Letters from Fred Leslie Biddle to his Family, 1914-1915 - Part 3 of 19

Mena Camp
near Cairo.
11.12.14.

Dear Father,
No doubt the papers have informed you
that we have been sent here.
We did not know until just before Suez that
we were coming here at all.
An invasion by the Turks was expected
but now seems to have fizzled out.
The climate here is very fine just now &
there is always a cold wind. In fact we are very
glad of our blankets at night.
We are right under the Pyramids but I have 
not seen very much of them.
We have been here 6 days now but have only just
settled down & troops are still coming in.
We disembarked at Alexandria & as we have
28 ships & the N.Z. troops ten we have a total of 
38 ships to unload.
The port takes 8 ships only & as some take
2 to 3 days to unload it is a slow job.
We then travel about 150 miles to Cairo & the
baggage is taken by electric trams to Mena 

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which is 10 miles out of Cairo.
We have also pressed into service every class
of transport imaginable,- camels, donkeys, mules
weedy horses, oxen, motors, service waggons &c
The vehicles are the queerest I have ever
seen & the camel the queerest ride. Riding on a
sledge over boulders is nothing to it but the donkeys
have a tip-top amble.
We are right in the sand which is many feet
deep. but a few hundred yards away is the
most wonderfully fertile land in the world.
The county in the Nile Delta produces 3 crops
yearly & the Kitchener Irrigation Scheme
provides water everywhere.
The peasantry especially swear by C00 chinon
as they call him. & they have every reason.
The laws regarding treatment of natives are
most stringent.
Soldiers are tried by General Court-Martial &
civilians are liable to be expelled from the
country for striking a native
Most particular orders have been issued
by the G.O.C of Egypt regarding this matter which
is not only a diplomatic question but a matter 

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of upholding the prestige of the British soldier
This will shortly be a British colony
The Khedive has cleared out to Turkey & we
hear that on the 21^st inst (the Khedive Accession
Day) the Union Jack is to be hoisted.
There may be trouble but I do not think
it likely, he Egyptians are a most cowardly
lot. To see about a hundred men & boys running
for dear life when a policeman raises his
stick is the funniest sight
The native police, are a military body &
seem to be a very fine lot. Some are Maltese,
some Egyptian but mostly Soudanese I believe
Many of them speak five languages but French
is the passport through Egypt.
I am practising French very hard & find
I can read it easily but have lost the knack
of speaking it.
The changing of the English phrasing &
idiom into French ditto requires practice but it
is all ready coming back to me
The Soudanese are a very fine race
& make most excellent soldiers
There is no doubt that at the Battle of 

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Omdurmon the Egyptians were put in front
& the Soudanese ordered to fire upon them if
the former turned tail
The camp is most excellently laid out
with an abundant water supply & big Indian
pattern tents which will hold about 30 men but
only 18 are put in one tent
They are double throughout with a space
of at least six inches between the walls so the
on the hottest day they are always cool.
The walls are high & they certainly are the
finest tents I have ever seen.
The horses snorted with delight when they
got on the sand, & have been rolling ever since.
Nothing could be better for them.
We have astonished every British Officer
with the splendid condition of our horses.
The majority do not look as if they had
been on the ships at all, & in fact look
50% better now than when we left, as they have
Of course shed their winter coats.
The British horses landed in a very
bad way, legs swollen & very much knocked
about. They cannot understand how we did it 

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but if they had seen the men working
stark naked in the holds grooming & rubbing
the horses legs they might have some idea.
The sand of course will interfere with
our training, as we will scarcely be able to drag
the guns & wagons fully loaded at the walk.
We will have to do team work without
vehicles.
We are exercising horses dismounted at a
slow walk & today I took them round the
Pyramids to the Sphinx & Temple of the Sphinx 1^st Pyramid.
The Pyramids are simply a most wonderful
Engineering feat & are mathematically set out &
absolutely exactly oriented. I think you understand
the term which means the sides face square to the
N.S. E. & West
The Sphinx is carved out of the solid
limestone. The nose is missing. It was knocked
off by a cannon ball fired by order of Napoleon 
The latter being most superstitious. afterwards
ascribed many of his misfortunes to the wrath
of the outraged spirits of the dead.
The temple of the Sphinx 1^st Pyramid is, a marvellous
feat of engineering but it has been disfigured 

