Berkshire and The War: the "Reading Standard" pictorial record. Volume 1. pg177
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Berkshire Yeomanry in the Land of the Paharoahs
Image Details
| Title | Berkshire and The War: the "Reading Standard" pictorial record. Volume 1. pg177 |
|---|---|
| Date | 1916 |
| Page number | Unknown |
| Publisher | Reading Standard |
| Description | 224 pages bound volume |
| Horizon Number: | 1246254 |
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Lynda Chater. Edited 12th October 2015
Berkshire Yeomanry
IN THE LAND OF THE PHAROAHS
After wintering in sea-coast villages
of Norfolk, whose hospitable and homely
folk won their lasting friendship, the
1/lst Berkshire Yeomanry sailed
in April, 1915, for Egypt. Men of high
spirits and brave resolve, they welcomed
the prospect of an early engagement
and a chance to put their hard training
and stout hearts to the test for the sake
of the land they had volunteered to
defend. Disembarking at Egypt, for
four months the regiment did garrison
duty and escort work for Turkish
prisoners of war. Alexandria and Cairo
were the stations of the regiment,
which cheerfully bore the trials o fa
torrid temperature and a fly plague but
was openly disappointed when orders to
move at the end of July were suddenly
cancelled. The ubiquitous poet well
expressed his comrades' feelings:
They came from the Western Counties,
They came from the Southern Shores,
From sheltering village homesteads,
And round cathedral spires.
They took to the work like heroes,
They banished all
"won'ts" and "can'ts",
The men of the Second Division,
The men that nobody wants.
There are men from London County,
From the Berkshire hills and dales,
From the leafy Buckingham woodlands,
And Worcester's fruitful vales.
Stout lads from Warwick's castles,
And from the Midland haunts,
The men of the Second Division,
The men that nobody wants.
They know them well at Moulsford,
And Norfolk can tell the tale,
With Cromer, and Walsham and Mundesley,
The land of the rain and gale,
They shivered, and waited, and lingered
With cursing, and grousing, and grunts,
The men of the Second Division,
The men that nobody wants.
At last we were stranded in Egypt,
With thirst, and heat, and sand,
To grill, and bake, and perish,
In a God-forsaken land.
"Send us back to face the Germans,"
Is the wish that nobody grants,
The cry of the Second Division,
The men that nobody wants.
THE FIRST CAMP ON LANDING.
A HOSPITAL TENT.
N. C. O. 'S ON A PERSPIRING PLEASURE TRIP TO THE PYRAMIDS.