Item 04: Memoirs of a Colonial Boy by Robert Joseph Stewart, ca. 1971 - Page 205
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[Page 205]
102
probably short life but a gay one, though no doubt we consumed more hard liquor than was good for us in the glittering hotel bars. The "other ranks" were supposed to be back in camp by 11 p.m., but the officers were privileged to return much later, and usually drove back after midnight, three or four in a horse-drawn open four-wheeler known as a "garry": often it was considered a great prank to take over the reins from the driver if it was thought he wasn't making sufficient speed, and whip the horse into a gallop; sometimes racing another officer-laden "garry" down the broad deserted boulevard.
But not all of our leisure hours were spent on gay festivity around the flesh-pots. I was interested to visit the historic Citadel, the principal mosques, and the splendid museum, where the mummies, jewellry, utensils and furniture taken from many of the ancient tombs were on display in airtight glass showcases. I found it a weird and awesome experience to gaze on the features (still remarkably intact) of potentates who had lived a few thousand years ago, and particularly the face of the Pharaoh whose daughter found Moses in the bullrushes; not many girls would get away with that story today.
Just before we had disembarked at Alexandria, His Majesty's Britanic Government had proclaimed that the Egyptian Khedive Abbass II, who had fled to Turkey on the outbreak of war, was deposed, and that the former British Occupation under a Sirdar would henceforth be a British Protectorate with the middle-aged Hussein as an Egyptian king.
This move was forced on the Egyptians whether they all liked it or not. To stifle any possible counter-demonstrations, all available British troops, including our A.I.F. units, were lined up in close order with fixed bayonets around the Abbassir Palace during Hussein's enthronement. This show of force was considered to be the main reason why we had been diverted into Egypt instead of going on to the Western Front.
Every afternoon, evening and night, Cairo was full of English, New Zealand and Australian soldiers on leave from the outlying camps. As a rule they were well behaved, and mostly returned to