Diary of Herbert Vincent Reynolds, 1914-1915 (second diary) - Part 3










February 1915
[*Mon 1st*]
The submarine which we have not
seen since our mishap at Aden came
alongside this morning & took stores
etc on board, at 3 pm she sailed
off again. This afternoon a sea plane
landed in the harbour close to us.
Received my first letter from home today.
Coal was taken on during the night &
also this morning. At 4 30 pm the
anchor was weighed & we set out for
Alexandria. The enterance to the canal
at this end is protected by an
extremely solid breakwater which is
build out about ½ a mile, x on its
the end is erected a statue of the
man responsible for its ^the canals construction
"De Lessops", The memorial is nothing
ifs not inspiring, it stands out
from the surroundings, in a manner
bound to attract attention & stands
with outstreatched arm pointing the
way to a really great engineering feat,
& a really decidedly short cut from
west to east & vice-versa.
[*Tuesd 2nd*]
Our destination, so far as the water
is concerned, was reached at 8 am when
we arrived at Alexandria after an
extremely calm voyage extending over
42 days. The harbour here is full of old
windjambers most of which are prize
boats taken from the enemy. At 2 pm
we tied up to the wharf & to our
great disappointment, on no one is to
be allowed leave to visit the city.
[*Wed 3rd*]
Despite orders issued last yesterday
relating to leave from the boat not
being granted to anyone, three mates
& myself undertook to have a look
February 1915
at the place, we managed to get over
the side after dark & by the aid of
a rope & a native policeman got on
to the wharf, this proceeding cost us
a bob, we had hardly gone a doz yards
before two more nigger johns were on
the scene with the same cry "Backsiesh"
& an out streatched palm, we took no
heed of them & made off lively, neither
[*Wed 3rd*]
heeding nor understanding their flow
of language. We found our way into
the city, a it seemed strange to feel
solid earth beneath ones feet again
after six weeks on board ship, but it
was a great deal stranger to find
onexself in this foreign country with
its strange sights & customs, & above all
its filthy reeking streets, (if they can be
called such) in the old native quarter
of the city, at every turn something out
of the ordinary to what we have been
used to in Ausie attracted our attention
the whole place seemed uncanny, the dress
of the population, the language, the
peculiar narrow alleys & the buildings
being attogether strange to us.
After wandering about for an hour or so
we suddenly discovered there was a section
[*Wed 3rd*]
of the city approaching something like a
state of cleanliness, it was the up to date
part of the city where the european section
of the comunity reside, here the buildings
are really fine well built structures &
the streets are wide & kept fairly
clean. The contrast between night & day
would be no greater than to compare
the european & native quarters of this
place. The "Cafe resturants" were a
February 1915
novelty, we visited several, they are, to
be correct theatre resturants, a performance
is going on while you are partaking of
a light luncheon in what we would
call the stalls of our theatres at home,
you simply stroll in & take a. table
a waiter comes & takes your order & you
may sit & enjoy or disapprove of the show
[*Wed 3rd*]
just as your fancy moves you.
We wandered here & there not knowing
what direction we were taking, but thoroughly
enjoying ourselves, when it came to returning
to the boat we were in a predicament
any how we managed to make an old
nigger garry driver understand that
we wanted to get to the wharf, we got
there alright after a rough old ride &
gave him a few coins for the job, but
he evidently took us for raw mugs, he
started making the devils own noise, we
did not know what he was saying but
understood him nevertheless, & gave his old
nag the hint with the aid of a cane, to
cart him off, he did not let it go far, so
we just left him to finish up when he
liked, & made our way back to the boat,
here we found out it was a much easier job
[*Wed 3rd*]
getting down a rope than getting up one,
any-how we all managed to get on board
again, & after answering the sentry's.
enquiry as to whether we had a good night
turned in & made the best of the few
hours left till revellie.
