Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The Auckland Regiment

III. Zeitoun Camp and the Canal

page 10

III. Zeitoun Camp and the Canal

"For physical beauty and nobility of bearing, they surpassed any men I have ever seen. They walked and looked like the kings in old poems,"

At dawn on December 3rd, before the morning mists had lifted, the masts and spars of innumerable vessels were seen above the horizon, then the brown line of the breakwater, and as the sun gained power, the gleaming white and yellow buildings of Alexandria came into view. The Waimana was berthed, and preparations for disembarkation at once commenced. Much was done during the day, and in the evening general leave was granted. What a night it was! The holds afterwards were full of excited men, everyone talking at the top of his voice, No one listened to anyone else. Everyone was too full of his own experiences—and so the babel flowed on. In one evening they had seen Aladdin's cave, the Forty Thieves, and the houris of the Thousand and One Nights; veiled women, and others whose draperies were of the most diaphanous sort; French, Greeks, Russians, and Italians, with the brown-skinned Egyptians and the black Nubians from the South—all these they had seen, and the spell of Egypt had taken hold of them. They were lured by the sensuous, riotous beauty of the land. They were repelled by the sordidness of the vice, and the bare hideousness which peered out from beneath the most wonderful superficial loveliness. Land of Egypt—Egypt land! And so the talk went on, confused and wild, until all at last fell asleep.

The Battalion entrained for Cairo, and for many hours were running through the Nile Delta; past the reedy shores of Lake Mariotis, where the fisher-folk were mending their nets, and then—page 11

"Through fields of barley and of rye
That clothed the wold and touched the sky,
And through the fields the road ran by"

to the palaces and minarets of ancient Cairo. For great distances the highway ran parallel to the railroad. From the very dawn of history, this has always been a greatly travelled way. Moses the Hebrew, the hoplites of Alexander, the legions of Rome, the hosts of the Saracens, Napoleon and the Army of Egypt, all have tramped this dusty road. Great captains, mighty leaders, great conquerors, they and their marching men came and went, and still the rich land brings forth its teeming abundance; still the patient "fellaheen" plough with the ancient share which was known to their forefathers—men of a hundred generations back; in the same fashion they guide the running water into the rightful channels, and three times a year gather in the harvests. Every yard of that journey was crammed with interest. Strings of loaded camels passed in stately fashion with contemptuous jerkings of their heads, little donkeys ambled along quite happily under appalling loads, goats and geese were driven here and there, the quaint oxen marched steadily round and round, turning the waterwheels, and yoked up with the heavy wooden yokes drawing the ploughs and the rough native carts. The black and white robes of the men and women, the occasional red worn by the children, contrasted strongly with the green fields and the brown dusty road. Here and there the train would stop at some palmfringed station, and at once the carriages were besieged by an eager throng selling tomatoes, "orangies," and "eggs-a-cook." Teh-el-Baroud, otherwise "To-Hell-by-Road," was passed, and many another small town and clustering village, until late in the afternoon the outskirts of Cairo were reached, and very shortly afterwards the Aucklanders were detraining at Helmieh station, Zeitoun. A short march, and the Battalion reached its camping ground and made preparations to bivouac for the night on the desert sand.

Fatigue parties were busily unloading the train, assisted by a motley crowd of natives, who did not realise for quite a long page 12while that they were engaged on a labour of love. They demanded immediate payment, and were told to send in their claims to the British Government, who would surely recompense them well. Abdul, Said, Mohammed and Co. were distinctly dubious about the prospect of any payment to be expected from the representatives of His Britannic Majesty, and loudly proclaimed a desire for "piastres" in the hand, rather than Treasury notes in the future. They became clamorous and a nuisance, whereupon the newly-arrived infidels brushed them aside, and, commandeering their carts, set to work loading and driving. "Oh Allah, what could poor righteous men, followers of the Prophet, do with these mad infidels?" It was quite clear that the poor, righteous men could do nothing, except look on disconsolately, hoping that the mad infidels would be graciously disposed and return the animals and the carts when all the stores were shifted. "Kismet! so are the true believers afflicted in this world by the sons of pigs!" In the meanwhile, the infidels unloaded the train, and enjoyed themselves immensely handling the strange beasts and old-fashioned vehicles.

In two or three days time the camp was completed, and then training commenced in earnest. Hard training it was, too. Imperial men with the Battalion reckoned it was harder than anything they had ever done with British troops. Platoon, company and battalion drill, musketry, extended order work, attack, defence, trench digging, tactical schemes, night bivouacs, and above all, route marching with full packs up, hardened the splendid material into a magnificent regiment, perfectly trained for war. A few of the weaker ones broke under the strain, but the majority throve on the hard work.

