Photostat copy of diaries of Benjamin Bennett Leane, 1915-1916 - Part 7

110           

quite satisfied with him so far.

This afternoon I went into Cairo

to fix up some business at the

pay office and elsewhere. Had

afternoon tea at Groppi's with

Capt Parker; met Dunlop (who

is a captain now) and saw

Muriel Eddy again. Parker

wanted a sjambok, so we

went through the Monkey Bazaar

but could not get a heavy

one anywhere. Parker had

too see General Irving at 6pm

so I left him outside Shep's

and walked on to the Continental.

Met Capt Shaw (10^th Bn) there.

He and Giles came up to Cairo

on a fortnight's furlough

just before we moved to

Serapeum, and now the
authorities won't let them rejoin

their Bn, but are keeping them

here for some reason. Went

to the Club for dinner, and

afterwards to see "The Pops" at

the Opera House. The place

was crowded, and the

show - after the style of the

Dandies - was very good.

All the profits of the show

go towards the building of

an Aeroplane. Something

about the "funny man" of the

party who appeared under

the name of Billy Cooke, struck

me as being very familiar,

so after the performance I went

behind the scenes and asked

to see "Billy Cooke". He was

down in his dressing room, so

112                    

I went down there to see him

and sure enough, as I suspected

it was Miller. The chap I 

met at Alex, and who gave

me the stretcher. He had

mentioned in the noted I received

yesterday that he would

be in Cairo from Sunday

to Wednesday, but when

I enquired at Shep's for him

they said he was not

staying there. I had a 

yarn while he got his

make-up off, and then

came home. It appears

that the male members of

"The Pops" are all members of

the staff at Alexandria, and 

started the business with

the idea of giving the troops
an "All-English" show - a

very worthy object, for one

has to be a very good linguist

to get the benefit of the performances

at the Kinsaal and

elsewhere, all of which are

given in the French tongue.

He expects to be coming up

again for this week end, so

I have asked him to come

out here and I would put

him up. Parker will be

going to Wardan on Friday,

so there will be a spare

bed.

Thursday, Feb^y 10^th 1916

Had been on a Board all

today, so did not get out with

the camels. In the afternoon

Denison and I went out to

114     

the Officers' Training School at 

Zietoun. Saw Harriman, Bates

& Wilton. Went to Heliopolis

for afternoon tea, then got a 

gharry and drove to Cairo.

Went to the Pictures (first

house) and saw Charlie Chaplin

in his boxing show; then

to the Club to dinner, and

afterwards to the Kinsaal;

then drove home.

Friday, Feb^y 11^th 1916.

No 1 Company moved

out to Wardan this morning. 

Expect to reach there tomorrow.

They looked very well

on their camels with full

marching kit up. I guess

they'd cause some sensation 

if they paraded through
the main streets of Adelaide

some fine day. We went

out for a long ride in

the desert this morning

My beast was rather

sluggish so I got the

Sergeant Major to get behind

him and give him some

hurry up. After that it

took me all my time to

hold him in. This afternoon

we have been grooming.
A new officer has come

along today - a 2/Lieut

Jenkins, from Broken Hill. I

don't know anything about

him but he seems alright.
Am staying in tonight, 

as I am on duty.

116
Saturday Feb 12^th 1916.

Went to the races at Gezireh

this afternoon with three or

four others. Had dinner at

Saults (Turf Club had every

table booked) and afterwards

went to the American Cosmograph 

-a very poor show from

which I got nothing

but an aching head. Cairo

is absolutely devoid of

any sort of decent amusement.
Sunday Feb 13^th 1916

Woke at 7am with a 

rotten head. Confound the Pictures.

Had a cup of tea and some

biscuits, shaved, dressed, 

breakfasted, and then

like a good boy went to church.
Had a short snooze in the sun

after lunch, and went into

Cairo to Church (All Saints) in

the evening. Came home and 

was in bed shortly after nine.

Monday Feb 14^th 1916

Grooming & issuing of kit today.

My camel is on the sick list; he

has been bitten through the fetlock

and his leg is badly swollen.

We received word today that No 1

Coy is returning from Wardan

tomorrow to train with No 2 Coy

The C.O. has promised HQ that

1 & 2 Coys will be ready to take

the field in ten days. I believe

they are bound for somewhere

near Khartoum. About 40

of No 3 Coys camels were sent

away to the signal section today

118          

so we are minus mounts 

again. However there are

about 100 Soudanese camels

on the way, so we should

soon be alright again.

Stayed in and wrote letters tonight.

Tuesday Feb 15^th 1916

Happy day! I did think 

of going out tonight, but am 

very glad I stayed in, for 

about 9 o'clock who should

come along but Sergt O'Brien

the OR Sgt of the 10th Bn. He

had to come up to Cairo on

biz and brought along my

mail, ten letters in all

including yours of Jany 11^th.

I have just finished reading

them. I always keep yours

till last - like the lolly
on the cake. I can't think

what has become of the mail

between Dec^r 20^th and Jany 11^th

though. I hope it comes

along later. Your darling old

letters are too precious to be lost.

You dear old sweetheart, you

do make me long to be with

you so much. I feel sometimes

as though I absolutely

must see you - but of

course its no use. Maleish,

bye and bye perhaps, and 

the longer the parting the

sweeter the reunion.
Today has been quite

wintry - cold and

raining all day. We were

up at 5.30 in order to feed

camels early. No 1 Company

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came in from Wardan at

noon. They consider themselves 

quite experienced

"camellias" after their trek.

