Thomas Whyte Collection - Wallet 2 - Part 1 of 12

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Mena Camp
Feb. 3- 1916
Wednesday.
Letter No 12

My Dear Little Girl
No mail received this week. As it none was
expected it is not so disappointing as it
might be. There seems to be lots of interest
at least interesting to us to tell you this
week. First of all the 7th & 8th battalions have
gone to Ishmalia to day The next likely
to be sent are the 5th & 6th This would complete
the 2nd Brigade (Victoria). Well to start from
the beginning. Our long promised route
march came off Monday. It was a 3rd
Brigade affair & under service conditions so
all our transports, attached artillery, ammunition
column, light horse A. S.C. & A.M.C.
accompanied us. From the enclosed card
you can see our pack is quite a weight.
We started about 9 o'clock the artillery leading
the way. The route was on the Cairo road
as far as Ghiza a suburb about 4 miles
from Cairo centre & 5 miles from Mena,
From there we branched off on a native
road that winds through the cultivated
Nile valley, being crossed by lots of other
similar unmade roads. We wound round
towards the camp striking the desert

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about a mile behind the camp. On
the flat sandy plain between the valley
& the rising sand hills, we bivouaced for
lunch. The road was a bit trying on
the feet after so much sand walking
but not many fell out. The route we took
led us alongside 4 Arab villages.
The whole of the Nile valley is densely
cultivated and about every mile there
is a native village, Bedouin, or Arab
or Fellaheen whichever you like to call
them. I think some of the P.C. I sent
you showed you some. They seem to be
just one mass of mud flat roofed
houses built joining one another without
order or design. Of course they are filthy
in the extreme & the smell __ .
The roads are all 6 or 10 feet higher than
the land & the whole valley seems to be
intersected with them. The land is
irrigated by water channels of varying
sizes. Where necessary the water is
raised by means of a bucket attached
by a rope to a long pole weighted at
the short end & fastened to form a lever
The filled bucked is emptied into a
chan raised channel. A less crude method
is by the old mill bucket method worked

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by a blindfolded oxen native bullock
A large wooden wheel with buckets attached
is fixed horizontally vertically so that the lowest
part of the wheel is in the water while
the highest allows the water from the
fixed buckets to fall into the channel
The ox is attached to a large wooden wheel
placed horizontally on a raised axle.
This wheel has rough wooden cogs which
fit into a similarly cogged vertically
wheel connected with the water wheel.
The distance between the latter two
is bridged so as to allow the ox to
tramp round.  At one of the villages
we passed, the sound of an oil engine
seemed very out of place. The old & ancient
method of ploughing still holds good here.
A wooden plough of the roughest material
with a couple of oxen spanned. Six & seven
thousand years ago the inhabitants of
this land used the same method.
But there are hundreds of things like
that, one of the reasons Egypt is so
interesting. The whole march was about
11 miles which we took 4 hours to do including
a ten minutes halt every hour, which
is very good.
Fordham who came into our tent at

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the time of the platoon & new section
formations had been sent to Hospital
one day last week. Yesterday morning
a major from the A.M.C. came over
& took all sorts of particulars from us
Fordham had smallpox in a mild
form. The morning was taken up
by vaccinating A Company Only those
who had taken well thoroughly on the boat were
exempt. I think I told you mine
didn't as well as 75% of the battalion. The
vaccine was weak I believe. I dont
think there will be any doubt about
this time though as my arm has started
to itch already
We had something out of the ordinary
to do to day. No 1 Platoon was detailed
as fatigue party to entrain A.S.C. Stores
at the Goods Station for the 7th & 8th
battalions proceeding to Ishmailia
We caught the 11.30 train after an early
dinner, passing the 1/2 brigade on our
way in. We had to wait some time
but when started loaded the trucks
in no time, so quickly that the A.S.C.
Major in charge complimented us highly
So at 4 o'clock we were marched to
the YMCA rooms where we dropped

equipment & rifles & went on
a two hours roam of Cairo 5
Sunday I spent between the Zoo
& Museum. I think I told you in 
my last letter.
There are to be alterations in the
curriculum. We are to get 4 full
days leave a month from 10 to 10.30
& have Sunday as rest day. I don't know
about Saturday afternoon but the
ordinary days will be lengthened for
drill so that it will mean being in
at 4 or 4.30 instead of 3.
Tomorrow is our first days full
leave.
Friday Had a glorious day yesterday
With Stokes Blackburn & Jose, I spent
the morning at the museum. I haven't
see anywhere near all yet. The more
I see the more I want to see. There
is one thing I am positive about. There
is nothing new under the sun. Old
Solomon knew a thing or two. In a glass
case at the museum among sundry
other interesting things is to be seen
Dice, no different from our every day
ivory ones, knuckle bones mad carved
in stone with heiroglyphics on them (I have