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by the Romans who, finding they could not
approach the work of the Ancient Egyptians,
became jealous & endeavoured to destroy the
temple. But even this was beyond them, but
the corners of the huge blocks of granite &
alabaster are in many places badly chipped
The sarcophagi are arranged in tiers & the
top ones for the High priest are made of the
purest alabaster.
One roofing stone over a passage is of
sold red granite 27ft x 9ft x 6ft & there are
others larger
It is said that no living engineer could
put these blocks in place with all the advantage
of modern machinery
The jointing up is perfect & the beautiful
alabaster floors are simply wonderful
We were shown a well 100 ft deep which is fed
by a small hole but no one can trace the
source of supply
They are always excavating. & always finding
something new.
The chief excavator is an American Expert,
who has been 19 years constantly finding new wonders 

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& the place is only scratched over a bit
We did not see any mummies as they are all
placed in the museum for safe-keeping, but at
the Pyramids 9 miles from us I believe there
are a great many of the actual marble & alabaster 
coffins & mummies.
The sarcophagi that I spoke about are
really not so, but rather the recesses in which
the former were placed.
You have often heard of the mystery of
the Sphinx.
Despite the loss of the nose it is the most
prominent thing that strikes you
The eyes have a calm look of wisdom & the
sum of human knowledge, & it fascinates one to
stand & gaze at the face.
When you read about the temple just
think that the stone was brought 450 miles
from Assouan where the Nile dam was built
(of the same granite) & then had to be transported
across the sand to its place
The enormous causeway still exists along
which it was carried but no one has ever given
a satisfactory explanation of how they did it. 

8
Well more of the Pyramids etc, when I
have seen more.
This chat is the result of half-an-hours'
stop to rest the horses, & see what could be
seen in that time.
I can only say that no architect or
engineer has completed his education unless he
has seen these things
Cairo is a magnificent city full of
beautiful buildings, & of course native squalor.
Every nation is represented & Cairo itself
has no nationality but is just a polyglot of
all nations.
Shepheard's Hotel where I have dined
once or twice, when in Cairo at night, is a
magnificent place on a truly Eastern but
not bizarre scale
The dining room, halls, lounges etc
are huge, & furnished & decorated in
the most delightful Oriental style.
The servants are beautifully dressed
in reds greens gold etc but there is nothing
barbaric. It is all in perfect taste.
And then dinner cooked & served in a 

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way which makes the Melb Savoy like
a fourpenny restaurant, & all for 5/-
I must say that the rates of have been
specially reduced to encourage us to go.
as there are no tourists whatever.
The Americans alone, used to come in shiploads 
& spend money like water.
The result is bankruptcy all over the
place & thousands faced with ra?n ruin
Many of the leading hotels have closed until
a more favourable time
The Opera (a lovely building) is also closed,
but still it is all one round of gaiety.
Nobody wears anything but the look of
pleasure & "it sure is some place."
The Kasr-el-Nil Barracks are enormous &
accommodate about 10 to 12 thousands, but are
quite unsuited in style for a warm climate.
The barracks in England at Salisbury are
designed as fine bungalows with lofty rooms
etc & as a matter of fact the Salisbury barracks
were designed for Cairo & the Cairo for Salisbury
Some fool mixed them & didn't apparently
know the difference. Red Tape again! 

