Diary No.12 of Rupert Major Downes, 17 November 1918 - 26 March 1919 - Part 4

busy morning . Loafed for a little after
breakfast lunch & then walked into office
& packed & worked . Read at the club later
& then out to Dawson’s where waited an hour
for him before going to dinner at the
Blountsehli's . Graham drove me home in his
car about 2400 . Demonstrations by
Egyptian nationalists as result of their heads
being arrested .
10.3.19. More demonstrations - train smashing
& window breaking in Kasr el Nil St . The
mob were fired on & bayoneted in some places .
The show did not affect us much however
Worked steadily all day. To club in late aft.
11.3.19 . Riot a bit more severe today but the
place is picketed c̄ troops everywhere & there
are plenty of armoured cars & lorries
loaded with troops about. 50 Anzacs c̄
sticks cleared the opera square of about
5000 gippies. Some fighting by Cairo station
in a.m. & on road to Citadel in afternoon;
20 to 30 gippies shot.
Tantah station attacked today & 20 to 30 gippies
killed .
We are not allowed out except when on duty
but the show is not affecting us except that
we carry a gun mostly
12.3.19. Things quieter today but no trains yet
Outbreak at Alexandria. Went to take Mrs 
Yuille her embarkation cards at Continental in a.m. 

Worked all the rest of day . Had farewell dinner
to Dawson & Blackburn at Shepherds which went
well & of which l was chairman.
13.3.19. All got heads this a.m. & I wonder what
Dawson in the 0700 train feels like . Just worked
all day. No particular occurrence in the rebellion
14.3.19. Not too well. Day pretty quiet. We are
confined to our quarters or office still & carry
revolvers as a rule. Wrote to F. in evening, did
some narrative writing & other work.
15.3.19. Went to see Blackburn off at station but
train was put off ^to 1120 owing to the attack on the
Kalimb station (8 or 9 miles out) it was held up till
1530 & went c̄ an armed guard. The Kalimb station
was completely wrecked, & there was a good fight
with a few troops in a train that was attacked.
The rails were pulled up & telegraph lines cut too:
the railway workshop people also struck & 4 of
our chaps got badly knocked about by the crowd
near there on their way from the barrage in a car.
At Wasta, near the Fayoum, the upper Egypt express
was completely gutted & some English killed.
Blackburn came in to say goodbye.
Played tennis c̄ Hunter, Holder & Joyce & it was
pretty hot. A crowd of Austns. & others went
out to Shoubra Village in the evening & wiped it
up to revenge the attack on the 4 men & came
home quietly when told to do so by the A.P.M.
A wedding feast at Embaba got well fired
into in the night by one of the lorry patrols

who mistook it for a disturbance. The shooting woke
us up.
16.3.19. Sunday. Full mornings work & rode on a bicycle
to the office in the afternoon & then read at the
club. No trains running & more details came
in of the smashing of the lines & telegraphs in all
directions. Put in for passage to England. Letter from Jack
17.3.19. Started new aft. hours at office - 1730 to 1930.
Huge procession of gippies thro' town- estimated
at 30,000, fortunately no collision occurred &
only a few killed when our fellows on leave got
onto the tail of the procession. Graham to lunch.
Had aft. tea at Continental c̄ Mrs Hodgson and met
Mrs Elgood. Big crowd of Tommies & our people 
got together & were trucked down to the Kit
stores & held there to prevent them knocking
the town down as they looked likely to do. Drove
thro' their procession on the way home.
Heard that 2 brigades of Ausdiv. being brought
along the line from Moascar
18.3.19. Some school children stoned at Shoubra
so some more gippies got shot. All garrys
& motor cars on strike today & town very
quiet but full of tarbush gentry who look
very hard at one. Went to see Mrs Hodgson
who was seedy & walked about town to pay
bills after. Went to club to read in aft, for a
bit. Had a seance c̄ dentist & not too much
work. Practically finished packing. Big party of
Austns. went down to barrage by boat i/c of

