragile notebook is mostly written in pencil and some of the entries are virtually illegible, but it is an invaluable record of an event that shaped Australia's military traditions and forged the indomitable Anzac spirit.

Eric's adventure began after reaching Alexandria in Egypt, on February 1. The month at sea getting there was followed by a six-hour train trip to Heliopolis and an hour-long march in.

One of his first diary entries recorded Egypt's brutal weather:

"Towering sandstorms blowing like hell. The dust is making a lot of men sick. They are dying at the rate of three a day."

After two months in Heliopolis his battalion returned to Alexandria on April 12 and from there they sailed to the island of Lemnos, off the coast of Greece.

On Lemnos he trained and prepared for the landing that was to come - climbing in and out of naval cutters, horse boats and large flat bottomed barges.

But on April 19, five days before the Gallipoli landing, Eric was struck down with rheumatic fever and was bitterly disappointed at the prospect of being hospitalised.

"I am sick unto death ... My legs and thighs are giving me hell ... My knee is swollen up and my back and shoulder were terrible. It's nark after all the months to miss the fun now."

However, on April 23 he was discharged in preparation for the attack at Gallipoli.

This morning the doctor says I can stay and go with the rest…. I am no better though.

Eric's battalion boarded the troopship HMAT Australind on April 24 and, after leaving Lemnos, cruised to within 12 miles of the Dardanelles and "laid to" in darkness.

Just after midnight, together with other Allied cruisers, torpedo boats and transports they steamed at full speed for the southernmost tip of the Gallipoli peninsula.

It was at 11.45 a.m. on Sunday April 25 that HMAT Australind took up her position opposite what is now called Anzac Cove.

"This morning a fleet of gunboats is bombarding the coast and we are in the midst of them ... Aeroplanes were called in to help. There are more battleships here than I thought the English had. Bombardment is an awful thing. There are a lot of wounded coming from shore ... We are landing in a few minutes – all ready."

Eric's battalion did not land at Anzac Cover until 10.30pm and were immediately sent up Shrapnel Gully under fire to Quinn's Post.

They scaled the side of the gully to gain the high ground as Turkish snipers and artillery took a heavy toll on the battalion.

"Landed last night. There are plenty wounded. I have carried some dead uns past too. The shrapnel from the Turks is flying over as I write. The Turks bombarded us all day. We lost a few men. One of our sergeants got shot through the brain. Shrapnel has done a lot of damage to us. There are a hell of a lot of killed and wounded ... E Walters and 12 more sergeants" - April 26, 1915

"Late last night we advanced and entrenched. Under fire all night. No sleep for two nights and one day. I'm only just out of hospital. Bob Andrews was shot dead this evening. The Turks shelled all day and at night tried to take the trench. We were fighting all night - another night's sleep lost. I lost nearly all my mates - only one out of my tent is living now." - April 27, 1915

"They shelled us all day again. We made no headway where I was. I got sent to the doctor today. I am a bit seedy." - April 28, 1915

"Rheumatic again, got put off on a hospital ship. There are a lot of chaps gone mad from the shock. If a bomb goes off near you, it is a shock - you can't see or hear. I think that's what sent me deaf. - April 29, 1915

"It is rotten luck to come away from the firing line without being wounded. - April 30, 1915

It is now we need to remember that conditions at Gallipoli defied description as the terrain and close fighting did not allow for the dead to be buried.

Flies and other vermin flourished in the heat which resulted in an epidemic of sickness.

Of the 213,000 British casualties 145,000 or 67 per cent were due to sickness with the primary causes being dysentery, diarrhoea, rheumatic and enteric fever.

"I am as deaf as the proverbial beetle. - May 2, 1915

Three days later, after transferring to a hospital ship, Eric was evacuated to Alexandria.

From there he was put on a hospital train, sent to hospital in Cairo and was eventually declared medically unfit for further service.

On returning to Melbourne on August 6th, 1915, Eric wrote:

"There were thousands on the beach to greet us. It was like running the gauntlet. I was nearly soaked with tears and stuck to the road with used up handkerchiefs. I was patted on the back and called a wounded hero. God help those poor beggars who come after us and need sympathy."

Three weeks later, Eric celebrated a birthday back in Australia, but it was not a good day for him.

"My 24th Birthday. I was discharged for good. No more use to the 'King'. Hell and Damnation!!"

Eric did stay useful to the King. He re-enlisted into the Recruiting Corps and was posted to Boonah, Queensland, at that time a community predominantly of German descent.

John Rapkins has treasured his great-grandfather's WWI diary. ( Supplied )

It was his job to encourage young men with German backgrounds to fight the Germans!

Needless to say, he was escorted by a member of the local constabulary in case of incident.

Eric's ill health continued to dog him and, after marrying, he and his bride took up a soldier's settlement block at Beerburrum and planned to grow pineapples.

He eventually became a lighthouse keeper, manning lighthouses at Sandy Cape, Low Isles, North Reef, Bustard Head and Cape Capricorn.

Again, ill health plagued him and Eric was forced to retire from lighthouse keeping.

He died aged 55 in 1947.