At 9 am all 1st Div reinfs diesembarked
we entrained along side the wharf & set off
for Cairo about 9 30 am. The journey was
an extremely interesting one, we travelled
in dirty old carriages to all appearances
February 1915.
they were the first ever built. The
country through which we passed is
beautiful green cultivated country, &
is level as a table, clusters of
date palms are scattered over the
whole area & every here & there a
native village is to be seen, they
are filthy reeking places, altogether
out of place with the beautiful
natural appearance of the country
The hovels of which these places are
composed are merely mud walls with
reeds as roofs formed in a sort of a
thatch, they make little or no provision
for rain as they are in almost every
case flat, there seems to be no barrier
between the dwelling itself & the fowl
yard, as animals fowls etc walk in &
out of any part of the places at will
About 5 pm our destination was reached
& we disentrained sorted out our kits & set
out for our camp which turned out to be
about a mile distant from the railway, at
a place called Abbasieh, here we were
allotted to tents & given a small blanket
each, when our turn came for a tent
it was found there were not sufficient
up to accomodate all of us so we some of
us were instructed to fix us ourselves up
in the mess sheds for the night
[*Thurs
4th*]
Our ideas of the climate of this
country proved to be very wide of
the mark for at 3 am we were all
up walking about endeavouring to
keep warm that way, for our greatcoat.
& the small blanket each, proved ^about as
effective as a pocket hankerchief. We
thought our main difficulty upon
February 1915
arriving here would be to resist
the sweltering heat that ^(we supposed) the country.
posessed, it came as more than a
surprise to find we had the other
extreme to contend with during
the night. A party of us marched
to the 4th Brigade camp at
Heliopolis today & procured our blankets
from the 4th Fld. Amb, the march was
over the desert until the city was
reached, & ^& we found we have something to get used
to in carrying a pack & equipment
over the loose sand of the desert.
Heliopolis is situated about
4 miles from Cairo & has some really
magnificent buildings, the Palace
Hotel now being used as a
military hospital, is a beautiful
place with large grounds well laid
out in gardens & lawns, the city is
altogether unlike Cairo, it is built
on the desert whereas Cairo is situated
in the fertile country of the "Nile valley".
Cairo is dirty & old in appearance
Heliopolis is clean & has the appearance
of having just lately been built, all
its buildings are solid well built
& large, its streets are reasonably
wide & one the "Avenue of the Pyramids"
is beautifully laid out in gardens.
An electric tram service as well as
anx up to date electric railway conects
the city with Cairo the fare being very
reasonable ½ piastre equal to 1¼d
Heliopolis we understand means "City of
The Sun". Bell tents have been
errected for us today, so we should be
a great deal more comfortable tonight.
February 1915
[*Frid 5th*]
Camp life here is not proving at
all strenuous, our duties seem to consist
of keeping the camp clean & keeping
the niggers at their work doing it.
Rations are our chief trouble they
are on the short side & are not up to
the mark of what we are used to,
we have a ration allowance of 6d
per man per day & can get articals.
from the canteen for that amount.
Spent the evening at Heliopolis which
is about 2½ miles from here, got back
(at 9 30
just in time to miss a parade & going
to unload horses at the railway siding,
so turned in instead rather pleased.
[*Sat 6th*]
Obtained leave to go to Cairo so
decided to go out to Mena with my mate
R Clarke. The fare into Cairo on the train
a distance of about 3 miles is 2 millimes
½d & the fare to the Mena terminus from
Cairo a distance of 12 miles is 1 piastre
2½d The train ride proved extremely
interesting as the track runs through
both the old & modern parts of the
city, Cairo like Alexandria has a
great area of disgustingly filthy slums,
also its modern & up to date european
quarter. After leaving the centre of
Cairo on the Mena train, the famous
Nile is crossed, then the run through
Gizeh where the Zoological & Botanical
gardens are situated, is full of
interest, & very pretty scenery is to be
seen along this part which all lies
in the fertile Nile Valley. The road
from Gizeh to Mena is built up about
12 ft higher than the surrounding
irrigated country & has trees along both
February 1915
sides forming a beautiful & novel
avenue. At the Mena terminus is
situated the Mena House Hotel & upon
the sand hills at no great distance
is the world famed "Pyramids" & beyond
them streatches the endless looking
desert, at the foot of the sand hills
upon which the Pyramids stand is
the edge of the Nile Valley. A road
having stone walls built on either sideconects leads up the hills from the
train terminus to the Pyramids.
A new road has been made from the
1st Divisions camp to connect with the
main road & an extension of the train
line has been made into the camp also.
Mena camp is situated on the edge
of the desert at the foot of the sand
hills upon which the Pyramids stand
a series of roads have been constructed
through the camp, as transporting
supplies etc is difficult though the
loose sand, all these roads bear
Australian names by which they are
known to the troops, for instance,
"Canberra Rd" is the main road from
the camp to the Mena train terminus.
