IN EGYPT.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 8, Issue 17, 21 January 1916, Page 2

IN EGYPT.

GUARDING WELLS A,ND OUTPOSTS. AMONG THE SANDS OF THE DESERT. Rifleman H.- G. Bell, of the 2nd Battalion of the Rifle Brigade, writes from Dabaa, Sahara Desert .under date of November 25, 1915: “We arrived here two days 'ago, in a sandstorm. We are on the railhead, 110 mile s west of Alexandria, five miles from the coast, ten miles into the desert. We are supposed to be somewhere near the borders of Egypt and Tripoli. The Senussi and Bedouin tribe s of these parts 'and the hinterland of Tripoli have risen at last, and we expect trouble here any day and any hour. We have some men about six miles out, guarding some wells, also outposts, guards, patrols, and sentries closer in. Last night our own platoon was inlying picket, and we had to sleep in full uniform, with rifle and equipment at our side. From now on we must just snatch sleep and meals as we may, for when we are not on guard duty cf some sort we are sent over the hill to dig in trenches. I suppose we are lucky to be here and not away from the railway at any rate. A water train comes out once a day, and biscuitg and bully beef are always more than we can face. We get about six biscuits, a tin of bully beef, a tin of jam, and a quart of black tea per diem. No butter, or . milk, bread, or duff, or anything like that. Not good stuff to work on. The chief trouble is so much salt meat and never any vegetables but jam. Naturally there nothing to buy here. Even water is priceless.- There are a few donkeys ,camels, sheen, and gcats belonging to a few friendly Arabs, who wander about loading for pasture where there is none; only an '■ccasiona! sage bush. The dry desert rolls away everyjvherfc, in tvhfte glare. The rai’s end abruptly at the permanent Egyptian coastguard barracks. Away to the right a small Arab village, with a diminutive mos'ue, sprawls unclean. 'At cur back our forlorn score of tents flap idly Pi the prevailing winds. Just over •he hill lie .cur trenches, and beyond that is a cavalry screen, motor cycle scouts, and armoured motor cars. To our right lies the Mediterranean, and probably Admiralty support. The climate is as lict as Hades. All day the. sand sends up a glare that is baffling to the eyes. Already the wind blows every day between 10 a.m. and 3 pan., and raises clouds of dust, which penetrate everything —food, clothes, rifle mechanism, ears, the eyes, and nose. The tents afford little shelter, and we just lie in them in sheer abandon, waiting for a lull. Night comes early and swift. The desert is no sooner turned from white to )red' thjan it changes to black. The desert sunset i s strikingly brief, and the desert moonlight is like daylight, only cool and white like a searchlight. At night, too, the desert becomes desperately ccid, and one .wants all the shelter

and clothes he can pile on as night gees on ana the heat of the day radiates out of the sand. We all have bad colds as the result of the quick change. The extreme was striking enough at Cairo and Alexandria, but here it is too sudden. Another evil from which we all suffer more or less 5c sand colic. Our library here is one “Royal Magazine,” but we are very happy to have get to the front so soon. jWe have met Tommies who have been in the war since its beginning, and have never seen a fight, and Australians who have been in Egypt for six months, yet we got our chance within a week of landing, and before we had been soldiers six months. “Eight armoured cars came in last night from the desert with refugees, fleeing before the face of advancing tribes. These tribes are supposed to be led by Germans and Turks, with Krupp and machine guns. They are the same tribes that the 'ltalians never

subdued, and are supposed to be in thousands. If they come at us it will be fierce indeed, as they must get at the well behind us or face the Sahara They are expected 'any time, though they may never come. If they delay much longer we shall be more than ready for them. Our trenches have to be cut through shallow reefg of rock.”