Chapter Six
The sun came up not as it does in Britain where you have to wait through the greyness of dawn before it pops its head out to greet you. Out here there is hardly any time between the velvet blackness of night, and then the searing light of the sun as it rises to bathe the land in its life giving light. No wonder the Ancient Egyptians worshipped it as a god. After our small flotilla had joined together in Southampton Water we set sail for Egypt I must admit that finding out we were not going to France had fair took the wind out of our sails. However you learn fast in the army that you do as you’re told and get on with it. Our first few days on board were dominated with learning about life on a small ship for the amount of men we had on board. There were messing arrangements to be made and to accommodate all the troops we ate in rotated shifts. The same happened with ablution arrangements washing and the like.
We sailed on down the Atlantic and at first everything was strange and took a bit of getting used to but there was little sea sickness and the ocean remained calm, the sun poked its head out a few times and this cheered people up no end. The lads were getting on with their allotted fatigues and we were put on sanitary squad for the first time. I can tell you I just wished that things had stayed so calm and peaceful but as I later found out from a naval officer. The storm that lashed us for two days had come out of the Bay of Biscay and caught us, because although we where out in the Atlantic we where opposite the Bays position. Well there were some green faces and no mistake I think most of us were sick and even the navy boys said it was a bad storm. It really was chaos and the sanitary and cleaning squads were working overtime and to make matters worse were sick as well. The trouble was with all the men on board it was hard to get to a rail to heave up over so below decks and the decks themselves were covered in the contents of peoples stomachs. And like I say because nearly everyone was sick you still have to do your fatigues and duties so that made it worse, I am sure you can imagine that cleaning up other peoples vomit when you are sick yourself is a non starter. And the moaning and groaning that went on we must have sounded like a boat full of the dammed. I will admit for myself this was one of the worst situations that I had ever been in, after all the nearest I had been to sailing was on Queens Park boating lake, and I should imagine that most of the others were the same. But after two days the storm had blown itself out or had carried on father out into the Atlantic, so the weather and sea got back if not to the calm that they had been at least to a bearable state. This allowed us to get all the mess that was still about cleaned up, and in doing this it made things quite a bit more pleasant for us. Although the smell in the hold was pretty foul by now and the Captain ordered the hatch covers removed so as to allow fresh air down and to dissipate at least some of the smell.
On we sailed through the Straights of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean Sea, the blue of the sea really is quite breath taking, some of the older men the NCOs and the like who had been regular army were taking about postings in Gibraltar and Malta. Some of the things they were saying made me blush but on the whole they made them sound like exotic places to visit. I just thought it was a pity that we were stuck on board instead of off seeing these places. The weather however was excellent and you could smell a difference in the air that is hard to describe maybe it was the dryness in the air. Being in these warm climbs allowed us also to get our first proper showers of the voyage; this was done by marching as many naked soldiers as possible on deck and then spraying them down with the fire hoses. This I must admit was lovely if at times bruising especially if the sailors got the pressure wrong, however because they used sea water the only constriction was the amount of people following you. If you where in the last batch you could stay and have a lovely cool down and not need to bother about who was following you, as everything was done in strict rotation though the hose downs happened rarely. And as the time went on the earlier enchantment of the voyage wore off, being cooped up on a ship is not the best experience in the world especially with so many other people. Not only this at night no lights could be shown and you always had to have your life preserver with you. This was because in the event that we were attacked and had to abandon ship the lifeboats on board would be lucky if they could accommodate the crew. This was a cheerful situation that was never that far from our minds, and although there had been boat drills at first there were hardly any now. Because I think they now saw that in the event of an attack and sinking, that not many of us would survive. When we were not doing fatigues or duties we passed the time by writing home, or by playing cards, crown & anchor, catching the sun if we could. And our favourite pastime of speculating what we were going to be doing in Egypt and this took up a great deal of our time. And believe you me there were some really unbelievable scenarios brought up, and some that were so far fetched as to be derided before they were out of the person’s mouth properly.
