An Englishman at War Page 6
Wednesday, 7 August
Battery drew for second place in the battery competition. One team did an excellent shoot. We had half an hour arms drill during the morning. I have been very lazy arranging cricket for the Regiment. I must get a match for Saturday. There is going to be an athletics meeting in Jerusalem; Flash Kellett is very keen that the Regiment should enter. Myles Hildyard and Stephen have been given the job of training a regimental team. Some of the officers are going to enter. Both Stephen and Myles were record-holders at school. I should go in for the 100 metres and the two miles. It will mean very strict training for all the men, with special diet. All junior officers were on the square at 4.30 under the RSM. A damned bore. At 6 o’clock I had a single at tennis with Micky Gold at the Haifa Club. It was thoroughly enjoyable.
Still no letters from home. It’s simply ages since any mail has come in.
During lunch we had an air-raid alarm, but it came to nothing. I heard that Tony Priestly in the Guards had got a bullet in the stomach, but he was all right. Robert his brother is out here with the Signals. This time last year I was with the Inns of Court at Camp Warminster, acting lance corporal. Tim Smallwood was in my section. He got a commission in the Sharpshooters. I wonder what he is doing now.
Saturday, 10 August
The usual PT in the morning. I must say I do enjoy it. At that time of the morning it is perfectly grand. After breakfast, arms drill on the square, followed by a lecture from Stephen on what he learned in Egypt. John and I spent some time in the officers’ mess on accounts, which seem to be in a very healthy state. While I was playing tennis an urgent message came through from Sydney Morse, our adjutant, that I had to return to camp at once. I found when I got back that the colonel had cabled that I should go down and join him at Port Tewfik as Henry Trotter had gone sick to hospital. At first I was rather annoyed but Rona will be there! After work I can help entertain her. I had to be ready to leave Haifa at 7.30 next morning.
Sunday, 11 August
I caught the 8.15 train from Haifa East down to Kantara. I travelled down as far as Lydda with a captain from the Buffs, who was going on a course at Saratand. He was a Rhodesian who worked in Bulawayo. Not a bad fellow. From Lydda to Kantara I had a crowded train with two nurses returning to Cairo, and two officers who had just done a course at Bir Saline. We all lunched together. At Kantara we changed and had rather a long wait. I spent my time drinking beer with a colonel from the RASC. He lived in Guernsey, which has been taken over by the Germans, and is rather worried since reading in the papers that we have been bombing the place. At Ismailia I changed again, arriving at Port Tewfik at 11.15 where Jack Hall met me in his car. I found that I was to share a room with the colonel. He was asleep when I arrived but he woke up and greeted me heartily. He talked a lot, and I had the greatest difficulty in understanding what he said as he had no teeth in! At the best of times he speaks most indistinctly. On the way down, I caught a beastly cold. Most annoying.
Monday, 12 August
Port Tewfik is not at all a bad place in spite of what people say. We are situated in the old quarantine building overlooking the canal. Directly opposite we see Sinai, the desert, and the mountains behind. The canal opens into a large harbour, again with mountains in the distance. At night the colouring is quite beautiful. The officers have their mess on the first floor. The guns are immediately below us within 20 yards of each other. The mess is quite comfortable and I like the officers attached to this battery. In charge is Captain Hendry, a ranker but an excellent fellow. The colonel likes him awfully. Second-in-command is a fellow called Gummersall. He was master gunner to the battery before he got his commission. He knows his stuff from A to Z and is an excellent instructor. Heath and Jack Hall are the other two who make up the mess.
