Читать книгу The Continual Inner Search - Margaret Winn - Страница 13

2

Off to War – Gallipoli and Egypt

In July 1915, before he had finished his hospital residency, Roy signed up for what came to be called the First World War. He volunteered out of a sense of duty – he felt he simply had to go. He sympathised with conscientious objectors and doubted whether, if he had not been a doctor, he would have enlisted, as he could not have taken on the killing.29 Not only did he have to overcome his own reluctance to enlist, there were other matters to consider before deciding. The Medical Superintendent of Royal Prince Alfred Hospital told Roy that he did not want him to go and if he did, he would make it hard for Roy to get a job after the war.30 At this time, the Sydney medical fraternity was small and interconnected, so any threats to his future medical career had to be taken seriously.

Roy volunteered anyway and was commissioned captain in the Australian Medical Corps. He was assigned to the No. 1 Australian General Hospital, in the enormous former Heliopolis Palace Hotel, Cairo. He had sailed with 20 other doctors and 100 nurses on the mail steamer Orontes and arrived in Egypt on 3 September 1915. When he undertook his first ward rounds, he was pleased to find that the men under his care were all suffering from medical complaints; he did not yet regard himself as competent to handle wounded surgical patients.31

When on leave he explored Cairo. He went to the antiquities museum and was ‘overwhelmed by the magnificence and gorgeous colouring of the furniture and the jewellery used so many thousands of years ago. He was impressed by the forceful representation of a court official known as Sheik-el-Beled because it was not too conventional.’32 Although Roy had a strict religious upbringing and seemed to be very conformist, this suggests he was not blind to the attractions of the unconventional.

He also sampled the Cairo nightlife with fellow medical officers, including one trip to a ‘can-can’ cabaret. He viewed the cabaret as a debased form of folk dance, which might have been appropriate when performed by village maidens as a prelude to courtship.33 This comment of Roy’s is in keeping with the strain of prudishness and naiveté that runs through his novel.

He went to the Casino de Paris for a more conventional cabaret. The dancers sat at tables with the patrons and one girl challenged him ‘vous êtes vierge, Monsigneur le Capitain, n’est pas?’ He felt embarrassed and tried not to show it but the wound to his vanity persisted for some time.34 One can speculate whether Roy acted to prevent a repeat of this humiliating experience or whether his religious beliefs forbade it.

In the face of lack of progress against Germany in 1914, the British War Council had decided to attack Germany’s weaker allies and a plan was devised to capture the Turkish forts commanding the narrow Dardanelles and force open a way to Istanbul. After naval attempts proved unsuccessful, a land attack was approved and, in April 1915, British and Anzac formations landed at Cape Helles and Anzac Cove, both part of the Turkish peninsula that the Turks called Gelibolu. The terrain was precipitous and heavily defended and although both sides fought bravely, after some early gains the troops remained deadlocked in static trench warfare. On the first day, more than 620 Australians died, a shock to Australians who had come together in a Commonwealth just 14 years before.

Rather than stay in Egypt, Roy decided to volunteer for service on Gallipoli and on 27 September 1915 he left Cairo on a hospital ship bound for Mudros Harbour on the island of Lemnos. En route, the party had their hair cropped and he was amazed by the transformation from respectable individuals into undoubted criminals.35

At Mudros he was transferred at dusk to an ex-Channel steamer for the last leg to Gallipoli. The sound of distant shelling could be heard, with sudden flashes and bright arcs of searchlights. He describes it as like a monster fireworks display. The brilliant beams lit up circles of hillside as if it were day and exposed perfect targets, and bursting shells caused fantastic columns of dust-laden smoke to swirl upward like volcanic eruptions.36

The crack of rifle fire and the sputter of machineguns was almost continuous at times, while the loud boom of artillery and the roar of bursting shells acted as a bass accompaniment to the staccato treble. At other periods, only occasional shots would be heard, so the effect was of swelling storms of sound alternating with quietness. It resembled nothing so much as the movements of a soul-stirring symphony played by a mighty orchestra. Roy felt as though his heart would break.37 Although this description of the approach to Gallipoli is taken from his novel, it illustrates that Roy was a man with imagination and a poetic bent.

The party was put into ship’s boats, which were towed by pinnaces towards the Gallipoli shore in the dark. As they approached Anzac Cove, Roy could hear the frightening zip of bullets striking the water around him. He hoped that all would find such a harmless target. He felt proud he was about to step onto that heroic shore, but thought how differently he was faring from those who had scaled the cliffs in the light of dawn only a few months before.

