A few days in Alexandria...
This photo must have been taken at the same time as the one in part 2.
ALEXADRIA.I make a note of this day, the 19th of November 1915, when we first set foot in Egypt. With its unique past, it appeals to one above almost all lands, but I wonder whether I shall be fortunate enough to be stationed in those places where her monuments dwell. At any rate It shall not be my fault I do not see the pyramids and their next door neighbour the sphinx.
It must have been nearer to half past two when we disembarked, for we stood on the quay for quite twenty minutes watching the batmen lowering Officers' kit over the side, and cheering when the water caught it instead of the men on the wharf. Our kit bags were loaded on to the wagons of the Australian A.S.C. At three o'clock we moved off in marching order. For the first half mile or so we followed the railway lines, and found It very dusty. Then too, we were continually dodging trucks and other rolling stock. Passing under a bridge, over which trams were running, a station came into view. I suppose it was a passenger station, but most of the platform was covered with bales of cotton. Nevertheless it possessed a waiting room, ticket office etc, and all the usual accessories to a passenger station.
Arriving at it, we mounted the platform, then made for the entrance. Outside was the tramline from over the bridge we had just emerged from, and opposite to us, a branch swung off to the right. We bore to our left, along the main track. After about fifty yards, they discovered that we were on the wrong road, so we turned back and followed the branch tramline. In less than a minute we were in the thick of the native quarter of the town. Our way led through a narrow street with three storey houses on either side, whose overhanging balconies projected well over the narrow causeway. As we progressed, several feet of the roadway rose amidst us, until our looked like a miniature dust storm. For about a mile this continued. The road was gently uphill, and eventually the squalid native houses gave way to open ground with here and there clumps of palm trees. Away ahead on the left of us the tops of the tents of a huge camp could be seen. Opposite it, on the other side of the road were three or four oil tanks. On the waste ground immediately before these tanks, half a dozen 4.7 guns were drawn up. Unsightly daubs of red, blue, and yellow paint gave them a very neglected appearance though It doubtless served to make their location difficult in any action they had been In. A few yards beyond them, we turned to the right, past the oi1 tanks. Beyond them again a left wheel brought us in sight of a party of our men, who must have disembarked before we did, and who had been busy erecting about twenty bell tents. As soon as we had been allotted tents, and had sorted out our kit bags, which by this time, had arrived the cooks get about making some tea. In about half an hour our first meal of bully beef and biscuits was ready. We did ample justice to it. Except for the ten men told off for guard, we were not confined to camp, and after a string of unintelligible orders had been read out, went prospecting. I found a canteen in the opposite camp, and set to to learn the mysteries of Egyptian money. We all turned in in good time. Our tent had ten men, a dozen swarms of ants, sundry beetles, and a host of other camp followers. Yet, In spite of all, we slept so well that we almost forgot all about reveille next morning. This was at 6 0'clock, but it was close on half past when the camp woke up. At seven o'clock some more bully and biscuits went the way of its kind of the previous night, and an hour and a half later we moved to the large camp opposite. It took several trips before all the stores were safely installed in our new quarters. The tents here are much more elaborate affairs. They are square, or nearly so, and accommodate 20 men. The walls and roof are of canvas lined with a thick cotton lining. The roof is double as a precaution against the heat of the summer. The tents allotted to us were not quite sufficient for our needs, so that four or five of us were installed in an extra one. Two or three bell tents had to be put up. Out here the task was far from easy. The ground was so hard that a hole had to be made for each pep with a pick, before It could be driven in. It was dinner time before one tent was properly up. Apparently this hardness is due to the drying power of the gun, for when we had gone down about eight or nine Inches, the rock underneath was quite soft. The ground Is simply teeming with life. Ants, of all sizes abound.
The camp seems well supplied. In addition to the canteen which we visited last night, there a "wet" one, where beer is gold at duly appointed hours. Just across from our tent is a small fruit stall, kept by an Egyptian. At the back of the camp, at one of the R.A.M.C. tents you can get sane very acceptable meat dumplings at dinner time. They improve the rations very considerably. Money changing a problem here. English, French, Egyptian, and Indian are all current coin. You hand in an English £1 note, and receive the most weird conglomerations in return.
After tea in company with Baldwin, I set out to have a look at the town. The better to see it we walked down, though frequent trams were available. As we went down I could not but think how much more there was to gee than any book describes. The main features of course, are as they are painted, but the many trivial points thath give life and colour to the whole scene are absent from books. Little episodes which one sees, that have no moment, except at the time at which they occur, give one a realisation that the best descriptions fail to produce.