Then one day there was a sudden excitement in the crew we talked to a couple of them and asked what was going on? They told us that we were only a days steaming from Malta and that we would be stopping off there to replenish the coal for the boilers. When they saw our faces were not split into huge grins like theirs they moved off muttering about ‘idiots who knew nothing, and had never been anywhere’ this surprised and irked us. We sighted Malta the next day and the excitement from all of our boys was contagious you would think that we had never seen land for years. But although this was not the case you want to try being on a ship for any length of time and then watch your own reaction on seeing land. All I knew was that it was a break from the boredom of life on board and that had to be a good thing. We were piloted into Valletta Harbour and the rocks and the huge buildings dotted about on them were breathtaking also some of the small houses we had seen on the way in all painted white shone in the morning sun. Small boats came alongside us and the young native boys were doing all kinds of diving and other tricks in the sea to impress us. The loading of the ship started and a lot of our officers were allowed to go ashore for a few hours but not us. Oh no we had to help load the other supplies on board, and when we had finished doing this we were told that there was no more time left for us to have a look ashore as we were sailing that night. So the most we saw of Malta was a bit of coast line and Valletta Harbour, unlike our bloody officers still that had always been Tommy Atkins luck. On we sailed through the Mediterranean rumours abound about enemy ships being around although the sailors laugh at this. We held a concert party last night and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, although some of the songs reminded us a bit too much of home. Afterwards I wrote to Helen and told her how much I was missing her and that I could not wait to get home again. I think that maybe homesickness is beginning to get to me but I will not give in to it, the nights are worse when you have time to think! A sailor told me that we have only three more days to sail before we reach Alexandria, which is the port we are heading to in Egypt. I tell the news to the rest of the lads and we are overjoyed that we are nearly at the end of the journey and that we will soon find out what we have come here for. So tonight we go to sleep happy in the knowledge that we will soon be on dry land again, I just hope that the tar was not shooting me a line and that we are close to our final destination. The next day news comes through of enemy submarine activity and we are put on alert we have to wear our life preservers and the boats are made ready. Again the sailors deride us and laugh at these reports they tell us not to worry that it will be the same as the last scare. The next day proves them wrong and now their faces are creased with worry, and they are not laughing now. One of the ships had fallen behind with engine trouble the SS China Sea and an enemy submarine must have spotted her. The submarine attacked and the China Sea was sunk, there was no information about survivors. And the only reason we found out is that she was a supply boat and was carrying our mail that had been picked up in England when we sailed. As if this was not bad enough it had picked up another lot in Malta that had come by faster ship than ours and had been dropped off there for us to pick up.
So now we are about to sail into Alexandria minus our mail but luckily still in possession of our lives and about to swap the SS Mongolia for dry land. Major Danby who had come to the battalion with Colonel Terry came up to the rail and started to tell us about Alexandria as we sailed in to harbour. As we proceeded we saw an Island with a ruined fort on it and a large breakwater leading off it this we were informed was the Island of Pharos where the famous wonder of the ancient world the lighthouse or Pharos of Alexandria stood. And the breakwater or mole was built to create not only a way to reach the lighthouse but also as a docking facility for ships and judging by the ones we could see there it was still used to this day. Major Danby also told us that the city had been built by Alexander the Great and named after him, and that at one time it was the envy of the ancient world. He went on and informed us that it had the largest library in the known world and that every civilised country sent and received scrolls from it. They had a form of university where scholars from all over the ancient world came to learn, also a museum and a zoo as well. In fact the centre of ancient Alexandria was given over entirely to academia and religion. George looked out and said. “So what happened to it sir it doesn’t look to bright right now?” The Major knocked his pipe out on the rail as he replied. “The usual things war, plague, earthquakes that sort of thing, but believe you me in ancient times this was the city that the rest of the world looked to.” Well Charlie said. “I hope we are not docking on that mole as it looks pretty crowded to me and I don’t fancy having to march all the way along it past the crowds milling about over there.” We looked over towards the mole and their where ships moored there unloading, and crowds of people either unloading the ships or selling their wares or generally just hanging around. I must admit that I was with Charlie in not fancying having to march through all that humanity, but I was also fascinated with this place as I had never seen anything like it in my life.
