IN THE LAND OF PHARAOH
The fight that ended in the destruction of the _Emden_ was the one
exciting incident that broke the monotony of the tedious voyage
from Australia. When they had left Albany, the last port of call in
Australia, the men believed that they would go to Great Britain,
there to train for service in Northern France. The intervention
of Turkey in the war on the side of the Teutonic nations caused
the original intention to be altered, and the men heard that they
were to disembark at Egypt. This decision shortened the voyage
originally undertaken by nearly one-half, but delays, especially
at the Suez Canal, made the journey still a long one. The men who
shipped in Tasmania spent nine weeks on the transports before finally
disembarking in Egypt; while some of the New Zealanders had even a
longer spell of troopship life.
All were glad, therefore, for the break in the monotony afforded by
the _Emden_ incident; for the whole fleet witnessed the sudden dash
of the _Sydney_ at break-neck speed, and shared the glad news flashed
by the cruiser by wireless, that reached the convoy some six hours
later. The one menace to the safety of the convoy was thus removed,
and the remainder of the journey was devoid even of the interest
arising out of the possibility of attack. All were correspondingly
pleased when they left the transports and entered their Egyptian
camps; the Australians at Mena in the shadow of the Pyramids, and the
New Zealanders at Heliopolis.
It is doubtful whether the good people of Cairo have quite yet
got over the surprise occasioned them by the proceedings of our
Australasian army during their first few days in residence in Egypt.
The men certainly behaved as no soldiers had ever behaved before, in
Egypt's fairly wide experience. They were as unlike the traditional
Mr. Atkins of the British regular army--the type to which Cairo has
been accustomed--as it is possible for men of the same race to be.
They were young men just freed from the restrictions of life on a
troopship; many of them had plenty of money to spend; few of them had
ever called any man master, or been subject to any will but their own.
[Illustration: The Australians returning to Camp at Mena, in Egypt.]
Their frame of mind was well understood by those in control of them;
and for the first few days a good deal of latitude was allowed the
newly-landed Australasians. In those few days the word went round
the bazaars that all the Australasians were surely millionaires;
and that many of them were many times madder than the mad English.
Taxicabs (at two shillings an hour) became unattainable things each
evening in Cairo; they were monopolized by Australasian private
soldiers seeing the sights.
They went into camp on December 8, at the very height of the Egyptian
season. A night or two later, a table was set in the most prominent
part of the dining-room of one of Cairo's costliest and most
fashionable hotels. The place was crowded, and many visitors sought
in vain for seats at dinner; this table was exclusively guarded by
an unapproachable waiter, who averred that it had been set aside
for a party of most particular gentlemen. Presently these gentlemen
arrived, all attired in the uniforms of privates in the Australian
army, and to the scandal of some of those present proceeded to enjoy,
cheerfully but decorously, the best the house could produce.
One dragoman of Cairo was accosted by an Australian private, who
engaged his services, explaining that he wished to buy carpets to
send to Australia as presents to his friends there. The dragoman,
wishing to overawe him by a display of the unattainable, took him
to a merchant who exhibited three carpets as a beginning, one of
which cost £100, and the other two £75 each. While the dragoman was
explaining to the seller of carpets that his would-be customer was
but a private soldier, and only able to buy very cheap goods, the
Australian produced the cash for all three carpets, and leaving an
address to which they were to be sent, strolled off. This case is
but one of many incidents which excited the keen merchants of Egypt,
and gave rise to the bazaar talk of the unlimited wealth of these
Australians, even those who served in the ranks.
From Cairo to the Pyramids there runs a thin asphalt road, bordered
by green irrigation patches and sandy wastes of desert. Each night in
those first easy weeks in Egypt, this road was thronged at midnight
by all the motley vehicles Cairo could produce, all crammed with
happy soldiers returning to camp after a night's fun in the city.
Every day the sights of the neighbourhood were visited by scores of
curious Australasians; the desire to climb to the top of the great
pyramid of Cheops consumed them; no less than seven men fell in
attempting it. Four of them were killed outright, and another was
maimed for life.
[Illustration: Australian Soldiers at the Foot of the Pyramids.]
The wisdom of affording them an outlet for their high spirits was
apparent when, a week or so after landing, the work of military
training began in earnest. One and all, they settled down to the
collar like veterans, and soon twenty-mile marches through the
heavy sand became a joke, as battalion vied with battalion in
breaking records of physical fitness. "Physically, they are the
finest lot of men I have ever seen in any part of the world," wrote
Mr. Ashmead Bartlett, when they came under his observation at this
period in their training. At the end of the year both Australians and
New Zealanders were able to show at reviews how much they had already
benefited by their training.
