Letters of Athol Cluny McPherson, January to March 1915 - Part 5

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Italy Austria to give in any day, they seem to be
fairly sick of the whole thing now & know that they
are fighting a hopeless struggle, its not likely they will
continue just for the sake of Germany. We are
getting quite a town ship here now, we can buy almost
anything in the camp now, it is beginning to look just like a township.  I received a letter from
Both you & Jook this week sent back from England
& in Jooks she spoke of the boys sinking a dam
down in the horse paddock & rains coming before
it was full finished, Im anxious to know how
big they made it, it will be very handy in dry seasons
or even any year, as you wont be afraid of using too

much water. Ive just been guard over the tent
there are three of us round the tent one of the
Prisoners is the noted Morton, you will remember
it was he that all of the row was about at Broadmeadows

 over being spreadeagled, he is in
for a pretty rough time now, anyway, as he
is up for a district court martial, he can get
anything for that, even be shot, if the court
liked to be very severe with him, he is in
now on several charges including, breaking
out ay the guard tent, I hope they sit on
 

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him this time, he,s the sort of fellow that
spoils the name of the Australians.
We are having it fairly hot here now, but
the nights are always very cool, infact,
they are cold. I was talking to a fellow
out of our Coy who knows a lot of the F Coy
& I asked him if he knew the brothers
Evans (That Mrs Bev spoke about) & he knows
them well & said he would introduce me
to them, he says they are Geelong Grammar
boys, I might mention he is an Melbourne
Grammar boy himself, I often see Symons,
his ear is still pretty "crook", although he
goes out on parade, this sand must be
very crook for sore ears.  A batch of invalid
soldiers & wasters are being sent back to Australia,
 one fellow (Ennor) out of my tent
is going back, he is to be operated on first & by
all accounts he,ll never be alright, he,s a very
decent fellow to, we are sorry for him. Well Dear
Mother as I want to write to Harry by this mail
I must conclude. Please give my Kind Regards
to all Horsham friends, including Bevs, Grays, Millars
McMullins, Rennisons & the Hacketts & Tons of love to all
at home Marion included I remain always
yr loving son

Athol
  

Mena Camp
Egypt. Feb. 3rd. 15
My Dearest Mother
As there is a chance of us leaving here
any day for Egypt the Canal, I must drop you a few
lines to let you know that I am well, infact
I think Im heavier then ever I,ve  been, this climate
seems to agree with me. Well the 7^th & 8^th
Battalions left here today for Ismalia, they only
got word at twelve oclock last night that they
would be shifting at ten this morning, we lined
the road as they marched by & I saw Harold
Smith, Ted Ellis & Gil Arnott as they were passing
We expect to be going anytime now & wont
be a bit sorry, we dont want them to beat
us into a fight. We had a full day
holiday today & get another on Saturday all
of the members of the Battalion got leave
but our "Platoon" No-II we had to stay in Camp
after 5 pm as we were inlying pictquet, that
is we had to Parade on our own Parade
ground, with fixed bayonets for about a
quarter of an hour, one platoon has to have
do it every night & it happened to be our turn
 

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but we were very lucky that it was as they
give us a full day Saturday (provided we
are here) & we practically had all day today
as we were up at the Pyramids, we went over
the great Pyramid & though the smaller one of

the three, it isnt as well laid out inside as the
great one, but the queens Chamber in it is

a fine bit of masonry, it is, ∧an arched roof carved

out of solid stone (granite) the walls of it arent

nearly as high as the great one, we were going

xx into the second one but never had time
It is a lovely view from on the top of the
big Pyramid, you can see for miles along the
green valleys where the canals are cut for
irrigation purposes, there are all sorts of
crops growing on it & the scattered houses
painted white just make it look bonzer
We can also see other Pyramids a few miles
away, I always thought until coming to
Egypt, that there were only three Pyramids
but from the top of the Pyramids you can
see either five or seven in the distance
& there are two or three old ones, round
these here.  There is a buried village just
(over)
 

P.S. Im writing this letter but don't
know that it will Pass the Censor so I will
write to Alley as well, they may be a bit
particular about it now, but I hope you
get it alright, Im trying to send those P. C. views of
the Pyramids this mail & hope you get them
alright, there is one DC & one large one.
Heaps of love. Athol C McPherson
 