On either side of us rose the high flat topped native houses, with small rectangular windows. Every so far they recede and there is a small square — a mere piece of waste with these houses on three out of its sides. At every doorway in the houses squat native men, women, and children. Nearly every house is a shop. Just a small room, with a few wares set out serve to distinguish them from private dwellings. Up and down the street stroll hundreds of swarthy natives, their children and their wives, each and all with one accord Jabbering at high pressure. On the whole they are not exactly prepossessing, but then one has to remember that they belong to the lowest of the labouring classes. Through this motley crowd the tramcars force their way by dint of perpetual use of their bells. These cars, by the way are small single deckers, and have a similar sort of car as trailer. Our way through the native quarter was so long that by the time we got to the end of it, the odour which at first quite oppressed us, was becoming endurable. This odour is indescribable, but approaches that of a farmer's cess—pool more nearly than anything. It would have been more correct perhaps to have put that the other way round. Beyond the native quarter we came to a large square, well lit up, and bordered with shops that were distinctly European In style. Very few English civilians were to be seen about. Of soldiers, naturally there were plenty, but the only European residents seemed to be French, Greek or Italian. The walk had been a somewhat lengthy one, and by this time it was getting late. We had seen enough of the natives for one night so a tram took us home. After two or three mishaps we discovered that the car we wanted had a star by way of sign on its roof. But a few minutes elapsed before it made its appearance. Apparently It had been full from the very commencement of the journey. At other place that would have the matter as far as people on the route were concerned. They would have had to wait for the next tram. Not so here, though. If you can hang on anywhere, you get on. If the inside is full, and there is no room on the foot—board, and the conductor's and driver's spaces are fully occupied, you get on top. If your business carries you where the tram take you, you let it, and get on somehow. In this case we managed to a foothold on the foot boards, that too on the outside of the lines. If you get on the inner you have to squeeze yourself into all sorts of uncomfortable positions when another tram passes you, and even then the trailer may find you when the tram has passed. One or two accidents occurred whilst we were in Alexandria from this cause. Where the road made a sharp right turn, there was no space between the trams if they happened to be passing at the moment they were on the turn, more than one got injured in this way. Really if the outer side was not available, it paid one to climb on the roof. But even this was awkward at times. On one occasion, we were late back to camp through some playful party on the roof. Every two or three hundred yards he would pull Vie trolley pole of the wire, and there would be a two or three minutes delay in replacing it. On this occasion fortunately there was no trouble, and in due course we arrived at camp.
Of the military in the town, the Australians are the predominant feature. They are everywhere. Their treatment of the natives is distinctly brutal. Every time you go up town, there is some sort of a row between them. Most of them were on Gallipoli, and now they are making up for lost time. It was beneath their dignity to pay for their rides on the trams, so that before we arrived at the place, all tram rides were free. The tramway company were by no means pleased at the state of affairs. Once, the tram we were going down to town on, was stopped by an irate official who forbad the driver to proceed until all had paid their fares. The tram was duly held up, but still no fares were forthcoming. Instead, one or two men moved up into the drivers place, and gently but firmly proceeded to take charge. It was no use and the official had to give way, and let the tram proceed. I learned later on that only our route was so blessed. On all the others a small fare was charged, actually paid by the soldiers. Back in camp all these things were soon forgotten as we severally turned in.
I was soon out again. A touch of diarrhoea gave me considerable trouble, especially as it was attended by considerable pain. Next morning I reported sick, for the first time in the army. Apparently it was a touch of dysentery. A rest and some medicine soon put me to rights. Instead of going out in the evening I went to the service in the canteen. It was quite voluntary and just as full. The Chaplain gave a sensible address to which practically everyone paid close attention.
Was it the figs he ate in part 2?
The following morning, Monday, all the Squadron turned out for a bathing parade. The water here is beautifully clear. Most of us swam out to a ledge of rock some fifty or sixty yards away, and disported ourselves there. We were sorry to come out.
In the evening, profiting by our previous experience, Baldwin and I roamed farther afield. This time we got right into the middle of the European part of the town. It is a quarter of fine shops and imposing buildings. The streets are clean, if not wide, at least not narrow. The shops, in general, show good taste in their window dressing. We passed all descriptions of them, but two thirds of them seemed to be either tobacconists, jewellers, or hairdressers.
