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[Page 9]
good eatables that we had a good time and at night we had a farewell concert and on the 12/2/16 the half that made the 53 Batt. stayed in the lines and we of the 1st Batt. had to get our traps and move about 400 yard further down and as we marched away the boys of the 53rd started to sing. We don't want to lose you but we think you ought to go. And they put up on there cook house we are the War babys and the dinkums need not aply this is where Fred and I was parted he was put into the 53rd then on the 13/2/16 we got more reinforcements from the Hilliopolis camps and Dave Lowe and Carbine was with them they both tryed to get with me in C. Coy but they failed so they were both in D. Coy. but Dave was in 13 Platoon and Car was in 16 Platoon. And now we have the Batt up to full strength. And we got to work and it was often heard said amongst officers of other Batts that the 1st was a credit to the officer in charge of them. We kept at it for a week or ten days I forgot the date that we left this camp for Scrampium [Serapeum] Sinai Peninsular down on the Suez Canal (But it was a Sunday. Sunday was a particular day to move the 1st Batt about) by train and when we got to the termenis we had to march 3 miles through soft heavy sand in full marching order. And I for one wished I had never seen the army and that I was back in the worst place Australia could produce but that was no good we had to get into it. We crossed the Suez Canal by way of Pontoon Bridge erected by English and Australian engineers then we marched out to what was known as the gail head [Rail Head] and halted they gave us about 1/2 hour spell then we had to put up tents for the whole Batt we was working till about 9.30 P.M. The Turkish line was only about 5 miles away from us the 5th Brigade was in the Trenchs there and we was to releave them but General Birdwood had won the toss and got permission for the Australian army Corp. to go to France then we was eager to get to that much heard of land. And the general topic among the men was I will chance Bills tin fish to get to France and everybody started to learn French from books.
It was a Sunday morning the 19/3/16 that we pulled down the camp and get a move on to the war in France so we marched to the train about 10 a.m. but we never boarded the train till 5 P.M. And what a ride it was we were in open trucks (the same as the D. Truck in N.S.Wales) and there was 35 of us together in these trucks and on this trip I found two more mates in place of Fred and Car (Car joined the 1st Pioneer Btn while we were at Serpapium). There names were Bob Ceeasy and Herb McCowan both in C. Coy of the 1st Btn on our way to Alexandria we passed through Ustimalia [Ismailia] and the outskirts of Hilliopolis [Heliopolis]. We stopped at one station on the way it was about 1 a.m. and there was few niggers about the station and one of the boys fired his rifle into the air and another sang out charge. Well it was funny to see the niggers go they went in all directions. Then a officer came around to find out who fired but nobody done it. And the chap was never found out. We arrived at Alexandria at 7 am. on the 20/3/19 and we had breakfast on the wharf and embarked on the Cunnard Liner (Ivernice) [Ivernia] at about 10 a.m. And we left the wharf at 4 P.M. and went straight out to sea. We were supposed to go to Malta but the Captain got a wireless to say change course and keep strick look out for Willies Tin Fish. But we got through alright. We