Thomas Whyte Collection - Wallet 2 - Part 6 of 12

51 
on the 'Strand' the shops at 
the back of the lines from 'Retreat' 
to 'Reveille' only so I have had 
most of to-day to myself.  There is 
great activity preparatory to striking 
Camp.  I believe we are taking our 
tents with us.  There has been fresh 
issue of nearly all clothes.  I believe 
we are to get caps the same as the 
second contingent.  I have 4 pairs  
of boots now which I managed to get 
by gentle engineering  The ones 
I had at Morphettville are as good 
as new in spite of two being twice 
soled.  It will be a job to pack my 
kit bag Four shirts, two cap comforter 
1d, 4 belts, 2 singlets lined with wool 
6 pairs of socks & everything else 
issued. 
There doesn't seem to be much fresh 
in war news.  The Russian retirement 
out of East Prussia was expected 
a month ago in highest military 
circles.  I am enclosing a cutting 
that may interest you. 
We are going on leave to-morrow 
Sunday.  We are off at 7pm to-night march to Cairo 
entrain at 11 & reach Alexandria early

52 
to-morrow morning the 10^th are embarking 
on the 'Ionian' destination unknown. 
We had our leave yesterday.  We managed 
to get up a team to play the Englishmen 
some of the best players could not go 
& their places had to be taken by 5 very 
raw mugs.  I suppose I will have to blame 
them for our horrible licking of 20 to 6. 
The Terriers played a very fine game 
& I can quite believe they would beat 
any team left in England.  I was selected 
as captain.  The Terriers had the advantage 
of us in having had plenty of practise & their 
own stick Out [[hole in paper]] was very erratic 
I managed to get one of the 6 goals! In 
the evening several of us dined at 
the Restaurant Parisian and after 
a short wander around came home 
We struck tents at 6.30 this morning 
& have been straightening the place up 
since  It will take us all day so I 
wont have time to write anymore 
I hope we get our mail this week 
before leaving leaving.  It is quite likely we 
wont leave Alexandria for a week as 
I believe the whole division is to go 
They are calling me Good bye for the present darling 
Remember every week parted will make the reunion 
more wonderful Your loving husband Tom

53 
Alexandria 
March 1st 
No 17 
My Own Little Girl, 
It is now 5pm & we are likely to 
pull off at any time.  I posted No 16 from 
Cairo but as late orders came out that all 
letters were to be censored it may have 
been held up on that account.  I sent 
you a postcard to this effect. 
We left Mena at 8 o'clock last night marching 
into Cairo where we waited for a couple 
of hours in the square of the Kasr el Nil 
barracks at present occupied by a regiment 
of Lancaster Terriers.  Although it was 11 when we 
arrived they were kind enough to open 
their canteen & we soon bought them out 
of pudding, bread & cheese, cold meats, tea 
etc.  The march from there to the railway 
station (central) was about 1½ miles 
The roads all the way were be  tarred macadam 
& played up with our feet a little, after being 
used so much to sand.  none of them seem 
to be sore to-day.  We had a slow train 
journey of about 5 hours which landed us 
in Alexandria at 8 this morning. 
I was sorry the journey was mostly in 
the dark as I would very much like to 
have seen a bit of the Delta.  As it was

54 
We saw quite a lot this morning. 
Vivid green every where.  What intense 
cultivators the Egyptians are.  Every square 
yard seems to be utilised.  They don't waste 
ground on fences not even round there 
cemeteries which have no dividing line 
between them & the fields.  The villages are 
much the same as near Cairo.  Mud shambles 
with an appearance of being all joined together 
with no system or method whatever.  The ones 
we saw this morning were lower roofed than 
near Cairo, smaller & with frequent domes 
Yo It is not hard to imagine how Egypt supports 
22 million people.  I don't think you could ever 
be out of sight of one of these villages in any 
part of the valley.  I have heard a yarn that 
Lord Kitchener while a captain in the Egyptian 
army disappeared for 3 years. He spent it 
'doing' Egypt as a native.  If it is true what 
a wonderful story he could tell. 
The Ionian is not a large boat, about 6000 tons 
I think an Allan liner from the American trade. 
She has just come from India.  Some shells 
she bought that need refilling as well as other 
Cargo for England has been landed here 
There was large quantities of firewood waiting 
to be loaded when we arrived.  These two 
circumstances conclusively [[prove?]] we are 

55 
not going to Europe.  Firewood would only be 
wanted in a desert.  The general opinion now 
is Alexandrietta or Jaffa to cut up the railway 
so as to successfully prevent any raid on 
Egypt for some time. 
The accomodation is not quite as good as on 
the Asconius but as it will only be a 3 or 4 
days trip we wont notice it.  The 10^th & 9^th 
with Brigade Headquarters staff are on board 
This morning while waiting for our time to 
go on board (11.30) Smith Jose Fisher & I did 
a slope to the city.  We drove about the narrow 
stone paved streets for a while & then pulled 
up at a fine hotel in the European quarter 
We had a magnificent feed of ham & Eggs 
& coffee & came back without being missed 
Alexandria is different to Cairo.  There is 
a much greater number of Europeans (mostly Dagos) 
about.  The streets we went through had all 
a similar appearance being both a closer 
mixture of Eastern & Western than Cairo. 
There they are nearly all distinct.  Of course 
we only had time to see very little 
The harbour is full of shipping & a lot of 
likely looking transports are about.  We will 
probably pull out to night into the stream 
Goodness knows when you will hear 
from me again.  I haven't the slightest

