Item 01: Eric Susman war diary, 1 January 1915-4 April 1916 - Page 89
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[Page 89]
Saturday 6 March 1915
Quitting the trenches (which we afterwards filled in either because (i) the Egyptian Government is not too keen on paying damages to the Arab whose stray camel falls in and breaks his neck, or (ii) because General Maxwell, when the Turks do eventually cross the Canal and make an advance on Cairo, does not want them to find trenches already dug for them) at the outrageously early hour of 6.30 a.m., we formed up and commenced our early morning walk back to camp which we reached a couple of hours later. After breakfast we had the rest of the day to ourselves, and I proceeded to have a regular good "clean up" – disinfect the tent, fumigate the blankets and have a good shower bath.
In the afternoon things were fairly quiet. A few went to Cairo, but, for the most part, the fellows indulged in a luxury they are now quite unused to – the little afternoon nap or "forty winks". Such a thing has been unknown to me since I joined the Force. But after a bivouac comes a rest, and you don't feel very enthusiastic about flying round Cairo after one of those pleasant little evening flutters of the military.