Egypt

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 18, 21 May 1915, Page 7

Egypt

MEWS FROM CAIRO. W. R. Stromuh, of the Second Queen Alexandra II i Hi's, who hit Stratford just before Christmas and went with the Third Reinforcements, writes to his sister, Nurse Stronach, from Heliopolis, under date April 14, as follows: Suez, or what we saw of it, is a dirty sort of place, but all the towns here are the same when you get to close quarters, although very picturesque from a distance. It took ns from seven to eight hours in the train from Suez to Helipolis, and we landed here pretty tired. We had throe hours sleep, and then woke up in a sandstorm. That was our introduction to the desert. It seemed very strange here the first few days when we woke in the morning to hear about a hundred bugles and trumpets blowing and the big drums boating down in the infantry lines., and then, when we went outside, as far as you could see there was nothing but sand, except, ot course, towards the town. But the novelty has worn off now, and it all seems quite natural. The sand is just like the sand at Cromwell—only more of it—and anything will grow with watef. We belong to the Wellington Mounted Rifles Second SJquadron. The Wellington Mounted Rifles is composed of three squadrons—the Second, Sixth, and Ninth. The Second is mostly Taranaki men. 1 went in to Cairo on Friday afternoon and had a look round. It is a curious sort of place—one street will he beautiful and wide with ‘ palms growing down it, and big clean-looking buildings, and just off it, not ten yards away, a narrow alleyway, just wide enough for four or five men to walk abreast, where you will find the dirtiest and lowest people one could imagine. All nationalities of women are there, except English, but 1 think the very fact of their absolute lowness keeps the men away more than anything else. There was a hit of a riot in there on Friday night, about half a dozen being shot, some dangerously, f happened to he near when it started. Things were thrown out of windows and burnt; looking glasses, beds and bedding, all went the same way, until the police came along, when there was a free fight. Of course, none of our chaps were armed, so could not do much, but 'the police were soon reinforced by Tommies with fixed bayonets, and then I thought it was time to go. So we came home. As a result, all leave is stopped.