Diary of Frederick Trouton Small, 1915 - Part 6

66
March  7 Sunday  1915
Hospital still.  Had a grand sleep
& a great warm bath on arising
Had meals in the Dining Hall.
What a scramble there was at
breakfast for vituals.  However a
lance coporal in the invalids
took charge of operations during
the remainder of the day. & put
"a new system" into force.  It is
only a rumour the patients did not
give him pie over "the new system"
Personally I thi^nk he was quite
right & admire him for his pluck in
trying to organise things a bit.  But
some of the patients - especially the
Australians - do not like to see
any body do this kind of thing
- they say he is "crawling for a
stripe" or some other such remark
which are quite unwarranted in my
opinion.
67
1915  8 MONDAY  March

Out of the Hospital today at 4 pm
A lot of trouble caused because the
Black Kits had been taken over to
the Indian Hospital  However
good old Norm dug the thing out
himself because the ass on the
'phone gave instructions in such a
ridiculous manner.  However I
got out & that is the main thing
We both went to the New K. Hotel
& after dinner got a motor &
set sail for Heliopolis in the
hopes of finding Hect. Dinning.
While enjoying a delightful spin
the car ran out of petrol so
we had to resort to a carriage
& pair.  The cabbie wanted 10 P.T.
so we walked away saying 5
he then came down to 7, no
we had said 5 & 5 it was to
be.  We had not gone 10 yards
when he drove up & said "all
same - 5" & then asked for a
cigarette "bachessh" which Norm
gave him.  Not bad work from
10 to 5 P.T.
I stayed the night at the N.K.D. but
Norm returned to camp.

68
March  9 TUESDAY  1915
Caught the 11 am for Ismailia
arriving there about 2.10.  Had a
fine dinner in the Buffet Car on
the way down.  Norm saw me off.
Noticed things are starting to
"warm up" slightly with a promise
of a dust storm.
Mr Barrie & Stevenson met me
& got the Arabs to take my things
to the RE Store where I passed the
night.
Gathered up all my belongings
& said good bye to Major Russell
He was, as usual, jolly fine &
after numerous compliments I
left the S.O.R.E.
It has been a fine experience
here & I am very sorry to leave
it but I must consider myself
extremely lucky to get it.
69
1915  10 WEDNESDAY  March
Left ISMAiliA.
Said goodbye to Ismailia for good
Stevenson and I left by the 10 am for Cairo
Had a good breakfast in town brought a
few P.C.s of the place & then it was train
time.
Arrived in Cairo at 1.20 & after pulling
or kits in the cloak room we started off
for something to eat.  We arrived at
"Saults" & had a grand meal.  We
will be able to live on the memory of it
for some time to come.
After a shave we got a carriage &
gathering our parcels made the best of
our way home getting there just on 5
Clogie told me I would have to go
into town & get strong.  He would give
me a couple of days in which to
have a complete rest at some hotel

70
March  11 THURSDAY  1915
The unfortunate section or rather
Company was hauled out at 4 am for
a route march.  During the day an
informal dust storm came up &
made things almost unbearable.  The
crowd came home in any thing
like good spirits.  I have decided
to get out of it & avail myself of Clogies
holiday.
Mail so far I have received
one from Mr Bielby & Mum Baldwin
Saw Allan McKinlay in the
afternoon.  I hardly think I would
have recognised him had I met
him any where else.  He certainly
looks well but like the rest of us
is full up of "messing around"
Stayed the night at the New Khidivan
Hotel
71
1915  12 FRIDAY  March
Had a glorious sleep of 13 hours
& spent a lazy day  Wandered about
Cairo for a few hours & then
had lunch.
Chas Hudson & a N.Z. friend of
his had dinner with me.

