Item 01: R. T. Vowles diary, 22 August 1915-23 February 1916 - Page 56
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[Page 56]
that a crust of stale bread & a mouthful of water would be considered good.
Well ! experience is a good teacher.
As I write this, we are sitting in the tiny dirty carriage, smelling of onion & feeling as cold as Charity - the song says when the sands of the desert grow cold - .There are two tiny lights burning & the men are huddled up trying to sleep, whilst the train noisily drags on. We should reach Cairo by 11pm. As soon as the sun sets over the desert, the cold becomes bitter & one cannot get warm. Judging by the amount of singing however the men are happy. We have just passed a huge camp of Australians & the cheering that followed as the men rushed down to the train shows the brotherly feeling existing. As we steamed along at an easy pace we passed fields of irrigated land & old water wheels etc until at 11.30 pm we drew into Ezbet –Zeitoun. Here we all had to fall out & in remarkably quick time the 2nd Sig troop was told to fall in for another sixteen