Diary No.5 of Rupert Major Downes, 25 July - 26 October 1916 - Part 5

Cable to D. about now.
 

writing reports except for
trip to ^1st L H.F.A. - 50 yards
23. 8.16. Wednesday. Working in
office all day.
24.8.16. Office in am & then rode
to Kilo 47 to see about Col Martin
who arrived today & what he
wanted to fix up his lab. there
25.8.16. Working all day in office
- Croll & Dixon in to talk over
recommendations I had made on
running of ambulances in action.
More writing & bother about the
V.C. recommendations. Genls
Cox & Ryrie arrived back from
England & came to in after mess in pm.
26.8.16. In office all day. Mainwaring 

arrived to report from leave to
England.
27. 8.16. Sunday. Rode out to Kilo
47 c̄ Hercus to see Martin who
was in Kantara to see the D.D.M.S. 
who had sent for hims telling
me & c̄ a smashed foot. Had lunch
c̄ Holmes & then rode over to
Mahamdeya & had more lunch,
dug for old Roman treasure
c̄ the Gen^l & nearly all D.H.Q. & found
jolly little, had a swim, & run
along the beach & then home
28.8.16 Worked & read in a.m. &
went thro' captured Turk & 
German medical haversacs.
Quarantine off. 2 prisoners were 

1.9.16. taken bringing total up
to 4000.
29.8.16 Rode out to Cholera hospital
at Kilo 47 & had a talk c̄ Martin
& then back by railhead. Letter
from Beamish. Worked in
aft. Greer in to dinner.
30.8.16. Read & went thro' all my
belongings & loot here. Letter
from Nicholas; wrote to D. 100,
Hurley, Beamish & Jock - a short
& sharp one. Lambert to dinner.
31.8.16 Rode over to see Cave who
had just arrived c̄ 3^rd L.H.F.A.
details at Etinaler & Dawson
too just back from Cairo.
They, Woods & Whelan (D.A.D.O.S.) in 

after dinner for a yarn & drink.
1.9.16. Went in to Kantara to see
D.D.M.S. as he'd sent for me about
nothing in particular & to see Genl
Hamilton Moore c̄ him, saw
McIntosh too. Had bathe c̄
Champigley (R.TO. Kantara E & home
by 1800 train. Port Said badly
bombed in a.m. - McKee in it,
who I'd sent down to Suez c̄ a
parcel of loot for Doris to go
c̄ Appleford on the Ascanius
2.9.16. Croll over in a.m. & to lunch
about the V.C. things again; spent
a lazy afternoon yarning c̄ Croll
&.Hercus. Wire that Mackenzie
was leaving for London tomorrow 

so after much cursing & counter
wiring went off & caught the
2300 train to Kantara where arrived
at
3.9.16 Sunday. 0230, drove to ordnance
& had couple of hours snooze c̄
D.A.D.O.S. & then went in car at 0445
to Ismailia where caught 0600
train to Benha; had breakfast
there & then caught train to
Alex. in which Mackenzie was
& questioned him about medical
doings & what I had to take over.
Mrs Poate on Alex. station. Went
to Savoy Hotel & after a sleep
had a stroll round Alex. &
drove to San Stefano in a gharry 

for 1 ¼ & this was quite interesting
& pretty as all the youth & beauty
of all colors drives this way
on Sunday afternoon. Went
for a walk after dinner & to bed
early.
4.9.16 caught 0900 train to Cairo &
went to Continental Hotel; before
lunch went to see Hayward (Red
& man) who was out. Had Thorn
to lunch & Genl there. To A.I.F.
base after working & drove out
to 3^rd A.G.H. where had talk to
Newmarch & then saw Davies &
some of wounded & talked c̄ Maclure
Smith & Kellaway. Drove to Nasiriyeh
hospital c̄ Genl & met Lady Okes 

then back to base & worked hard.
Maclure came to dinner.
5/9/16 Worked at base all day;
went to see D.D.M.S. L.ofC. (Sexton)
in aft. & was not much wiser
when I'd finished. Bought Kimono
for D. in evening; did not go
back to base after dinner
6/9/16. Drove out to see Sirdarieh
convalescent home - the Sirdar's
Cairo residence & a beautiful place -
for officers & found that there
unlike any single R.A.M.C.
place I have yet met that
they fed the people properly.
Went to Cook's to find if they
had taken anything from my 

boxes in the search for shells,
bombs & loot generally; everything
there but rottenly packed.
Went to base Kit stores. Saw
Gordon Hall (A.D.M.S, Delta District)
in a.m. Worked hard aft. &
caught 0615 train by the
skin of my teeth as just finished
in time. Stayed at Ordnance
at Kantara & got to sleep at
0430 owing to the devilish bites
of a little white mosquito that
gets into the clothes
7.9.16. Caught 0915 train back &
worked in a.m. Got D's 92, 93, 94
& Father's. Quiet afternoon.
8.9.16. Went over to 3^rd L.H.F.A. &had 

lunch there. Worked a bit &
loafed a lot through the rest
of the day.
9.9.16. Rode out to Kilo 47 c̄ Dawson
then on to Eh Rabah where had
lunch c̄ Holmes & Fenwick at
an  clearing station & then on
to Oghratina where saw Crawford
of the 8^th. Had dinner on way
home at Cholera hospital &
long talk c̄ Martin & home
about 10.
10. 9.16. Had a heavy day, working
about 13½ hours. Rode over to
get a tooth fixed up by old Pye,
on to look round camp site for
N.Z. Bde. coming in tomorrow 

c̄ Hulbert & then to 2^nd L.H.F.A
Went to see a A.D.M.S. 42^nd Divn after
lunch (Jones whom I'd met previously
at Lemnos) & then working all
rest of aft & night on opn
orders.
119.16. Worked all am. on arrangements
to do c̄ the stunt & modes of the
ambs. & office genl F.Dixon, Holmes,
Glissan all in in aft. about
arrangements. Had dinner c̄ Cave
& Stuart over at amb. details.
12.9.16  Went up to Cairo Kantara by 1020
train wh. was very late c̄ Martin;
met Lelean at station & drove
over to station catching train
barely & tried to put some