56 
idea of what the mail arrangements will 
be.  We may be only there a few days or we 
may be there a month.  I hardly think we 
will see any fighting.  We will be well above 
the Turkish raiding army.  If they met 
us I hardly think they would fight.  They 
must be in a most deplorable condition 
The state of the prisoners in Cairo could 
hardly be worse whatever must their 
state now be. 
I have joined a cable league.  anything 
interesting is cabled to Fordham the broker 
in Adelaide who send postcards out to about 
a dozen of our fellows people.  Your name 
has just been added to the list, at least 
he was informed last mail.  I only heard 
about it yesterday  Saturday or I would have 
joined before.  a cable was then sent 'Leaving 
all well' as much as the censor would allow. 
In case of anything serious a private direct 
cable would be sent.  Fordham has the 
shortest cable address & the best means of 
informing those in the 'ring'. 
It is getting late now & I think I had better close 
so as not to miss any chance of posting.  I will 
try & send a series of postcards of the 'Book of 
the Dead' the Egyptian Bible at the same time 
The only thing I feel concerned about is that I 
dont know when I will get another letter from you 
Goodnight my darling angel.  Your own boy Tom

57 
My Dear Little Wife  NO  18 
H.M.T.S. Ionian 
Wednesday March 3. 1915 
It is difficult to know what to do about  
letters now they will all be censored & just what 
we will be allowed to say I don't know. I loathe 
writing letters for the censor more than you 
do. There always seems to be nothing to say 
I think I will fill in everything I can in 
this letter from time to time & have it posted  
at the first opportunity uncensored 
Well we found out yesterday we are bound  
for Lemnos an island 60 miles from 
the Dardanelles Apart from hearing it  
is a Greek possesion (doubtful) of with 
13000 inhabitants mostly Greek, I know  
absolutely nothing more. 
We left Alexandria at midday yesterday. 
I believe we should have left before but 
they did not finish taking all the wood aboard 
We are not accompanied by any other boats 
She is an awful tub of a boat & pretty dirty 
I believe she has been transporting Indian 
troops & landed some at Port Said before coming 
on to Alexandria The accomodation is very 
limited & the food is not as varied as the 
Ascainius but plentiful. There are no

58 
hammocks which is a blessing as 
they are a nuisance. We are allowed 
nearly everywhere & I have had a good position 
on the boat deck to sleep in the two nights  
There are an insufficient number of  
mess tables to go round so some have 
to eat their meals sitting on their kit bags 
nobody grumbles for a wonder. not 
that it would do any good but soldiers 
always grumble even when they are 
well treated. It is only until tomorrow 
though, so it won't be as bad as it might 
We have a great pontoon on board with 
a stern that drops like a tailboard 
for landing horses so we evidently wont 
land at a wharf. Exactly what we will 
do I can't tell. The only thing I can guess 
is that Lemnos will be a base for 
operations against Dardanelles. 
We may be there all the time & never see  
the Turks. 
When leaving Alexandria we passed the 'north  
Carolina' an 'U.S.a.' cruiser. Their band  
played the national anthem. The decks 
were lined & they gave cheer after cheer 
& dipped their flag while we replied. 
The sea has been very calm & the boat 
hardly rocks.

59 
Friday March 5 
Here we are lying at anchor off Lemnos 
waiting for Greece to declare war at least 
that is the rumour. The harbour is splendid 
Half a dozen transports and as many  
men of war makes you realise that there 
is such a thing as war. 
We arrived yesterday evening after a 
wonderfully calm voyage. Yesterday we 
passed lots of islands of all of which 
seemed unihabitated, some of them only 
rocks. As we approached here there were 
lots of men of war knocking round us 
looking very ghostly in the pale moonlight  
with not a light showing.  I could can  
make out what look like a couple 
of battleships or armoured cruisers, a 
destroyer, two torpedo boats & a submarine 
They have been nearly all on the move 
The only other transport I can recognise 
is the Suffolk. Evidently the 3^rd Brigade 
is all here. The island from here looks 
a mixture of rocks & dou grassy downs 
a village of about 50 houses lies 
abreast of us.  There is higher land 
further back. If the rumour on the  
top of the page is true & Greece does not                       
 declare war by tomorrow night we will have

60 
to move out I suppose.  We hear no reliable 
news at all. I dont know even if we  
w are intended to land here. We don't know 
what is in the wind, what the next 24 hours 
will see bring forth. The brigadier went 
off in a pinnace this morning to the 
flagship.  She got ran aground on a little mud 
island much to every ones amusement 
& another pinnace had to haul them off 
I have an idea Lemnos is mentioned  
in ancient Greek history.  Wasn't some 
naval engagement waged near here? 
No-body seems to know anything about it 
Didn't Paul wander round this way too? 
It is a great disadvantage not having 
any books to refer to. I wish the Adelaide 
Public Library was handy. 
I have been amusing myself by mending 
socks & clothes sewing on buttons & 
greasing boots.  I have had my rifle to 
pieces & got all the sand out a job that 
took me a couple of hours. Apart from 
examination of kit rifles there have been 
no any parades. There is a great shortage of 
books but we manage to fill in time 
somehow. 
Saturday night still here I believe Greece has 
leased this island to Great Britain.