We get up at 7 o’clock. Breakfast at 8. We live off rations, which on the whole are not too bad. Lectures start at 8.30 and continue until 12.30 with half an hour’s break. There is a great difference between the guns here and at Haifa. Here they have neither rocking bar nor auto-sight. All ranging is transmitted by means of the Vickers clock, which is a wonderful instrument. Everything is very concentrated, which is certainly convenient, but one well-placed bomb would blow up everything. We lunch at 12.30. The puddings are quite dreadful. The colonel never takes them. From 2 until 3 we generally sleep. At 3 the colonel insists on taking some exercise. We then walk to the French Club about a quarter of a mile away and play two or three sets of singles at tennis. The heat is pretty fierce and I endeavour tactfully to point out that perhaps 5 o’clock would be a better time to play, but that is quite out of the question. After tennis we walk up to the French Club proper about ¼ mile away and have tea. It’s a very attractive spot overlooking the canal and in many ways reminded me of the Country Club in Johannesburg. You have tea on a very pleasant veranda overlooking the canal. We had to be back again by 6 o’clock for the manning parade, which lasted about an hour.
Captain Hendry asked us out to dinner. We all went to the local casino, except Jack Hall, who was duty officer. It was rather an amusing place, a good dinner and entertaining cabaret. There was one very attractive Hungarian girl there, who took part in the cabaret. Her name is Maria. She is a friend of Jack Hall. He goes there practically every evening. She is quite lovely and a good dancer. We made the colonel dance with her once or twice. I think Hendry is a bit of a lad, he was dancing round all the time.
Wednesday, 14 August
After the manning parade the colonel and I went to a cocktail party on board a destroyer, which is here in dry dock. She had a hole made in her side by an Italian plane in the Mediterranean, and she is having that put right. Her name is the Havock and her captain is a man called Courage. The whole thing was done very well and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was amazed at the beauty of some of the lovelies from Tewfik. The colonel had a grand reception as he went on board. The captain met him on the deck, with the orderly officer standing behind, very smart in their white uniform. We had our drill uniform on, with tunics, and I think looked smart too. It made me think how very much I should have liked the navy as a career. Never have I met an unpleasant naval man. This destroyer took part in the second battle of Narvik; she also saw service at Rotterdam when the Dutch gave in. They showed us some excellent photographs which they had taken of an Italian ship sinking in the Mediterranean. The cocktail party was most enjoyable and thoroughly interesting. The colonel, Lady Yarborough and I dined afterwards at the French Club.
Thursday, 15 August
Tennis in the afternoon at 3. The colonel and I played Lady Yarborough and the pro. We just were beaten. A bathe afterwards. At 8.45 in the evening we had a practice shoot with the lights working in conjunction. Unfortunately, the navy failed to provide a target so it was all rather a flop. Dinner afterwards at the French Club.
Friday, 16 August
We finished work at 11 in the morning. In the afternoon the colonel and I caught the 3.20 train to Cairo. We had a very hot and dusty journey. I have never known anything like the dust. Lady Y joined us at Suez and we travelled together. We had the commander of the Havock and another naval officer in the carriage with us. We arrived in Cairo at about 5.30, went straight to the Continental Hotel, bathed and had tea. Rona Trotter arrived after tea from the Anglo-American hospital where she had been seeing Henry, her husband, looking as usual most attractive. She certainly dresses very well. The Continental Hotel is an enormous place. We have rooms overlooking one of the main streets. I have a room, quite comfortable, between the colonel and Lady Y on one side and Rona Trotter on the other side. Running water, but the noise is dreadful. Rona was out for dinner, which was disappointing. She didn’t expect us to arrive until Saturday so had accepted an invitation. The colonel, Lady Y and I dined at a place called the St James. We sat out of doors and watched a cinema during dinner. We got back about 10.30. I heard Rona come in at about 2.30.