The occasion of these reviews was the visit to Egypt of Sir George
Reid and the Hon. Thomas McKenzie, the High Commissioners in London
for the Commonwealth of Australia and the Dominion of New Zealand
respectively. The Australians were reviewed at Mena, and the New
Zealanders at Heliopolis; and at both reviews General Sir John
Maxwell, the officer commanding his Majesty's troops in Egypt, was
present. He asked the High Commissioner to convey to the Commonwealth
Government his congratulations upon the superb appearance of the
Australians. The New Zealanders, with their continuous lines of six
feet men, drew from him the observation, "It would be impossible to
obtain better material anywhere."
The men were much pleased with the visits of their London
representatives, and cheered them to the echo when they departed. At
the review of the Australians, Sir George Reid addressed them in the
following inspirited words:--
"Sir John Maxwell, General Birdwood, Mr. Mackenzie, General Bridges,
officers, and men,--I am glad to see you all. I am only sorry that
I cannot take each of you by the hand of friendship. Many anxious
mothers have implored me to look after their sons. Alas! it is
impossible; but I rejoice to think that you are under officers who
will be true guardians of you throughout the length of this great
venture.
"The youngest of these august pyramids was built 2,000 years before
Our Saviour was born. They have been silent witnesses to many strange
events; but I do not think that they could ever have looked down upon
so unique a spectacle as this splendid array of Australian soldiers,
massed to defend them. Who can look upon these majestic monuments
of antiquity without emotion, without regret? How pathetic, how
stupendous, how useless, have been these gigantic efforts to preserve
the bodily presence of Egyptian kings from the oblivion to which all
mortality is doomed. It is the soul of deeds that lives for ever.
Imperishable memories have sprung from nameless graves on land and
sea whilst stately sepulchres are dumb. The homes of our Imperial
race are scattered far and wide, but the breed remains the same--as
staunch, as stalwart, as loyal in the east and west and in our own
south as in the northern mother land.
[Illustration: Sir George Reid, High Commissioner for the
Commonwealth, reviewing the Australian Expeditionary Force at Mena
Camp, Egypt.]
"What brings these forces here? Why do their tents stretch across
this narrow parting of the ways between worlds new and old? Are
you on a quest in search of gain such as led your fathers to the
Australian shore? Are you preparing to invade and outrage weaker
nationalities in lawless raids of conquest? Thank God, your mission
is as pure and as noble as any soldiers undertook to rid the world of
would-be tyrants.
"In this bright climate, beneath these peaceful skies, which tempt so
strongly, do not forget the awful ordeal which is near you. Do not
forget the fearful risks which you are approaching. Do not forget the
desperate battles long drawn out which you must fight and win. Do not
forget Lord Kitchener's warning to the soldiers of the Empire. Do
not forget the distant homes that love you. Do not forget the fair
fame and stainless honour of Australia committed to your keeping.
A few bad ones can sully the reputation of a whole army. If such
there be in these ranks before me they must be shunned. They must be
thrust out. The first and best of all victories you can ever win is
the victory of self-control. Hearts of solid oak, nerves of flawless
steel come that way.
"Remember the generous rivalries that await you. Remember the
glorious soldiers of the British Isles, of the British Empire, who
long to greet you on the battle-line. Remember the heroes of Belgium,
of France, of Russia, of Serbia, and Japan. Remember all the fleets
watching on every sea. The allied interest is deep and vital, but
there are interests deeper and more vital still. The whole destinies
of the world are at stake in this titanic struggle. Shall the hand
of fate point backwards to universal chaos or forward to everlasting
peace. Backwards they must not, shall not, go. It is impossible. True
culture, crowned with chivalry and good faith, will prove too strong
once more for savage tricks and broken faith.
"Good luck. May God be with you each and all until we meet again."
The next two months were months of hard work. Twenty-mile marches
through the desert sand with a 70-lb. load took all the desire for
an evening's fun in Cairo out of even the friskiest of them, and in
surprisingly short time they settled down into soldiers as good as
they looked--steady, resourceful and disciplined, as they were soon
to prove on one of the bloodiest battlefields of the Great War.
For some of them the baptism of fire came in Egypt, when the Turks
made their farcical attempt on the Suez Canal. The New Zealand
Infantry and the Australian Engineers took part in the engagement
which ended that attempt, and comported themselves well. The New
Zealanders captured one of the celebrated galvanized iron boats,
which the Turks had lugged across the desert for the crossing of the
canal, and it was sent to New Zealand, the first trophy of the war
from the Old World for Australasia.
Training in Egypt continued till early in April, and then a large
proportion of the Australasians were despatched to the Dardanelles,
to assist in the attempt to force the passage of the Straits, already
begun by the combined British and French fleets. The first task
before the Expeditionary Force to the Dardanelles was to effect a
landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
THE BATTLE OF BRIGHTON BEACH