Diary for Roy Rowe, 1915-1916 - Part 4

FEBRUARY Mena - Cairo 1915

17 WEDNESDAY      

I was very busy this morning

getting everything ready to go

on leave at 2p.m. Gar & I

went strait off to see the

Sultan Hassen, The Blue & the

Mohamed Ali Mosque. The last

named is at the Citidel & it

is simply magnificent, there

must be over 1000 lights in

it & the Alabaster is beautiful.

The dome in the centre seems fully

120 ft high & the 4 Pillars are about

12 ft square & 60' high. The carpet

is fine & the tomb also. We went

at 6 P.M. to find Rev. Gillan at

Villa Chatham & arrived after some

trouble. There were men from all

countries in uniform & a lot of Ladies.

I was surprised to see 2 them smoking.

Arrived home at Camp at 11 P.M.

1915 Mena FEBRUARY

18 THURSDAY

Sergt Robinson is on leave

today & I have taken his place.

There is plenty to do. This

morning 9 men were sent to

Mena house to be examined

by the Medical Board. They

will probably be sent back

to Australia. George Bruhn was

among them. I have been

watching the Vetinery Corp

operating on Arab horses this

afternoon. It took me from

7.15 until 9 P.M. to get the

Tattoo fixed up properly tonight

& by that time only 6 had

reported & 7 were still absent

The Guard has caught

a lot of patients going back

tonight. The barbwire fence

is in course of erection.

FEBRUARY Mena 1915

19 FRIDAY

The guard caught 7 patients

coming in last & I had to

parade 11 of them this morning

for being absent from Tattoo.

Last evening the men pulled

down part of the fence

behind the latrines for

spite. A couple of days ago.

I recognised one of our patients

suffering from Secondary Syphlis

as George Bruhn who Bella R.

has been writing to for some

time. Gar & I both think that

Bella should know about it

& we think Mr. Ross is the best

person to explain everything

to her so Gar has written

to him & explained it all

to him.

1915 Mena FEBRUARY

20 SATURDAY

I finished most of my work

in the hospital this morning.

This afternoon Arthur Stewart

was coming over to see us

but he did not arrive

FEBRUARY Mena 1915 

21 SUNDAY

There is a R.C. service

in one of the hospital

Marques at 11 a.m. & the

ordinary service conducted

by Rev. Miles at 3 o'clock

in White Street. He invited

us to the evening service

at the Y.M.C.A. & Gar, Ernest

Whitehouse & I went & enjoyed

the sermon very much & the

singing also. At the Communion

afterwards there ^were 9 men who took

it for the first time & over

60 all together. It was fine

to see 9 men stand up to

confess Christ for the first time

especially in a camp like

this where there is so much

to draw men away from

Christianity. I have written

to Mother & Ethel & a few

lines on Gar's letter to Tilley Pascoe.

1915 Mena FEBRUARY

22 MONDAY

There is to be an inspection 

by Surgeon General

tomorrow morning & Major

Barber has been round

today telling us how nice

everything is to be for it.

I have not had any tattoo

tonight but the guards have

caught 3 men already

coming back to the lines.

The 9^th & 11^th Battalions have

been told they are leaving

for France on Saturday &

they are all excitement over

it. The patients are

quiet again for a while as

Capt. Clarke has got another

draw on the 6d per day allowance

& Jam was issued tonight.

FEBRUARY Mena 1915

23 TUESDAY

I was very busy this morning

getting everything ready for

the General's inspection which

did not come off. There were

4 men paraded this morning

They were caught by the guard

last night. The Colonel has ordered

a roll call to be taken at the

change of each guard (our own

tea time) All the patients wanted 

to be paraded tonight because

more jam had not arrived. Arthur

Stewart came over to see us tonight

& Gar & I went back with him

& saw Jack McClury. Alex Burgess

was in bed so we did not

waken him. The officer of

the guard has just caught a 

patient who said he was an

orderly. More talk for "Puss"

in the morning & waste of

time for the Majors.

1915 Mena FEBRUARY

24 WEDNESDAY

The Lt. General Babtie (R.A.M.C. &

senior officer in Egypt & India)

inspected the hospital this 

morning at 10.30. There has

been a lot of patients discharged

today. Two were admitted from

F. Coy. 11^th Batt. I had the

usual Roll Call at 5 p.m.

& left out tattoo tonight.

Gar, Ernest Whitehouse & I went

to the Pictures tonight & coming

back & saw Alex Burgess. He

is coming over to see us tomorrow

night. Received letters

today from Vera & Ethel. Vera

wrote a page about Ethel not

going to see them while in Perth

I think she might have left

it out.

FEBRUARY Mena 1915

25 THURSDAY

I have been fairly busy

today finding work for

X patients who are to be

examined before being discharged

from hospital. We were 

told that Surgeon General

Williams would be round

to inspect our lines at

4 o'clock but he did not

turn up. We waited in to 

see Alex Burgess & Jack McClury

tonight but they did not come

Archie Fletcher was over.