The boats drew alongside a small pier and he clambered out, careful not to blunder into ammunition boxes, shells, cases of bully beef, jam tins and rolls of barbed wire. The party of medicos was eventually conducted to the dugout of the director of medical services, who announced ‘just as well you’ve come. We’re needing you badly.’38 They were accommodated in a kind of blockhouse with walls of bully beef cases and a tarpaulin roof. Roy slept badly.

Next day he reported for duty to the 1st Light Horse Field Ambulance at Fisherman’s Hut. The ambulance station was partly sheltered by low hills between the Turkish lines and Fisherman’s Beach. There was only one medical officer there, where once there had been a complement of six. Although there had not been much fighting since the last battle in August, many soldiers had dysentery and those that recovered usually managed to acquire paratyphoid or jaundice.39

The newcomers were each assigned a batman who assisted in the preparation of a dugout for his nominal master. The preferred sites were on the side of a hill with the only proviso of importance being a site facing the opposite way to the enemy. Roy’s dugout was made of a wooden plank and pilfered rubber sheets to keep out the rain. It was constructed without mishap on a second site, after his batman pointed out that the initial choice was exposed to shellfire.40

Two weeks passed and Roy was surprised to find himself still alive, if somewhat jumpy. The Turks did not appear to be interested in him and, in addition, as far as Roy was concerned, they had demonstrated their inability to hit a moving target. For his part, he sincerely hoped that if he were to become a target at all, he would always remain a moving one. Meanwhile, he was still able to number himself among the quick – extremely quick at times so he considered – and was almost beginning to enjoy himself. He had never been to a race meeting in his life but wondered whether a horse race would prove rather tame without an occasional burst of shrapnel to spur on the contestants!41

One amusement was bathing. It was not as enjoyable as surfing on the beaches of Sydney, not only because there was no surf but because Johnnie Turk persisted in shelling the beach at unscheduled times. There was a compensation for this drawback in the fact that the wearing of costumes was not compulsory.42 It appears from these wry passages that humour was one method Roy used to handle his fears.

Less than three weeks after his arrival at Anzac, Roy received instructions that he had been transferred to 14th Infantry Battalion of the 4th Brigade, which was in a rest camp at Mudros. He left Gallipoli on 22 October 1915, for Lemnos where he was to replace the sick Henry Loughran as Regimental Medical Officer, RMO. Away from the fighting, the health of the troops improved but their numbers were at half strength until a large number of reinforcements joined the units soon after Roy arrived. Roy took longer to fit into his new environment than other colleagues he knew, but he slowly began to make new friends.43

Roy returned to Gallipoli on 1 November 1915. The brigade was marched to a gully north of Fisherman’s Hut. The Australian dugouts were excavated on the coastal side of the ridge and protected from direct fire. Roy used his surgical bag as a pillow. He felt that, despite its knobbiness, laying hands on it might be easier if it was never out of reach. This action became a habit. The bag never left his side by day and it took the place of his huge revolver.44 Dick always maintained that Roy refused to wear his pistol as he was not planning on killing anyone and needed more space on his belt for bandages.45

On Roy’s first night, he slept fitfully owing to the attentions of what he thought was a flea but which, on inspection, turned out to be a louse. He got the horrors, tore off all his clothes and soaked them in Lysol. After he put on clean underclothes, he immediately excavated a new dugout. After several days, he was pleased to see that his methods had proved effective.46

The brigade was told to occupy the Turkish trenches which had been taken six weeks previously. The frontline trenches formed a salient, bulging into enemy territory, opposite a mountainous hilltop known as 971. The hill was still in Turkish hands despite the loss of many lives during the August battle.47

The trenches the Australians were using were overlooked by the enemy and exposed to stray bullets coming from the flank. These had travelled a long distance and lost considerable momentum. They made a whistling sound and were called ‘canaries’. At times the canaries were silent, at other times they were so numerous that their passing sounded like summer showers, stinging the parched soil.48