Seven o'clock in the morning, the companies fell in, swung away out past the Water Towers, marched, fought, dug and drilled for six or seven hours. The day's work over, all were free to do as they pleased. Heliopolis, the wonderful new tourist resort, was close at hand, and from there the electric railway ran straight into Cairo. Every afternoon and evening page 13the city was crowded with high-spirited men looking for fun and finding it.

From the Citadel one could see the whole city spread out before one's gaze, and not the city only, but away back to the blue horizon from which emerged the silver streak running through a strip of vegetation, which was like a veritable Garden of the Lord. Within the walls of the fortress itself were two fine mosques, the Blue and the White, one of them marked by a shot from a cannon of Napoleon. In the city was the great museum of Egyptian antiquities, the Zoo, and the old slave market, now only a meuldering ruin. Bands played in the Ez-be-kieh Gardens. The streets were thronged with people of all kindreds, and tribes and tongues. Places of amusement abounded, and ranged in quality from such resorts of wealth as Shepheard's and the Continental, to cheap and smelly cafes selling fire-water guaranteed to send a man mad in as short a time as anything on earth. Astonished Staff Officers, with red tabs, gold braid, and eye-glasses found themselves rubbing shoulders with democratic but wealthy young Colonials in resorts which had never been so desecrated before. The keepers of booths in the native bazaars did a roaring trade in curios and trinkets. Hotel and restaurant keepers had a "fearful" satisfaction in reaping their rich harvests of "piastres" and "pounds Egyptian"; but it was a precarious kind of satisfaction, for Allah only knew what the mad Australians and New Zealanders might do next. The Kursaal and the Wassah District were thronged with sight-seers. Much of Cairo was a festering sink of iniquity, repellant and yet terribly attractive. There was not a man in the Battalion, however wild he might run at times, who did not thank God that his own womenfolk were not like the horrible harpies who infested the gorgeous Eastern city. Auckland Town, Whangarei and Hamilton might be slow and drab compared with this continental gaiety, but they were clean and good.

After the hard day's training and the evening of sightseeing and pleasure-seeking, the tired men slept soundly. In the cool of the early morning, before the sun had gained power page 14native boys were round the camp chanting dismally "the very good news, Earl Roberts dead," "Times Egypt—very good news to-morrow!" The paper was hastily scanned; there was a rush for breakfast, supplemented with "eggs-a-cook" when the finances were holding well, then "fall in" and march away to Fort Auckland and the day's work. At every halt or spell the sellers of "oringies" emerged from the sands of the desert to do business with the thirsty troops. Sometimes they got more than they bargained for, sometimes less. "Very beeg, very sweet, very good, three for one piastre." It was a very dangerous occupation for the "niggers," for the temper of their patrons was of a very variable nature, and quite uncertain. One day they might even give "backsheesh," but next day, if funds were low, they would insist on receiving the same, and any altercation usually ended in the merchant of "oringies" being up-ended and relieved of his burden of juicy fruit. Then a hilarious group of Aucklanders ate stolen fruit, while a gibbering, indignant "heap of blackness" fled far out on to the desert, calling on Allah to avenge his wrongs.

The Battalion was very smart in those days; buttons, belts and boots were just as fine as fine could be. Pride was taken in smart drill, but, above all, in guard mounting. This was a very great ceremony. As soon as the Battalion came in from the day's work, each section seized upon their representative and arrayed him in the section's best tunic, trousers, and equipment. He was surveyed from every point of view, polished and repolished. The best rifle, the best bayonet was his. The Guard were "fallen in" and after a very careful inspection the best man was picked out. He had the "stick"—in other words, purely nominal duties for the next twenty-four hours. So keen was the competition that it was often impossible to allot the coveted "stick" on appearance only. All were so good that there was no "best," and to choose finally, military questions were asked. The relief was carried out in great state before a large assemblage of officers, N.C.O.'s, men, bootblacks, and stray vendors of merchandise. Some of the small boys were immensely impressed with the drill, and learnt large page 15sections of the manual of military training by heart. Half-adozen or so of them, carefully trained by some of the men. acquired a facility in giving orders that would have done credit to a Guards' sergeant-major.

The Annexation of Egypt passed off quietly enough, although the students of El-Azhar, where the Nationalist spirit was strong, murmured a little. To impress the populace with the might and power of the British rule, the Australian and New Zealand troops marched right through the city. The natives displayed no enthusiasm, but any wild thoughts of a rising were speedily given up. The Battalion took part in this march.

Life was good, as life always is when men are as fit as men were in those days; yet an undercurrent of restlessness moved the force. They might be "Bill Massey's Tourists," but sight-seeing, even in the most wonderful land on earth, was not what they had come for. Garrison duty was all very well, but the tide of national feeling was commencing to rise, and New Zealanders felt that they could do more to win the war than keep down a timorous and subject populace. Pleasures commenced to pall, and training became tiresome. The glamour was wearing off from this land of sand and sin. For the first time the fed-up feeling was becoming really strong. Birdwood's thirty thousand were spoiling for a fight. There was bravery in the air.

