Thomas Whyte Collection - Wallet 4 - Part 1 of 10

A                       London    Naples       D Pt Said

Maloja              Mar 6         Mar 13          Mar 17
Osrah               Mar 12        Mar 19         Mar 23
Mooltan           Mar 20      Mar 27         Mar 31
Moldavia         Apr  3         Apr 10          Apr 14
Osterley          Apr  9         Apr 16          Apr 20
Egypt                       17                 24                 28
Medina                    23                30         May  4
Orsorva            May 7         May 14         May 18

 

B            Wednesday  19th Aug
                 Monday        19th October

    ___________________________________
                Sunday       25th October
                 Fremantle    Nov   1st

                       "

                      ______________

        Egypt

               Alexandria

                    Sunday 6th Dec

                The Heroes                                      Pt Said

                                                                                     Mar 11

  [[Alxda?]]  [[Thursday?]] 7th  "                                    19

  [[?Mena?]]   Sunday 28th  Feb                                   25

        Alex     [[?March 2nd?]]                                   Apr  8

                                                                                               16

C  Monday                                        F                              22 

       Tuesday                                       

                        Thursday

      Lemnos       March 4th

        "      Saturday   April 24

  Monday 

 7th 3rd May    
 

G L  Mail not leaving
No 18 Per Frankonia to Egypt 23/3/185
due Adelaide 24/4/15
Stokes Killed 25th April

(Micky Smith) Malcolm Teasdale Smith killed 24th

Phil de Robin killed April 25th

Jose killed Feb 1917

Keith Green killed April 25th

Crowhurst Gallipoli

Max [ Huhhe?] [(?] killed

Dennis Jones killed Gallipoli July

Trevor Owen Smith Killed Gallipoli

 

H                              M
April 14th my letters ending March 11th were
put in kit bag which had to be handed in
to be sent to Egypt
On April 20th my letter of March 19 was received
the last

Dick Harris , Harbor master
[[?Pinta Jehhry?]] regalta dress

I sent J O'Connell's letter to [[Fev Jock? ?]]

IJK Rigby's Library  N

Ern Jolly, the boatman, Surrey
Frank Jolly at City Bridge in on time
To [[?Overton?]] August 1910
Tom came August or September 1910
Fes       "        october | November 1910
Dovine died August 1913
Robins  [[?]] Tavistock St Strachan
Emulation Lodge
Croswick dentist
 David. Heggie Glasgow

O                                                        T
C1

C2

C3

C4

Accompanying letter C5
through Chapman

3rd Brigade forming covering C6 Midros Mar 6•15

Party Landing 3 weeks time
receipt letters PQR C7 midros Apr 2  15 UVW

Leaving next of week C8

S                                              XYZ 

1
Mena Camp 
Feb. 3. 1915
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 today. 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

2

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, an Arab
or Fellaheen whichever you like to call
them. I think some of the p.c. I sent
you showed you same. 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 bucket is emptied into a
chan raised channel. A less crude method
is by the old milk bucket method worked
 

3

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 bucket 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
 

4

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
 

5

our equipment & rifles & were given
a two hours roam of Cairo
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 everyday
ivory ones, knuckle bones mad carved
in stone with hieroglyphics on them. ( I have
 

6

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
Heliopolis where the second contingent
hasve just reached. The tram service
is the best I have ever seen.  It is really
an electric tramin. Seven years ago
this 6000 populated sububrb was
practically a desert. The Belgian
company who inaugurated it also
 

7

own the tram service. Quite a separate
company from the general tram Coy
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 Heliopolis
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
 

8

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 (newspaper estimate) & 2 officers &
13 men killed & 68 wounded on our side.
It is supposed the enemy's strenth
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 33000 on 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