Stray bullets were not the only pests encountered on Gallipoli. Flies hummed with even greater persistence than the bullets, and lice were far from inactive. Roy had been supplied with NCI powder, a highly recommended lice exterminator made of Naphthalene, Camphor and Iodoform. After spreading his blanket on the ground, he sprinkled it with the unpleasant smelling powder. Hardly had he straightened himself up than he found that the flies had devoured the lot.49 There was also an incessant struggle with flies at meal times, especially when he had carefully spread a biscuit with jam, swishing the knife wildly to disperse them, but still they alighted before he could get it into his mouth.50

The officers favoured an open-air setting for their meals, not so much for hygienic as for practical reasons, there being insufficient material available for covering the area of the main terrace which had been selected for the purpose. The only concessions to formality were a rough table and plank to sit on. There were plenty of Egyptian cigarettes, but as Roy found them too dry, he was pleased to get the occasional Virginian.51

Roy usually occupied a rough seat cut out of the dirt. It was apt to become flooded when it rained, despite all efforts at draining the hillside behind. There were compensations for the discomfort though as, even on a wet day, stretching before the occupant was the kind of panorama that had inspired the Greek poets. In the distance was the island of Imbros, which overlooked where Poseidon scaled the heights of Samothrace so that he might watch the changing fortunes in the Trojan War.52

There is not much information about Roy’s specific medical-related activities on Gallipoli although he must have been busy during his first deployment as wastage due to disease, death and wounds had almost doubled from 5 per cent to 9 per cent of the force in August and September. Later, sickness began to overtake war injuries as the prime cause of medical evacuation.53

Flies posed a huge health problem. Although the Anzacs attempted to bury their dead, it was not always possible to retrieve bodies close to the Turkish lines, nor was it feasible to dispose of the thousands of human and animal body parts strewn around several hundreds of hectares of countryside. Faeces, food scraps and dung from mules and horses contributed to producing ideal fly-breeding grounds. The Anzac medical authorities realised the danger and had incinerators built around the area. Proper latrines were dug but were often just open pits with poles across them and exposed to the elements. Hepatitis became an increasing problem.54

The novel suggests that Roy’s first casualty was an officer who, although he had only been on Gallipoli for 24 hours, had been wounded in the foot while asleep in his dugout.55 We also know that, along with all medical officers of the Anzac Medical Association, he was invited by Colonel Begg to attend Otago Gully on 5 December for a discussion about the treatment of wounds from the RMOs’ perspective. We don’t know if he actually attended but, given his Methodist uprightness, assume he did.

Roy took a number of photographs of the field ambulance tents and dugouts at B Section, Walden Grove and Hay Valley. The landscape looks dry and there was a widespread lack of water, which fell hardest on the privates who only got a quart56 a day. What they could stop themselves from drinking, they used first for cleaning their teeth, then they shaved in the same water and finally had a wash with it.57 The lack of water contributed to an increase in cases of dysentery, diarrhoea and enteric diseases.

Still, Roy’s second taste of war, even on the frontline, was apparently no more unpleasant than the first. Both sides were content to stay in their respective trenches and only snipe when a target appeared.58

As the weather became cooler, flocks of birds passed overhead, flying to the warm south. One morning, the Australians awoke to the novel sight of a landscape covered with snow. Many of the men began to suffer from the cold and Roy became indignant when he discovered that one of the senior officers was using much-needed blankets to line the walls of his dugout. As Roy was responsible for the health of the men and many of them had only one blanket, he sent in a report but nothing was done about it.59 After severe storms and a blizzard in November, about 3000 Australians suffering from frostbite and exposure had to be evacuated, but the authorities had other matters on their minds and soon the troops would too: they were to evacuate.

Field Marshal Lord Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for War, made an unannounced visit to Gallipoli on 13 November 1915. Roy did not meet him but took a photograph from some distance away. Not long afterwards, there were some unusual happenings at Anzac Cove. There was an order that for three days no-one was to fire bullets or shells at the Turks; blankets, trench boots and other desirable comforts were to be had for the taking;60 and there was a continuous procession of empty-handed men heading towards the beach and beasts of burden heading away from it. Something was afoot and there was much speculation. When the men were instructed to dump extra ammunition in the privies and told to set up automatically fired rifles in front of the trenches,61 they knew they were to leave Gallipoli.