1915 Mena FEBRUARY

26 FRIDAY

I have had a much easier

day today. We have discharged

nearly 60 men today so

that they can rejoin their

units before they leave here.

One man has been missing

since 3 o'clock. The guard

g caught a man tonight.

The Officer of the guard has

had to warn one tent for

making a noise. He reported

them to Colonel & he had

the tent struck over their

heads. It was the best joke

we have had for a long 

time.

Mena- Sakkara - Memphis

FEBRUARY 1915

27 SATURDAY

Geo. Stead, O. Gawler, P. Drummond,

Gar & I started this morning

at 9 o'clock on a ride across

the edge of the desert on Donkeys

to see all the old tombs & small

pyramids of Sakkara & Memphis.

We saw the tombs of Ti or Tby,

Pyramid of King Onnos or Unis, Mastaba

of Ptahhotep, tombs of Apis of the

Serapeum, Mariettes House,

The Step Pyramid, Tomb of

the Physician Psamtik & the

Sphinx & Statures of Ramses Ⅱ

(42' long) at Memphis. We

came back by train to Giza

& arrived home at 7 P.M. It

was very funny on the donkeys

Gawler could not ride & Stead had

a lovely fall. Gar & I went over to

say Goodbye to J. McClury, Alex x

Stewart, Burgess.  They are

leaving Mena tomorrow.

1915 Mena FEBRUARY

23 SUNDAY

We have had the usual R.C.

& protestant service today.

Tonight Gar & I went to the

service at the Y.M.C.A. & it

was beautiful.  There were over

500 at the service & 76 took

communion 14 of them for

the first time. The 9, 10, 11, & 12

Batt moved off this afternoon.

Arthur Stewart was over to

see us this afternoon. I have

written to Mother Ethel &

Uncle Jim this week.

MARCH Mena 1915

1 MONDAY

Uneventful until after

6 P.M.

Tonight E. Whitehouse, M. Stewart

Gar & I went through the

3 big pyramids here. It took us

about 2 & ¼ hours only. We had

no guide but saw everything.

It was a beautiful moonlight

night. We could see the

Sphinx quite plainly. We had

a small basin of rice etc.

& got back to camp after 

lights out.

1915 Mena MARCH

2 TUESDAY

We are feeling a little bit

stiff today after our trip 

last night.

Arthur Stewart

The O.C. has been asked tonight

when we could be ready to

move off & he said at 2 pm

on Thursday, so we expect

to go soon although it

was a surprise to us.

MARCH Mena 1915

3 WEDNESDAY

We have all been busy

today taking down spare

Marques in the hospital

& getting ready to leave on

Friday morning. I am

writing to Mother & Ethel.

1915 Mena MARCH

4 THURSDAY

There has been a good

deal to do today getting

ready to leave this place.

Capt. Clarke returned late

tonight & told us that we

were sending the equipment

on Saturday morning & the

unit would follow as soon

as the R.A.M.C. men arrived

to take our place. We were

all very surprised this evening

at Cyril Bermet being the worse

for liquor. I think it was the

first time for him & we all hope

it is the last.

MARCH Mena 1915

5 FRIDAY

Sergt Robinson has been

away at Abassya all day with

15 patients of the 3^rd Brigade

which has gone away.  I have

had plenty to do. We have all

our equipment ready to be

taken away early in the

morning. Harry Martin is in

trouble again through the

drink. A party of about 40

are going to Cairo tomorrow to

unload. I seem to be catching

all the nice jobs lately I don't

think. Sergts' Robinson & Lally

are going to Cairo tomorrow.

1915 Mena MARCH

6 SATURDAY

Reveille at 5 o'clock this 

morning. We began loading

the donkey carts at 6 a.m.

& soon got rid of the cases etc.

that had to go. Everything

was clear from here at 9 a.m.

The tommies arrived to take

over at 11 o'clock  but we did

not begin until about 2 P.M.

I did not worry about any

roll call tonight.

MARCH Mena  1915

7 SUNDAY

About 50% of us were granted

leave from 1 P.M. this afternoon.  
I will not forget todays

leave in a hurry as I had

my purse containing £3.10.0

taken out of my pocket on

the tram. E. Whitehouse & I

went to the zoo in the afternoon

& from there to church

where I discovered that I

had no collection. The church

was full of soldiers.

1915 Mena MARCH

8 MONDAY

I finished Mother's & Ethel's letters

in a hurry this morning &

posted 3 photos of our party at

the Sphinx to Mother. 2 of them

for Gar. I am sending the

P.C's next week. Dick Daley

& I have been to Abassia

& Heliopolis today to look for

lost kit bag of Veneral patient.

We had a look through the

Palace Hotel (Hospital) with

Pte Blair & had a ride from

4^th Field Ambulance to the

Hospital to the Hospital on Red

Cross. motor with Pte. Quick.