大象传媒

EGYPT 鈥� THIRD AND LAST VISIT

On the morning of April 3rd we docked at Port Said. The following morning we were up even earlier than usual at 0300 hours, had a very good breakfast, left the ship and transferred on to a train comprised, so far as I could see, entirely of cattle trucks, by 0700 hours. It was some time later when we finally moved off down the Suez Canal arriving at Camp 15, Quassasin around mid afternoon.

Our first whole day here was allocated to cleaning equipment and soaking up the sunshine. We had changed back to khaki drill i.e. shorts and shirts with open necks, a most comfortable uniform, so free and easy. Morale was high, not that it was ever low, just droopy at times and the following seven days were spent in settling in and enjoying the change from the cold winter days of Italy to the almost perfect weather found at this time of the year in this north eastern part of Africa. A comfortably warm temperature around seventy five to eighty degrees, beautiful blue skies and seldom a cloud in sight.

We started off on day two with brief parades and then continued sorting out equipment until it was all up to scratch and everything had been accounted for. The next day I was lucky enough to get a lift into Cairo in a 鈥渢hree-tonner鈥�. A trip I thoroughly enjoyed and with a short stay in the city. I arrived back at 17-30 hours, had dinner and called in at the Sergeants Club. Day three was mainly routine stuff except for a lecture by the Padre in the evening. One of the soldiers present asked him why it seemed that only the best men in the regiment were killed. He replied that if you go out into a garden to pick flowers you choose only the best. In the same way worked Almighty God. Whilst I did not necessarily agree with his explanation I thought it was an acceptable answer which has always stuck in my memory and it went down very well with all those who were present. I was late to bed that night and comfortably asleep when awakened by one of the MT fitters who had tottered back from the canteen happily drunk and with no idea as to where his bed was. I directed him with a few well chosen words very much in the military vernacular and he drifted off into the night.

In the morning a Battery Commanders Parade was ordered and this was followed by a thorough check of all anti-gas equipment. Afterwards a short route march both as a means of giving all ranks some exercise and as a form of maintaining discipline. During the afternoon we were surprised by a sudden sharp downpour of rain and the day ended for me with a sergeants mess meeting that went on until quite late at night. Day five saw me posted as battery orderly sergeant. At the same time I had to take over HQ Troop because Ernie had gone off for a few days, on leave I believe, and not surprisingly I was fully occupied all day. The battery also set off on another route march in the morning.

Day six began with PT and after breakfast I was detailed to take HQ Troop on another route march which may sound all very easy but trudging along through the sand becomes very tiring even to men who were both fit and used to being on the go most of the time. Anyhow we all survived and on our return I had to give a 鈥済as lecture鈥� just to make sure that everybody remembered the correct drill. That evening was spent with Eddie our BQMS making up a new ledger of specialists equipment so you can see that it was a pretty full day.

Specialists classes were the main item on the agenda so far as I was concerned on day seven. It was important that not only did each specialist have to know his own job but that of all the others as well. This encompassed all aspects of the technicalities of gunnery excluding the work dealing with manning the guns, which was an entirely separate skill as was signalling and motor transport. The weather had turned very hot and a TAB injection which I had yesterday did not help matters at all. The news was that the Russians had retaken Odessa.

On April 12th following the usual day鈥檚 work we had a very good evening in the sergeants mess. We were visited by some of our infantry, there was lots of beer around and a merry time was had by all until past midnight. The next morning I awoke feeling thick headed but soon recovered and was quite busy all day dealing with the stores situation. We had to get ourselves fully equipped, an operation which always took a few days to complete.

For the next ten days or so we were fully occupied on one job or another. First of all Ernie returned which relieved me of looking after HQ troop affairs but I immediately found myself posted in charge of the guard for twenty four hours. Afterwards I was able to have a shower which was quite a luxury. The regiment was given a new issue of khaki drill and we were all measured by the tailor for alterations. He was known as the Dersi wallah! And the laundry man as the Dhobie wallah!