Roy was instructed to divide the men into two groups according to physical state. He subsequently learned this was to allow the fittest to be available to fight a rearguard action. He had long known that the proper place for an RMO was at the rear of the battalion. This had been a comforting thought when an attack was under consideration but far from reassuring now that a retreat was planned. His fears were reduced when he heard that his battalion was not to be one of the last to leave.62

Roy describes the night of departure as an eerie experience. The half battalion marched single file down the saps,63 the shallow utility trenches, with Roy bringing up the rear. The knowledge that there were only a handful of men holding the trenches gave him a most unpleasant feeling. He wished it were possible to walk backwards. He knew that if the Turks discovered the weakened state of the defences, a holocaust would result, but the remnant of the Anzacs in the trenches fired at a rapid rate in order to make the sound as great as usual. The reason for the three days stoppage of fire was now apparent: it was to prepare the Turks for the day on which the trenches would be held by only a few men.64

It was later learned that the Turks thought an attack was being prepared. For days they had observed an increased movement of troops and had not realised the ruse of sending large numbers of troops down to the shore before dawn and then marching them up to the saps in daylight.65

When the 14th Battalion finally reached Anzac Cove, Roy observed that every detail was being carried out with great precision, with hardly a word spoken. Matting had been laid on the wharf to deaden the sound of horses’ hooves and lumbering guns. At 11pm on 18 December 1915 Roy marched behind the others to a shallow-draught launch with a drawbridge stern, which was set against the edge of the wharf. The lighters had been specially designed for service at Gallipoli. Roy was relieved when they passed through the danger zone of stray bullets without anyone being hit.

Eventually the lighter drew alongside a steamer and everyone scrambled aboard. The crew gave a rousing welcome. The skipper offered cigars. The padre contributed a couple of bottles of whisky.66 The ferry steamed to Mudros Harbour and eventually the men were transferred to a battle cruiser that would carry them back to Egypt. Every soldier was entertained by someone of corresponding rank among the crew, the ship’s surgeon providing Roy with a hot shower and then conducting him to a four-course breakfast served on tablecloths. Before Roy enlisted, he was asked to join the navy. For the first time, he wondered whether he had made a mistake in not doing so.67

A total of 142 000 men were evacuated from Gallipoli in what is considered a stunningly successful operation. The Gallipoli Campaign preceding it had been a heroic but costly failure, with over 26 000 Australian casualties, and 363 officers and 7779 men killed. At the time, Australia’s population was less than five million. Nine Australians were awarded the Victoria Cross.

The cruiser docked in Alexandria on 2 January 1916. Roy’s brigade then travelled overland to the Suez Canal, where its members were to defend Egypt against the threat of Turkish invasion through Palestine, an even greater possibility now that the Turkish troops who had occupied Gallipoli were free to attack elsewhere.68 At Ismailia, Roy received his first mail, which took two days to read, and his cabin trunk from army stores, which furnished him with a clean uniform.

At 4am on 27 February 1916 the brigade moved to Tel El Kebir as part of a military reorganisation. A month later, they were at Serapeum after a three-day journey that would never be forgotten by those who took part in it.

It was decided that the troops were not to travel to Serapeum by train but to march, so that they would become inured to desert conditions.69 They commenced at 10pm on 31 May 1916. The heat of the day was like a furnace, the hottest Roy had ever experienced. The first day’s journey was along a dusty road which bordered a freshwater canal. Roy spent his time riding up and down the line trying to prevent the men from drinking the water for fear of infestation with dangerous parasites. At night, the battalion bivouacked in the open air as the tents had been sent ahead by train. It was bitterly cold.

The second day was worse. It was hotter than the previous one and the route was through soft sand. Every step was an effort. The surface was no longer level but broken by huge sand dunes, which often ended in steep slopes. As the ambulance wagons had also been sent to Serapeum by train, Roy had to give up his horse to a man who had collapsed.

Roy could not imagine there could be anything more gruelling to endure but, from the middle of the third day, the path narrowed onto a causeway and the men had to march much closer together. There was hardly a breath of air between the ranks. The route ran parallel to the railway line, along which travelled the tents, horse wagons and ambulances. The horses were too valuable to risk but not so the human beasts, who were required to march laden with full equipment. Men fell by the roadside too tired to take another step. Roy was so exhausted he could hardly think. By evening, even the most placid men were swearing at the idiocy of those who had ordered such an unnecessary test without adequate training.

