Correspondence from George Leslie Makin to his family, 1914-1915 - Part 3

Mena, Egypt

Sunday 20/12/1914

Dear Harry

This is the first opportunity I have had to
write, so I am sending you a few lines to let you know
how things are with me.
After leaving Suez we proceeded to Port Said.  After
two days there, we sailed fromor Alexandria arriving there
early on Dec 2^nd.
At 3 o'clock same day we entrained for Cairo.  After a weary
journey of about 5½ hours, we arrived at the Central Station.
We at once marched out here, a distance of about 11 Miles.
It was about midnight when we arrived & a more
desolate scene I have never seen.
Miles & miles of sand, with the Pyramids standing out

in the bright moonlight.

However the last fortnight has made a wonderful

difference.  What was once desert is now a huge base
camp.
At first we had no tents & slept on the sand.  Although
it is hot during the day, at night it freezes.
Just before the tents arrived, it rained heavily &

there are a lot of colds in consequence.
At first things were very rotten especially the tucker.
Although it has improved, it could still be better.

2
The trouble is that the contractors here can barely
supply the demand.

During the first week the work was particularly heavy

We were digging stone from a quarry & making roads.
My pen has gone on strike so I will have to finish it
with pencil.
We are within a quarter of a mile of the Pyramids & I have

been through them & through the temple at the

Sphinx.
On Wednesday afternoon I went to the top of one
of the Pyramids & carved my name on the same
tablet as the late King Edward.
It is a wonderful climb.  Zigzaging for 451 feet.
The natives here are awful theives & if you go through
the Pyramids with them, they tell you more lies in
five minutes than you would hear in all your life.

Besides ourselves & the New Zealanders there is a lot of
Territorials here.
They are a very wheezy lot compared with our chaps.
Walking alongside of them you would think they were

cadets.  They are from Lancashire where they say 
there are no big men. However they are a very
decent lot & will always go out of their way to
show us around.
We get 20per cent leave, which means once every

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five nights.
The City of Cairo is about the dirtiest place in the

world.  The biggest business is hotels & cafés.
Of course there is a European quarter which is very
clean & boasts some magnificent buildings.
The native quarter however is vile.
On Thursday a proclamation was read in the city.
proclaiming Egypt a British Protectorate.
I dont know if we can expect any trouble with the
Turks.  There is has been a good bit of sniping over at Suez.
but I am afraid we wont get a go at them.
We dont know how long we are to be here.  The popular

idea is that we winter here, then sail direct to
Marsailles & then to the front.
I am rather disappointed at not ^having received any
letters yet, but I expect they have been sent on
to England.  I am eagerly awaiting news from
you all.

As for myself, I am in the best of health & have got

so fat that Norman Spence hardly knew me when
he came across to see me the other day.
Well Harry I think that is all the news at present
so will close with best love to yourself & Essie
from Les
P.S.  Excuse this scribble as we have no conveniences yet.

 

Mena Egypt
4/1/1915
Dear Mother & Father
I have put off writing to you for some time.
I was expecting to hear from you every day, but have now

almost given up hope.

I dont know what the authorities are doing with our letters.

There must be tens of thousands of them somewhere.

If we do not get a mail very shortly, I am afraid there
will be a lot of bad feeling among the men.
I can hardly realize that Christmas & New Years days have

passed.

It certainly is the strangest Christmas I have ever spent.

The only difference was that we got a half-holiday on
Christmas Day, which we appreciated very much, as we are
working hard & cannot even rely on getting Sunday
afternoon off.

The conditions generally have much improved.  We have

sheds built for eating our meals & the food is better both

in quantity & quality.
Our meal on Christmas Day, although rough, was

very good.

We are now doing more advanced work & at present are
undergoing outpost training, which is all night work

2
We have spent several nights in the trenches & are

going out at 3.AM tomorrow morning, to deliver an

attack on a half battalion, which is entrenched about
4 miles out.

We are now getting more used to the sand & the

climate.  The cold at night has caused a lot of colds
& a few deaths.  Besides, there is some men to be sent
back, before we leave here.  They are mostly cases of

heart trouble.

We have had no deaths in our battalion so far and
the health generally is very good.
All the Park boys are well & I myself am fairly

jumping out of my skin.  My increase in weight seems
wonderful to me, as I am working hard & dont get
as good food, as I did at home & even Broadmeadows.

My latest weighing was 11.13 on one scale & 12.2 on another.

We are all as burnt as we can be without being
altogether black.

I expect you already know, that we have had a visit

from Sir George Reid.  He told us that we would go
to the front when we were fit, which is very vague.