In Egypt tailoring, laundering etc., was undertaken to perfection by people who lived alongside the military camps for it should be remembered that the army had been here for many years including both the first and second world wars. At this point I would like to describe the troops method of cleaning their clothes. Having undertaken the necessary chore of the actual washing, the clothes were then laid out on the desert and sand sprinkled over each item. This speeded up the drying process, bleached the whites whiter and cleaned the khaki and webbing belts and gaiters to a very light and acceptable shade. An hour in the sun, or even less was sufficient to dry the wettest clothes well enough for wearing. For anything greasy or oily then the usual treatment was to soak the offending article in petrol, which was in abundant supply, then wash in water if necessary before putting it through the drying process.

I had further duties to perform as orderly and guard sergeant but in the atmosphere of springtime in Egypt even military life was enjoyable. In addition I was able to have a shower each day which was always so enjoyable and refreshing. Soft iced drinks were available in the mess at night or in any of the nearby clubs. Indeed life in the army in Egypt could be very comfortable for ranks from sergeant upwards and from what I had seen already outside of my own regiment there was a fair number of NCO鈥檚 and officers very nicely placed, no doubt for the duration of the war! Maybe they were down graded physically or there were other reasons why they had their particular jobs but with the nearest hostilities hundreds of miles away it was puzzling as to why the whole complex was so huge. Possibly because it would have involved an even larger manpower drain to move it elsewhere.

On April 23rd, St George鈥檚 Day, we were informed that we would be moving the next day. This had everybody running around in circles packing up personal kit and loading it and all our equipment into the appropriate lorries and bearing in mind the relatively high temperature it was thirsty work indeed. It was not until late in the evening that all was ready and I was able to slip away for a snack at the Sergeants Club.

The next morning the regiment moved as planned. It was a phased affair to ensure that we did not arrive at our destination all in one big heap. Also it may have been organised so as to be a 鈥渟how of strength鈥� to the civilian population in Cairo. My group did not depart from Quassasin until after the midday meal had been eaten and the journey was a relatively quick one along part or rather most of the Sweet Water Canal to south west of Cairo at Mena and about a mile or less from the pyramids and Sphinx. I believe the canal was ironically named by the army because in fact it was dirty and probably contained many nasty diseases for sewage was thrown into it from the habitations on the far bank, people washed in it and the occasional dead animal found its way into it. Having said all that it did have a kind of ancient Middle East appeal for I doubt whether there had been any significant change in living habits among the locals for centuries, it was like a peep into the Old Testament!

However returning to the move we slept that night in the open air and first thing in the morning we commenced erecting tents, all in neat rows, each tent being allocated to up to six men. So far as my group was concerned we also began the construction of a 鈥渕iniature range鈥� in the morning and safely stored all our specialists equipment in a tent, specially allocated for the purpose, during the latter part of the afternoon. All this being followed up by a most welcome shower for there were permanent washhouses and cooking facilities already present indicating that it was put to one side for troops resting but in transit. I must say that it was quite exciting to look across the desert from the higher part of the camp and see those famous and ancient pyramids in the distance.

The next day I was on guard again and was called out late that night when some soldiers belonging to the Durham Light Infantry passed by in a rather festive mood. The morning turned out to be a real stinker. A sandstorm blew up and the marquee which was our guardhouse was blown down. It was a most difficult job to erect it again and by the time the guard dismounted I was dead tired. I was covered with sand, it was in my clothes, eyes, ears and throat.

April 28th was a Friday and therefore pay day and for some reason or other which I cannot fully remember it took much longer than usual to complete. I believe the pay sheets with individual details on them had become mixed up in the various moves and also the troop was rather scattered about on assorted duties. It was a busy day there had been a lot of sorting out to do and in the evening I was able to relax over a beer or two.

On the 29th some of us were issued with a khaki drill battledress to try out and my first impression was favourable but it proved hot and ungainly during the day and was quickly discarded. They would have been good for night operations only but impossible during the heat of the day. I managed to sneak a sleep that afternoon and went to bed late at night. Sunday April 30th was spent quietly on make and mend and with woollen socks there was always some darning to do and we all became quite expert at the job. Indeed I continued on into civilian life for many years doing that particular chore. In fact right up to the advent of man made fibres.

