Source: File: Port Said entrance to Suez
Canal, showing De Lessep's statue.jpg. [online] Available at: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scramble_for_Africa#/media/File:Port_Said_Suez_Canal.jpg>
[Accessed: 12 March 2015].
Sketch of Pyramids and Bivouacs by
Jamie - see original image at:
http://throughtheselines.com.au/research/2-AGH
From a time of January,
When 1915 was ten days
Old, came a letter
From city of Alexandria,
To the parents of young
Dick Hardwick, serving
With the Expeditionary
Forces, out in Egypt.
Miles of travel had taken
Dick Hardwick from
Sri Lanka and Colombo,
Across Arabian Seas
To Gulf of Eden, arriving
At Port Said, Alexandria.
Hardwick's account notes
Importance of a canal's
Link - laying several miles
From the Suez seaport -
That stretched between
Red and Mediterranean
Seas - the entry at Port Said
Began with narrow lagoons,
Where a strip of a road
Made a link with the docks.
The British boat prepared,
To include a searchlight
Aimed over the bows,
Down into the dark Suez -
In permission to proceed,
A slow entry into the canal
Moved passed a statue
Of the engineer Lesseps.
A 33 foot bronze image
Of the French man stood
Impressively on a column -
With an arm outstretched
As if to show the way.
Hardwick's account
Described an engineering
Feat, that took 17 hours
To cross 17 miles of water.
Vessels move by at no more
That 6 mph, above water
27 feet in depth and 25 yards
Wide - progress of all boats
Marked by 15 stations,
With telegraph to announce
All steamers movements,
Between the sandbank shores.
At each station sidings
Allowed vessels to pass each
Other - A preference given
To all war steamers and mail
Boats, who fly a privilege flag -
A flag of a blue background
Marked with a white 'P.'
Beyond this long stretch,
Their boat came to a crossing,
Where pilgrims and caravans
To Mecca, pass - beyond
Came swamps and marshes,
Where flamingoes roamed -
Even a mirage of Cairo would
Often be seen - the city
Appearing upside down.
The essential canal conveyed
Food as well as troops to arrive
From Australasia - defence
Of Suez had repelled Turks
And attempts of Senussi
Tribes’ to gain or damage
The vital link of the Suez Canal.
Weather had proved fairly
Cold but Dick claimed not
To suffer from this - so with
Free time in Egypt to go
Ashore, he found customs,
The language and people
Centered on French - making
Difficulty for English speakers
To be clearly understood.
With two others companions
He visited catacombs - most
Likely of Kom el Shoqafa -
A wonder of the middle ages.
In his discovery Hardwick
Learned how after 2000 years -
Only fifteen years before -
They had been uncovered.
At 60 feet underground
Along corridors were baths
To wash the dead - with
Even more deeper tombs.
Hardwick told how vaults,
Cut out from the sandstone
Formed 'cupboards,'
Where whole families
Were buried together.
Hardwick suddenly saw
Himself transported back
Across thousands of years.
But a fact of war remained
Above and within the week
Hardwick was hospitalised
With influenza. Before well
Enough, he was discharged,
With orders to disembark.
Some time later he left the
Anchored ship, and spoke
Of travelling by train -
Moving mile after mile,
Through a beautiful land
Of greenery and gardens.
With time from the train,
They took dinner of corned
Beef, biscuits and water.
After this Hardwick stood
On guard duty till 9 p.m. -
In protection of Hospital
Equipment. There followed
Another train journey, arriving
10 p.m. when night turned
Colder - they slept the night
In the shelter of a marquee.
For two days after this,
Their work centered
About constructing
A mobile hospital - proving
Difficult for Hardwick who
Was still suffering badly
From influenza - with hard
Work, the reward of food
Was poor - being mainly
Dry bread and black tea.
The result among the men
Was of dissatisfaction
Of the situation - After
A month with still no wages
They could not buy food,
To add to meager rations.
Yet day by day improvements
Came and with pay received,
Matters turned happier.
The built hospital quickly
Filled with sick men, so that
Hardwick found he worked
Up to eight hours daily -
4 p.m. to midnight, adding
How he helped to nurse
Them - In his remaining
Free hours, he planned on
Climbing a pyramid
- with
A festival of Mohammedan
In town, Hardwick learned
They were, at that time
Banned in visiting Cairo.
At anchor at Alexandria,
By 14 January, young
Hardwick encountered
20 Australian Territorial’s
Coming on board the ship -
Described as very 'manly.'
Perhaps one who became
A patient, in a relayed story,
In how he had pulled a veil
Off a Mahommedan woman.
The Australian was attacked
By two Egyptian men to be
Badly stabbed in the back.
Such behaviors did not give
Give the Australian nation
A great name - who said they
Were free to do as they
Pleased - Another time on
Shore he encountered an
Australian, whose bad
Behavior prompted him
To ask the man for an
Apology, or else 'outside' -
Regretfully, for Hardwick,
He chose outside - the
Outcome went unmentioned.
With the ship still at anchor
In Egypt’s port of Alexandria -
Dick Hardwick was yet
To learn of their next mission.
Conjecture can only be made
How Dick Hardwick, possibly
A British orderly, worked with
Australian Medical Forces, as
Part of the British assistance -
Brought there from bases
Of Sri Lanka and from Mudros
Whose roles, played a vital
Part in defence of the
empire.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1915. Letters From the Front. Daily
Herald Adelaide. Through
These Lines: War Herald. War and empire in Australian newspapers — one hundred
years ago, today. ... Guyra Argus (NSW : 1902 - 1954) [online] 12 Mar. Available at:
http://throughtheselines.com.au/war-herald [Accessed: 12 March 2015].
Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 12 March 2015).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #ww1centenary
#worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Egypt #WW1Suez
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