We are still without camels.

We got a wire today to say

that the big draft of new

camels which was on its way

to us has been quarantined

on account of an outbreak

of disease among the

Sudanese camels. So

goodness  knows when we'll

get equipped. In the meantime

no 1 & 2 Coys will move

out and get all the fun.

This afternoon was too wet

for parades so I have been

trying to catch up with

my back mail. Have
to get up early again tomorrow,

so night-night dearest of sweethearts.

How long before I'll

be able to wish you night night

in the good old-fashioned way?

I wonder? May it be

soon is my constant desire.

Wednesday Feb 16^th 1915

Went into town this morning to

purchase equipment etc. at the

Egyptian ^Army Stores in the Citadel. Things

are remarkably cheap there.

I got a canvas easy chair there

for 80 piastres; for precisely

the same kind of chair

Davies Bryan charge 150 piastres.

Everything else is proportionately

cheap. Denison and Jenkins

went in with me. We had 

lunch at the Petrograd, and

122                        

got back to camp about 4pm.

Denison & I had an invitation

to dinner at 7^th Training Battalion

mess at Heliopolis, so left

again about 5pm. The 7^th

have an excellent mess,

and well furnished quarters.

After dinner we made up

a party for the Kinsaal.

Murray (the adjutant) Francisco,

Wray, Denison & myself.

Francisco & Wray have both

been trying to get into the

Camel Corps ever since its

formation, and at last Wray

has been successful, and 

joins us tomorrow. Francisco

is very disappointed, and is

going down to Army Corps

headquarters at Ismailia
tomorrow to make another attempt.

I hope he is successful, for he

is a fine fellow and a thorough

hard case.
It was the first night of

the new Revue "Smile Up" at the

Kinsaal, so the place was

packed, The show was

fairly good for Cairo. It was

at least bright and lively,

and much better than anything

I have yet seen at the Kinsaal.

Several playful allusions to the

Australians were introduced into

the dialogue. In one bit of 

funny" business" the fellow says

to the girl " Say miss, is it true

that you are an Australian?"

"Why, yes" she replies. He

puts on a doubtful expression

124                 

and says "Well, you don't 

act like an Australian."

"Why, how do you mean?" she asks.

"Well" he replies, "I haven't

seen you smash up anything

yet." Roars of laughter

and loud applause. After

setting fire to the "Wazir" 

three time, pulling down

sundry bars of doubtful

character, and generally

hitting things up. the

Australians have rather got 

the name for smashing things.

However, Cairo is only too

glad to overlook their little 

vices, for they know very

well that it is the Australians 

who have saved the financial
situation these last two seasons.

As one big business man told

me a day or two ago, had it

not been for the free manner

in which the Australians have

spent their money many of

the big firms and most of the 

little ones would have had 

to shut up shop. His own

firm was on the verge of

insolvency last December

twelve months, just before 

we landed, and now 

he is more prosperous than

he has ever been.
They also had a dig at

Sydney Harbour which called

up a grin from everyone who

knew of our boast about "our

harbour".

 126                

Thursday Feb 17^th 1916

Three nurses from 3^rd AGH came

over to dinner tonight at the

invitation of Butler. It is an unwritten 

law that if any officer

invites ladies to the mess the

other officers of his company help

him in the entertaining. Consequently

I was in the running.

After dinner we walked

over to the Heliopolis Road, 

got a gharry and drove to

Heliopolis. There were

seven of us so it was

some crush. Arrived at

Heliopolis we tried to get a

motor to Cairo, but they were

all booked. At last a 

big one came swirling

round the corner and was
rushed by about half a dozen different

people. A very haughty English

officer got in just ahead of me, 

installed himself in the car, and

instructed the driver to go to

Zietoun. Zietoun is about

one fifth the fare to Cairo, so

I just said "Cairo" to the driver

as I walked away and the 

fun started. The driver

at once discovered that he

had an urgent engagement in

Cairo, and informed the E.O

that he couldn't go to Zietoun. 

The EO became very cross

and ordered him to drive on.

The driver also became cross

and flatly refused. The E.O

called up a "Gippy" policeman

who also became cross and

128                       

instructed the driver to proceed

to Zietoun. The driver became

very cross and still argued

so two more policemen came

up and a very heated

discussion ensued. (In

Egypt everyone talks and

gesticulates at once, so you

can imagine what a babel

it means). In the meantime 

I just stood aside and 

waited the result. After

much excitement and noise

the driver at length won the

day, but at the cost of his

ticket, which the policeman

took. The E.O. very infuriated, 

bundled out of the motor and

at once looked for somebody's 

gore. There was another
officer standing near me, an 

innocent onlooker, but the

E.O. bowled up to him, accused

him of seducing the driver,

demanded his name etc etc

and generally blew him up,

much to the indignation of the

innocent one. I left them to

it, hopped into the motor and

drove back to where our party

were waiting. It was a

beautiful moonlight night,

so the run to Cairo was very enjoyable.

We had coffee

and ices at Saults, then

drove back home. It is

only half past ten now, so

you can see we were very good.

Friday, Feby 18^th 1916.

This morning No 1 Company