The whole place seemed to be in a frenzy there were ships everywhere from liners and warships to Arab dhows and small feluccas rowing like mad to get out of the way of the bigger ships. A lot of these little boats were in danger of getting sunk with other ships as they flitted around the big ships waiting just outside the harbour to enter, they were like flies round an old bull elephant. And the noise was everywhere a cacophony of sounds all mixed together so that it was hard to pick out individual sounds and at times hard to hear. As our ship slowed down and came to a halt we dropped anchor and waited in line for our turn to be piloted in to the berth where we would unload and disembark. Major Danby had come on deck and pointed with his pipe stem saying. “We won’t be docking at the mole we will be going into the west harbour that is the second of Alexandria’s harbours. It is also the main one and is where the customs house and the vast majority of the warehouses are situated, the mole which Drew points out is crowded is the eastern harbour and is mostly used for unloading dhows and fishing boats and the like.” Elijah Mack piped up in an amazed voice. “Bloody hell sir how do you know so much about this place?” I said. “I suppose it’s the schooling you’ve had that does it isn’t that right sir?” The Major replied. “No not really I spent a bit of time in Egypt and in Cairo when my Regiment was stationed here in 09 I got about quite a bit. And the place has always held a fascination for me so I have learned as much as I can about her past and a fair bit about her present.” His eyes looked far away as he said. “Still I can’t stand here chatting to you lot all day there will be a lot to prepare before we disembark, just keep an eye out for peddlers and beggars keep your money firmly in your pockets.” Then having told us this he walked off towards officer’s country under the bridge of the ship. Well Charlie was saying. “You learn something new every day, not that I’m bothered about some old Egyptian history as long as there’s drink and women to be had I will be content.” Elijah retorted. “You’re a clown Charlie Slater what would you know about women and which one would have you? None from what I’ve seen.” A flush spread across Charlie’s face but he kept quite, for he knew when Elijah made a statement like this he meant it, and any kind of flippant reply would earn you a bunch of fives. Frank Lord shouted to us. “Look at this hell fire I’ve never seen anything like it”, we looked out to where he was pointing and our mouths dropped open in amazement. Like an army of ants little boats and feluccas where coming towards us from all directions. We couldn’t quite believe where they where all coming from and as they got closer we could see that they were either packed with people or with goods. The closer they got the more we could make out there where boats with fruit, and fish packed on board with the Arabs holding out there wares to us and shouting up to the deck. Other boats had bolts of cloth which they flung over the decks in a rainbow of colour, and all the time the noise was getting louder and louder so that you could not hear what the individual merchants where flogging. And so close where they now to the ship and so crowded was it below that there was a real danger of a boat being rammed and capsized or of someone getting seriously hurt.
Sergeant Stanley Dawson came up to our bit of rail and we made room for him but only just as the rails where crowded with Tommy’s watching this spectacle unfold and shouting their own ribald comments down at the boats. And this just added another aspect to this floating market that was now surrounding the whole ship. The sellers couldn’t understand what our lads were saying and thought that they where haggling for their wares. They were gesticulating for us to throw ropes down to them so that they could tie their wares to them and we could haul them up for our inspection. Some of the lads did this and kept what was in the baskets without paying jeering from their towering safety down at the poor merchant below who was jumping up and down and pulling his hair out in frustration. All of a sudden there was a commotion and a large boat made its way through the other smaller boats got out of its way and it stopped under where we where stood. Most of the top deck was canopied and screened off, all of a sudden an Arab dressed in what looked like one of my mothers nightys appeared. He was a small greasy looking individual with his black hair shining like it was smothered in oil, but other than this it was difficult to make out his features properly until he looked up towards the deck.
