Letters from Albert Charles Cox to his mother, 1915-1916 - Part 2

1.

Egypt

22/11/15

My Dear Mother,

Up to the time of writing I have not received any

letters from you, but there is a mail coming in this week

in which I am hoping to find at least one.

This is the life alright. The atmosphere & discipline

of the camp is O.K. & we are officers here. The meals are

clean & wholesome (cooked by the natives) & the mess room &

lounge & reading room are very good. The weather is

perfect; warm during the day & cool at night, but it will

soon be cold enough for overcoats at night. Parades are

7 to 9, 10 to 12.30 & 3 to 5.30 with a bivouac once a week

for one night. The work is as near as possible to active

service conditions, but the Non-Coms. do it all practically.

Fortunately (in one way) I contracted influenza two

days before leaving the boat & got 3 days sick leave

when I arrived, so had a good look round before

starting duty to-day, & now could take you anywhere

round Cairo. I went out to the Citadel (a morgue built

by Mahomed Ali in 1824) a couple of days ago. It is a

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magnificent building of alabaster & the roof must be about 150 feet

high. Beautiful carpets which the guide said were 30 years old &

over 2000 electric lights. I took a couple of photos but am doubtful

of their success. Yesterday I went out to No.2 Gen. Hospital at Helipolis

to see some of the boys. One of the D^rs. on board the boat is there as

well as Eric Barbour, Keith Grieve, & Arnold Baker. I also made

myself known to Capt. Bond; a brother-in law of Val's. I hope to

be going there for some tennis in a few days, & also to get acquainted

with some of the nurses. The hospital itself was built by one of the

Pasha's for some French lady some years ago. There must be accommodation

for about 3000 patients (but there are very few there at present) & the 

grounds are fine. Capt. Lethbridge & I went to the Zoo for a while

in the afternoon & then out to the Pyramids & Sphynx. The Zoo can 

knock Sydney's into a cocked hat. They have two Turkish pontoons

captured recently & riddled with bullets. We arrived at the

Pyramids just as the sun was setting & by jove it is pretty.

We had not time to go up but walked round a bit & saw

everything on the surface. The Nile happens to be in flood just

now & is quite close to them. You can see the tops of trees &

houses on the surface of the water & when the moon came up it

looked quite weird. We rode down to the town on a camel &

nearly became seasick (?). By the way! Harry Donovan knows

Lethbridge. He is one of the best. We are very fortunate in

being camped here (Heliopolis) for it only takes about half an hour

to get into the city. Major Norris is only a few yards away & I

shall see him in a day or two & see if I can get anything good.

We are pretty sure to be here for six weeks as all have to

do another school of instruction, but I should not mind being

3.

down at the scrap near the canal. There are hundreds of

brass hats here & one is not a bit in the boom unless he is

a Major or over, but all the same I am having a "hell of a time".

Am going to get hold of a horse some of these week-ends.

This is a great place for tomatoes & eggs & they are very nice

too. I don't know what sort of milk it is, but not too bad.

There are thousands of carriages drawn by two horses &

driven by the natives. They are not very expensive, but

you pay according to your humour & tell him to P.O.

We will all be blooming sharks when we get back after all

the barneying one does here. The amount of leave is pretty

liberal & every night after 5.30 & week-ends. This week I

have the job of walking out an Officer who is under

detention; one hour twice a day, & there my duties end, so

there is going to be some extra leave in Cairo for this

chicken. It is a bit of a puzzle learning the value of the

money with their ½, 1, 5, 10, 20 etc piastre pieces. There are

smaller ones but I don't touch them yet. The niggers drive

the trams & trains & both are quite up to date. The

Some of the train cars are practically the same as our

own. You will be pleased to hear that our mess

is run in the proper style, as well as having guest

nights. Hope to have one myself very shortly. (a guest)

You can let everyone know the news as I have not

got any carbon paper to write one for all

4.

By this mail or sooner you will receive a registered packet

with some Xmas presents for you all. If it does not arrive

within a reasonable time you had better apply to the post-

office & later if you have not got it write to the firm

whose card I enclose, but I don't think there is going to be

any trouble. There will be no duty to pay as it will be

marked "On Active Service". They are all Egyptian made &

I had a man with me who knows something about them.

The cloth of course is for a blouse for you. You will recognise

the Lotus pattern & I hope there is enough (3 yards). Also

a pair of gold vases & a spoon are for you. Ash tray is

for Tim & cigarette case _∧box for Eric. It is very hard to

get anything for a man in the way of a present here, but

I think you will all like them. Anything else you

would like just mention it. Just remembered it is my

birthday in two days so had better celebrate.

Well! the mail is closing to-morrow & I want to get

some photos to enclose in this so I shall have to close

& get into Cairo. Best of love to all from your loving son

Bert.

Photos not much of a success but I think the developing

is at fault. Please ring the office & remember me to

M^r Titmus & staff. Also Joe & George if they are back.

18 Nov.  1915

My Dearest Mother,

Just a few lines to let you

know that we arrive on Tuesday

morning at 3 a.m. & landed on Wednesday

at 10 a.m. Although we anchored in

the harbour for a day it was not so

monotonous as one would expect, for

there were plenty of curiosities to keep

you going. I did not say that we landed

at Suez, but such was the case, &

unfortunately did not pass through the

canal. We had 7 hours in the train

& passed some of the finest

country in the world. The irrigation scheme

is marvellous, & the acres upon acres of corn

would surprise you, especially when taking

into consideration the primitive way they

grow it. Still the two oxen xx with a hoe

between them, & a branch from it breaking up

the ground. The natives don't take up too much

room with their quarters, for hundreds seem to

live in a few mud shanties built here & there,

& they stink like pigsties.