Cairo must have been a fascinating place to visit during the war. Unlike London, or most European c
ities, Cairo was not subject to blackouts, and both officers and other ranks could enjoy plenty of food, drink and female company; not only were there large numbers of English and other European ladies living and working in Cairo, with whom friendships might be formed, there were also plenty of brothels. Much of the heart of the city had been rebuilt in the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with ornate mansions and villas, wide streets and electric tramways, and while the number of carts and animals were a constant reminder that it was, at heart, an old Middle Eastern city, anyone stepping inside Shepheard’s Hotel or the Turf Club could be forgiven for thinking they were back at home. Cairo was rich in cinemas, bars, cafés, hotels, clubs, and manicured gardens as well as a belle-époque area of curving boulevards called Garden City, in which GHQ, the British Embassy and other governmental bodies were based. There was the Gezira Sporting Club, with cricket ground, riding facilities and tennis courts, and there was also the older Islamic part of the city with its mosques, bazaars and other attractions. And as if that wasn’t enough, there were Egypt’s antiquities – its museums, the Pyramids and Sphinx. Despite the heat, flies and animal dung, Cairo was, during the wartime years, an exciting and vibrant place to live or spend one’s leave.
Saturday, 17 August
At 8 I had some coffee, rolls, butter and marmalade in my bedroom, which I thoroughly enjoyed. At 9 I used Rona’s bathroom to get dressed. At 1 o’clock we all left for the Anglo-American hospital to see Henry Trotter. He is going on slowly but will be there a longish time. The hospital is a most attractive spot with a lovely garden attached. The colonel, Lady Y and I left there for the Pyramids. I was most impressed when I saw them for the first time. The colonel and I climbed up both inside and out. From the top, you do get the most wonderful view over the desert. It took us about 20 minutes to climb to the top, and 15 minutes to get down again. When we got down we were very hot but a bathe in the pool at Mena House soon cooled us off again. Rona Trotter came there and joined us for lunch. She looked quite lovely today. Her complexion is her strong point. Lunch at Mena House was first class. In the afternoon the colonel, Lady Y and self went to the native bazaar. I can’t think of the proper name. It was most interesting and we saw some lovely things. I would have loved to send some glass home to the family, but I don’t suppose it would have ever arrived. I bought Lady Y a small present and also a tiny little box with a figure of Moses inside for Rona.
Mena House Hotel stood – and still stands – in the shadow of the Pyramids at Giza, and was open to officers who could either stay there or simply enjoy its bars and dining facilities. Beyond, on the edge of the desert, was the vast sprawl of Mena Camp. That night we dined on the roof of the Continental Hotel. Our party consisted of the colonel, Lady Y, Rona, and Freddie Luck. We met Freddie in the hotel during the day. He is no longer brigade major to Milter, but has a staff job in Cairo. He was in great form. Unfortunately, Lady Y felt very seedy after dinner, so she retired to bed. The colonel followed soon after and Rona, Freddie and I stayed until the end. They had an excellent cabaret during the evening. Rona and I decided to go to a nightclub and went to a place called Jules. We demanded waltz after waltz and danced and danced until 4 o’clock. Rona dances the old waltz very well indeed. We got back to the hotel about 4.30 and crept to our rooms with shoes off so that we should not be heard by the colonel. Jules was highly respectable, with plenty of army people there. The floor was good, and the band consisted of one very excellent pianist. I am pleased to say that Freddie Luck did not come with us. We had an amusing time, and Rona danced well. Personally I think she is quite bored with Henry. I don’t quite know whether she married him for his money. There is over 10 years between them in age. They have one child, a girl aged about two. She seemed to think that once a girl was married and had a child, the best of life was over. I endeavoured to persuade her to the contrary. On the way home I wondered whether I should make love to her and, bearing in mind that Henry was in my regiment (although I do think him the world’s bloodiest fool) and that I was with the colonel, rather foolishly decided against. She is attractive, but rather cow-like about the eyes! The whole day was great fun, and a great change from the usual routine of life. I don’t suppose such a situation will ever come again: to spend an evening with a lovely girl (married, of course), to stay in the same hotel, to have rooms adjoining by door, to get rid of the rest of the party and then say good night at the door.
Sunday, 18 August
In the morning we went to the hospital to see Henry Trotter, then proceeded to the Gezira Club where we bathed. The club is simply grand, with polo, tennis, squash, cricket and a magnificent swimming pool in which we had a swim. I ran into Boyd there. I have not seen him since I left Winchester.
