Photostat copies of letters from Charles Albert Barnes to his mother, 1914 - Part 3

Ascanius (Aden)
25th Nov 14
Dear Mother,
I posted last night as a mail closed to go
ashore today on arrival.
Well we saw Land in the distance we woke
up & anchored outside for a while came inside
later in the morning & dropped anchor again
close to the town at 12.40 pm. This place is
apparently very strongly fortified anchor and reminds one
very much of Gibraltar except that the whole
surrounding country is barren desert, the hills
are bare rock no I'm wrong on our hill 3 or
4 miles away on the opposite side of the harbour
theres a tree. We can easily see the town
Camels drawing water carts seem to be a
profitable business judging the number one sees.
There are a few motors about too. The buildings
are very fine for such a place but what strikes
anyone is the apparent strength There are posts
stuck] in the hills all round & they can only
been seen by looking carefully apparently
they are not built but more or less dug in the
solid rock. There are heaps & heaps of Indians
2
Arabs & coolies who of course do the dirty work.
As to Soldiers Theres a British Regiment
(Lancashire Fusiliers) & 2 Indian native
Battalions.
The harbour is very full In addition to
our fleet of 39 there are about the same number
of Imperial transports & 3 warships
A number of gunboats came alongside selling
goods of all sorts & are doing a roaring trade
This afternoon 4 officers from the Hampshire
Cruiser came aboard to hold the naval
enquiry into the collision So far as one can
learn the evidence brought forward shows that
each ship was more or less to blame but we wont
hear the Courts decision for a while
Immediately on our arrival the Sydney cleared
out at full speed I wonder what she is after
now.
No one is allowed ashore, bad luck again
I would like to go & have a look round. The
heat is fairly steaming. Coaling is in full
swing the coal is brought alongside & carried
aboard in sacks by coolies who keep up our
incessant chatter & incidentally do a bit of
trade in postcards while not working
3
The run xx xxx today was
Thursday 26th
We left Aden at daylight & were soon out
in the open steaming in the same formation
as before. We Kept fairly close to the Arabian
coast for a long time & of all the dreary
country I think its the worst, bare desert
& sheer hills on the coast & some distance back
high ranges of mountains which one can
see are just as devoid of vegetation as this
paper.
We passed a number of ships & several
small islands in our travels & at about
½ past four came by Perim which looks a
very desolate spot. There is a good harbour
& a few very fine houses which I spose are
the officials quarters, the native part looks
somewhat savoury, Theres an old wreck
just at the entrance to the harbour & as we
passed a Russian merchant ship put in
Have never before seen the Russian
Mercantile flag on a ship. Perim is
pretty well fortified & theres an extra
Battalion of Indian troops there at present
Run to lunch time
4
Its still beastly hot & tonight all lights
are out in saloon & cabins as there are 3
Turkish torpedo boats in the Red Sea.
Friday 27th
Passed a few more islands en route today
and met several more outward bound ships
principally transports. We are working
hard & have little or no time for reading
Strickland & Jackson were very disappointed
at not getting ashore at Colombo or Aden
Jackson I think is thinking of [[Er]]
The run
Saturday 28th
Well we have had a shock today
Orders came that we are to land in Egypt
& go to Cairo for training instead of England
On some aspects its not so bad as its Winter
& not too hot, in addition it may mean and
opportunity of seeing the Pyramids & Sphinx
& various other interesting items that I would
possibly have another chance of investigating
But I'm disappointed at not going to England
as I rather hoped to get off & see various
relations at Christmas time However it cant
be helped & [[Croly?]] has resigned himself to the
5
inevitable. We expect to get to Suez on
Tuesday and may disembark either there or
at Ismalia or Port Said don't know yet.
We hear there are already some 40,000 troops
near Cairo training & are told that we will
be sent to the front from there. I wonder
when we will get a mail. From papers obtained
at Aden the war seems to be progressing in
the same old way. Apparently we will be
in plenty of time.
Tonight we have a great change from the
heat of last week A fresh wind is blowing
in our teeth
Some of the officers from the Hampshire
came on board at Aden & assisted by some of
my buds who are boilermakers & rivitters are
mending the hole in the Ship by putting plates
over it. Its rather interesting to watch them at
work over the side & my fellows are enjoying
it thoroughly.
The Second mate (Reed) & I sort of fraternise
Hes a grand fellow & good at his work.
