Thomas Whyte Collection - Wallet 1 - Part 3 of 14

Adelaide Y. M. C. A. Army Department        

Reply to             
No.          Coy.
England. 

2

Being the valley of the Nile it was nearly 
all irrigated fields of rice, maize, sugar
& [[beersem?]] The towns were weird, pure Eastern, 
with streets 3 yards wide & thickly inhabited.
We were near enough to catch the smell, that 
necessary adjunct to all, Eastern inhabited places. 
We managed to get some sleep when
we were tired of looking out. I must tell you
one funny experience. Drawing out of
the main station at Alexandria Micky
Smith bought a packet of cigarettes from
an arab who haunt every station in droves.
Sixpence was the smallest coin he hadd
so the exchange was made not without
the arab trying to pull a knife out of
Smith's hand. Micky was rejoicing over
his victory, but the joke was against him
when he opened the packet, it was empty.
We are stillm enjoying a laugh over it, as
Micky had been poking fun at all of us
for being taken down at on various occasions
We could not see much of Cairo except
a beautiful view crossing the nile just before
we got in. We were kept at the station
for an hour or two & had a delicious cup

Adelaide Y. M. C. A. Army Department

Reply to 
No.         Coy.
England. 

3
of chocolate (beat arcadia easily) a Vienna
roll and a piece of Dutch Cheshire cheese
[served to us.
The station yard was alive with troops
& arab trollies loading luggage. The
trollies are extraordinary affairs about
the same length as our small ones, & only
half the width & height. a bag of bones
the size of a large dog represents the horse, 
or a sleeping dirty donkey. The drivers
are clothed in nightgowns reaching to
the ground, generally in rags. They took
all the luggage & to the trains about 400
yards away. We boarded these & after
a short wait were whizzed out here.
The trains also have 3 classes, three a first,
second & third class train being coupled &
run to-gether. The guage is much narrower
than the Adelaide trains but the pace 
is quite as fast & the line as well laid 
except the curves which seem to be sharper
& cause the trams to round slower. The drivers
& conductors are Egyptian & look very
smart in their red fezs & khaki uniforms
The system is practically the same as
the M.T.T. They are run by a French company

Adelaide Y. M. C. A. Army Department

Reply to   
No.         Coy.
England. 

4
The conductor uses a little motor horn
which he blows to start the train when it
is too crowded to reach the bell.
We The road out must be one of the
most beautiful in the world. It is
lined with trees that look like (tamarisk Sycamore,                          
all the way, the train one side under the trees & a
beautiful road in the centre. a splendid
bridge crosses Old Father nile before getting
out of the city. Tributaries & irrigated flats
with occasional native villages lineing
the road, which is raised, as the surrounding
country is nearly allua under water,
when the nile is in flood. Mena posseses
a fine tourists hotel called the Mena House 
Hotel which is now Divisional Headquarters Staff, an English chemists, a French cafe,
Post Office, 3 or 4 residences and a couple of
arab mud villages in the vicinity. The camp is 
starts almost from the tram terminus
The 1st (n.S.W.) & 2nd (Vic.) battalions brigades were in
camp when we arrived & part of our brigade,
the 9th battalion (queensland). Everything was
in the nucleus state, but the authorities
were getting to work making roads in
the sand & laying light train rails.
 

Adelaide Y. M. C. A. Ar  

Reply to 
No.         Coy.
England. 

5
The site is in a declivity with the plateau
of the pyramids forming one side. The great
pyramid of Cheops is 1600 yds distant from
our lines, the second largest "Khephrew" is
quite close too, but we can't see the third
large one 'Mykerinos' nor the Sphinx &
6 smaller pyramids from here as they are more
on the other side. You will find a lot
more than I can tell you about them
in the Public Library.
Friday There is no mail until Monday so I will
take my time over this letter. Well to tell
you something about the camp.
We arrived on Monday morning about
5. After a couple of hours sleep we set
to work to erect a few tents etc & knocked
off about 4. Micky & I cleared off for a
look at Cairo. I will tell you about that
later. The place was alive with nigger
camels & donkeys carting baggage from
the train, making roads & selling everything
Everybody in Egypt wants to sell something
The fellaheen, the lowest class of Arabs, Egyptians
& the mixture, are all pedlars, at least the
men, you seldom see the women

Adelaide Y. M. C. A. Army Department
Reply to 

No.         Coy.
England. 

6
Oranges, figs, dates, chocolate, cigarettes,
postcards, every imaginable commodity
& lots you can't imagine. They pester
the life out of you. The camels. 'Old the
'Unt'; with their outstretched necks,
sour faces, ugly legs, soft springy pads
and sedate walk close behind one another,
loaded with mats of stone often driven
by a sore eyed child of 6. and the donkeys
with their 'boys' trotting alongside whacking
them with a stick while the purch hirer
perches himself as far back as he can
without slipping over the tail. a steam
roller very much out of place snorted
along the loosely thrown stones several
times, sand & water thrown on, & there
was the road & a very good road too.
The lightest of train lines thrown down
on the sand run the full length of
the camp in 3 vertical parallel lines
& with hopper like trucks that 3 men
can push with a full load helps a
lot to take the tremendous traffice necessary
for the building of a camp of 15000 in a week
We are placed something like this
                                                              (over)

7

The Light Horse are not in camp with us, nor the
New Zealanders. They are in other camps near Cairo
about 400 Ceylon Planters Rifle club volunteers are
also here. At present we have 7 tents per companys
but will get 12 the same, as at Morphettville. 
We dont need them as all sleep out. The dew is
[[?it]] heavy & it rained the second night, but as we
have 4 blankets & an oiled sheet each we dont mind
what happens. The food has been a bit scarce as yet
owing to the rush, We are allowed 6 a day ration extra
in lieu of jam & butter which makes things all right
as it is all spent at the canteen in these things by
the O.C. The canteen supplies everything including
good English beer at a piastre a pint but as the
it is always crowded when opened I don't see much.
Water is laid on from wells in the sandhills
native barbers are also near the canteens. A tent post
office is attached to each bridgade, but no stamps
will be available for this mail.
It has mostly been fatigue work we have been
doing, forming long lines on to the plateau &
passing stones down to mark battalion lines
The routine will be much the same as at
Morphettville.

