Letters of Athol Cluny McPherson, January to March 1915 - Part 7

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He reckoned that it was the fault of the air craft
that they never got a shot as it scattered the
Camels in all directions, they (the 8^th) were
in trenches that two men were killed & fourty
wounded (the night before), so they were near enough without
being in it, Pebble Wallais was telling me
that they get a bar for it. Moloney considers
the real Turk a splendid type of a soldier her
says that he is small alongside most of them
& that they are as well equipped as we are
Young Wallis was saying that the Indians are
great Sentries, they never take their eyes off
a prisoner & if he tries to escape his fate
is sealed. We have a full holiday once
a week now & only have church Parade on
Sundays. We have a fellow in our tent
from Ararat named vanston Vanston, he is
a school teacher & seems to be a tiptop fellow
He came here as a Sergeant but was reduced
by McCay as he said all appointments had to
come through him, but I believe he is going
to get the stripes back in a day or two
we all hope he does as he will be our
Sergeant, I believe Stevens who wa is our
Sergeant is going home as he is Crook 

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with rheumatism, - Vanston knows Frank Webb
or “Fatty” as he calls him. I believe Gerald
Ryan is out in the camp near Ciaro, he is
a dairy wherever he is. Well Jook I want
to write to mother by this mail so must close
I hope “Plucks” Eczema will soon be alright
again. Please remember me to all
Horsham friends, including Bevs ,Grays, Rennison
Mrs Rathy & Billy also Old Billy Smith & his Wife
when you see them. Kind Regards to Miss
Jenkins & Heaps of love to all at home
including Marion.
I remain
Ever yr loving Brother
Athol C. McPherson
P.S. Please give my kind Regards to Mr
Hackett & the girls when you see them.
A.C.McP.
Hope Fred & Ally won at Murtoa. 

Mena Camp
Egypt 20^th 15
My Dear Fred
I was pleased to receive both yours
& Mothers letters last night & to hear all was
going well at home. What a rain that must

have been in Horsham, it would be worthy of that
memorable night that McColl lectured in Horsham
it would have been very nice if it had come
in the middle of stripping, as it would have
been in an ordinary season, it must have been
very patchy as you never got any at home.
I hope you & Alley have the luck to win at
Murtoa this year, you ought to have plenty
of time to Practice, worse luck, with no harvest
to take off, it seems funny to be finished stripping
before Christmas, let us hope you will have an
eight bag average next year, it is sure to be
a good price. I havent seen any of the
Horsham fellows lately to speak to, I saw Harold
Smith yesterday evening, he was in Charge of
The 8^th Battalion quarter Guard, but as are
we all at attention we couldnt speak
to each other, according to what I
heard the day that I was down 

at their camp, young Greggy must be a real young scoundrel
I believe on fellow (Gil Arnott) lost four pounds out of his
tent & they were all very suspicious about a young fellow
very dark & fond of using his hands. I often wish I was
in the 8^th Battalion with all the Horsham fellows
but as Ive got to know all the fellows here I,ll stick
to them, if ever I do get a transfer it will be to
the NS.W. Light Horse, that Colonel Antill is in Charge
of, but the chances are we will never be at the same
place together & then it would be doubtful if they would
have a fellow that had no training with them as they
want to know a bit about it before going into action
I saw Symons again this evening, he is suffering from
a very "crook" ear & has gone quite deaf in it. This local
"quack" told him that he couldnt do anything for
him, I wouldnt say anything about it to Mr Symons
("dont make too big a mouth-ful of it") as he might not
have mentioned it, he's alright otherwise & goes
a out on the march with us every day. Captain
Saker is in Charge of us now, with Captain
Gregg Second in Command, as I think I 

I told you before E & G Coy are joined now
& make one Coy, of about 250, I was sorry we
never joined with F Coy as we all reckon Capt
Carter is the best of the lot & looks after his
men well, besides being a good Officer. Instead
of addressing letters to E Coy now, my address is C
C Coy C Coy but of course I always get them
the same addressed to E. but its just as well
to address to C as there is no E now. C Coy is
near enough without any Section. I just got
as far as this when one of my tent mates brought
down two letters one from Father & the other from
"Jook" I was delighted to get them & will
answer them as soon as possible, of course
they came by the same mail as the lot
Mothers & Yours but they often take two
days to sort them here. Im so sorry to
hear about Jim Gray, I think the best thing
he could do would be to go to the front, he
would at least be out of the way for a while
I feel very sorry for Mr & Mrs Gray & Nell especially 

