Brewster 'A Glimpse of War through a Private's Eyes', a retrospective account of experiences in World War I, 1915-1917 / John James Brewster - Page 43
You are here
Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 43]
one of them was in that "hoodlum" mob
In some of our Route Marches we had the opportunity to inspect the Battle field of Tel-el-Kebir where even then bullet badges & other souvenirs could be picked up. We also saw a large body of Indian Lancers who looked, & carried themselves splendidly, soldiers every one. They created a very pleasing impression & when on the "move" sat their steeds like bronze statues. The smart & almost impressive way in which they salute was startlingly clever.
The Australians will give unstinted praise, even for efficiency in performances which they themselves obstinately decline to do-well, when they cannot avoid it altogether.
While at Tel-el-Kebir, we were introduced to "Kitchener's scavengers". On the outskirts of the Camp are quite a number of Kites or hawks, which appear to be almost tame & are very thorough in the "cleaning up" work about Camp Kitchener is credited with having introduced them into Egypt, hence the name "Kitcheners Scavengers"
The Camp at Tel-el-Kebir at this time (March 1916) was almost similar to a clearing Station for the various battalions, so we knew our stay there would not be long, but as the fourth battalion had moved across to France before our arrival, all kinds of rumours arose regarding our eventual destination. One incident is permanently fixed in our minds although trivial.
In order to improve the appearance of the lines of tents for inspection purposes, an order was issued for all blankets & oilsheets to be stacked outside the entrance to the tents as was done at Liverpool, according to drill book regulations, but the extraordinary part is that the method of folding the blankets was altered four times within two hours. First an officer gave an example of the folding, then a higher officer changed this & other higher officers changed the method as already mentioned.