8

Sunday 13^th. We had a half holiday yesterday. In the
morning we had a bathing parade at the Mena
House baths. They are open air marble lined &
quite large enough for 2 companies. We will get
this once a week.
Well to get on to Cairo. It was wonderful, Egypt
of the Egyptians, the most cosmopolitan city in
the world. Fellaheen, (arab & Egyptian) brushing shoulders
with millionaire pashas, French, Greeks, Italians,
Maltese, Syrians, Abyssinians Soudanese negroes
Russians, Turks, Sicilians, Spaniards, Portugese, Belgians 
Indians, Armenians, natives of all the Balkan states
and every other nation you can think of. Dapper
Frenchmen with the very latest cut, Egyptian gentlemen 
in their frock coats & fezs, English officials in fezs, 
Mohammedan priests with their shaven heads & [[?baq]]
frocks, arabs of the better class in the red pointed
shoes & flowing robes of every hue. Veiled women
with brass anklets & black robes, arab fellaheen 
women of all shapes & colours, negresses with thick
lips & red tongues. Six thousand pound limousines
dodging arab sweetmeat carts, an Egyptian Boy
dashing past with driving a pair of superb arabs dashing
past the slowly moving donkeys. Magnificent French
drapery shops lofty & wide streets, just around

9

The corner, up a 3 yard lane & the most squalid of native
quarters, dirty, smelly, with their shops  the size of a
bathroom & selling queer food, drinks, confectionery
and sweets dear to hearts of arab & Egyptian
Oh it is wonderful How I wish you were
here with me to see it all. and the cafes with
chairs & tables half way across the footpath &
the fez capped customers sipping their absinthe
& coffee, here & there smoking hookahs & the eternal
cigarette. We wandered around for hours
soaking it all in; now admiring the wonderful
confectionery shops with the most tempting looking
pastry possible (it tastes as good as it looks) next
minute in the bazaars watching arabs of the lowest type sipping sipping
their coffee served from big brass kettles & eating
fearful looking sweatmeats. and the variety of
the bazaar shops, how they specialise.  I saw
one selling nothing but flour. The bootblacks
chasing you always the life pestered out of you
if you happen to look at any of the vendors of
postcards, fruit, ancient coins (manufactured in
Birmingham to order) hierioglyphical mats, hand
kerchiefs, silks, walking slicks & canes, prawns, watches

10
dusters, Chocolate, roasted maize, Vienna loaves,
stamps, fried fish, hoop het shaped arab sugar bread,
Turkish delight, and cigarettes Everything you
can think of is hawked. The variety of cigarettes
I have counted as many as 38 different brands
in one vendors tray. The cabs look funny.  They are open
Victorias with a large moveable hoods.
The policemen in their blue red & khaki uniform
look smart, then there are differently uniformed
lamplighters, street cleaners, and gaffers a sort of
night watchman & under policemen. Papers in
English, French, arabic & Greek are for sale
everywhere, and just to make the mixture
more perplexing soldiers swarm everywhere
Territorials, Indians, New Zealanders, Ceylon volunteers
Army of occupation, Egyptians + Australians
I could fill pages & pages telling you of the
wonderful sights but I won't weary you. How I
want you to see it all. We had leave from 3 till
10 on Thursday and went over it all again seeing
lots of fresh new interest. I couldn't help
thinking all the time what a lovely place

30                                      11

13
it would make for a honeymoon. I want to
be with you so much darling. It is getting harder
than ever. We have not received any letters yet.
They sent a cable of inquiry to australia the
other day. It is 43 days since I have heard
anything from home. We are well off now
for news of the war. The Egyptian mail
publishes some very good articles by their
military correspondent.
There have been several visitors to the camp
this p.m. We will be well off for leave. Every
8 days the whole company gets from 2 till
10pm. Sunday afternoons can be spent
visiting the pyramids & country in vicinity
of camp. Saturday afternoons will probably
be holidays too. There is talk of all the
early annexation of Egypt and all the
troops being in Cairo at the Proclamation.
There wont be any trouble I think. The
Egyptian likes the Englishman much better
than the Turk. They have deported several agitators
of the young Egyptian party, I believe. They have
not much following.
I did not post the cards mentioned in the last letter,
I am adding some more & posting them to night
with a few stamps for Jack. Love to all
your own boy Tom

bA NILE VALLEY Cultivated Flooded at times

A.S.C    

A.S.C. 

Artillery
2005W

Supply depot
ROAD TO MENA   EXTENSION. OF. ELECTRIC TRAM      

MENA

TO CAIRO

mena House

HQDS. STAFF & HOSPITAL

Tramway 

Transport 

Canteen 

12th Batt

3rd 11

Brgrade 

10

9t Batt

Army Med. Corps 

ROAD

Canteen

YMCA 

Canteen

TRAMWAY

Engineers

1st Brigade

TRAMWAY

2nd Brigade

Slight Sandy Rise

SLIGHT SAND HILLS

QUARRY

450' high

CHEOPS 
CAVERN TOMBS 

KHEPHREN

SPHINX

GIZEH PYRAMIDS PLATEAU

Sand & Rock 

MYKERINOS