72
March  13 SATURDAY  1915
Spent a quiet day  Had Jimmy
Lindsay & Norm to lunch
The latter brought me a couple
of letters - one from dear old
Shirty saying he had joined the
forces - A.M.C.  We immediately
cabled our congratulations
The other was from the Commonwelth
Bank London saying they had
placed a further £15 5 to my
credit in the Anglo Egyptian.
Had afternoon tea in town
At dinner old Hector joined
me together with the above two
We afterwards retired to my room
& had one of the good old time
chats.  It was a most enjoyable
evening from my point of view
73
1915  14 Sunday  March
Spent all day writing & got quite
a host of letters off my chest
I sent stamps to Auntie Eff also
a letter, cuttings & cards to Mr Mrs Lloyd,
Cards to Mrs Bielby, Mum Baldwin,
con, Geoff, (Turkish pontions) to
Prof Gibson, Uncle Gard, Major Russell
Bern Lloyd, & a letter to Shirty
{Went to Anglo Egyptian Bank
{& drew £15 5 & got a cheque
{for £12 & sent it back to London
{to be paid to the credit of my
{a/c No 455
{on Monday

74
March  15 MONDAY  1915

Went to dentist & got a tooth pivoted.
Left for Mena Camp at 4 arrived
in camp at 5
More mail from Auntie Eff, Mater 2,
Mr Lloyd, Union Trustee, Eric Francis,
Percy Brown, Con

75
1915  16 TUESDAY  March
Had a lazy day in tent

76
March  17 WEDNESDAY  1915
Spent a quiet day in the tent
Marking blankets & kit bags
Dressed Jimmy Lindsay's bad
knee
Company off a couple of
days Route March
77
1915  18 THURSDAY March
Another quiet day.  Dressed
jimmy Lindsay's leg.  Got issued
with caps.  Our large tents sent
away & now we are sleeping
anywhere.  Bell tents to be issued
Wrote to Con Bern & Auntie Eff.

78
March  19 FRIDAY  1915
Made tent commander after a
lot of persuasion.  I tried to push
it on to Norm but the latter saw
Sergt. Thom & practically got out
of it when I appeared on the scene
and again upset set the plans
in the end we tossed & I lost
- hence I'm tent commander
79
1915  20 SATURDAY  March
Still nothing doing as we had a
holiday  Spent most of my time

lounging around the tent.
The night being beautifully moonlight
Chas Hudson, Fred Hooper
& I decided to climb "Cheops".
We were well awarded for our
troubles  The night was beautifully
clear.  The moonlight turned
all the canals into a beautiful
silver network.  Our camp appeared
to be a large tower town & was just
one blaze of light while the
desert was strangely beautiful
Chas & I (Fred H never reached the
top) must have spent the best
part of an hour dreaming
over this scene.  We finally
returned to camp just before
"lights out"

80
March  21 Sunday  1915

Dressed Jimmy's knee.
Norm & I spent a most enjoyable
afternoon & evening with Lt & Mrs Roe
at afternoon tea & dinner.  We
had the latter at the famous
"Grand Continental".  At dinner
I met Dr Jackson & Miss Pride.
At one of the tables I saw Dr
Merrington.

81
1915  22 MONDAY  March

As our "guard" had not been favourably
reported upon we had to spend the
morning doing guard drill.  Personally
I was glad, for my knowledge of
sentry duties was distinctly hazy.
The afternoon was spent in marking
kit.

82
March  23 TUESDAY  1915

Spent morning filling our "packs" according
to regulations.  The equipmint was then
dismantled & put into "battle order" as
we were to parade to at 3.30 pm &
march out of camp at 4.30.  We are
to engage at 12 pm.
The march, although short, was
stiff.  Perhaps being "soft" made me feel
it more.
Mail today so far I have only
received one & that was from the
Mater.
83
1915  24 WEDNESDAY  March
Received letters from Mum Baldwin
& Ob.
Did Company drill in the afternoon
& returned at 4 pm to be paid

84
March  25 THURSDAY  1915

Did some trestle drill in the morning
but spent the afternoon in sleep as
we were to go out on a route march
at 7 pm.
The march as usual was stiff.  We
made several halts in getting our
position for attack & just as we
were dozing off we would get the
order to advance so rest was
impossible
Returned to camp at 2 pam all
cursing our Ltnt. who at times is
over the odds.
85
1915  26 FRIDAY  March
Paraded at 10 am when "general leave"
was granted.  Stayed in camp.