I was taken aback as I looked down on a face that had been terribly burned down one side, it was ravaged and I turned my head away for a second. When I looked back down he had moved to a corner of the screen and I noticed that others had placed themselves at the remaining corners. Then a large fat man appeared he was dressed in a European suit of clothes and was mopping his face with a large hanky. A large Negro had moved up onto the prow he had in his hand what I can only describe as a large animal horn. As he stood straight and tall on the prow he placed the horn to his lips and blew into it, a very loud mournful wail spread out like an old army blanket across the water. After doing this for two or three times he lowered the horn and turned towards the fat man who inclined his head towards the Negro. It was hard for us to take in but from the parrot house noise that had been going on before there was now a heavy silence, every person in the rest of the boats had fell silent. The fat man launched himself into speech he shouted up to us. “Gentlemen, I have for your delight a sample of my wares which I am sure you will find to your liking. It has been my pleasure to serve many of your armed men and to provide them with what they wish at the end of a long sea journey. My name gentlemen is Stelios Theopoplis and I hope you will remember my name and use it when you come ashore to sample my wares, and now without more time wasting we shall get down to business. He shouted something to the men on the corners of the screen, and the screen dropped down next the canopy was drawn back so that we could now see straight down onto the deck. There was one big intake of breath from the whole of our side of the ship, and then there was cheering and whistling and general shouting and laughter. For there on the deck of this large barge displayed sat on silks and furs and posed in provocative ways, were about thirty women dressed like something out of the Arabian Nights. Now the other merchants and peddlers were watching even though they must have seen it many times before. I looked down at the women to judge their reaction to all this but they never moved from the poses they were holding for like the rest it was old hat to them. Stelios judged his time and carried on with his narrative. “Each one is a pearl believe you me sirs, each one is hand picked by myself for her talents, and although modesty forbids me I must still say talents not generally known outside the Sultans Harem. A large grin spread across his greasy face as he shouted. “Look here gentlemen look at Ophelia”, and he raised a woman up from her pose and led her up and down the deck where she paraded herself. She was small and had dark hair she wore a sheer veil over her face and she was clad in sheer clothing through which you could see her skin. In fact I didn’t know which way to look because you could see her legs all the way up through the veiled pants she had on.
It seemed like Charlie never learned and he was like a kid in a sweet shop shouting. “Take a look at her boy that’s for me I can tell you.” There was a huge laugh and Sergeant Dawson looked at him with contempt before saying. “That’s for you, ha you couldn’t afford one of her toenails if you paid everything you had saved up you idiot.” Charlie looked crestfallen as he moaned. “What do you mean by that I’ve got a bit put away?” The Sergeant looked at him with sympathy in his eyes as he said. “Listen to me I know old Stelios I met him when I was here serving alongside Major Danby and let me tell you the prices he charges make it officers only and even some of them wont be able to afford it. So like I say forget about it, or if you like you could always ask Major Danby he got Stelios out of some kind of trouble with the Egyptian authorities last time we where here. So he owes him a huge favour, but beware old Danby doesn’t take to kindly to talking about Stelios so if I were you Id keep away from him. George chipped in saying. “Still there’s no harm in looking is there I mean if it’s like you say we might as well get an eyeful free?” Dawson looked at George and said. “Look as much as you want but there’s no point in anything else because I know were not staying here in Alexandria we are moving on.” Frank Lord butted in and asked. “Where are we moving to then do have you any idea?” “No not really I just know that we aren’t stopping here, because we aren’t needed here.” We went back to watching what was going on beneath us and things seemed to be going alright for Stelios although he didn’t know that we wouldn’t be stopping in Alexandria. More women were shown and then it happened, he had shown off the last of his little harem and they now disappeared below decks on the dhow. All of a sudden there was a commotion behind us and further down the deck and then some of the ships crew pushed through to the railing, with them they were carrying one of the ships fire hoses with them. And on reaching the rail they pointed it down at Stelioses dhow and the rest of the fleet of small boats below us, the water was turned on and pandemonium ensued. There were more hoses up and down the rail and the crew played them over the boats and the people in them with great enthusiasm. And I must admit that as a spectator it was hilarious, there were merchants, boys, men women and assorted goods knocked into the water and almost drowned. There were boats frantically trying to get away and colliding with each other capsizing some and damaging others. Some were being filled with water and were in danger of being swamped, and the shouting and howling that was going on only made it funnier to us safe up on the ship’s deck. Stelios had been pinned in a corner on his dhows deck and nearly drowned, but he had managed to get below decks and so saved himself. Some of his other employees hadn’t been so lucky the chap with the badly burned face and a couple of the others who had helped with the canopy and screens, had been hosed over the dhows side and were now swimming around waiting to get back on board, which they eventually did during a lull. And with that the dhow set sail and got out of the way but not before the hoses had done a fair bit of damage. The canopy screens and the diaphragm that held them all together had been washed overboard by the hoses and now floated in the water with the rest of the flotsam. As the dhow got further away Stelios came to the stern rail and shook his fist at the ship and I suppose the crew. And that at this time was the last we saw of Stelios, I could not help feeling a bit sorry for him and the rest of the merchants and whatnots, after all they had given us the best laugh of the journey so far.
