Letters from Wilfred Evans to his family, 1916 - Part 20

THE
GEORGE NUNGOVICH Egyptian HoteIs Co.
GENERAL MANAGER.
A. Wild
GRAND CONTINENTAL HOTEL.
CAIRO
ALEXANDRIA
HOTEL CASINO SAN STEFANO.
(SEASIDE)
PYRAMIDS.
MENA HOUSE HOTEL

CAIRO....................19.....
(EGYPT)

HELOUAN
GRAND HOTEL HELOUAN.
HOTEL DES BAINS
SULPHUR BATH ESTABLISHMENT. 

I have been here two days
now & have spent most of 
the time buying things for
myself & other people, as
I had an awful lot of
commissions to do. It is 
glorious to have a little
change & to see something
different to the desert —
fresh colours sight & sounds 

(4)
I went to dinner last night
to the Bryans - Mrs Bryan
is in England but is expected
back shortly. Tomorrow
evening I am to go to dinner
to a Mr Briggs an electrical
engineer on the railway & a
friend of Max Yeuille who is
in the Ambulance & introduced
me. Major Daly from our regiment
had an accident from his
horse & is in hospital at 
present - nothing very serious
but & he can go about.
He brought in one of the nursses
today & we had afternoon
tea at Groppis & were joined

(5)
there by Colonel Grant who was
formerly in the 9^th Regt. There
is a new hospital here now
No IV All the others have
gone & I don't know a
soul in it so Major Daly
just fills in the gap nicely
as he has come to know
a few of the girls there.
It is really a treat to
talk to English women
again after being out in
the desert so long.
Tomorrow he is bringing
two more along & we are
going for a car ride to
Helouan in the afternoon

(6)
& have afternoon tea.
But dinner bell has gone
so I must close my dear
with best love (wish you
were here now) from
Your loving son
Wilf.

6.11.16
My dear mother,
Here I am again back in camp
after my brief sojourn  in Cairo, I forget just
what day I wrote you there but think it was
Tuesday evening After writing it I think I went in
to dinner & to my great surprise encountered
cousin John Evans also on leave for a few days.
He returned from England a few weeks ago & was
now having a short period in Cairo. I was
having dinner with Colonel Downes our C.O. of
this Field Ambulance & now in charge of all
Australian medical arrangements in Egypt.
After dinner however we had quite a long
conversation. We breakfasted together next
morning & then I trotted off to do more shopping.
After lunch I had arranged to meet Major
Daly at the Hospital & we took two of the
nurses from there for a trip to Helouan by
car. Helouan is about 20 miles from Cairo &
has a splendid asphalt road heading to
it, through an avenue of trees & th it was
along the Nile the whole distance The
Nile is at present in flood, the highest for
years, & the scene was very pretty particularly

on the return trip at sunset, as the setting sun's
rays shone through the pyramids away on the
other side of the Nile, across the turbid waters
of the Nile which is now fully a mile across &
glanced on the avenue of trees & the fields
cultivated with corn which is at present
just in cob. We had afternoon tea at the
Tewfik Place Hotel at Helouan, a beautifully
fitted up place but apparently doing very little
business. Speaking of the cultivated land,
the railway between Ismailia & Cairo enters
the Nile cultivated area near Tel-el-Kebir
& it is a perfect picture at present which
would make the south coast farmer's eyes
green with envy - even the owner of Jillah Jillah.
You could imagine that it was thousands
of Jillah Jillahs all rolled into one,
acres & acres of fields of corn just in
cob & tassel extending for miles & all 
uniformly green & high, interspersed with
cotton fields & an occasional onion patch.
On our return from the Helouan trip I had

arranged to meet my worthy cousin at
dinner. Strangely enough a nurse who was
at the same hospital as himself 20 years
ago lives at the Continental & runs a dispensary
for native children in Cairo. They originally 
had a medical officer but she does it all
herself now with the aid of another sister
& they are kept very busy I believe. They
These two had asked us to form a little dinner
party & they invited two nurses from the hospital
at the Citadel. So we had a special table
decorated with roses & a fine brass electric 
lamp stand & in addition to the ordinary
fare they provided a few extras such as
sweets & cigarettes. After dinner they arranged
for a motor car to take the girls back to the
citadel & we all went along. We had some
trouble getting in & a great deal more getting
out as the guards & sentries stopped us 
& made us go through all sorts of formalities
before we got out, the reason being that
some Turkish officers are imprisoned
in the Citadel & often make attempts at
escape. The Citadel is a very old structure
of some historic interest on account of
Napoleon's occupation of it & other
events of local interest & is situated

on a hill commanding the whole of Cairo,
a garrison occupies it & there is also a
hospital, mosque, army stores etc etc therein & it is
well & truly walled in on every side. After
we made our exit the old girls suggested
a run to the Pyramids & back so we
crossed the Nile & had a splendid run out
there & back without stopping. The country there
is very much inundated at present, some
houses being surrounded with water. The old
pyramids looked grim & majestic at
night but we hadn't time to look at them
much as we turned about & came home.
Next morning the famous ceremony of
returning the carpet which had been to 
Mecca was to take place but I was not
able to see it as I had to do a little
more shopping & catch the eleven o'clock
train. By the way, while at No XIV Hospital
I looked up one of the boys in my regiment 
who had been hit through the stomach & 
made a marvellous recovery & when just
coming out of the ward someone plucked me by the 

sleeve & turning round who should it be but
Myrt Connell. He has been in Hospital
a short time having some haemorrhoids
operated on & is now convalescent. He is the
same old stick, told me that Dick was
probably enlisting & said he ought to &
that he was going to stir him up if he
came into his regiment as Myrt is a 
Sergeant Major & it is they who do a 
good deal of stirring up. He has lost a
tooth in front which rather distracts
from his appearance but otherwise looks
well. We were all shocked here to learn
that conscription had been turned down
in Australia & feel that we have been
left in the lurch rather badly - I suppose
it was the combined labour & R.C. vote.
My arm grows tired my dear so will
conclude & going to bed with best of 
love & Xmas greetings to all, joining
you in hopes that the New Year will
bring brighter prospects & a lasting peace
Your loving son
Wilf.

Please send
to Mabel & back
to me.