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Arab & Egyptian kids playing with them)
& most remarkable of all an oblong
cribbage board with the same shaped
ivory pegs in them as you can see in
modern times. There was no description
cards to them  it so wh for what purpose
they were it was used 5000 years ago I don't
know, possibly dice scores.
Did I tell you about the companies
40 strong of Egyptian & negro heavy
& light infantry in (well carved wooden
models) marching in column of
fours. And the models of bake houses,
breweries (fancy beer in those times)
potteries, wine shops, and granaries
with the clerk sitting on the flat roof
tallying on his papyrus scroll. I
can't describe the feeling that comes
over you when you view these ancient
things.
The afternoon we spent going out to
Heliopolus where the second contingent
hase just reached. The tram service
is the best I have ever seen It is really
an electric train. Seven years ago
this 6000 populated suburb was
practically a desert. The Belgian
company who inaugurated it also

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own the tram service. Quite a separate
company from the general tram Co
which is a French concern.
The houses are all white & magnificent
oriental buildings all inhabited
by the wealthiest classes.
We managed to dig up several
we knew & came into town with
Reg. Hopkins & showed him round
It was quite a treat to watch his
astonishment & bewilderment
grow as we pushed him on from
novelty to novelty. Of course we only
had time for a tenth of the things
we would like to have shown him.
On the tram coming from Heliopolus
we got into conversation with a fine
looking 6 foot educated Syrian who has some
job in the war office. He told us
some very interesting things.  The
Syrians seem to have a lien on a
lot of important jobs here. For instance
the two leading papers 'Mokattam' and 'Ahaly'
(both Arabic) are run by Syrians. The
Egyptians have made several abortive
attempts at papers. We had a very
interesting discussion on Orient &
Occident characteristics. He spoke like

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any highly educated Englishman.
It seems I was wrong about
an attack on the Canal. To-day
has come the news of about 2400
Turkish casualties (rough paper estimate) & 2 officers &
13 men killed & 68 wounded on our side.
It is supposed the enemy's strength
is 12000 men & 6 batteries. Whatever
the position is, I can't think it
serious from appearance of things here
apart from 2 battalions of N.Z. & 2
of Australians & the some engineers there
are no Australasian forces near the
canal & no threatened movement of
us in the near future. There must
be 33,000 or so Territorials here in
other parts of Egypt & the Soudan as
well. What Indian troops are on the
Canal I don't know
This morning we had some field manouvres
& this pm. bathing parade. To-morrow
morning we are to go to the ranges.
Saturday We have been out all day and
A Coy Nos 1&2 Platoons are 'Inlying Piquet'
to-night. That means sleeping without
taking any clothes off & getting up before
reveille. We had an early start
at 8 this morning to the ranges

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Our section had to go out as markers
It was quite an experience sitting
in the trenches hearing the bullets
zip zip & ping overhead. The zip is
from bullets passing too high & the
ping from richochettes. We left the
ranges in time to march about a mile
back & have lunch. The afternoon
was spent entrenching in a good
position to await an attack from the
9th Only one thing was wrong; our
left flank was too exposed which the
enemy took advantage of & our  A Coy
had to retire as the Brigadier ruled
we had been all wiped out through
being enfiladed, that is our trenches
had been fired on lengthways from
a good position. However we got the
victory.
We heard nothing of the shoot off for
the prize offered the other day until
this morning, when a pipe was given
to each of another section which had
saved the cartridges over.
A lot of the chaps have been picking
up books on Egypt. There are a couple
Sir Gilbert Parker has written, I forget
the names, one is Donovan Pasha or something

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like that. Perhaps they could tell
you of others at the Public Library if
you are interested.
We have been getting most of the
English magazines on the war.
The best easily is 'Land & water' a
weekly paper with an articles by Hillare
Belloc. They are wonderfully interesting
& not hard to follow.
Nothing further about the Canal
to-day except that there is a rumour
that the New Zealanders were taking
part in the brush the other day &
had several wounded. I dont know
if this is reliable or not very likely
it is like most rumours we hear, started
as a joke. The trouble there will probably
cause a delay of a day or two with last
weeks mail. Fisher had a letter from
his father in which he said they would
be delayed at Port Said for a day.
It just struck me that the recent
engagements on the canal will be
in the papers & perhaps you will be
worrying over me. Don't forget that
no news is good news. You will know
if anything is wrong before you read
it in the papers.