A pilot came on board to guide us into the port and orders were now being shouted out over the ships loud speakers telling us to get below and get our kit ready for disembarking. The ships anchor was being weighed and it seemed that we would be sailing on into the western harbour imminently. So with a last look towards the survivors of the small boat fleet who where now rowing slowly for the mole, we made our way below decks to pack our kit. eastern harbour and as we sailed in we could see the native quarter of Alexandria situated on a peninsula on and about the mole immediately south of the eastern harbour. As we pulled in to the western harbour we could see the customs house and a stretch of warehouses. There was frantic activity on the docks as cargos were unloaded from the many ships berthed there and I had never seen a place as busy in my life. Our ship had berthed and its lines were now secured to the dockside, already as we waited on deck to disembark our kit and the rest of the cargo from the forward holds were being unloaded. The sun beat down and it really was quite hot especially as we were in our service uniforms which were mainly made of wool, and not made for hot climates. We watched whilst we waited and saw that as soon as a ship was unloaded, it was quickly reloaded ready to set sail with its cargo to which ever port it was ordered to sail to. We could see lots of the cargo as it was hoisted on board there was sugar, and bales of cotton and wool also grain, and as the loads touched the deck army’s of workers would swarm over it like ants and stow the cargo away in the holds. The gang planks were put up onto our ship and we started to file down them looking forward to planting our feet on dry ground. As we got to the bottom of the gang plank we were shepherded over to a huge empty warehouse where we were then paraded in battalion formation. But as no one seemed to know what was going on the order came to stand at ease, and then we were given permission to have a smoke. George Drew said: ‘bloody hell lads it’s been a good show so far, I don’t think wed have got a show like we’ve had so far back in Blackthorn. A clutch of beautiful girls to ogle at and then the comedy of nearly seeing a fat oily Greek ratter drowned and his dhow badly damaged. If this is the way things are going to be in Egypt then lead on.
We were all smiling at the memory of Stelios pinned tin a corner on the dhows deck whilst the hoses converged on him and nearly drowned him. ‘Did you see yon man with the burnt face and his mates get swept overboard I thought I was going to wet myself I laughed so much.’ Elijah told us choking on laughter again at the thought of it. Frank was looking over to where the warehouse door was wide open, ‘who the hell are these lot’, he said gesturing at a bunch of people who had just scuttled in through the door. “Here Sergeant there’s a load of blokes here dressed in their night shirts, what do you think there after?” Charlie bleated looking decidedly worried as Sergeant Dawson answered. “For your information they is not night shirts they are wearing Slater, but kaftans and it’s what most of the locals wear in this country. As for what their after why it’s your money they want, these gyppo’s can smell a white man coming from half a mile away. So keep your hand on your money and don’t be buying any of the rubbish that their selling, watch for them crowding you if they get close because this lot would rob a blind man and piss in his eye sockets. The Sergeant seemed to be right in what he was saying as these human locusts pleaded and grabbed at our uniforms in an effort to get money out of us. Others held things up for our inspection baskets with fruit in them bead necklaces and other knick knacks, and all the time they were jabbering on in an unintelligible language that we could not understand. All of a sudden a roar erupted over the warehouse stunning the locals into immediate silence, Regimental Sergeant Major Greaves had just arrived with a couple of Regimental police and half a dozen Egyptian policemen. The latter being dressed in khaki shirt and shorts with sandals on their feet and bright red fezzes on their heads, in their hands they carried long thin canes which they swished backward and forwards in anticipation as the RSM said. “Get these thieves and vagabonds out of here this is the British Army not a fucking circus, next thing you know they will be joining the parade and want paying for it.” He shoved at the Egyptian policemen shooing them along well of course this lot didn’t need any second bidding and set to with a will. They piled in whipping the beggars and sellers with their thin canes, it wasn’t much of a contest really and the entourage that only minutes before had been trying to separate us from our money, now retreated in confusion. And a clean pair of heels and a lot of screaming and shouting was the last we saw of them as they where chased out of the empty warehouse with some enthusiasm by the Egyptian police.
