Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

December 12, 1916, The Brisbane Courier, p. 7. Retrieved October 7, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20132992

WITH THE CAMEL CORPS,
PATROL WORK IN THE
DESERT.
"RATHER BE IN FRANCE,"

Private Alvin Eglinton, an A.I.F. mem- ber of the Camel Corps, writes to his father, Mr D. Eglinton, from Abbassia, Egypt, as follows : "I never thought that I would be camel punching. Some say it is the roughest game in the Army. It is not a bad game. We have a pretty easy time, and there is not as much work attached to them as horses. Horses have to be watered two or three times a day, whereas we only take camels to water every fifth day. Half of our company left Abbassia at daybreak on __ with enough food, &c., to last us for about six days. We were to ride to Bir-Hooker, which is on the northern frontier of Egypt. We went through Cairo, and out past the Pyramids, and reached Bir- Hooker after five days' travel through the desert. We used to start saddling at 3 a.m., and move off at 4 a.m., after giving the camels food, and boiling ourselves a cup of tea. The firewood we had to carry with us, as there is nothing but sand and gravel on the desert. We would then travel until 10.30a.m. after having frequent spells to unsaddle and feed the camels and boil tea, and eat something ourselves. It gets very hot from about 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. We would then rig up our blankets, &c., to make shade, as we would not travel in the heat of the day, but move off at 4 p.m. and travel until dark (7 p.m.). The following days we did the same, and on the fifth day arrived at Bir-Hooker at 11 a.m. It was not what a fellow would call an interesting trip, as the same thing was to be seen every day—just bare desert. It was good travelling for the camels, as they had not much soft sand to cross, the desert out this way being nice and hard and gravelly. At Bir-Hooker there is an oasis, trees, grass, and three small salt lakes. There is a salt mill managed by a Scotchman who has a few hundred natives working for him. He has a big brick house on a small hill. The Australian Camel Corps captured over £600 worth of goods that were going through to the Senussi about six weeks ago. Generally we never see anybody when we are out on patrol, and I do not think we will ever see any fighting. I would much rather be in France, risking my luck, than here in Egypt. Of course a fellow does not get iron foundries thrown at him here, but he is doing his bit just the same in this hot, sandy, monotonous country. I think the people in Australia forget that there are troops in Egypt doing their bit just the same as those in France. I can tell you that most of the Light Horse and Camel Corps would rather be in France; and, as an infantry officer said a couple of months ago to a Light Horseman who got a trans- fer on account of becoming unfit for horse work, he would like to take a battalion of Light Horsemen to France as infantry with him, as they were so anxious to go. The Welsh soldiers camped near us often give concerts, and they uphold the name the Welsh people have for music. There is a big iron tank, filled with good, fresh water every day, for the use of us to swim in. The North Star and Great Bear are good guides for us, especially if we get lost on the desert. Of course I have not seen the Southern Cross from Egypt, but I believe it can be seen from Southern Egypt. The nights here are beautiful— always a clear and starry sky."