We are camped at Zeitoun, which is practically

Heliopolis. Quarters are pretty comfortable &

we should have a decent time, although there

will be plenty of stiff work. We all have to do

another school lasting three weeks before

going to the front, so do not expect to get

away for about a couple of months. There are

quite a lot of Sydney Officers here so we are not

so badly off. With me in the cubicle (otherwise hut)

are three fair haired English Johnnies so don't

be surprised to hear me talking about

things being "beastily awfully" very shortly.

Well! this afternoon some of us have leave &

here we are for dinner. It is a beautiful

building, but I shall tell you later about

the feed. It is quite a treat to see some

pretty English faces again. I have been

trudging all over the city for the last couple

of hours seeing what there is to be seen.

I also sent you a cable but addressed it

to Titmus, which he no doubt told you

of. In future I shall send any others

addressed to the firm as it saves a few

pence, so you might ask him to let you

have the news as soon as received.

The streets here are full of hawkers selling

everything possible. There are some very fine

shops, in fact as good almost as Farmer's

& run by Egyptians. I was nearly going

to call them Turks, for they wear the

little red cap with a black tassle, which I

always thought belonged to the Turks. I will

not be able to send you any photos by this

mail as no more have been developed, but

hope to next time. I have not received

any letters from you yet, but there is a

mail expected at the end of the week, in

which I am hoping to find a few.

I dont think I can write any more at

present & shall be glad if you will let

anyone know the news who wants to, as

I said before it would be impossible to

write to everyone. Wishing you all a very

merry Xmas & happy New Year, with the

best of love from

Bert.

(This is the third letter since leaving Melbourne)

29 Nov.  1915

My Dear Mother,

I really forget what has happened since last writing

you; not on account of a riotous time, but of the date. At any

rate nothing very startling has occured. At present I am on

Cairo picquet, which is not a bad game for a week. One gets a

pretty good insight into the habits of the population as well as

having a bit of sport. We are in barracks on the ^banks of the Nile. They

are magnificent buildings & were originally built by the French,

but have not been kept up to the standard for which they

were meant. From to-morrow I take on the job of Orderly

Officer until we go back to camp, which means only a little

to do in the way of adjusting the issue of the men's food for

one day. Somehow or other I always seem to drop into the

sweet jobs knocking round; must be my handsome features,

for I don't ask for them. I am going to get a horse put at

my disposal as well, so am not being too badly treated.

I was delighted to receive your first letter a couple of days ago,

but the peculiar part about it was that Jim's came to hand

before it. I hope you are receiving mine regularly & not doing too

much worrying. By jove the weather here at present is great, but

we had a bit of wind to-day which carried a fair amount of dust

with it.

30 Nov.  1915.

Yesterday afternoon Sewell (M^r Sewell's of Q.N.Bank son) & I went out

to old Cairo to have a look at the Dead City & a couple of Mosques.

It is the custom for people to build their graves before they

die, & of course the rich have magnificent places. If they

have enough money they ^always build four walls round a piece of

ground & all their descendants are buried there. The Kings of

the Marmadukes(?) have a beautiful Mosque; built 600 years ago,

& their descendants still burn incense & place flowers round the

tombs. The Blue Mosque ^(a place of worship) is the most beautiful in the world

but not the oldest; built 600 years ago. It takes your breath

away when you enter & see the magnificent work, which took

1200 men per day 45 years to build, & cost six million pounds.

The ceiling is 180 feet high in parts & consists of blue marble

inlaid with ivory. All the lamps are some kind of stone; I forget

the name, but seem exactly like glass, & the windows are all of

agate. There at are also the most beautiful specimens of marble,

granite etc; slabs of which are let into the walls here & there. You

can clearly see views of a snow-scene, a rough sea, the heavens

with the stars twinkling etc; on the face of the stone. Nearly

all the doors are sandal-wood inlaid with ebony, ivory & mother-

of-pearl.

There are also a few beautiful specimens of turquoise which if I remember

rightly would please you. I took a photo of the ceiling but it is

not ready yet. It may give you some idea of the work if it comes

out well. Opposite to this Mosque is another built by Mahomad

Hassan which is 700 years old (the oldest in Cairo) but is nothing

so elaborate. Napoleon took away a good many of the valuables

from this place, as well as shelling it from near the Citadelle.

One can see the marks made by the shells, which by the way did

little damage as they were not high explosive in those days, & there

is still one sticking in the wall. Whether it has been stuck there

for effect I don't know, but our guide says not. He is a very

clever fellow, never been to school, but speaks seven languages as

well as taking the Americans off to a T.  He had us roaring

nearly all the afternoon talking their slang.

You probably are wondering how we get all this leave, but

Sewell & I are only on duty between 7.30 p.m & 12.30 a.m. so we

have the day to ourselves practically. There are hundreds of what

look like our eagle hawks flying about here. At Shepheard's yesterday

one swooped down onto a table next to us, on which some biscuits

had been left by some people who only just got up, & cleared off

with one. They are pretty good scavengers round about a camp.

I can quite understand now how so many rumours are spread

at home, for it is wonderful what vivid imaginations some of

these chaps have. You could hardly believe it, but one fellow

on the boat wrote home to his parents & told them that we

had a scrap with a submarine & the boat was riddled with

bullets. One other thing I would like you to do for me please

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dear, & that is, if you would send me a newspaper once a

week for we hear nothing of the outside world here. The Sunday

Times would be most acceptable. I am afraid there is no

more news at present, but I hope all are O.K. especially

yourself. Give my love to Mrs Newsom(as well as the news) for

I don't know her address. Best love from your affectionate son

Bert.

P.S. No word about going to the front yet, & it will most likely be

after Xmas now, as we all have to do a 3 weeks school first.

 

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