The RSM said. “Right form up you lot get in rank do you think you’ve come to Egypt for a sightseeing tour or to buy a few souvenirs? Well I can tell you that you haven’t you’ve been sent by His Majesty the King and by the powers that be to do battle with the horrible Turks, and don’t you forget it.” He glared at us as we fell in then proceeded to walk up and down the ranks hectoring and badgering us. He continued: ‘Listen up the Colonel will be here shortly with the other officers and he will be relaying the orders he has received onto us. The first thing we will have to do however is get to the railway station to catch the trains that will take us onto where we are going.’ He looked over our ranks once again to make sure that we were all listening to him. “We will be marching to the station and when we do I want to see you marching like proper soldiers and not like the rabble that you usually resemble. Remember that we are representing our King Country and the Powers that be, so I want to see you at your best.” He turned to Staff Sergeant Domby and said. “What do you say Staff, we don’t want the gippos and the rest of the foreigners who will be watching us getting the wrong idea about the Battalion. We have to show them what the British Empire is built on and that’s us, isn’t that right?” The S/Sgt replied “That’s right sir we can’t have the gippos and the dagos mistaking us for some other countries army because of sloppy soldiering. The next thing you know they would all be thinking they were as good as us and there’s no way we could allow that.” The RSM smiled at this saying. “I hope you were listening to what we said and that it has penetrated those thick skulls of yours, because I don’t want you lot letting the King, Country, Colonel, Town and especially me down. So when we march to the station through this here heathen city lets do it with lots of swagger and show them the kind of men who won an Empire. They should be used to that seeing as how this place is named after another bugger who won an Empire.” The RSM was just about to impart some more of his wisdom on us when there was movement over by the open doors of the warehouse. Colonel Terry and the rest of the Battalion officers entered and came over and stood in front of us. The Colonel spoke. “Right lads stand easy and I will fill you in on what’s going to happen or at least on as much as we have been told.” I just wished he’d get on with it as it was stifling in the empty warehouse and I am not sure what it was used to store but whatever it was it was a very pungent smell. It was hard to place at first it hadn’t been to bad but now it was really starting to get up my nose. I looked out the corner of my eyes and saw that Frank on one side of me and Elijah on the other seemed to be suffering the same as I was. And to make matters worse the sweat was rolling down my face and dripping off my nose and chin it was also running down my back like a river in flood.
“I won’t keep you long I know it’s a bit warm in here so the sooner I can fill you in the sooner we can get going. The first thing I can tell you is that we wont be stationed here in Alexandria so if anyone and that includes officers thought they were going to see some more of Stelio’s ladies then I am sorry to disappoint them.” This brought a few laughs and even groans from the assembled troops, but after what the RSM had said it came as no surprise to us. He carried on saying. “We will be moving off shortly down to the train station to embark on the rolling stock allocated to us and from there we shall proceed to Cairo. We will be in Cairo for acclimatization for a few weeks, and also for advance training in desert and practical warfare.” He stopped took of his hat and mopped his brow with his handkerchief. “I will now tell you a bit of the problem that our forces are facing here in Egypt and the surrounding countries. The Turks with a lot of encouragement from the Germans launched an attack on the Suez Canal with the objective of shutting it and causing massive problems to our supplies and naval activity” he cleared his throat and took up the narrative once again while we looked on and shuffled our feet in boredom which earned us a rebuke from the RSM. Even the Colonel was a bit tetchy as he said. “Alright settle down this is important, now to attack the canal the Turks had to travel something like 225-250 miles from their base which is situated in Syria. This will give you some idea of their determination as not only did they travel a great distance in abhorrent conditions they also crossed one of the most inhospitable deserts in the world to do it. The Colonel paused whilst he let these facts sink in