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[Page 56]

Monday 1 February 1915

This morning, reveille sounded at 5 a.m. and soon the troopship was a scene of the greatest activity, with preparations for the disembarkation. A little after nine, the right half of the 13th Battalion assembled on its alloted deck space and shortly afterwards was marched off on to the wharf. There, having been issued with rations for 24 hours, we proceeded to the train. The entrainment was carried through without a hitch, in a quiet soldier-like manner. Then we settled down to enjoy what, for most of us, was the most novel train journey of our lives. The stuffiness of the third class carriages was almost unbearable, but we were not conscious, for the greater part of the journey at any rate, of our discomfort. Our first stop was Damanhur. Everything was novel – the mud townships, cemeteries, houses in the trees, the shrines of the saints all along the road. Next was Ita el Barud with its camels, goats, its mules, and its fertile irrigated farms. At 12.45 we crossed the Nile, arriving at Tanta some time later. From there to Banha and then to Cairo concluded the train journey. Then after a dusty walk of about two miles, we arrived at our camp, which is near Heliopolis.

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