The next two or three days were very much alike. We rose at half past five in the morning, breakfasted at 6.15 and then had an hour's route march up the road and back. The rest of the day went In doing various fatigues around the camp. One day there were four rows of tents, which the R.G.A. had just evacuated, to be pulled down and packed up. On another two hundred tons of hay had to be stacked up. That was an unpleasant fatigue as the hay scratches your hands rather badly. This same day, the 23rd. to be accurate, "A" Flight left us ard went to Ismailia, the place we had understood that we should go to, when we left Gosport. A slack day gave us an opportunity for another bathe, which, needless to say we were not long in making the most of. The chief work round here seems to be the erecting, moving, and sorting out of tents. On one particular day, we did the sorting of no less than two hundred of them. Some days it was too wet and windy for us to do anything at all, and at first our tent had no trench round It. One wet day cured us of any slackness in that direction.
By the way, the men we borrowed our picks and shovels from were quite an interesting crowd. They were a detachment of the Royal Marine Artillery. Between about the twenty them they had only one gun. But it was some gun! To move it they had three traction engines. When in action it stood on a special steel platform. It was a howitzer of the largest type, built to compete with the German 42 cms. ones Compared with these, It had to give a little In size, being only a 15" gun. None the less it was a mighty weapon. Apparently they had made about a dozen different attempts to land it at the Dardanelles. They moved it, whilst we were there to an unknown destination.
It being active service, the usual Saturday half holiday was dispensed with, but Baldwin and I managed to get to the "Cinema Moderne" in the evening. The show was quite comparable with our own English picture houses, and the seats were undeniably comfortable.
On Sunday morning I picked up a corporal in the R.E.s named Grenthem. Before long I found the that he was an R.C.S. man, whereat we both felt, considerably at home with each other. In the evening we went to the Presbyterian Church. As he was not feeling up to the mark a gharry took us down. It was not nearly so comfortable as the usual tram ride. The roads are very jolty, the gharry gives you the full benefit of all the bumps. The Church was quite full. Khaki was the prevailing colour, with a good sprinkling of nurses.
Not sure what R.C.S is, and the second letter is not clear; he mistyped it, and it could be R.S.S. Could stand for Royal College of Science; I know he was at university in London.
A gharry is a horse-drawn cab, more associated with India.
At 6 P.M. on November 30th, a Tuesday as I remember it, I was due for guard at the Custom House. I borrowed a rifle and paraded at a quarter past five, when an A.S. lorry took us down to the quay. We numbered six men and an N.C.O. Three went to the gate they were to guard as goon as we reached the Guard room. They would do the Guard throughout the night, and the rest of us would do it during the day. The Guard room is on a cotton quay and well alive with mosquitos. A Church Army Tea Room some 1itt1e distance away provided us with some welcome supper. Next day my turn of duty was at 10 0'clock, lasting till mid-day. In due course I proceeded to the place of duty. Passing along two or three quays, a turn to the right brought us to the gate which we were to keep guard over. Apparently It was the main entrance to the docks. There were two gates, on each of which two native policemen mounted guard. The guard was a very easy one. All one had to do was to support the policemen if necessary. An ounce of lead will often prove a most weighty argument. Most natives, too, are quite tractable when a loaded rifle is pointed at them. The scene is a busy one. In and out goes a long procession of native carts — long springless carts with either one or two Arab horses. These creatures are so thin that every bone in their body stands out in plain relief. Almost all the carts are loaded until the horses can only just keep them moving, and the drivers have to shove the wheels round themselves to start them. Amongst these there come at intervals the motor lorries of the A.S.C., and ever and anon a Red Cross car. Natives by the hundred pass to and fro. As each goes out of the dockyard, he is searched by one or other of the police. It is most comical to see them, as they reach the gate, lift up their arms and bow to the inevitable. Apparently they are allowed to take out with them small pieces of wood which they may find In the course of their work, but the size is strictly limited, and to all appearances not over well defined. This leads to much argument, but police are adamant. Occasionally some native entering the docks has to produce his credentials and failing therein, is turned back with much jabbering and waste of Arabic expletives. All these police have a smattering of English at their command, and are just burning to try their hand on any unwary "Tommy" . So the time passes, and before you are fully awake to the fact that you are on duty and not on pleasure, your two hours are gone and the coming of your relief necessitates your returning to the guard room. Since our guard only ceased at six o'clock, it was obviously too late to go down town when we got back to the camp. It looked as though it was going to be a rather dismal evening. A wash made us feel a bit more cheerful. Looking in the Canteen, we found the usual preparations for a concert, and immediately constituted ourselves as part of the audience. Nor were we disappointed. The songs, solos etc were all quite well rendered. Our own Corps helped with an exhibition of conjuring by Lieutenants Hill and Wooldridge. Lieut. Hill, I hardly know, but I should imagine that any man who is as clever with his fingers as he is, should be a first class Pilot.
