Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Alexander on the left 29 January 1915

"WITH THE TROOPS TO EGYPT.

The following are extracts taken from letters received from Private Chas. Kelberg who is now is Egypt with the Australian forces, and we feel sure they will prove of interest to our readers :- Melbourne was left on October 18 1914, and we had a lovely trip to Albany, which was reached On October 24. I was on guard on the bridge one day at Albany, and I had a look at the country through a pair of powerful glasses, the view obtained being a very fine one. The day is filled in principally by rifle exercises and drill and in the evening and other spare time boxing holds sway, at which some of the boys are becoming adepts. Port Suez was reached on December 1st, where we were pleased to receive our letters from home, as if seemed like age since we had one. The scenery is most beautiful, and one can stand and look at the buildings for hours. They are up to 8 stories high, and are made of cement. It is funny to watch the Arabs loading the ships with coal. They re mind one of bees as they run up and down the planks, singing all the time. The latter is the worst part of it, for it makes one's head ache, but nevertheless it is a change from the roar of the sea. The voyage is much longer than you would think, and we fancy we will need some exercise when we land to shake the stiffness off.

The voyage has agreed with us immensely. I was 10 stone 51bs when leaving Australia, and am now 12 stone 51bs. I have a bath every morning and night, and it was badly needed when crossing the Equator, as the weather was very warm. We only lost 12 horses on the voyage. We were made to fall in the other day to see how many had deserted. Our ship is only about 30 yards from the shore, and several were caught in the attempt to get away. Prior to reaching Alexander we were notified that we were to disembark there. From this great city we took the train to a place called Cairo. The trip was a lovely one, and the land we traversed was even better than the Old Moe Swamp. It is all irrigated. A number of transports, carrying 60,000 troops, passed us at Port Said, and we exchanged greetings. We believe they were off to the front to fight the Turks. Whilst passing through the Tropics we quenched our thirsts by eating oranges, of which you can get from 25 to 30 for Is. I have eaten 14 in a day, and when I tell you they are much bigger than any to be had in Australia, you will understand what that means.

We are to hoist the British flag in Cairo on December 1st. There are over 100,000 troops camped under the Pyramids; the largest army here since Napoleon marched through Egypt. The Arab ponies are lovely, and would be great out there. Bert Fechner, Archie Gunn and yours truly were in Cairo one night, and had a great time. I met Tom Raeburn the other night. He is in the 11th Infantry. I had a look at the Pyramids the other day, and went all through one of them. There are 9 altogether-8 large and 6 small ones. There is a large city and the ground, the desert sand having covered it over. Some of the buildings were 9 stories high. You can reach the ruins by means of passages which have been cut out. We went through some of the main ones and saw the coffins of two of their Queens, which were made of granite. One cannot say enough about the marvellous buildings, some of the stone in them weighing 400 tons. They were floated over 50 miles down the Nile, but the river is two miles away from them now. The guide with us said it took 80 years to build a Pyramid, and we do not doubt it. The horses are in good condition, but have not been ridden yet. We have two half days a week off, and have no difficulty in filling in the time. The food is first rate, and the boys are in great heart. We had to be inoculated twice, and I think we would all go silly if we had to go through it again. They were very severe on the men. Although very much taken with the countries we have traversed, we will not be sorry to get back to the sunny shores of Australia once more." - from the Trafalgar and Yarragon Times 29 Jan 1915 (nla.gov.au)