Camel Smith to smash up the village & got sniped
on the way. Took it easy in evening.
19.3.19. To Continental to see Mrs Hodgson in a.m.
& walked back. Ride c̄ Hunter in aft. round
Ghezireh & on race course & then into office.
Had a read at club. Worked a little in evening
but tired. Heard that Anzacs were being
20.3 brought down into the fight but so decided
I must cancel my trip back to England for a
bit.
20.3.19. Cabled D. that was all right as heard
cables of enquiry had been arriving from Australia.
More news of complete wrecking of trains,
railway line & telegraphs in all directions. Heard
of massacre at Wasta & parading of European
women naked thro' the streets ; also of wrecking
of train on S. Egypt line & killing of those in it
Also that Chaytor & some other officers at
Luxor had been murdered there or on way down.
Anxious about Shelley & Ferguson who have gone
up there & there seems very little chance for the
former but the latter will probably get to Khartoum
all right. Went to see Knaggs (A.D.M.S Egypt)
re provision of medical equipment & transport
for any of these sudden forces we are getting
up. Six of our nurses who left Luxor on
15^th arrived by boat at last night safely to our
relief. They had been held up at Beni Suef
& taken into some European house where
they waited c̄ a howling mob around till

relieved by a force & brought down. They
got a big fright only. There are still 5 New
Zealand nurses up at Luxor but as 7 officers
mutilated bodies have been brought down
from the train smashed up that left Luxor
the following night to our nurses, there is
little hope for them. Heard of the probable
rising of the Senussi, of the Beduins joining
in & of the battle at Fayoum in which 400
were casualties were given them & that Beduins
marching on Damanhour
Went out c̄ Foster & little Anderson (who shared
the Rafa night c̄ me) to 14 A.G.H. after lunch at
Joyce's flat, to organise all the au patients
fit to move into a force for protection of
Cairo & punitively. Got 385 including
nearly all officer patients. Back to office
& club after. To kit stores on way home
to make medical arrangements for a force
going up Nile tomorrow ; walked back
there after dinner to make some more.
The Fulton's joined forces c̄ us for better protection
by coming to sleep on our boat, so that we
didnt get to bed v. early especially as the 2
subalterns from the protective detachment in
the racecourse opposite were over for dinner.
All demobilisation now stopped. This show seems
to the outsider to be managed very weakly & as a
result the handful of Anzacs in Cairo have forced themselves
into the formation of three expeditionary & protective forces.

21.3.19. Have very little work to do now so time
is a bit heavy. Went to Savoy in a.m. to try
to get news of young Shelley. In aft. had a loaf
bread & then walked into office. Chauvel & his
retinue returned. Croll came up too. Bed early.
22.3.19. Wrote to Helen. Had good game of tennis
in aft c̄ Jarman, Rorke & Kincaid- 5 sets & then
into office (Saturday) Heard that our demobilisation
definitely off. Wonder how long it will detain
us & shall I ever go to England!
22.3.19. Sunday Little work so walked to Canteen
which was shut & then to Red Cross which was
also shut. Went out to see Lady Chauvel who
was seedy at the Oakes. Tennis in aft. c̄ Newton
Jarman, Hunter, Kincaid, Joyce. Went into Continental
& after walking to club c̄ him had dinner c̄
Gen^l Chaytor & home early.
24.3.19. Work in am. plus trip to Canteens c̄
Williams. Tennis c̄ Hunter, Joyce, Kincaid.
Car punctured so didnt get back to office
till 1900.
25.3.19. Heard that I leave on 27^th by Maliva so
had a busy day. Went to 14 A.G.H for an
inspection by Chauvel & owing to car breakage
arrived ½ hour late. Chauvel agreed to me
going so stayed in office packing & working
all afternoon. Had dinner c̄ Newton at
Continental & heard of good execution our
fellows did on the niggers near Zagazig & how
the hospital force burnt out Bedrasehin

- a village of 10,000 & Hawamlia. Got a fright
as told could only take 150 lbs. of luggage.
26.3.19. Walked to Sporting club before breakfast
for my tennis togs ; did some repacking
before going to office. Busy morning &
same in aft. packing & fixing things up.
Will close this book here & start another
Wrote to D. 56.