Monday, May 1st saw the beginning of classes which continued on and off for several weeks. I had to take those for the specialists but missed the first day because of being detailed for Battery Orderly duties. It was a quiet day and I went to bed early. The following was spent wholly on taking classes. In the evening I gave Eddie a hand in the Quartermasters stores and got to bed quite late. This was followed in the morning by an exercise employing signallers and specialists. In the evening drinks and jokes in the sergeants mess 鈥� it was a real old booze up! May 4th and I awoke feeling grim indeed. I was posted on Regimental Orderly duties, I had a splitting headache and found it very hard to do the job. I should have had less to drink the night before!

The next few days were quite varied. On the 5th it was classes again followed by guard duty in the evening. The 6th saw me on my way to Cairo in the afternoon with Ernie and George. We ate not one but two good suppers, saw Olsen and Johnson in 鈥淐razy House鈥� and arrived back in camp just before midnight. The next day was a Sunday and I was up quite late, had a quiet day but in the evening, on invitation, went over to the sergeants mess of the 25th Indian Division and had a most enjoyable time. Not too much drink which left me reasonably fit to take more classes in the morning.

May 9th was a rather special day which began ordinarily enough with my having to take classes all morning but in the afternoon I joined a small party in the charge of a little old lady who was I believe of English origin. She took us to Saggara to see the Imhotep step pyramids, the site of ancient Memphis and various other excavations including the part of a temple considered to be one of the oldest in the world. Also an underground burial chamber for the sacred bulls of ancient Egypt. The entire visit was fascinating and so far as I was concerned one of the most interesting days of my tour of duty abroad. We were back to camp quite late, in fact we almost missed our dinner.

The next seven days were spent on classes and these were very practical occasions. Each one was an exercise covering some aspect of what had to be done when in action and as I have mentioned before we had been going over and over our particular skills ever since the war started but it was still essential to keep finely tuned. To keep in that state of mind where everything became almost automatic. To tell a little story against myself, during one of the exercises here at Mena we were engaged in a question and answer session and I had to detail the various trucks that went to the observation posts and I just could not think of one of them. I could have kicked myself but I had not been involved in going to OP鈥檚 since I had returned from being ill and had become a bit rusty on what went on in that area as a result. Of course nobody knew it all but total knowledge of the job was our constant aim.

During our time here at Mena I was able to read a few books in the evenings as light relief from artillery manuals. A Saturday was spent on guard but on the Sunday I was able to visit Cairo again where I had tea and saw 鈥淐rystal Ball鈥� with Paulette Goddard. Cairo is fairly modern compared with the Egypt of the Pharaohs. It was founded about the middle of the seventh century AD and its Arabic names is El Qahira or 鈥淭he Triumphant One鈥�. It is mainly Islamic and the population is a mixture of Arabs, Turks, Jews, Africans, some Europeans and so on. At the time of World War II it was still of interest to people such as myself but even then it was overcrowded and now I believe it is much, much worse.

To continue, one date was spent on equipment maintenance and bringing our 鈥渞ange tables鈥� up to date. It was now becoming very hot and when on the move all day the salt from our feet would be carried by perspiration through our boots and leave a thin whitish film on the outside of the leather. This loss was replaced by a daily intake of salt dissolved in water.

On May 19th, in the afternoon, several of us went to Heliopolis for a swim in the very large public baths. This suburb of Cairo covers an ancient holy city that was dedicated to the then sun-god, Ra, the temple of which became a well known library. It was from here that Cleopatra鈥檚 needle was removed and now stands on the Thames Embankment in London. Our visit was most enjoyable and after splashing around in the refreshingly cool water we sat at tables around the pool and were served with tea and cakes. You can imagine that we were most reluctant to leave but we had a fair journey back across Cairo and had to be back in time for the evening meal. All this was followed by a spell as Regiment orderly sergeant. In the evening, however, I managed to get sufficient time off when several of us were able to listen to a gramophone recital of 鈥淢adame Butterfly鈥� in one of the larger tents.

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