Zeitoun Camp
6.1.16
Dear May
We are still here & so far have heard nothing definite about moving. The work here is fairly strenuous. They have reduced the number of permanent orderlies from 8 to 2 so that I am back in the ranks. We do physical drill from 1/4 to 7 till half past, breakfast at 8 & parade 1/4 past 9 to about 1/4 or 1/2 past 12 & have lunch at 1. At 2.20 we fall in again & go until a little after 5. Tea is at 5.30 & as a rule we are off for the night. The hours are not long but all morning we are rushing about through the sand very often with our full pack on & in the afternoon we usually go for a route march for two hours in full marching order and nearly always finish up feeling pretty tired. The food is not too good & there seems little chance of an improvement. Both quality & quantity are below expectations. On Xmas day they had poultry for dinner & it was served up all feathers & only slightly cooked & with most of the internals still in. One chap reckoned he would undertake to resuscitate one rooster for a fair wager.
[Page 2]
The whole crowd went out on strike & had all the officers out & there was just about a riot. Major Ross, our head man, was hooted off the ground. Next day the man who had acted as spokesman was placed under open arrest for a week. That is he just knocks about as usual but is liable to be called up at any time but of course there has been no more said. On Wed. the food was awful. The stew was dreadfully burnt & also a sort of mixture of stewed prunes & apricots. We had a night parade on & were out on the desert from 3 o’clock till about 1/4 to 9 & when tea came on at 9 o’clock it was uneatable. Hargest & I didn’t wait for it but went to a refreshment room about 1/2 a mile away & had a good feed but when we got back the men were in a great state & it was agreed that the whole reinforcement should march to Headquarters & refuse to drill, if the breakfast didn’t show a big improvement. There was an awful difference in the breakfast & we had no reasonable ground for complaint so the big riot didn’t come off. Since then it has been better but is not at all good. However we are thriving on it & I don’t
[Page 3]
think we are losing weight. Will be glad to get into the trenches where they get plenty of good wholesome bully beef & biscuits. We are living in huts here. There are just enough sticks to show where the hut is & the rest is for ventilation. Big doorways without doors & big windows about 5 ft sq without even a framework in them, and at the eaves there is a 2 ft opening right along. If Dr Thacker could only see them he would go off his head. The floor is of sand & we buy mats from the niggers for 3 piastres & they make a very good mattress. The weather here has been fairly cold lately & one day we had to parade on the desert with overcoats on & were not too hot then. The natives say that it is exceptionally cold. There is a wet canteen on the ground but there is not much drinking going on. New Years Eve was the only time it was noticeable and then it was chiefly among the Australians. No more prints ready yet.
Love to all
Len
