Читать книгу The Other Side of the Trench - G. S. Willmott - Страница 9

Chapter 5

1915 Egypt

Harry endured four months of training and waiting before he got notice that he was to embark on to the troop ship, the SS Ceramic, the largest troop ship in the fleet. It used to be a cruise liner but this was no bloody cruise. After two months of rough weather and high seas and countless games of “two up”, they disembarked at a place Harry had never heard of before: Serapeum in Alexandria, Egypt. Harry had always wanted to see the pyramids but you certainly couldn’t see them from there! There were lots of ancient ruins and Harry and his cobbers did find them intriguing but it was bloody hot and the hawkers would not leave them alone.

After about a week of heat and sand storms they were moved to a new camp at Mena near Cairo. Now Harry and the boys could see the pyramids and the sphinx, something they were all looking forward to when they had been on the “cruise”.

So they became tourists climbing the Great Pyramid and taking camel rides. There were other benefits also; they could go into Cairo, a city like they had never seen before. To be honest, Harry and his mates had only seen Melbourne so Cairo with its people and nightlife was something to behold. They were pretty well behaved but did have a few run-ins with some toffy British officers.

‘Hey Harry.’ yelled his good mate Dave. ‘Come and have a look at this’. Harry came over and looked inside the small café. ‘Have you ever?’

There were several men smoking large water pipes and watching a belly dancer going through her motions, so to speak.

‘Do you wanna go in and give it a burl, mate?’

‘Why not?

Both Dave and Harry took a spot on some big fluffy cushions; the Arab who ran the show introduced himself as Ammon. ‘Would you like some coffee and a Shisha?’

‘What the bloody hell is a Shisha, mate?’ Dave asked.

‘It is a water pipe See everyone has one. You will like it, very relaxing.’

‘Bloody hell mate, I could do with a bit of relaxing with what we have been through lately. ‘It’s not gonna cost us an arm and a leg is it, Ammon?’

‘Excuse me, Sir?’ Ammon was confused. ‘I don’t want your arm or leg, just a pound each’

They both laughed. ‘It’s just an expression we use in Australia meaning expensive’ ‘Oh I see’, said Ammon starting to become impatient ‘Well, would you like a coffee and Shisha?’

‘Yeah why not. You only live once don’t you?’

Ammon departed and came back fifteen minutes later with two very exotic Shishas.

‘I have selected a very fragrant tobacco for you, said Ammon ‘it is mixed with strawberries, apple and grapes. I am sure you will enjoy it. I will bring your coffee shortly so relax and enjoy the dancer and your Shisha.’ ‘If the boys down the footy club could see us now’

Dave broke up laughing and agreed.

As they smoked their special blend and sipped the coffee that Ammon had brought them they really did feel relaxed. The belly dancer was quite pretty but quite chubby; she danced in front of them, shaking all the flesh she could, smiling the whole time.

Harry’s thoughts went back to Emma in Melbourne and how he missed her and could not wait to get back and marry her, have a family and live a happy life. At the same time he was looking forward to the great adventure that lay in front of him.

After about an hour Harry and Dave decided to move on and find somewhere they could have a drink. They found a very rowdy bar full of ANZACs and Tommies. They ordered a couple of beers and started to chat with the other Diggers and a couple of Poms.

Things were going very nicely until a pompous Pommie Captain walked in with a couple of Military Police and closed down the bar for the night. Dave couldn’t help himself.

‘You Pommy bastards are always trying to ruin our fun.’ Dave shouted ‘You can’t play cricket and you can’t play football and you can’t fight either.’

Dave then turned on his heels and bolted out of the bar running down laneways and ducking under awnings with the two policemen giving chase. He finally lost them in the night market. He then tried to find his way back to Mena without being sprung. He sneaked in around midnight and lay down on his stretcher. Harry had been back for nearly two hours.

’Geez mate, you were lucky they did not throw you in the clink.’

’They would have had to catch me first, they were too bloody slow.’

The next day while Harry was resting in his tent after the big night out in Cairo another mate, Bill Hawkins, called out to him

‘Harry, you have a young bloke who says he knows you. Will I send him in?’ ‘Who is it?’ ‘Well that’s the funny thing. He says his name is Harry Daniel’

Harry sat up on his stretcher ‘There is only one other Harry Daniel I know of, and he’s me nephew. It can’t be him, he’s too young to enlist.’

‘Well what do I do with him Harry?’

‘Hold on I’ll come out.’

Harry gingerly got up and walked out to see whom the impostor was. ‘Hello Uncle Harry’ said the slightly built young man. ‘Bloody hell what are you doing here?’

‘Same reason you’re here Uncle Harry to fight for King and country.’

‘But you’re only a kid. How old are you now?’ ‘Well, my enrolment papers say I am eighteen.’ ‘Bullshit, you’re about fifteen from memory’

‘Uncle Harry please, an officer might hear you. Young Harry spoke in a hushed voice ‘I am seventeen but was sixteen when I enlisted. Dad signed my papers so I am O.K. Don’t worry.’ ‘Don’t bloody worry!’

‘I have just got back from that hell hole, Gallipoli. Four months of hell, so if I can survive that, and I can tell you lots of my mates didn’t, I can survive anything.’

Harry ushered young Harry into his tent. ‘What battalion are you in kid?’

‘I was in the 10th but just got transferred to the 59th. How about you?’ ‘The 5th’ grunted Harry senior’.

‘Have you got any idea where they are sending you next and when?’

‘Not a bloody clue, Uncle Harry. I did hear a rumour that we are moving out soon.’ ‘Alright, you keep me posted’. ‘I will write to your Mum and Dad and let them know we caught up and you are safe and well.’ ‘I did write a few letters from Gallipoli and I sent them a couple of post cards of the pyramids and the sphinx with a few words.’