Mena Camp
Egypt 7^th. 15
My Dear Alley
I was pleased to get your letter last week
& to hear you & Jook were doing will with your
fowls. I hope both you & Jook had a trip out
to Wartook with the Bevs, it would be a bonzer
trip out there, I would like to be there
myself, if ever I have the luck to get back to
Australia I'm going to see wartook myself.
This is a great place for fights a fellow sees about
one a week, I saw a bonzer four rounds go a few nights
ago, they had gloves on I had their faces fairly
well painted, [[Hollane?]] had a go at a fellow here
about a week ago & came off winner & fellow out
of our coy Bardsley "not Bill" he used to fight
in Melbourne under the name of Lee, he was
Champion of Sth Africa at one time, he had a
go here, but threw in the towl in the third
round, his opponent was a New Zealand heavy
weight, we also had a light weight that had
a go, but he got the father of a slating, his face
was terribly bruised when he had finished
The matches always come off in a [[Stadium?]]
 

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that was built by the 7^th Battalion, there are
matches in it nearly every night & some
splendid boxers, infact some of the best that were
in Australia. Im wondering if Father made money
out of sheep this year the same as he did after the
great drought of 1902, there should have been a
bit of money to be made if the feed is so good.
Im glad you had a good supply of hay, it is
the main thing you & Jook will find it a bit
tough buying feed for fows if you have to pay
such a Price for it. This camp is getting
like a city now, there are a lot of fancy goods
shops & they sell silks as cheap as dirt. I often
wish I had more money to buy some as we can
send anything int into Australia free of charge
being free from duty. We are having lovely
weather here, but now & again it is very dusty
it would blind you at times. We had
shooting Practice about a couple of weeks ago &
I passed first shoot & was considered efficient
these rifles are bonzers & I would like to have
a go at the targets with them, if ever I get
back & am living at Horsham I,ll join the
Rifle Club, its a good pass time.
 

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Well Alley old boy I cant think of anything
else to say so will say adieu, please remember
me to all the Horsham Pals & Old Bolley when
you see him. If ever Im wanting money which I may
when the war is over I,ll get Father to wire some, but
so long as this war lasts it is a mistake for a
fellow so have more than he wants, it only gets
wasted, I,d like a few pounds to spend if Im here
or in France when it is over. Im only mentioning
it in case I don't get a chance to write again.
Good bye Alley & mind you write soon & give me
all the local news, I never forgot yours & Harrys
Birthdays, although I left it too late to write I
must wish you both very many Happy Returns of
the day now, tis better late than never, mind
you & Russ win at Murton. I wish you both
all sorts of good luck. When writing mention
everything about what you are doing, I like to
hear it all. I remain
yr loving Brother
Athol.
PS. If ever I want money I,ll send a cable
for it. A C. McP.
 

Mena Camp
Egypt 12/2/5
My Dear Father
I was very pleased to receive letters from
Mother, Jean (from Wartook) & yourself, by the
last mail, it is grand to get such a lot of letters
from home. Harry & Fred must be getting along
well with the fallow, it is a good idea to put
a lot in this year & I only hope that it will be
my luck to be back to help you to take it off
Somehow or other I dont think that this war
will see the present year out, when once the
Spring is over, Ill bet the Germans get all that
they are looking for besides a bit more.
The 8^th Battalion returned again yesterday
they never had the luck to fire a shot, altho
I believe they were in the trenches two or
three times expecting to have an attack
made. Im glad they came back as I miss
seeing the Horsham fellows, I must look
Roy McLean up next time Im down at
the Camp. We have another Captain
to our Platoon again, which makes
three for the company, his name
 

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is Kirby, he comes from Ballarat & I
wonder if he is a relation of the
Harrow Kirbys, I'll ask him first
Chance I get he is dark like those
Kirbys, we also have a new Sergeant to
our section, our sergeant (Stevens) is
going back, he is suffering from Rheumatism,
the one we have now comes from
Ararat, he seems a very nice fellow, but
like the Captain is going to get a
transfer to the 8^th. He (Captain Kirby)
asked us if any us would like a transfer
to the 8^th. as he told as he would get
it fixed up, but I have decided to stick
to the 5^th. Im satisfied its as good as
any Battalion. I believe the General
said that if a Brigade is wanted, the
2^nd is going, he said they would be
sent for first. There is some talk of
us going to Palestine within a
month, we asked Captn Kirby today if
he thought we would ever go to the
front & his reply was that we were
sure to go before a month was out