Letters from John Hector Croft to his family, 1915

The Young Men's Christian Association 
WITH 
H.M.Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in Egypt 

From..No.2 General Hospital 
3rd Batt. Reg's C Coy. 
Gehezirch Palace 
Cairo, Egypt. 

(1) 
July 8th. 1915, 

Dear Charles. 
I have just received you letter today, Jim 
brought to me, it is the first letter I have had since 
I first landed in Egypt, it was in a very battered 
state having been following me about for a long time, it was 
marked missing so that accounts for the rest of my mail 
going astray. On the day you wrote yours we went into 
action and got a bullet through the arm seven hours 
after landing, it was only a small wound but it 
cut the sineurs, and my hand has been very near useless 
ever since, it will be 11 week on Sunday since we 
landed, but I have not been in hospital all the time, 
when my arm healed up I went to Zeitoum training camp 
but I could not do any drill and very near got sent 
back to Australia, but I managed to get sent in to 
this hospital as I had to under go an operation but 
I am allright now, I have been in bed for 18 days so I 
shall soon be getting up and around going to a convalesent 
home for a spell and then back to the trenches. 
Well we had a pretty lively time when we rushed a 
landing on the 25 of April, it is a day I shall never 
forget, on the night before we lay down on the decks as 
usual to go to sleep if the lice would lets us, (you must we were all 

(2) 
very lousy lousy) we were pulled out of bed about 
4 oclock in the morning it was very darck but we 
had to roll up our blankets and get some tucker into 
us and be ready to go ashore, Just as it started to get. 
day light the Turck started to bombard our ships with 
shrapnel and big shells and our battleships started too 
it was a great sight while we were on the ship to see 
the water fly up when the shells droped into the bay. 
We had get off our boat onto a to distroyer and she went 
for the shore like the wind with shells dropping alround 
us, then the water got to shallow to go any closer, so we 
had to get in rowing boats and all the time the distroyer 
was racing about like a mad dog so as the Turks could not 
get our range. Our first boat tried to row ashore but they 
sank her, so a pinnace took about 6 boats in tow and 
away we went again full rip, when she got about 20 yards 
from the beach she cut us adrift and sheered out to sea 
while we whent racing into the beach like a breaker 
but my boat bumped a rock and we had to wade ashore 
as best we could, a lot of men got wounded before they got 
out of the boats, as soon as we were on shore we ran up the 
cliffs to the firing line and got busy. We had no shelter or 
artilary to proteck us so the Turks warmed us up a bit. at 
first their shrapnel went screaching over our heads 
but they soon got it onto us and chopped us up very 
bad, a shell fell in front of me about 6 yards away, but 

(3) 
it failed to explode and I was thankful, then one 
burst right over my head the concussion driving my 
nose into the ground and a slug hitting me on the 
shoulder but it did no damage, I picked it up ( it was 
pretty hot) and show it to a leiutanant who was along- 
side of me. while he was looking at it he got shot through 
the shoulder, I just had time to say poor b___ when I 
got one through the arm, it was terrible men were 
groaning everywhere but we had to lay low till the 
machine-gun stopped firing then cut back over the hill to 
the beach with snipers potting at us all the way. 
I am glad to hear that you are working again I heard, 
that you were in the hospital again, I suppose things 
are pretty slack in Bulli a present. Remember me to 
Uncle and Aunt and cousins tell them I hope to see 
to see them before very long. I will now draw this scribble 
to a close wishing you good health and hoping to hear 
from you shortly 
Yours Sincerly 
J. H Croft 
Note only address 
No.2843 Pte Croft 
C. Company 3rd Batt. 
A. I. F. 
Cario. Egypt 

P.S. Jim Pankhurst is 
doing alright he has 
had a cold bit is 
now better and ready 
for work again 

PYRAMIDES DE GUIZEN 
Resier S 

UNION POSTALE UNIVERSELLE 
EGYPTE 
CARTE POSTALE 
Tous les pays elrangers n acceptent pas la corrrrespondance as recto 
Se rensigner a la poste 
Partie reservee a la correnpndance 
Addsesse du destinataire 

Dear Charlotte, 
I got your note alright but 
I suppose you thought I had forgott to 
answer it. I didn't forgett you. but will 
write when we get more time 
Tell Athur not to growl about his 
work. I only wish I was 
at work instead being here 
Yours Sincerly 
J H Croft.