Jackson is not too good today he has
a touch of the sun I hope he is not going
to be ill. The run was
6
Sunday 29th
The Bishop gave a fine sermon today.
He spoke altho as if he would not be staying in
Egypt I hope he does. He mentioned Mr
Edington to me yesterday & thinks a great deal
of him & the work which the little 'un is doing
We had a photo of the W.A. officers taken today
and will try to get a copy or two to send along
I have a fever. Theres to be a confirmation
service tomorrow. Jose is to be put through
He is in good form & pops his head in at all
times to see whether I want anything.
The men are very mixed in their feelings at the
idea of landing Most of them would much
prefer England. They are all being fed well &
there are now no serious cases of illness
Jackson is a champ. Today he was
vaccinated & had hardly gone away
when over he toppled in a dead faint. We
took him in to my cabin and put him in an
outside bunk where he is now getting
plenty of fresh breeze. Its the sun touch
he got yesterday I think & he has been working
very hard. However he will be allright in
a day or two. The Run was
7
Monday 30th
Theres nothing of import to write oh except
the Confirmation service which was held at 7.30
this morning in Col. Weirs cabin. It seemed
rather strange
Jackson is getting on well.
Expect to reach Suez early tomorrow.
Tues 1st
Came into Suez early this morning & as usual
no one allowed ashore We are all assembled
again & hope that the Ascamius will go in to
the Canal this evening.
Theres the usual crowd of gunboats round
us but they are being discouraged by water
& rubbish being thrown over on them.
The town is a very big place apparently there
appears to be a tremendous lot of work being done
in and about the harbour. We had a very interesting
sight this morning. The Hampshire came up
almost alongside to get take off some of her men
who have been on this ship in connection with
the repairs & while she was here several boat
loads of German prisoners came off to her
from the other ships. The prisoners seemed to
be quite happy & all looked well pleased with
8
themselves.
We came in to the Canal tonight at 8pm
& should reach Port Said tomorrow arriving
at 11 am.
Wednesday 2nd
Had a very good trip through the Canal
Up at day break to see whats going on & found
that the xxx cut is being guarded for the its
whole length by Indian Soldiers principally
who are all welcomed us heartily as we steamed
along on The Asiatic side of the Canal the
whole country for miles has been flooded
as an extra precaution to hamper any
advance the Turks or Germans may make.
We are now anchored right opposite the
Casino Palace Hotel Port Said & as we came
through the Port this morning saw that
the office of the Australian Lloyd Steamship
Coy is now the Headquarters of The Army
of Occupation. General Maxwell commanding
We There are heaps of British War vessels of
different sorts here, from a Battleship The
Swiftsure down to the torpedo boats & destroyers
There are also 2 French boats & a French depot
ship for airoplanes. We are going on to
9
Alexandria to disembark a few of
the boats have already gone out but theres not
much enough wharfage accommodation now
for more than about 10 ships at once so we are
not leaving here till tomorrow
Port Said seems to have improved a great
deal the water front is very fine & there are
heaps of new buildings. In the breakwater
guarding the Canal entrance is a huge
Statue of de Lesseps surveying his work.
Early this morning in the Canal we met a
French Mail boat the Caledonian There were
a lot of passengers aboard her & they were very
excited as we came by.
Oh Last night we went aground in the
Canal & were stuck for about 3 hours. Result
of the the bouys damaged.
The harbour as are all the others we have been
to is thronged with ships of all flying all
sorts if flags. There's one xxx Roumanian
streamer among them.
The natives live the lives of gentlemen at
least they dont appear to be working much &
all look pleased with themselves.
Today we have started to get things packed
10
up for landing. I wish we were allowed
ashore to have a look around.
We are now taking in more fresh water
Some more of the fleet went on to Alexandria
this evening I wish we could get on
Thursday 3rd
This morning we moved out of the harbour
& are anchored about 3 miles off the mouth
Had a wireless from the Euripides saying
she has over 500 cases of ptomaine posioning
on board. How they got it is not yet known
but its thought to be from some hound dog
they had yesterday for tea or else through
some water. The cases are not generally serious
but naturally cause a good deal of worry.
Jackson is well & about again.
Friday 4
Nothing during the day until 5 pm when
we started for the last part of the Sea journey
for the time being. It s very cold tonight & a
strong wind blowing.
Saturday 5th
We had another spasm last night. The
steering gear carried away this time & we
went round and round the mulberry bush sort of

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