10
While we were lying at Port Said the
N.Z. troopship Athenic passed us within 25
yards going round to Alexandria, & who do
you think was on the stern. Why! Yates of
course.
I shouted to him, but as every man
in every ship was cheering himself hoarse,
I was not able to attract his attention
However at Alexia we lay at a wharf
about 300 yds away & one night I called on
him.
He was immensely pleased to see him me
& inquired eagerly after everybody.
It appears that on his last voyage to
Australia he was taken ill & had to go into
hospital at Williamstown.
He told me he wondered how it was we
didn't go to see him, but he was then on the
Runic, &, as he had been too ill to write, of
course we didn't know where he was.
He then did a few Atlantic trips &
then on to the N.Y run which he doesn't like
a bit. Too long - monotonous.
He has been first officer for 2 years 

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& looks as well as ever.
He was particularly anxious to be remembered
to everybody.
He has not been in Leominster since he
saw us last & so of course had not heard of us.
I was very pleased to see him once again.
I received today a very nice letter
from Lottie Bethell which had been addressed
to the High Commissioner to be forwarded on
my arrival in England.
They were all looking forward to seeing
me.
Well I hope to see them soon. I fancy that
we will either be away from here in 6 to 8
weeks, or be here, till the war is over.
I really dont know which way if will go.
Much will depend I think upon the effect of
hoisting the Jack on the 21^st inst
Well the mail does not close for a day or
two yet so will finish off until I have some
more news.
You'll have to excuse the scribble. It isn't
easy to write lying flat on your tummy on
the sand. 

12
12.12.14

Here I am again squatting like a tailor &
writing on my trunk.
I had to go to the Citadel yesterday.
It is a huge place with sentries everywhere & my
arm got tired with saluting
Whilst there I had a look through the
arsenal.
They have a collection of old weapons,
breastplates swords etc which have been the
property of the various Sultan's bodyguards in
the past.
They have every variety of gun imaginable
including the old matchlocks, pistols of all
sorts & field guns
They are all for sale & if I were on my
way back I might be tempted to bring some
armour for "the ancestral hall."
The steel breastplates are enormously
heavy, quite 1/2" thick in places.
Lord knows how they fought in them
The Egyptian Ordinance Stores also sell at
cost plus 8% duty & 5% Comm. all requirements
for British troops. What a fool I was to buy 

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Kit in Australia.
Things are better quality at half the
price here.
To day being Sunday I hope to get away
for the afternoon & night & have a look at
the Zoo etc.
The Zoo is very famous & contains the
finest collection of African animals in the
world so I am told.
They are not caged but are in natural
surroundings & separated by deep ditches etc
There are museums, gardens etc to see
also & I really don't know how I will be
able to see everything whilst we are here.
There are duck & snipe shooting, fishing
& all forms of sport also, so that we should
not easily get tired of the place
Our men are spending their money like
water & are astonishing the natives & in fact
sporting them with their liberality
A native guide told me the Australians
must be a very rich people.
The Terriers after paying for extra messing
boots etc have about 3^d per day to spend & 

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are fearfully envious of our lot.
We are limiting the mens' pay to 2/- per day
whilst here & I think it a wise move.
They have up to £15 balance of pay earned
whilst on the ship & are simply throwing it
away.
They however had one or two bitter lessons on
the effect of the poisonous native drinks & are
very well behaved.
One or two of our most decent fellows were
sent fighting mad on a couple of drinks apiece.
Some of the stuff has been analysed & the
bottle consisted of urine + crude spirit.
As this was published in orders, there is
no fear of any more native poison being drunk.
They fly around in motor cars the
hire of which is very cheap according to our
ideas.
I have written cards to Leominster, Kington
Aunt Pattie etc etc & have promised to try &
write by the same mail so think it best
to save any more for a later letter.
I lost my mare in the desert for 6 days
& have just got her back. She broke away 

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the first night & went miles away
I thought she was gone for good + that
the Bedouins had got her.
However the police traced her & she is
back in much worse conditiones than when
she left.
She landed fat as butter, but is now a bit
tucked up but a few good feeds will put her
as right as ever.
Everybody is losing horses, it is very have
to peg them down the first night.
We have to put baulks down several
feet as anchors.
Some of the Terrier horses perished in
the desert, but I do not think an Australian
horse would get far away from water
& where there is water there is forage
Well I hope you have had the best
of Xmas & New Year holidays & that every thing
is going well in Australia
Love to mother, Hollis, Isabel, self & all
relatives & friends from
your affcte son
Fred
P.S. I have not recd any Australian mail yet FLB 

11-12-14