Berkshire and The War: the "Reading Standard" pictorial record. Volume 4. p 955

Berks Royal Horse Artillery - €”continued.

... left in camp. The sun continued to scorch, the dust choked, the village stank, the flies stung and worried, the water was bad and dangerous to drink, men died of pneumonia and the hospitals overflowed with cases of dysentery and skin disease. That, in brief, was the story of the Aden Hinterland operations. There were only two other actual encounters with the enemy besides the one described above. One was a successful raid on a small village, where the Turks were wiped out, and the other an attempted surprise on a place called Waht. It was the attackers who got the surprise, however. They had to retire, leaving dead and prisoners, but not before the Battery had put in some good work on the enemy's camel corps. It was here that the H.A.C. got into trouble and some Berks team s helped to fish them out.

Back to Egypt.

On September 19th the Battery was relieved at Aden by a Hants Battery of howitzers, to whom their sympathy went out. That place was heartily cursed as it faded in the distance, and small wonder. Gunner Bartlett and Driver Pragnell, of the Berks Battery, died at Aden and are buried there. Pragnell was a Caversham lad and Bartlett worked before the war for Messrs. Mcllroy.

On the voyage back to Suez, which was made on the S.S. Menominee, since torpedoed and sunk, the men had a good experience of the sun at its worst on the Red Sea. Work on the stable decks was impossible unless stripped to the skin, and then a breather at the side of the ship was necessary at least every five minutes. There was a burial at sea, an impressive sight of which the memory can never be rid. Fumigation and disinfection was the order of the day on arrival at Suez, and when they moved up to Ismailia, on the Canal, the Battery left nearly half its number in hospital at Suez. Some of these never rejoined, for they were no more fit for foreign service and were drafted home, where they had a better chance of recovery. At Higginstown, close to Ismailia, the Battery found itself placed in quarantine for two months, owing to the horses having brought back some disease with them, and it was here that the first consignment of mules arrived. Many tales could be told about the originality of training methods employed by some of the drivers in dealing with these mules, but -€œ no names, no pack drill - as the drivers themselves would express it. While in this place the Battery came under the jurisdiction of the Royal Artillery, Canal Defences, which, it is interesting to note, in passing, was commanded by Colonel the Earl of Denbigh, a bluff old soldier who delighted to mix and joke with the men.

The Western Egypt Operations.
Rain and Sand.

The next chapter of this story is laid in a different scene. In December, 1915, what were known as the "Western Front operations" against the Senussi and other tribes were beginning, and the Battery became attached to the 22nd Mounted Brigade, which was sent to occupy a fertile province known as The Fayoum, some 200 miles south-west of Cairo. This place has figured largely during the recent disturbances. To everyone's surprise the Fayoum was occupied without a shot being fired, and it was for little short of a year that the Battery formed part of its garrison. Though lacking somewhat in excitement, those twelve months were filled with interesting incidents and episodes, and a book might be written dealing with this phase alone of the Berkshiremen's foreign service. There was a touring of the villages in full battle order, the object being to intimidate the natives, who were not too friendly disposed to the British. They were about the usual type of Arab to be found in Egypt and adjoining countries, the only apparent difference being that the women wore rings through their noses and had an abnormal liking for bangles, anklets and bracelets. It was during these exploring raids and night marches that the Battery got its first introduction to Egyptian rains. The word rain does not adequately describe what happened. Half-an-hour of it sufficed to cover the earth some three or four inches deep in water. There was no shelter, and one had to assume a stoical attitude and imagine himself on a bathing parade. In a week or so the Battery pitched camp at a place called Abu Gandir, on the edge of the desert, and here the diversion changed from rain storms to sand storms. All day long the air would be thick with choking, blinding sand and dust, which piled itself into high drifts on the windward side of tents or any other obstacle which it encountered. Meal times were most exciting, and those who ate most food had perforce to eat most sand.

[photo, group, interior] How the Lads in the East are protected from mosquitoes when in bed.

The Royal Camel Artillery.

It was at Abu Gandir that the old 15 pounders with which the Battery had been equipped were at last discarded and 18 pounders received in their stead. A move was then made back to El Azzab, close to the town of Fayoum, and in a camp where there were decent shelters for the horses and good canteens and amusement for the men.

A rather novel innovation, which caused interest and some fun, was made about this time. Long marches in the desert districts were exceedingly difficult to make, owing to the very deep sand, which had a most exhausting effect on the horses and mules. It was therefore proposed to adopt camels for draught animals, and to this end saddlers were set to work to improvise camel harness. This was accomplished by reversing the breast collar, so that it fitted in front of the camel's hump. At the same time a certain number of men were being trained in camel management, so that by the time the camels arrived everything was ready for a start. In the end, however, the scheme proved a total failure. As a draught animal the camel is "nahpoo", although for carrying purposes nothing can challenge his supremacy. He has insufficient strength in his legs, and in anything approaching heavy going failed to move the guns at all. The camel cannot stop itself when running downhill, and to see a team of "hump-backs" at full gallop with an 18 pounder bumping and bouncing behind them was a sight to make the Sphynx smile.

It may be permissible just here to wander from the subject a little to accord a word of praise to the Y.M.C.A. and its helpers for what they did at El Azzab to amuse and entertain the troops. A huge hut had been erected, capable of holding an audience of at least 2,000 men, and it was christened "The Stadium". Herein the troops had ample amusement in the shape of concerts, boxing tournaments, lectures, reading and writing, and all manner of indoor games. It may be mentioned in passing that Battery men were well in the limelight where the boxing contests were concerned, quite a number of prizes coming their way.

Beautiful Garden of Roses.

That summer was long drawn-out and hot, and all drill had to be accomplished between an early reveille and breakfast time. Before it was light the Battery would be off across the desert, where the great vultures wheeled and hovered over the mounds of sand and rock, manoeuvre against an imaginary foe, gallop into action half-a-dozen times, and return to camp as another day of blinding heat was beginning. Another day of doing nothing, except to sweat a great deal and kill a few of those tiresome flies, with not so much as a puff of air to flutter the tent flaps. Then the cool of the evening again, when it was possible to breathe in some fresh air, enjoy a smoke, and forget for a few hours that there were such things as heat, and dust, and flies. Yes, perhaps! Not if the mosquitoes could help it, though. Millions of these insects showed such great interest in the Battery that they would often stop all night, and they so enjoyed the men's conversation that they wouldn'™t hear of them going to sleep. Mosquito nets were served out, but these humorous little chaps voted them the best joke they had ever seen in their lives. They played "touch me" and "here we go round the mulberry bush" in and out of the netting with frequent pauses for refreshment, and their Handley-Page orchestra filled the night watches. Then the bull-frogs and the crickets, jealous of their reputation, joined in the chorus for all they were worth, while the sweating soldier, with swollen hands and face, waited to welcome back the sun and the flies.

At El Azzab the Battery lost a very popular officer in Captain Bertram W. D. Brooke, who had to leave owing to a reduction in the establishment of officers. He departed from the railway station amid the cheers and wishes of the men, followed by "He's a jolly good fellow".
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