Our Brigadier reckons we ought to be ready in a
month, but I dont expect to see Germany before the
Spring.  By that time we will be fit for anything.
I have already seen a good deal of Cairo, including

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the zoo, which is one of the best in the world.  The
Museum which is full of old Egyptian relics & mummies.  

The old buildings such as the Citadel & Mosque

are wonderful illustrations of the ingenuity of the
ancient Egyptian people.

The most disappointing feature of this place, is the
scarcity of English people. You hardly strike one in
a week.

English is about the only language not spoken here.

There are French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Russian, Belgian,
Turkish, in fact every nationality barring Chinese & Japs

to be found here.
From New Years Day, the Infantry Brigades have been

reorganized under Imperial rules.
Instead of eight companies to a battalion there are now

only four.  Each company is split up into 4 Platoons

each containing four sections.

So now in place of a company of 116 men in four sections

it is now company, it is now a double company of

232 men containing 4 Platoons and 16 Sections.  The
sections are now only half the original size.  The idea is to
give an officer less responsibility & to enable him to
keep more in touch with his men.

Besides this, it is very simple & the dullest man
can easily follow the movements of Platoon drill.

 

4
Well dearest Mother & Father.  I think that is all the

news at present.

I am buying a camera & if all goes well. I will
send you some photos of this picturesque camp.

I hope when next I write it will be in answer to one

from you.  At this moment I would gladly give all
I possess for some news from you all.
Best love to all

from Les.

My address is now

703 Pte GL. Makin

No 7 Platoon B. Company
5^th Battalion Infantry
1^st Australian Div
Mena Egypt

Wherever we happen to be, they will forward the letters
if they want to.  But I think they must be burning
them
Les

[*P*]

 Mena, Egypt
6/1/1915
Dear Harry
Just a few lines, to tell you I am still alive
and kicking.

I received my first letters tonight one from Jim & one

from Mum.

It appears that they have not received any of my
letters yet.  I cannot understand this, as I have written
dozens & dozens of letters from every post we called at, and

every week since we have been here.
I myself was thinking it very hard that I had not

received a letter for Christmas.

Christmas & New Year have passed, almost without my

knowing it.  Everyday here is the same.  Sundays
included.  We think ourselves lucky to get even a Sunday

afternoon off

We are working like the devil.  The objective seems to
be "getting us as fit as possible in the shortest time."
We expect to leave for the front in a month.  But it
may be two before we get away.

We are all anxious to push on & do something worth
doing.  We have now been training for over four

months & are about full up of imaginary enemies.

The conditions here are much improved.  We now have

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sheds built for our meals.  Each shed contains one
company.

There are 16 tables, that is one per section of from 12 to
15 men.
Although the food has improved, it could still be
better.  I have put on weight in an amazing fashion.
I am now 12 stone 2lbs, but dont attribute it to the

tucker here.  We lived like lords on the boat however.

If you could see this place before and after our
occupation, you would think it wonderful.

When we arrived it was just a stretch of sand.  Now

it is like a city.
In addition to the camp. Tradespeople are putting up
shops for the purpose of robbing us.

There is hardly an honest man in Cairo.  Every
native has something to sell & can always be beaten
down from 3 hundred to 5 hundred per cent. from what
he asks first.  The only way money is reckoned here is
in piastres.  1 Piastre is worth about 2½^d and can be spent

40 times.  1 Piastre is 10 Millimes & a Millime is divided

into quarters.  Of course only the natives use anything 
under a Piastre.
I have already seen a good deal of Cairo.  It would 
take too long to give a detailed account of the
wonderful relics of the ancient Egyptians to be found here

But if I get back safely, it will take me some time
to tell you about the wonderful things I have already
seen.

We know nothing of our future movements.  Sir George Reid
told us last week that we would go the the front as soon
as we were ready.  But that is very vague.
The weather for the last two days has been vile.  It started

blowing & when it blows its a case of sand everywhere.
I was very pleased to hear that you have passed your

exam.  All the same I did not expect to hear that you

had failed.

Jim told me that you have shifted.  I hope you get my

other letters alright.

Well Harry I think that is all now.  You must excuse

this scrawl as I cannot write a detailed letter.  I have
written so much tonight that I scarcely know exactly

what I have written.  But if you compare with the
letters home, I think you will get all the news.

Best love to yourself & Essie

from Les

P.S. I have just received some more letters & cards from home.  Also a
copy of the Australasian.  Being the first mail, everybody is
nearly frantic with excitement.  It really seems to be raining

letters.

Les.