Mr G. & Nell as they mush have to keep
such a lot from Mrs Gray, although is was
dead funny for "Shirlock Holmes" trying 

to do a bit of detective work in a Motor Car "I wonder
what he said." I was also sorry to hear Mr Hackett had
been unwell & hope he is alright again now. Please give
my very Kind Regards to him when next you see him & I
hope Connie is keeping alright now. I,ll most likely
send the Photo of the Pyramids this mail, also the Chocolate
& hope they both arrive alright you can give the Hacketts
a taste of it I know Marion & Connie dont like Chocolate
We go for some bonzer marches now out over the desert
Wont ^We never marched right across yet, of course it is a fair
distance about 2,000 miles, we are getting quite used to sand
I,ve always been going to Cable home but a shilling a day
doesnt seem to go very far, but is does a person good to
have to do on a little money if everybody was honest Id
I'd never be short, but a fellow is always buying something
that some fellow "pinched", there are some awful rogues
in this camp. Well Russ Old Boy I dont think there is
anything else to say & as Im going to write to some
of the others this week I'll close, please excuse all the
scratches & mistakes. Hoping all are well & with
love to all, including Marion & Kind Regards to Miss
Jenkins I remain always
Yr loving Brother
Athol. 

Mena Camp
Egypt. Feb. 24^th
My Dear Father
I was pleased to receive letters from you,
Mother & Sheila today & to know all was well
at home, it is alright to think that you are
getting our letters alright, the ones that I received
today was were in answer to mine written a
few days after Xmas. I was interested to
read your description of the Pyramids, the hole
that you mention as having been made just
where the Chamber starts to ascend, the Guide
told us was an air shaft, but its only in keeping
with the many other lies that they tell, you can
as one what a certain thing is & then ask
the next one that comes along & he will
give you a different answer You gave
a good description of the stone, it is lovely
granite on the little Pyramid, & the place where
the Queens body was laid is a has a lovely
arched Roof, cut out of granite, you can even
go to the top round by a Chamber & it is arched
just like the entrance to a church, the granite
is red with dark grey streaks through it.
Tomorrow is our day off & as we were 

paid today, we are going out to petrified
forrest, also to have another look through the
dead city, it is very interesting, there
are graves all through it. We saw three
funerals of poor people when we were in on
Monday, these poor people, (it is only the poor
people that carry the coffin through the streets
the rich have a very fine hearse & pair of
horses) carry the coffin on their shoulders
through the streets it is shaped like this
covered with cloth 
hand drawn sketch, see original document
the people follow
behind kicking up a hideous row.
We had rather a funny trip on Monday
five of us went together including a Sergeant
we had very little money, so we took our
haversacks & waterbottles, took the train to
the outskirts of the town & then went for
a cruise round, we walked a good many
miles & came back by train & got to camp
about 9pm, we were lucky to get two holidays
a week, but as we had done 48 hours guard
& the Battalion was on leave the first day
we got it when we came off guard & the
Battalion holiday is tomorrow, we go off
again tomorrow, we get enough guard 

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now & the last I was on, I couldnt walk
about as it was a stationary post on the
guard tent, we had a couple of crook prisoners
including Morton who was spreadeagled at Broadmeadows, 

but I,m pleased to say he is gone
for a while at anyrate, he got six months
hard labour & the other got four months, they
were sent to Ciaro, we were well rid of brutes
like that. The worst of it is they have to
pick men off the guard that have never been
in the guard tent, so I expect to be on it
nearly every time our Platoon is on guard
now. Two of the Sergeants have told
me now that Im the only one in the Battalion
Company that doesnt raise rouse over the
way that we are treated, I think some
of these fellows thought they we coming
here to lie down & eat all day, they rouse
from when we start out until we come
back, for my own part it is easier than
I thought it would be, the hardest time
was learning the drill in Broadmeadows
they always rouse about the time we
are out, but they overlook the fact
that we sit down most of the time when 

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we are out. Roth Burtchaell came
over today to see if I would go out to the
other Pyramids tomorrow, but there is talk
of it being out of bounds now on account
of some "hoodlums" from here destroying things
in any case another fellow & I stuck a nigger
up last Sunday week & asked what he would
charge for a donkey a piece to ride over
& as he wanted eight bob, we told him to
stick to it, its a bit over the odds to pay
that much. I'm pleased you have such a
lot of fallow this year & hope you have a
good season. Well there is no more news, I'll
write to Mother before the mail goes, there
is talk of us moving very shortly but to where
we dont know, there is a rumour of Joffre
Must close now, hoping all are well
with heaps of love to all at home
& hoping to hear from you again soon
I remain
Yr loving Son
Athol C McPherson