When the 14th Battalion finally crawled into camp, water was not immediately available for the troops. Happily, a friend gave Roy some Egyptian beer – the most satisfying drink he had ever tasted.70

The camp at Serapeum was one of many guarding the Suez Canal. As it was only a mile from the Red Sea, the troops swam regularly. Roy excelled at this sport and tried to never miss a bathing parade. As on Gallipoli, no bathing costumes were required though they would have been an advantage when passenger ships passed. The Canal varied in width from 100 to 200 yards and it was the custom to swim across it and back many times. Several weeks after arrival, a sports carnival was held, attended by the Prince of Wales who distributed prizes to the winners. Roy came second in a race.71

For the most part though, life went on without incident except when it was broken by the Kamsur72 – the hot wind that roars across the desert, raising stifling clouds of dust so thick that animals, and occasionally men, would perish. When it blew everyone kept to the tents, but even there it was impossible to avoid eating a liberal ration of grit with every mouthful of food.73

At Serapeum Roy had time to write letters home. He often wrote to Ellie McMurtrie, revealing something of his character: ‘You know Ellie that I love you though I do not talk much about my sentiments probably because I am too inclined to self-consciousness. This being the case you may rely on my deepest sympathy for the trouble that you infer.’74 Tantalisingly, we do not know what Ellie’s troubles were, but Roy was obviously very fond of her and from the time she married his oldest brother Harold, Roy welcomed her as a sister.

Roy writes playfully about the charm and beauty of the bridesmaids at his second brother Gordon’s wedding to Ida McMurtrie, Ellie’s sister. He laments that ‘the proceedings could not have been completely rounded off by the Bad Boy of the Family…’, presumably referring to himself.75 In the same letter, he speculates that his ‘Brother Bill76 is probably still keeping up his reputation as a tease’. He writes more seriously about the death of Frank Pratt, presumably a mutual friend ‘… it is glorious that such fine fellows are ready to lay down their lives for an idea and principle’.77

He also writes about Egypt: ‘I must admit that Egypt is a country that has fascinated me with its life so different to that of Australia. The cosmopolitan nature of the people with the resultant advantages and faults makes an interesting study.’ He notes differences between national groups. ‘We see a lot that is French in origin, the naturalness and demonstrative affection which is so different from the Anglo-Saxon reserve, the assurance of the Australian, and even the boyish impertinence of the Egyptian which is amusing to us who are ready to accept everyone as equals until they show themselves not.’ He reflects on the Australians’ response to Egypt saying it gives Australians a sense of smallness to visit old mosques and Coptic churches, an experience that will not harm them, but when they visit the pyramids and the romantic Sphinx, they cannot help but be impressed, even though they try to cloak their emotions under a joke.78

In April 1916 Roy wrote from Serapeum to his brother,79 who was also serving in the war, saying he didn’t have too much to grumble at, as he had had a long interval free from the fear of bullets and pieces of animated metal. He acknowledged that he felt sad that their ‘loved ones are anxious about us while we are far from danger and really spending a wonderful holiday’. The letter mentions that he was reading Hamlet and other productions of the Bard and that he remained impressed by Shakespeare’s influence on the English language. He had been taking photographs and shot one of a polo match using donkeys. He finishes by reminding his brother that, ‘fraternal love is no myth, though not much talked about’.80

Camp life in Egypt gave Roy little opportunity for medical work, apart from sick parades and inspections, spiced with an occasional outbreak of disease. In another letter to Ellie McMurtrie, he wrote, ‘we live fairly comfortably in a camp… as we are in reserve and in training. We have an officer’s mess and are making health arrangements as permanent as possible as this camp will be used by us and our reinforcements from now on’.81

There was a meningitis outbreak a few weeks after their arrival at Serapeum and all ranks were made to march through a tent filled with formalin vapour in an effort to limit its spread. The men’s tents were overcrowded and it was considered that increasing the accommodation options would prove a more effective measure than the inhalation treatment. Some people at headquarters, it was discovered, were using a cache of extra tents as bedding, but it was only after numerous complaints were made about this that the extra tents were finally distributed. One of the newly arrived tents presented an amazing sight. In the warm sunlight, hundreds of lice crawled out from under the seams and spread all over the side of the tent. There was no doubt the tent had been used for bedding!82

