LETTER FROM GENERAL GODLEY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2360, 16 January 1915, Page 8

LETTER FROM GENERAL GODLEY

GLAD TO BE IN EGYPT. : (By Telegraph—Frees Association.) , <;„• ...... Dunedin, January 15. The Hon. Jamos Allen has received letter--'from General Godley, stating he was glad the Expeditionary ; Porco was able to disembark where they : '.d ideas' 'both men and horses will'behefiu i j-'from the change.' 1 ."Facilities for training and.vmusketry,'' continues General Godley, "are- greater here than at < Salisbury Plain. Then there is the pos- : - -aibility of a shorter voyage to the front. , lln' tho ; meantime our troops may have -reality of a brush with the Turks or Bedouins. Our camp is

' .close to Heliopolis, about six miles from , Cairo, op'posite the Pyramids. The Aus- | tralians are about fifteen miles away." ;■ 1 ' In a further letter;' dated December 14, General Godley says -''Wo. were for- [ Annate'.iti-getffrig bur-ships through tho Suez Canal before the Australians. ! Trains,,have,.been, arriving all night, v land the-tropps.as.they arrive bivouac on itho, camping ground. Everything has 'gone extremely,'well,, tho men disemibarkfii'g ''from the trains in a most orIdetfy* and methodical way. This morni iing .'I rode-round the whole camp and ' found all settleil down satisfactorily. .Tlu> camp is , absolutely in tho. desert, | .'and we shall have,grand scopo for train- : i/ig.- - I was delighted with the condii' ition-and appearance of the horses. They : Stood tho voyage very, well, but the total loss of hoTses was 70. - The Aua-

| itralians lost 190. i On December 7 General Godley wrote : ! "We arc practically settled already, and i it' reflects " enormous credit on every- !' bods',that we should have been so quick. •; 'I amvdelighted -with, the way the staff . and the .troops'.have worked. The- phy- j i. eique of our men and the condition of | jthpjiorses are most favourably com- '; aiented on by all who see them, and ' i everything promises well. Our training f jcamp is very dusty, but quite comfortt 'able. The men are behaving excellenti ly, and even at Alexandria, where they ' .'were cooped ■ up in ships pending disj\ Embarkation, they behaved very well on ; ,tho -whole, and only a few of them ■ !broke ; ciut into the town. Trains have ! hecn arriving all day and night, and the K ;men were", dumped down in the desert v iwithout food or shelter, as we were not ; 'expecting them 60 soon, and the staff i of labour is quite inadequate to keep ' things running, but they have all been t." very cheerful, and have kept up well. ■ Our clothing does all right for the winJ ter. here, as the hats are practically as good as a helmet, and the coat is only i hot in tho middle of the day, when we ; go in shirt sleeves if necessary. It is I very cold at night. It is lucky we i brought tents. I anticipated something 5 of this kind. The Australians bivouao ! without tents, and there aro none to eparo in the country.