The Beaudesert Times (Qld.)
18 June 1915
A Letter from Egypt
The following, is a copy of a letter received by Mrs. F. L. White from Private B. B. Delpratts, Heliopolis, Egypt, dated April 9th: —
Since I wrote we went to a place called Barrage on the Nile, about 20 miles from here, to swim our horses. We left on Easter Sunday and arrived there that night, camping near some very fine gardens (public), and it was nice to walk upon green grass again; which most of us slept on also. On Monday we took all our horses to a branch of the Nile, and swam them across it on an endless rope. The way it is done is by a rope that reaches across and back, and which is kept moving all the time by men on each bank. The horses are tied on and untied as the is rope moving. It was all done very quickly and without much trouble, although one horse very nearly got drowned through getting caught in its halter.
Easter Monday was a great feast day among the Mahometans, and the gardens were simply packed with people of all descriptions all day. They began to arrive at sunrise and many were still there at sundown. You never saw such a weird crowd, and one wondered how they got any amusement out of their outing, all they seemed to do was to eat what looked like dirty and uninteresting food, escholets, etc., and listen to much less interesting music. They seemed to be composed of the poorer class, and were the funniest crowd I ever saw.
On Tuesday we got back to Heliopolis about lunch time, I was one of the transport guard. Yesterday there was a military funeral, one of the men in the troop I was in having died of pneumonia, and most of the troop turned out to go to it. A trumpeter from A squadron died the same day, also a man from the 3rd regiment, who got very badly hurt at Barrage through a waggon running over him. I was a pall bearer so saw the whole thing, and it was most impressive. Each coffin was put on a gun carriage and a firing party of about 15 from each squadron the three men belonged to marched in front wit rifles reversed. Then behind each gun marched the pall-bearers, and behind the lot came the men, who had not been detailed for anything. After the burial service had been read the firing party fired three volleys over the grave and "Last Post" was sounded by the buglers. We marched about 4 miles but on the way home we took a train and had a very noisy trip buck to town, as the infantry band which had come with us, was on board.
It was rather amusing coming back as most of the men refused to pay the fares, and as all the officers had gone back there was no one to make them, so things got a bit mixed. The tram inspector stopped the car and refused to move, which the soldiers also did, and tho band struck up a tune, and we all sat tight. The tram inspector saw at last that it was impossible to do anything, and took us along, much to his disgust.
We do seem a proper fixture here, and fancy that the horses are keeping us back, that if it was not for them we would, have left before this. The infantry are not allowed to drill on the desert on account of the dust infecting their lungs, and I am not quite sure whether we shall be going out there much again, as we have been doing no drill lately.
There was a great row in Cairo on Good Friday, and much damage was done to property. I am not quite sure how it started in the first place, but when the military police drew their revolvers and injured a couple of the men, the crowd got quite out of hand and took possession of the street and wrecked it. They threw furniture from the windows of four story buildings, piled it up in a heap, and then set fire to it. When the fire brigade turned out they upset the engine and cut the hose. There was a picket of men from this regiment on guard in town that night, and they had a most exciting time, but luckily none of them got hurt. The men who gave the trouble were mostly infantry, both Australian and New Zealand, and some have since been arrested, but I have not heard what sentence they got. A body of soldiers is like a big mob of cattle in a scrub, they are easily handled while you have them well in hand, but once you lose control of them you are helpless and you wonder how you ever had any power over them.
I have bought a kodak and hope to have some snap shots to send you next mail, as I have no way of keeping them. I have not heard any news of Oliver since he left Mena, and have no idea where he is. I may go over to see Maurice [Bertram's brother, ed.] next Sunday with one of the men who was on one of the Cameron stations, and who knew Maurice very well by name.
Soldier Identified: Lieutenant Bertram Barnard Delpratt, Service No. 315, 5th Light Horse Regiment, A.I.F. Returned to Australia 26 December 1918.
Brother: Sergeant Maurice George Delpratt, Service No. 636, 5th Light Horse Regiment, A.I.F. Returned to Australia 8 July 1919.
See also (letter):
Sergeant Maurice Delpratt, 5th Light Horse Regiment, 21 May 1915 (brother)
Sergeant Maurice Delpratt, 5th Light Horse Regiment, 21 May 1915 (brother)
Funeral procession of 219 Lance Corporal (L Cpl) Walter Delwyn Perkins, 1st Light Horse Regiment, of Glen Innes, NSW. An auctioneer prior to enlistment, L Cpl Perkins embarked for overseas service aboard HMAT Star of Victoria (A16) on 20 October 1914. L Cpl Perkins died of pneumonia 27 March 1915, aged 25 years. One of a series of photographs from an album relating to the service of Lieutenant William Hopkin 'Hop' James, 1st Light Horse Regiment. April 1915. (Australian War Memorial)
Sources:
A Letter from Egypt. (1915, June 18). The Beaudesert Times (Qld. : 1908 - 1954), p. 2.
Funeral procession of 219 Lance Corporal (L Cpl) Walter Delwyn Perkins, 1st Light Horse Regiment, Egypt, April 1915. Australian War Memorial
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