Memorable scenes from the Peter Weir film Gallipoli show a young Mel Gibson and pals roving through old market stalls, but Prof Stanley said Cairo also had a European quarter, complete with wide boulevards and sidewalk cafes.
Awed soldiers wrote home about visiting the pyramids and places named in the Bible but were also confronted by a sex trade "on a scale that none of them had ever encountered", Prof Stanley said. Aussie troops received six shillings a day one shilling was deferred , leading to grumbles from lower-paid British Tommies that prices went up when the Diggers were around.
Misbehaviour among volunteers unaccustomed to following orders was inevitable and discipline was a serious problem. At Easter in , Australians were in a riot in the Cairo brothel district, and officers were gravely concerned by absenteeism.
Prof Stanley said while ill-discipline was viewed as harmless larrikinism, it did have serious consequences. Sexually transmitted diseases were also a problem, with more than men sent for treatment at a special "VD camp" at Langwarrin in Victoria over the course of a year. Professor Stanley says while the "larrikin minority" tend to attract most attention - as demonstrated in Peter Weir's film - it's important to remember they were just a minority.
In March , Australian troops sailed from Egypt to the Greek island of Lemnos, to prepare for the Gallipoli landings that would mark their place in history. Australia urged to ramp up climate action as COP26 ends with deal to 'phase down' coal.
COP26 agrees on global climate action deal but UN says it's 'not enough'. Pacific Island leaders vow to 'phase up' climate diplomacy after COP PCR test? As regards divisional troops, there was a great shortage. A Divisional Ammunition Column was an urgent necessity. A cable was sent to New Zealand asking for the despatch of a second Howitzer Battery one was already on the water and a Howitzer Brigade Ammunition Column as the necessary complement.
A Field Company of Engineers was to be formed out of surplus reinforcements, page 41 and a cable was despatched to New Zealand for a second company. The Divisional Train was to be organized as soon as the men and mechanical transport could be obtained. The camp rapidly acquired a well-groomed air. Patterns in stone ornamented the surroundings of each tent. Regimental crests and mottoes, representations of New Zealand birds and Maori proverbs were picked out in little coloured pebbles gathered on the desert.
It was discovered that oats, rice and other grains, if soaked in water, germinated vigorously when planted in the sand. Soon among the tents of the mounted units there appeared many green patches like miniature lawns. Round the officers' messes more elaborate gardens were attempted. From Cairene florists pot plants were procured; these were plunged, pot and all, into beds made of soil carted from the Canal banks, and there, watered by the careful Arab gardener, roses and canna bloomed profusely.
The newspaper boys were a never failing fount of amusement. Knowing no English but a few carefully taught swear words, these boys would stop the first slouch hat they met, and ask to have read over in English the gist of the headlines. Many an honest soldier would read the lines as printed, but it was too good a field for the wags to miss. Captain —— dead again! Egypt was nominally a province of Turkey, but the Khedive, Abbas Hilma Pasha, having gone over to the Central Powers with Turkey, it was notified on December 18, , that Egypt was placed under the protection of His Majesty the King.
The suzerainty of Turkey over Egypt thus terminated. The Australians and New Zealanders furnished representatives to line the streets—the Otago and Wellington Infantry Battalions with their bands doing duty for New Zealand. The streets and buildings were gaily decorated—many Italian and Greek and French flags being displayed, but principally Union Jacks and ensigns and the new Egyptian flag, red with three white crescents and stars.
The March through Cairo. The authorities entrusted with holding Egypt and the Suez Canal were sorely troubled in early December in reference to the Turks proclaiming a Holy War. The Nationalists were active, but with the arrival of the colonial troops the anxiety of those responsible was greatly relieved.
The suspected civilians and Turkish officers holding high command in the Egyptian Army were deported to Malta. The Egyptian understands armed strength and despises weakness. Being aware of this, it was deemed advisable to parade the troops as strong as possible and march through the most populous parts of the city. The New Zealanders were ordered to march through Cairo three days after the coronation.
From the very first days of their composition as the Australian Infantry Force, a looser standard of discipline existed in comparison to the British Army: [E]very soldier was supposed to be in his blankets by pm. Wahlert, G , The other enemy? Additional resources. Library resources After your first long hike, postcard.
We'll keep the flags a-flying boys, postcard. Also on ergo. The rush to enlist Australian men answered the call to war with a sense of adventure, duty and enthusiasm.
However the view at the time was positive and a newly arrived officer from England remarked that the Australian Division was at least well trained as any regular division before the war. It was tough in Egypt too, with basic facilities, and not much in the way of training beyond marching up and down the sand dunes and deserts.
However a month before the Gallipoli landing, Australian troops were involved in the first incident of what would become known as the Wasser Riots. The troops rampaged through shops in a district of Cairo known for its bars and brothels, setting fire to some of the businesses and brawling with staff and owners. Australians and New Zealanders were known as among the most fearsome and willing troops of the Allied forces.
Some 40, Australians camped in a small tent city at Tel-el-Kebir of six miles in length. A military railway was eventually constructed to take troops from the camp to their vessels in Alexandria and elsewhere including for embarkation to the Gallipoli landings and later to France photograph right of the 22nd Battalion en-route to Alexandria and the Western Front.
A new site was chosen for them at Tel-el-Kabir. Being 30 miles due west of the central part of the Suez Canal and a few miles east of the eastern edge of the lowlands of the Nile delta, the location was strategic not just for the encampment of a large reserve to protect the Canal, but to provide a vast training area and reservoir of troops to be provided for other theatres such as Europe.
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