Thomas Whyte Collection - Wallet 1 - Part 4 of 14

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

T. A. Whyte

No.47 A Coy Coy
10th Battalion 
3nd Brigade
1st Australian 
Division
England  Egypt

Letter No 4

H.M.A.S Ascanius
Alexandria
Sat. Dec 5, 1914

My Darling Little Girl,

Getting nearer our destination at last.
We are bound for Meenah Mena or some place
named like that right near the
Pyramids about 9 miles from Cairo
We are to bivouac, that is, camp in the
open. We left Port Said yesterday afternoon
about 4, after staying outside the harbour
for a couple of days. It is difficult
to remember what days certain things
happened on, they all seem the same. For
the life of me I couldn't tell you what
day we left Aden or Suez. It was a stirring
day we had in Port Said before we moved out
to the anchorage . We were right at the
end of the line & nearly all the ships passed
us at intervals of a quarter of an hour.
We had the band going & cheered each
one as they passed quite close. We made
enough noise to scare any disloyal
Egyptian within 5 miles. The N.Z transports
and the Orvieto went straight to Alexandria
while the other boats were with us at the

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

2. 

anchorage. Another batch went off Thursday
night & the remainder yesterday. We are
anchored in the harbour. Only 5 boats
at a time can disembark, hence the delay.
Our turn comes tomorrow or Monday.
There must be over 30 German & Austrian
merchantmen in the harbour. of With
a French battleship a British cruiser, coasting
steamers & ketches a mail boat or two and the
transports it presents quite a busy appearance
over a hundred vessels I should say.
We can't see much of the city as we are the
wrong end, what we can see looks quite
modern. The harbour is an artificial one
about 3 miles long & 1 mile wide.
I liked the look of Port Said. There was
nothing of the dirt you hear & read of to
be seen. I am sending you some books
of post cards as well as some loose ones.
It caused quite a surprise to the officers
being ordered to Egypt. I feel sure it was
not the original intention of the authorities
It may have been when we left Australia.
Possibly it was waiting to hear see Turkey's
intentions that caused the postponement

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

3. 

of our departure that first time. There
is some talk of 80 000 Territorials & Indian
troops being in Egypt if so we ought to
be sufficient to prevent any rising
of Egyptian & Turks. It is all bunkum
about a Turkish army marching overland.
The power of declaring a holy war among
the Mahommedans in Egypt rests with
Sheikh Elislam who doesn’t quite hit it
with the head shebang in Constantinople
& as the average Egyptian knows which
side his bread is buttered I don't think
there will be much trouble here.
I have been getting a good deal of information
about Egypt from a corporal of the A.M.C.
whom I have chummed up with. He has had
some remarkable experiences. He rowed
in the first schools race on the Torrens
for Caterer's school against St Peters, before
I was born. Davoren is his name & his
people live at Crystal Brook. He went to
school afterwards in England & enlisted
in the Royal Army Med. Corps in the
Gold Coast Raid. He went through the
Soudan  campaign & has the Omdurman

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

4. 

medal. He was then appointed sergeant
instructor in the newly formed Egyptian
Army. He spent about 10 years in Cairo
& the Soudan. None of the British instructors
were allowed to go to the Boer war so he
missed that. It is difficult to get him
to talk much but when he does it is
worth listening to. You meet some rum
chaps in the Army.
We continued the sports yesterday
afternoon. Only the tug of war was
decided. A Coy were beaten by the fian
final winners by 1 inch. It was the
best go of the day & we are anxious
to meet them again in spite of they
being able to give us a stone all round.
They are near all Broken Hill miners
or policemen.
MENA Menah is a small village on the Plateau
the Pyramids are situated on and the train
terminus for the service to the Pyramids.
It The spot the division will be camped
on has been a camping ground at
various times for the Egyptian Army
It is a hard sandy soil the corporal

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

5. 