Even an outbreak of meningitis was not enough to keep Roy fully occupied. A routine vaccination for the whole battalion was welcomed because it broke the routine monotony of camp life. To fill his spare moments when not swimming or watching donkey races, Roy went on expeditions and visited friends in other battalions. He mentions that he made a trip to a hospital organised by the Church Missionary Society (the original English branch), which interested him immensely. ‘To see the natives sitting in a special compound undergoing treatment for Anchylostomiasis83 was a sight worth remembering. These special dispensations, where the patients may stay until they undergo a cure of two to three weeks, are now being organised all over Egypt as a result of Kitchener being impressed with the results at his old Hospital. The patients looked very funny opening their mouths to have the medicine poured in, like a big nest full of young birds.’84

Life in Egypt was not all light-hearted and Roy’s poem Egypt offers another more sombre view.85

A fireplace heap of glaring human faces

With tinder in the midst of unborn babe

Nearby an anklet wrought in antique bronze

Terrestrial flotsam on a sea of sand

A fellahun who mourned his pregnant wife

Took comfort when he viewed her resting place

As from the grave a scarab issued forth

A symbol this of immortality

A tent of soldiers in a long campaign

Reduced the boredom with a game of chance

At sight of moving sand each placed a coin

Where wag’ring unseen scarab would emerge.

The extant letters to Ellie say little about his time on Gallipoli but hint at its effect: ‘I am thankful to say that there are no shells falling about and no strays and snipers for the present. It was not very dreadful there but it was bound to have some effect on the nerves, no matter the constitution.’86 The novel suggests that Roy was starting to be depressed. He had sleepless nights and alarming dreams. His friends did their best to cheer him up.87

29 Winn RC Men May Rise p48

30 Winn Dick personal communication 2002

31 Winn RC Men May Rise p17

32 Winn RC Men May Rise p19

33 Winn RC Men May Rise p20

34 Winn RC Men May Rise p20

35 Winn RC Men May Rise p26

36 Winn RC Men May Rise p27

37 Winn RC Men May Rise p27

38 Winn RC Men May Rise p27

39 Winn RC Men May Rise p28

40 Winn RC Men May Rise p28

41 Winn RC Men May Rise p30

42 Winn RC Men May Rise p30

43 Winn RC Men May Rise p30

44 Winn RC Men May Rise p59

45 Winn Dick personal communication 2003

46 Winn RC Men May Rise p60

47 Winn RC Men May Rise p59

48 Winn RC Men May Rise p60

49 Winn RC Men May Rise p60

50 Winn RC Men May Rise p40

51 Winn RC Men May Rise p42

52 Winn RC Men May Rise p61

53 Swifte T Gallipoli The Incredible Campaign 1985 p72

54 Swifte T Gallipoli The Incredible Campaign 1985 p72

55 Winn RC Men May Rise p60

56 Quart is just under a litre

57 Winn RC Men May Rise p40

58 Winn RC Men May Rise p63

59 Winn RC Men May Rise p63

60 These desirable comforts, which had been scarce while the conflict was ongoing, were now no longer being hoarded as evacuation was imminent

61 The rifles were to be fired by attaching a string from the trigger to a large tin, which would capsize when filled with water. The water would drip into it from a second tin placed above the first. A clever ruse.

62 Winn RC Men May Rise p64

63 A sap is a trench dug at roughly 90 degrees out from existing lines

64 Winn RC Men May Rise p64

65 Winn RC Men May Rise p65

66 Winn RC Men May Rise p65

67 Winn RC Men May Rise p65

68 Winn RC Men May Rise p71

69 Winn RC Men May Rise p73

70 Winn RC Men May Rise p74

71 Winn RC Men May Rise p75

72 Roy probably means the Khamsin wind

73 Winn RC Men May Rise p83

74 Winn RC Letter to Ellie McMurtrie 8 February 1916

75 Winn RC Letter to Ellie McMurtrie 12 January 1917

76 Brother Bill is presumably Roy’s oldest brother, Harold

77 Winn RC Letter to Ellie McMurtrie 8 February 1916

78 Winn RC Letter to Ellie McMurtrie 14 May 1916

79 Presumably Gordon Winn

80 Winn RC Letter to Big Brother 11 April 1916

81 Winn RC Letter to Ellie McMurtrie 8 February 1916

82 Winn RC Men May Rise p88

83 Hookworm infestation was prevalent in Egypt and a cause of profound anaemia.

84 Winn RC Letter to Ellie McMurtrie 14 May 1916

85 Winn RC Poem ‘In Egypt’ 20 August 1949

86 Winn RC Letter to Ellie McMurtrie 8 February 1916

87 Winn RC Men May Rise p76