Our transport and stores had come down by a different boat, and arrived next day — Dec. 2nd. They seem to have had a very rough time of it. The Bay of Biscay, which was so kind to us on our voyage did its worst for them. In two and a half hours at one period, they only progressed about three miles. Off Portugal, a German submarine hove in sight. They lined up in their appointed places, donned their lifebelts, and waited for the explosion. The submarine must have been after higher game, for it simply ignored them. A Lewis gun was got out, and few rounds fired at the "U" boat. Then it was seen making signals to a Dutch boat some way off. Probably this was a supply ship, and the submarine was out of offensive missiles. Any how the danger passed, they continued their way. From time to time reports reached them of the depredations of these Untersee Boats. In the Mediterranean Sea they encountered the worst storm that had been known for twenty years. Before it was properly over the engine broke down. For hours the ship lay helpless, in a spot, too, where only a couple of days previously two ships had been sunk by submarines. In view of all this, they put In at Malta and had a gun fitted on their stern. This took six days, so that when they at last reached Alexandria, they had been three weeks on the way. They were unfeignedly glad to be safe In port, and at the end of their troubles.
Next day I turned myself into a permanent Mess Orderly, while most of them went down to unload the ship. Her name, by the way, was the "Hunsgrove" As her name showed, she was a converted German ship. During the morning I went down to have a look at my bicycle. Beyond the fact that the front fork was somewhat askew, there was nothing the matter with it. Unloading is very heavy work. Most of it we have to do by ourselves, for they seem afraid to trust the machine cases to the natives. As each cage is unloaded, it is rolled on rollers along the quay, and then loaded on to a waiting goods train. Each evening the day's works is dispatched to Cairo. I suppose we shall follow it in a few days' time. For a week this continued. In the middle of it, Baldwin went away to Ismailia. On the same day "B" Flight made tracks for the Western Front, I.e. Tripoli. Mersa Matruh I think was the place they went to.
Whilst all the unloading was going on, the quay was never clear of our stores, and this necessitated there being a guard over it. On Dec. 7 my turn fell due, and accordingly at six o'clock we went down to take charge. A corporal of the 5th Wing was In charge. I used to see him occasionally when he passed the Orderly Room at Gosport on his way to the photographic section, over which he had charge. He seemed quite well up in my line, so much so that on the succeeding evening I hunted him out In his tent, and spent a most pleasant evening. My own tent was next door to his, apparently whilst I had been in with him, I had had a visitor. The first thing I was told when I got back into the tent was that a corporal in the R.E.s had been inquiring after me. His name was the same as mine. Obviously must have been Harold. The next night I went to the Y.M.C.A. and met him there. He looked very well, but was much altered in appearance by a bushy moustache. We spent a delightful evening together, one that passes all too quickly. He had only just arrived the day previously, so that he had not been long in finding us out. Needless to say each of the succeeding nights were spent together. Together we sent a joint letter home to acquaint them of the meeting. On the 14th. as we had been ordered to proceed to Cairo on the next day, I got a late page, and regretfully said good bye to him. Who knows but what it may be the last time I may see him.
On Wednesday the 15th. December we bade farewell to Alexandria. The camp was cleared by ten o'clock, so we sat on the ground for ten minutes to wait for the parade time. For the first time I noticed that the great ants had no dealings with the smaller kind of their own colour. To see what would happen, I put one of the larger kind into a cluster of the smaller ones. They promptly set on him. Two caught hold of him by the hind legs, and proceeded to eat him up. More joined in, and in less than five minutes he had completely disappeared.
Parading, we disposed of our kitbags and packs in a lorry, and marched to the station. For the first mile our way was the one we took on our arrival. Then, passed the railway station we took a turning to the right, and made a bee line for the main line station, where we arrive with about a quarter of an hour to spare.
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