It was the 25th January, and the companies were seated around the mess tables after the day's work. As always, there were rumours to discuss—there always had been rumours, and probably there always would be. The officers came round to give orders. At first no one was taking any particular notice. It would be just the usual routine of training. But, then, what orders were these? The Battalion would entrain for the Canal! In two minutes the whole atmosphere had become electrical; not a murmur was heard, all was energy and bustle, packing up and getting ready. The camp was in a ferment. "Ball cartridge!" It was handled lovingly, almost reverently. "Field dressings!" So it was to be real war, with wounds and sudden death for some.

page 16

The stores were served out and the bayonets sharpened. There is scarcely anything which will bring the morale of good fighting-men up to the last pitch as this sharpening of bayonets. The work was done, and now the whole camp was seething with excitement. Never before and never after was there such a spontaneous burst of enthusiasm. The band was playing and marching around. Men were cheering, singing, shouting, rushing round here and there, shaking hands with friends and enemies. The accumulated rubbish of the weeks in camp, the superfluous stuff that could not be carried, was blazing on the bonfires. The "niggers" came round, looking for a rich harvest of "backsheesh," and were immediately commandeered and tossed in blankets, one or two at a time. They fled howling, pursued by roars of wild laughter. So the fun went on till the small hours of the morning, and even then the men could not sleep, but talked and talked of the prospect of fighting.

The Battalion fell in next morning with full packs up, ready to move to the entraining point. Colonel Plugge made a little speech. "Men, there is just one thing I want to say to you. I know it is not necessary; yet I want to say it. It is probable that we shall be scrapping within the next twenty-four hours from now. Play the game. Let Auckland and New Zealand be proud of you. This order is not for nothing. That's all." The trains carrying the New Zealand Infantry Brigade moved out from Helmieh, past Zag-a-Zig and Tel-el-Kebir, and so to Ismalia, where a bivouac was formed on the desert sand. The New Zealand Brigade was to be held in reserve to the Indian troops, and to continue training. The weather was getting hotter and hotter, and training was a very strenuous business. The Turks were known to be only about eight miles from the Canal bank, and in consequence there was great excitement when platoons from the various companies were detailed for "out-post" and "trench duties." Those detailed to man the post at El-Ferdan, Battery Post, Ismalia Ferry. Toussoum, and Serapæum marched off in high spirits, reached their trenches after hard slogging through soft sand, settled page break
Suez Canal Zone.

Suez Canal Zone.

page break page 17down and prayed fervently that the Turks would appear before the next relief occurred. Indian troops were about in great numbers, and were intensely keen on shooting someone or getting prisoners. They were not over particular whom they went after, evidently believing it was better to be safe than sorry; so they opened up one night on an Auckland party moving out to an outpost. Fortunately no harm was done. An Indian picquet also achieved the distinction of capturing Captain Wallingford, Lieutenant Weir and Dr. Craig, who had been out on a reconnoitring expedition on the chance of having a shot at any wandering Turks they might come across. A shell burst near a platoon of the 3rd Company under Lieut. Woolley. They broke and ran toward the explosion, to gather up the heated bits of metal, and arrived in camp very excited after their baptism of fire. El Ferdan had been shelled. Windows had been broken. There were shot holes in the buildings, bullets and shrapnel pellets lying around. This surely looked like war. However, the Aucklanders were to win no glory on this occasion, although one little party approaching a post at night thought for a brief moment that they had found a chance of distinguishing themselves. They filed through the darkness until they were within challenging distance. The corporal gave the pre-arranged signal. Silence still! What had happened? The Turks must have crept in and butchered the garrison. Very well! They must be driven out. Bayonets were fixed. The section drew up silently, and then charged heroically in. The post was empty. Needless to say, it was some time before that section heard the last of their little exploit. The Turks' attack of February 3rd failed utterly, and, in consequence, the danger to the Canal rapidly faded away. The New Zealanders were kept on a while longer. Training went on as usual, and the main diversion was swimming in Lake Timsah or in the Canal itself. It was the ambition of many to swim from Africa to Asia; while if a ship went past everyone handy stripped off and joined in the joyous scramble for tins of milk, butter, and cigarettes which were thrown over by the passengers.
page 18

On February 26th the Battalion returned to Zeitoun. Amongst themselves the Infantry admitted that there had been little risk and no glory, but the Mounteds and the reinforcements were not permitted to hold this view for an instant. Especially as regards the reinforcements the Canal Battle was of the very greatest importance in maintaining the prestige of the Main Body. Reinforcements were novelties in those days, and as many of them had attained a certain amount of esprit-de-corps in Trentham, it was very necessary to reduce them to a fitting state of humility. The logic of a man who had seen a shell burst was irrefutable, and the reinforcement had nothing with which to counter this tremendous fact.