tells me.
I suppose we wont see much of Alexan-
dria when we land. The trains run
right on to the wharf we will discharge
from. The New Zealanders will be stationed
at a place between Cairo & Alexandria
I hear. We hear very little of how the
war is progressing. We got one or two
papers at Port Said but none here.
They won't allow any bum boats near
us worse luck. I saw several to-day
with some very nice oranges on.
The tucker is not quite as good
as when we started but still streets
ahead of Morphettville. There is one
dish I absolutely long for, ham & eggs.
I haven't tasted them since we left.
It is no wonder sailors always rush
them when ashore. I feel like having
6 serves the first chance I get.
I am sure this boat is fated. Last
night we were awakened by the
siren & the sound of reversed engines.
I sat up half asleep waiting for the
alarm bell to ring, but as it didn't

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

6. 

I went to sleep again. Some boat crossed
our bows rather closely.
I am disappointed with the present view
of Alexandria. I want to see everything
Eastern instead of modern & palatial.
[*Sunday afternoon*]
Great excitement. We are going into the
wharf at 4 o'clock. I have been picked
in a party of 6 from each company
to proceed to Cairo immediately to act
as advance baggage guard or something.
We have to be ready very soon so
I will close this letter on the chance
of being able to post it soon. I don't
know anything about the mails.
I will write by the next mail.
Good night little girl. With great love
from
Tom.

No Stamp
available
On active
service

PASSED BY 
NO 2213
CENSOR

Miss E W Champion
'Cartoon'
Omar Place
Unley Park
South Australia

N.C.O.

C10 Tuesday Apr 20 15
RL Cooper Lt    

My Dear Eileen
Early this morning I got quite
a surprise to receive your letter of March 19. There
was one from Lex too. His comment on your information
of receiving a 30 page letter was that I must have been very
full. I laughed over your episode re Maughams. Of course it
couldn't be helped & you were very clever to get out of some of it
as you did. How slow some people are to see through ladders.
Les is a despicable cad. I feel very sorry for Vera though a lot of
it is her own fault for putting up with it. I don't think you
will find much of interest in that library I never got most
of the interesting books. I don't remember 'Sarchidon'.
Lex mentioned something about the war in his letter that
makes me think he would be interested in pp 80 - 84 of No 18,
& 110-113 of No. 19 when you get it. You might pass on anything
you think would interest him very much. I wouldn't ask you
only you say you love writing to Whytes.
I thought Les would probably be leaving in time to be here soon but
I gather it may be some time before they get under weigh.
This week's mail will probably be the last for a while. I think
I said that on the previous two occasions but you will understand
how things are. If you have heard nothing by the time this
reaches you. you will know everything is O.K.
I am sorry I had no luck with 19 last week & the worst of
it there will probably be a delay of a month.
I was quite right in what I said on page 40 of No 16
8th 7, 6 & 5th lines from the bottom. It has turned out exactly.
'Land & Water' is very interesting this week, the Apr. 3rd issue
I mean. Belloc reckons XXXXXXXXX being released
by the fall of XXX I don't think I was far wrong in my
estimate of those taking part. Here is the end of the page so good night
Yours ever, Tom.

Reply to Adelaide Y.M.C.A. Army Department
Letter No.2
England.

Indian Ocean
Wednesday Nov 18. 14

My Dear Darling
Wife,
We left Colombo yesterday about
midday. I have been worried ever since.
I gave a long letter I had written to
a man who was just about sure to
be discharged & sent back to Adelaide.
He was sent to the ‘Orvieto’ to be examined,
he had some growth in his throat. I believe
they kept him there much to Dr Nott's
surprise. Unless he had a chance of getting
the letter ashore I am afraid you wont
get it until you receive this. I am
worried because you will be disappointed
at the short bare note I wrote that had
to be censored & there will be quite 3 weeks
to wait.
It has been gloriously smooth. The
boat has not rocked a bit. The weather
is still hot. We get about in dungarees
only. I still have one of the best sleeping
out places on the ship so I am better off
than most of the privates. My leg is
nearly better I am sorry to say.