We had tea at the 2nd Fld Amb camp
after which a party of us went over the
hill towards the Pyramids & had a
look through the small village that has
sprung up in a hollow of the hill.
since the camp was formed, fancy goods
& souvenirs of all descriptions, can
be bought there, the short while we spent
there was very interesting & amusing.
the greek & native owners have made
every effort to attract the Aussie with
February 1915
money to spare by placing a
Typical Ausie title conspicuouslyup upon his their shanties, the following
are a few that attracts attention,
"Kangaroo Cafe", "Yarrala Cafe, "White
Australia Tea Rooms" & "Sargents
George St Sydney". After looking
through the respective establishments
& viewing their wares; we decided upon
a donkey ride to the Pyramids, a
native with donks for hire was soon
discovered, & the usual arguement
comenced, he wanted 5 piastres each for
his donks but we soon settled upon getting
them for 1 piastre & xxx set off with the
owner footing it in the rear, the ride
created a great deal of amusement &
we seen the famous Sphinx & the three
great Pyramids for the first times.
[*Sund 7th*]
Spent the evening at Heliopolis with
my mate we visited Luna Park & had
a great old time, although this place
cannot come up to the Luna Park at
St Kilda, the prices charged for
admission etc are extremely low compared
to St Kilda though. The place has been
closed for some time & has only been
reopened since The Hoops arrived here
[*Mond 8th*]
Orders arrived today that a certain
number of us are to you our units
there are 14 wanted at the 1st Fld Amb 13 for the
2nd & 16 for the 3rd so far we have all been
together, but it means being separated
now, & it makes things strangely mixed
up, my mates seem to be all detailed
to the 2nd whereas I happen to be going
to the 1st a N S Wales unit by right.
Obtained leave for the day & went out to
February 1915
Mena with a mate, & had a loop over
the Pyramids & the remains of the
ancient ^Pyramid temple near the Sphinx. We
spent some time going through the passages
& chambers in the "Great Pyramid of Kheops"
it is intensly dark inside & the light from
a candle reveals very little. There are two
chambers in this Pyramid besides the
passages & the "Great galleries". The entrance
to this Pyramid was discovered in 1882.
^or 1872 the two statues which it, then
contained were later removed to the
London Museum. It is nescessary
to remove your boots upon entering the
Pyramid as the passage slopes at a
very abrubt angle & the surface has
become as slippery as glass, from the
enterance untill this passage conects
with the Great Gallery, it's height &
width is about 4ft 6in so, one is in
a stooping position while traversing it.
From the Great Gallery a passage
continues further on into the Pyramid
this one being level it is not so
difficult to walk along, it eventually
terminates in what is known as the
"Queens chamber". To get to the other
chamber which is called the "Kings
chamber" it is nescessary to mount
a series of exceedingly slippery &
worn steps which raise themselves
up the side of the Great Gallery &
then conects with a passage so the top
which but leads to the Kings chamber,
which is said to be in the centre of
the Pyramid. Both the chambers when
first discovered contained a stone statue
of huge proportions judging by the
February 1915
size of the recess in the wall of
The chambers from which they were
removed. The whole place is a
weird mysterious structure, it is almost
useless to tr try & draw any conclusion
as to how its was ever constructed
as it certainly has been at some ancient
time. Modern methods of construction
assisted by all the science & machinery
of modem times could not succeed in
errecting such a structure, out ofsuch material in such bulky proportion.
as was used in the construction
of the Great Pyramid. Along side
each of the 3 Great Pyramids are
3 smaller pyramids but they are
merely piles of stones compared
with the 3 large ones. There are
numerous spots of interest around
20
such as tombs & ancient ruins of
^ancient temples etc, also the world famed
Sphinx which is situated only a
few hundred yards away from The Pyramids
it is a wonderful piece of work its
most remarkable feature being its size
it is partly buried in the shifting
drift of the desert ^sands the body is
that of a lion & the head that
of a woman, the features still being
discernable although the face has
been very badly damaged, it is said
that a cannon ball did most of the
damage during Napoleons campaign
in Egypt a little over 100 years ago,
when the nose of the figure was
shattered. The ruins of the ancient
"Pyramid Temple" is also interesting
huge stone blocks & granite pillars are

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