The camp was established once more on the same spot. The old routine was recommenced, a little harder if anything, but it was a welcome change to be back again in Cairo amidst the great bustle of life and the changing scenes of the gay city. Needless to say, the ranks of the Battalion were full of first-class athletes; and so when the Artillery sent in a challenge to play Rugby football, there was not the slightest difficulty in picking a very fine team. The Auckland representatives were Fitzgerald, Les. Hill, Roy Lambert, McGeehan, Fox, Jock McKenzie, Moki, Fordyce, Savory, Frank McKenzie, Ted Lambert, Smith, Gasparich, and two others.

Two great games resulted, the first ending in a draw, neither side scoring, and the second in a win for Auckland, six to three. Never in all its history had the Egyptian Railway Ground seen such struggles.

The weather grew hotter and hotter. The "fellaheen" struggled with a plague of locusts that a wind brought out of the desert, while the troops were plagued with a great thirst. It was not that the springs of water dried up, but that the wet canteen refused to sell more than one bottle of beer to a man. As a special concession, it was announced that if a written order was produced, signed by an officer, a further quantity of liquor as per order could be purchased. The promotions that took place in the Battalion were astonishing. All pieces of paper with writing on were the same to the Greeks who page 19were running the bar, so everyone was happy until the matter came to the ears of the Higher Command.

In the course of the training, Auckland carried out an attack with real guns firing real shells overhead, a mimic battle, in which the danger was approximately the same as in the Battle of the Canal. The Artillery kept their heads well, and, allowing a wide margin, inflicted no casualties. During this period, Captain Alderman was promoted Major, and took command of the 16th Company. Captain Price became Adjutant, and Sergeant Frater of the Machine Guns received his commission. At last the training had reached such a stage that it was impossible to do more to improve the magnificent physical fitness of every member of the unit. The Battalion could march twenty-five miles in the day carrying out tactical schemes, and all this with every man carrying full equipment and pack.

Cairo once more ceased to satisfy. The "very good guide, sir," who showed as a testimonial a document from "Billjim" of Australia to the effect that, "This guide is no good at all, give him a kick," was apt to get a good measure of bootleather, but very few "piastres." Even those cheerful young street Arabs, the boot-blacks, who clamoured loudly for the privilege of cleaning "Mr. McKenzie's bootsa," were not met with the same good temper as formerly. As for the food-it was stew, stew, stew, and ever more stew. The 15th Company even went so far as to hold a public meeting for the abolition of stews. The spirit of restlessness once more grew and increased. When would the fighting start? They had waited for six months, and still there was nothing but the eternal monotony of training. The witchery and mystery of the East began to lose its novelty and charm. There were great deeds doing in the West. The Old Army was dying magnificently to save Europe. The Territorials had fought their first fight;. The Canadians had a day of glory in Flanders, but for the New Zealanders it was marching until their souls were sick of marching; training until they were surfeited with training, and still their day did not come Training, training, always page 20training and more training, while the world was ringing with the deeds of the "thin khaki line" which barred the road to Calais. Would orders never come? Was the Battalion destined to be a permanent garrison in this land of heat and flies, sand-storms and smells? Training, everlastingly training, and then at last a growing rumour of an open beach with hills behind and forts said to be impregnable, and beyond these again the prize of Victory. The Mediterranean Expeditionary Force was formed, and Sir Ian Hamilton assumed command. It was scarcely a year before that the Aucklanders had cheered the great fighter to the echo at Hautapu Camp. There was no man living they would sooner have followed on the great adventure which lay before them. Sir Ian held a review out on the desert, and the thirty thousand of the A.N.Z.A.C. marched past him. Everyone knew that the time was now close at hand.

On Good Friday occurred the "Battle of the Wassah," in which certain of the Battalion rendered valiant service. The battle was partly a thanksgiving, partly a protest against the current price of sundry filthy liquors, partly an endeavour to suppress the detested Red Caps, and partly a very riotous bit of real good fun carried a little too far. The inevitable result was the stopping of all leave, which in its turn resulted in the cinema catching fire and the canteen being raided. There was such a superabundance of high spirits that steam simply had to be let off somewhere.

Then, at last, after another weary week of waiting, definite orders came. There was a last rush to Mr. Oatts' Y.M.C.A. tent to write letters home. Kits were packed. The tents were struck, and in high good humour the Battalion entrained at the great "Gare de Caire," and so to Alexandria and the waiting transport.

"Imshi Yallah—Mafeesh Felous!"