The colonel and I then went to the station to catch the early train back to Port Tewfik. Very late we rushed to the station and by mistake we got into the wrong train, which took us 50 miles in the wrong direction. We then fortunately stopped at a tiny Arab station. The colonel’s diarrhoea was in a bad state, but there was no lavatory on this extraordinary station. After great difficulty we managed to find an Arab car, which took us all the way back to Cairo. We went back to the hotel – Lady Y was amazed to see us again – had some tea, and caught the late train back to Tewfik. It was terribly crowded and we had the greatest difficulty in getting a seat. When we eventually did, we found ourselves next to two drunken Australians, who made a nuisance of themselves all the way down until one fell asleep on the shoulder of a fat woman next door. We couldn’t find a taxi when we arrived at Tewfik so we walked to the French Club, not having had any dinner. But it was so late we could only get bread and cheese. So ended our weekend in Cairo, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Monday, 19 August
The colonel’s stomach is in a very bad way. During the morning he took some castor oil, which kept him running all through the day. He really has been rotten. After lunch he retired to bed until dinner-time. Usual lectures in the morning. In the afternoon I played cricket for the battery against the Royal Sussex Regiment, which is here at Port Tewfik. I didn’t get an innings as we won before I was due to go in. We played on a very pleasant ground.
Tuesday, 20 August
We heard today that British Somaliland had been evacuated successfully. I don’t quite know at the present what that will mean. Before leaving for dinner I managed to dash off a note to Rona, which I sent up to Cairo via Nuttall, Henry’s servant. The colonel would have been most inquisitive if he had found out to whom I was writing. His stomach is much better and he was in excellent form at dinner. He was really most amusing. The dinner at the Misv Hotel is good.
British Somaliland was one of her African colonies that Britain surrendered. Around 30,000 Italian troops had laid siege to the capital, Berbera, but on 19 August, Lieutenant General Godwin-Austen gave the order to the 6000-strong garrison to destroy the dock facilities and then withdraw.
Wednesday, 21 August
We are really having a very easy time here. We only work from 8.30 until 12.15 and today we had nothing to do in the afternoon. Not even a manning parade. And, what is more, I understand they are not giving us any kind of test papers, although they couldn’t very well expect the colonel to sit down and do an examination paper on work he has done over the last three weeks. Today an RAOC officer arrived to test the guns before the practice shoot on Saturday. This battery was to have had its practice shoot on Friday but now it has been postponed until Saturday as a very large convoy is arriving here from British Somaliland, which was evacuated by the British the day before yesterday. I understand they got away with exceptionally few casualties, and that British Somaliland was evacuated entirely through Winston Churchill. He said to Wavell, when he was in London, that he absolutely refused to sacrifice another soldier’s life endeavouring to hold land that would come back to us again in the near future. This statement, coupled with the fact that women with children over five are to be evacuated from Egypt to South Africa, points rat
her to possible activity here in the near future.
Thursday, 22 August
Usual routine in the morning. The practice shoot is going to take place on Saturday. Only once have they fired before, and that was at a drunken skipper of a merchantman who would not stop at the signal. They fired a shot across his bows to bring him to. It was a full charge, but a sand-filled shell, but the blast did £50 worth of damage to this building. So what will happen tomorrow the Lord only knows. Henry Trotter’s servant, who went up to Cairo from here, returned today. He brought back a letter from Rona in answer to mine. She had actually written before she received mine. She said she loved our evening together, especially the waltzes. I must say we did have fun. Will it be a good thing to write back again? Don’t quite know. I must think about it. But she is attractive.
I took the colonel and his wife out to dinner, as they really have been most kind to me. We had dinner at the Misv Hotel. Today I had some mail from England sent on from Haifa. A letter from Ione, one from Seymour. He has got a commission in the Greys. I do hope that he gets out here as I would greatly like to see him again. He really is a first-class person. I also had a letter from Martha.